The Plans that We Made
Soothing classical music lifted Jyou from his sleep. After a window of disorientation, the rude shock of waking, his brain lurched towards awareness. His arm slid down the side of the bed and scuttled across the floor like a drunk crab. Muscle memory guided his hand to his laptop and commanded it to lift.
Jyou hauled himself into a sitting position with a groan that shifted to a yawn. It was early, even by the standards of a high school student on a weekday. The sun waged a colorful war on the dregs of night beyond his window.
He booted the computer and ran a chat program. A window opened, connecting him to Mimi in New York City from Tokyo. He smiled at her blurred face. "Hello, Mimi. How was your day?"
"Jyou!" Mimi snapped. He blinked and edged away from the screen. This was not the sugary tone with which Mimi typically greeted him. He scrambled for his glasses and knocked them off the nightstand with an embarrassing clatter.
"Darn it," he muttered, ducking down to retrieve them. When he straightened and put them on, he saw Mimi waving a sheet of paper in front of her computer's camera.
"What is the meaning of this?!"
"Er- Well-" Jyou was painfully aware of the delicacy of his position. He and Mimi had been dating for over two years. He was no stranger to her shortage of patience when she was riled up. It was incumbent upon him to choose his words with care- not an easy task mere minutes after waking. "Could you hold the paper still?"
The white barrier ripped away, and there she was, resplendent in pink satin pajamas. Even in the last hour before bed, her hair was perfect. But alas for Jyou, the muscles in her face were not as controlled and smooth.
"You know what it is!" Mimi cried, bunching the paper into a ball and tossing it aside. "You sent it to me while I was at school."
Jyou's brow furrowed. "We're talking about the list of colleges I'm applying to?" He had no idea why some university names set Mimi off, but that was the only thing he sent her yesterday.
Mimi's eyes narrowed. They were normally the hue of amber honey, but when she was worked up, the reddish tones were more apparent. "Obviously!"
"Okay," Jyou said, adopting the tone of a doctor with a distressed charge. "Okay. What's wrong with it?"
Color rushed to Mimi's cheeks, and pangs of remorse for his unknown error wrung Jyou's heart. Whatever was happening here, it didn't appear to be a brief spike in a vivacious, slightly spoiled temperament. Mimi was genuinely upset, and it was his fault. "I'm sorry, Mimi," he murmured, reaching for the screen.
Her agitation slipped away in stages, and her shoulders drooped as she picked at the bottom of her top, her eyes downcast. "Tokyo University? Harvard? Cambridge?"
Jyou shook his head. "My parents want me to apply from the top down. I'm not sure if I can get into any of those schools, or if we can pay for them. The second and third tiers on the list are more likely."
Mimi straightened the balled-up paper with a huff. Jyou followed her eyes as they moved down its length. "These are all competitive schools."
"Well… Yes?" Jyou mussed with his hair, tugging gently outward, as if he could draw understanding out of his brain through the strands. "Er- My mock exam results were promising, so…"
"Oh, of course they were!" The ill-fated paper fluttered off screen as Mimi threw her hands up. "You're so smart! But I'm not getting into any of these universities."
Jyou's eyes pinched shut under the force of comprehension. "Oh, Mimi…"
The ominous tremble in her voice snapped him back into focus. "Don't you want to go to college with me? I thought… Dreaming of going to college together is what's been pulling me through."
Her nose bunched up, a prelude to sniffling. Jyou was overcome with a strange combination of sadness, frustration, and fondness. "Of course I want to go college with you, and I'm glad you feel the same way. That's challenging when I plan to enroll in a pre-med program, and you want to study business or entrepreneurship. I've been looking into options to find a university with strong programs in both majors."
She worked that magic with her eyes, widening them, brightening them with a beseeching quality that made Jyou happy to bend over backwards for her pleasure. His knees turned to jelly, and he blessed the fact that he was seated.
"You've really been looking for a place we can go together?" She moved towards the camera, and Jyou automatically leaned closer.
"Well, of course," he said, puzzled. "That was part of the selection process, you know. Well, like I said, my parents asked me to apply to prestigious schools, but don't worry. I know them; they'll give me the final choice."
And, for the first time that day, he saw Mimi's beloved smile. The wad of tension dissolved in his chest, and he slumped into his pillows. He stared, feasting on the curve of her lips and the sparkle in her eyes, fueling himself for the busy day ahead.
"Jyou… That's so sweet. But… You shouldn't stop yourself from attending a better school because of me. What will we do if I can't get into the school you were accepted to when I finally graduate?"
"Hmm?" Jyou needed a repetition before he could kick his brain back into gear. "Oh! Right- Hold on- Let me get my binder."
"Binder?" Mimi echoed.
"Just a second." Jyou waved to the camera, then stumbled drowsily to his desk. A neat stack of binders lined either side of the surface. He grabbed one and brought it back to bed, angling it towards the laptop camera.
"I started my search by printing maps of the areas surrounding the schools I'm most interested in." Jyou flipped to the divider marked 'maps' in his small, tidy script and selected a zoomed-out image of an area in New York City. "Most schools offer business majors, so even if you don't like the medical schools I'm interested in, we can live together and attend different universities. For example, I'm interested in this place." He pointed to a circled location on the map, then moved his finger to a second one. "This school has a well-regarded business program. There are apartment complexes nearby and public transportation options."
Jyou lowered the binder enough to see Mimi's face. Nervous laughter bubbled over when he found that she wasn't smiling. She was wide-eyed and still, and the silence stretched on and on, until his ears rang with it. His tongue flicked over his lips, trying to correct their sudden dryness.
"Er- If you're tired of New York City, or if the housing there is too pricey, there are other options." He turned the page and showed her another map, then another. Pitch after pitch fell without comment, and Jyou discovered how a salesperson on commission feels around a disinterested customer. Soon, his voice faltered, and Mimi shook her head, as if to rouse herself from a stupor.
"Jyou…" Her eyes were wet and narrow, but she was smiling. "Did you really do all of this while studying for college exams and choosing universities?"
"Well- yes?" Mimi's signals were too mixed for Jyou to navigate with certainty. He had no idea how to direct the conversation anymore, and he dropped the binder and hunched over the laptop, weighed down with defeat. "I had to. I want to be near you. I, I miss you. I know you have two years of high school left, so maybe it seems far off, but… It won't be too long until we're adults. If we want something to happen, soon, we'll have the power to do it."
His fingertips stroked the maps that he had spent hours bent over. "I know it's going to take time, effort, and sacrifice. I'm planning to take on as much of that as I can." He paused, swallowed hard, and tried to gather his courage.
At last, he lifted his head and looked Mimi in the eye. "I'm sorry that it's not going to be easy, and it's not going to be… exactly what you want. I'm not sure if we can go to the same school and pursue our individual interests. But I'm going to do whatever I can to be near you."
Mimi's chest began to rise and fall with shallow, rapid breaths. All at once, her emotions burst beyond her control, and she dropped her face in her cupped hands and started crying.
Jyou pulled the laptop towards himself, as if that would bring Mimi closer, too. His fingers were cold and shaky. "Don't cry. Please- I'm sorry. Don't cry." The hours of work poring over university websites, maps, and public transportation pages replayed in his mind. A moment of temptation passed, where Jyou had to choose between feeling bitter that his efforts weren't good enough and sympathizing with Mimi. He hesitated.
"N-No, Jyou," Mimi stammered, her voice wet and hitching. She leaned away from the camera, then reappeared with a box of tissues. "Don't say you're sorry. You're doing all of this for us, and I got mad at you! I'm so, so sorry."
Jyou clutched his heart as he exhaled, then took a few deep breaths. This was far too much stimulation so soon after rising, but it seemed that they understood each other at last. Mimi dabbed her eyes and smiled, and he smiled back, wobbly with relief.
Mimi touched her screen, and Jyou placed his fingertips on the same spots on his side. "We'll make this work, Mimi," he murmured. "I know it's hard, but we'll get there."
She sniffled, wiped her nose, then cast the tissue away. "You know, Papa has been asking what colleges I want to visit. I know it's crowded in your apartment with your parents and your brothers, but do you think you could put me up for a few days?"
Color crept into Jyou's cheeks as he envisioned a guest futon spread on his floor. Mimi would have his bed, of course, and with any luck, her scent would linger on his sheets after her visit ended. His brothers would tease him, and he would have to leave his bedroom door open, but none of that mattered. "I- Of, of course."
A soft, sweet laugh traveled from New York City to Tokyo via the mysterious alchemy of wifi and electronics. "You'd better get ready for school. You'll be late!"
Jyou checked the clock on his computer, exclaimed, and hopped out of bed. "You're right- gotta go- goodbye!" He leaned over the laptop and dragged his cursor to the red x on the chat program.
Mimi blew him a kiss. "Kiss kiss. I love you, Jyou. Have a good day."
Jyou pantomimed a catching motion. This parting ritual embarrassed him when Mimi first started it, but it made him smile now, albeit goofily. "Sweet dreams. I love you." One last smile, one last glance, and the program shut down. Jyou closed the laptop and hurried about his morning routine.
It was hard to say goodbye to Mimi, but he was already looking forward to seeing her again tonight.
Author's Notes: This drabble is not meant to be connected to the previous one. They're two separate little boops.
Being practical and planning ahead can be really sweet! Jyou ;_; MANIFEST, BABY.
And those are the two Jyoumi drabbles I rescued from the depths of my Tumblr! I hope you enjoyed them. Thanks for reading 3