A/N: Edit 03-04-2021: I fucked up while replacing/updating the earlier chapters so now once again two chapters are merged.
I was possessed by the muse and hence I've been typing away these past few days. So this is the longest chapter yet.
A brief summary : Sora gets dialogues, she is the mother hen of the group. Koushiro is paranoid. Taichi and Yamato have a long bro to bro/dude to dude/heart to heart conversation about their lives.
Ikebana is the Japanese art of flower arrangement.
Much thanks to Scripturiens, soojinah and starrymilk for reviewing the previous chapters.
- x -
"Ah."
"Ah? What kind of a reaction is that?" Yamato glared at the boy sitting across him.
Koushiro didn't bother glancing at the blond as he replied, "Ah, you don't hang out with Mimi that much so you're not aware of her habits."
Watching Koushiro peacefully scroll on his phone without so much as batting an eyelid after Yamato had told him what happened, though not in detail, reassured him a little. Maybe he hadn't messed up that bad and the damage was still salvageable.
"So I didn't really do anything wrong did I?" Yamato asked him.
"Well you're gonna have to be ridiculously specific about what happened otherwise I won't be able to tell you exactly what ticked Mimi off."
The blond frowned, averting his gaze from Koushiro he responded hastily, "I told you already, we were just sitting there eating and suddenly she got really upset and left."
-x
Koushiro let out an exasperated sigh as Yamato repeated the incident in short once again. He had very successfully managed to avoid both the blond and Taichi throughout the day at school but it had been very difficult for him to turn down a direct confrontation which ended up in him being dragged by the other taller and stronger two to Yamato's apartment. So far, he had succeeded in keeping his mouth shut and not blurting out everything he knew the moment Yamato looked at him. This was mostly thanks to the blond himself trying to evade Koushiro's gaze and Taichi's disinterest in the whole matter. The genius looked up from his phone to find the brunet sprawled on the floor with an extremely serious look on his face as if he was contemplating solving global warming. Koushiro then turned his eyes towards Yamato and him to be lost in thought as well, though probably not intensely as his best friend but it looked like the blond had a lot on his plate.
Koushiro grinned internally, this was his chance to score some brownie points with Mimi. Granted he didn't let anything important slip and kept his cool, he could definitely act as her spy. His parent's marriage anniversary was coming up and he knew only Mimi would be able to pick out the perfect gift for them so of course, he needed to be in her good books. He mentally apologised to the blond for his betrayal but he needed to out his immediate needs first.
The dark haired teenager cleared his throat and settled his eyes on Yamato, "That doesn't help at all. Mimi has a habit of exaggerating even the tiniest thing so unless you tell me all the details, I won't be able to help." He watched the blond and noticed a slight hint of colour on his cheeks.
Yamato refused to look him in the eye as he answered, "Well she's mad right, so all I have to do is apologise and everything will be fine."
"Hah!" Koushiro scoffed at his friend, "Amateur. Do you really think it's going to be that easy? You're gonna go up to her and say sorry, she'll act totally innocent and ask you why you are apologising and you won't know what to say then."
Yamato was taken aback by his response and Koushiro watched as the blond ran a hand through his hair impatiently, and the tint on his cheeks turned a shade deeper. Koushiro knew that it would be a complete miracle if Yamato did reciprocate Mimi's feelings with the same amount of passion that she had for him, but right now even someone as naïve as Koushiro could tell that the musician was utterly flustered. Koushiro did think that the two of them would make a good couple and he wanted to help both his friends as much as he could, but he was also aware of how inexperienced and cynical Yamato was when it came to love and on the other hand, Mimi was idealistic and hopeful. The former's attitude could crush the latter's dreams, and if at the end of it all Koushiro really had to choose between the two, he would do anything to keep that smile intact on Mimi's face.
"The real question here is, why do you care?"
Both Koushiro and Yamato turned towards their friend lying on the floor. Koushiro thought Taichi hadn't been paying attention at all but apparently that wasn't the case, he glanced at Yamato from the corner of his eye, waiting for his answer.
"What's that supposed to mean? She's my friend." Yamato muttered, gritting his teeth, a scowl forming on his face.
"Yeah but you guys aren't that close, so it really shouldn't matter right?" Taichi sat up and stared at Yamato with a determined look on his face. It was obvious what Taichi was attempting to do, bully Yamato into admitting that maybe he thought of Mimi as something more than a friend.
Yamato held the brunet's gaze for a few seconds but then he lowered his eyes and focused his attention on the floor without bothering to answer. Koushiro could tell that the red tint on his face wasn't a blush but rather from anger and embarrassment. He didn't know why Taichi was acting so coldly and the last thing he wanted to do was get on Yamato's bad side, but he had a higher purpose he needed to accomplish.
"Well, Taichi is right. Don't worry about this Yamato, Mimi's probably not even that mad." Koushiro chipped in and before continuing he apologised to Yamato inside his head a billion times, "You guys barely ever talk so she won't hold a grudge against you. Trust me on this, you don't know her as well as I do after all."
The effect was immediate, it was as if Koushiro had slapped him across the face. His deep blue eyes raged with a passionate emotion and the genius couldn't tell if that was anger or hurt or a mixture of both. The cold glare that he received from the blond was something he knew he deserved because he might as well have said 'Hey Yamato, you're just another somebody in her life'. He was terrified sure, but Koushiro was also a little giddy inside. Yamato's reaction proved that he was hiding something behind his cool demeanour and he definitely felt something for Mimi.
Yamato nodded stiffly, clearly not happy that him and Taichi got the last word in this argument. He put on the headphones lying on the table, indicating that this conversation was now over. Taichi rolled his eyes at the blond and went back to contemplating. Koushiro triumphantly went back to surfing the net. He knew that Mimi wouldn't make a big deal out of whatever it was that happened between her and Yamato as she always tried to dodge conflicts. She hated getting negative attention so she'll probably brush it off and pretend that it never happened. He was well aware of how her mind worked otherwise he wouldn't have dared to make such a cocky claim in front of Yamato.
(Next Day)
Koushiro entered the classroom with Mimi on his trail, they were on time today since Mimi's dad had decided to drive them and with the absence of a certain blond the brunette didn't attempt to abruptly jump out of the car today, for which Koushiro was utterly grateful. First thing he noticed was that Sora was present, which brought a small smile to his face. The smile faltered as he realized that she and Taichi were quietly arguing about something. He was amazed to see that their voices were so controlled and low, he had no idea that Taichi was capable of producing a sound so quite. Yamato was on his desk, ignoring the fighting duo as he slowly bobbed his head along to whichever song was playing on his phone. The blond saw them enter the classroom, noticing Mimi first, he took off his earphones.
Mimi overtook Koushiro as she ran over to Sora, attacking her with a hug and he quickly followed her.
"Sora-chaaan! Ohayo, I missed you so much yesterday. Please don't ever be absent again!" She squealed into Sora's ears.
Koushiro cringed feeling bad for the auburn haired girl, he put his bag down on his desk and greeted the other three. Taichi replied flatly as he took his seat, a disappointed pout on his face. Sora smiled politely at him as she peeled Mimi off of herself and Yamato just nodded curtly.
"Morning, Tai-chan!" Mimi very enthusiastically called out and then she turned her gaze towards the blond, she looked at him for a second and then turned around as if he didn't exist. Taking her seat in front of him she started chatting cheerily with Sora.
Koushiro's mouth dropped open. Mimi had just very blatantly ignored Yamato, horrified he turned towards the blond. He had never seen Yamato look so humiliated and angry at the same time, his fists were clenched tightly under his desk and he pretty much looked ready to knock someone out. Taichi's spirits on the other hand lifted up as he snickered at the blond, ignoring the atmosphere entirely. Koushiro quickly faced forward and sunk in his seat, he knew he'd be feeling Yamato's icy stares directed at his back throughout the day.
It had all been quite logically laid out in his head but he had forgotten to take into account the changing nature of human emotion.
He tapped his foot impatiently as he kept checking his watch every few seconds. Next to him, Mimi was dreamily staring out of the window, unknown to the dread filling Koushiro's head. He glanced at her every few seconds after checking his watch and wondered how she could look so carefree after her stunt a few hours earlier. The stunt which could probably end her best friend's life. It didn't even take him a second to get up from his seat as soon as the bell for lunch rang, and he grabbed Mimi by the arm and sprinted out of the classroom as fast as possible. Before Yamato could even look up from his notebook, they were already hallway across the hall. It looked like running away from the blond at full speed was what Koushiro and Mimi had been reduced to these past few days. Mimi struggled against his grip, screaming for him to stop but he didn't oblige until they reached a secluded corner in their school far, far away from their classroom.
"What - were you- thinking?!" He shouted, pausing to catch his breath in the middle. This was probably the fastest he had ever run in his entire life without a Digimon on his trail and he couldn't help but feel a little proud.
Mimi, huffing and red faced, gave him a confused look, not understanding what he was talking about.
"Is everything alright?"
Sora had very easily managed to follow them. She stopped next to the brunette and patted her back gently, with a concerned look on her face she turned to Koushiro, expecting an answer. The auburn haired girl was completely unfazed by the small run, as expected of someone who was on par with the soccer club's ace. The little proud feeling distinguished as Koushiro reminded himself that he should never again try and think about his athletic skills in a positive light. Instead of answering Sora he looked past her searching for his other two friends, because if Sora had so easily caught up to them then it would make sense for Taichi and Yamato to be right behind her.
Sora followed his gaze and cleared up his doubts, "Yamato and Taichi went somewhere else." Koushiro breathed in a sigh of relief and she added pouting, "They specifically asked me not to follow them. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if the two of them came out as gay."
Mimi cleared her throat at that and her cheeks turned furiously red, she turned her attention towards the ground.
"Oh but that would mean bad news for you, Mimi-chan." Sora smirked at the brunette's reaction.
"Wait." Koushiro looked from Mimi to Sora, "I thought you hadn't told anyone else?"
"Did she even need to? It's so obvious, I've known for months now!" Sora laughed.
Koushiro made a mental note to start being more aware of his surroundings from now on because it seemed like everyone except him had noticed how his best friend was feeling. He also reminded himself that the said best friend could be the cause of his death so he questioned her again, this time more desperately.
"Mimi, how could you do that to Yamato? He's going to kill me! He's definitely strangling me tonight. You're never gonna see your precious Kou-chan again after today, how does that make you fee-"
"Okay stop." Sora interrupted him, with an amused look on her face she glanced at Mimi, "While I'm also surprised by you acting so cold towards Yamato since I've never seen you act so mean, I don't understand how this affects you Koushiro?"
"He told me yesterday, that he unintentionally did something to upset Mimi and he asked me for my help so he could make it up to her." Mimi's head shot up instantly at that, her eyes shining brightly. "But I told him to let it go because Mimi doesn't hold grudges!" He groaned, averting his gaze from Mimi.
"Yamato-kun was worrying about me?" Mimi whispered excitedly, a huge smile appearing on her face.
Sora rolled her eyes at her and flicked her on the forehead, "Yes idiot, and now you've ruined it. Though Koushiro, you shouldn't have said something unnecessary like that to Yamato anyway." Sora scolded him.
Mimi rubbed her forehead, frowning she turned towards him, "Yeah why would you tell him that?"
"Because you don't! I've never seen you stay mad at someone for more than half a day!" He exclaimed accusingly and Sora nodded along, seconding what he was saying. He was a little relieved that she was on his side now.
"You could've texted me and told me what happened! How was I supposed to know that Yamato-kun would approach you?" Mimi glared at him.
Koushiro opened his mouth to retort but realized that she was right, he should've warned her yesterday. After all the thinking and over-planning that he did on his way home from Yamato's, he didn't bother taking out his phone and dropping Mimi a text, which now seemed like the most obvious thing to do.
"Yeah well, I had a lot to think about!" He replied half-heartedly.
"Now he hates me, doesn't he?" Her voice came out barely as a whisper and the shine in her caramel eyes slowly started to turn into tears.
Koushiro and Sora reacted instantly, assuring her with repeated 'of course he doesn't-s' and 'don't jump to conclusion-s'. But as he stood there talking automatically, he realized that there was only one thing he was sure about. And that was the fact that he had absolutely no clue about how Yamato felt.
-x-
Their eyes were locked in an intense stare and their hands moved swiftly.
Taichi was the first one to look down and he groaned in defeat as he realized that his scissor would be crushed by Yamato's rock. The latter gloated by letting a brief smile cover his face, but Taichi was never one to accept defeat so easily.
"Best of three!" He yelled.
"Oh fuck off Tai. I don't have time to deal with you being a sore loser." Yamato scowled at him, "I won fair and square so I get to go first." The brunet opened his mouth to object but Yamato beat him to it, "What's going on between you and Sora?"
Taichi sighed dejectedly, now that Yamato had already put forward his question he had to answer it since that was the rule the two always followed. He was sprawled on the floor of the roof with Yamato sitting a few feet away from him, leaning on the railing. He fixed his eyes on a cloud and tried to follow its movement as the blond waited patiently for him to reply.
"Her mom has made her join introductory Ikebana classes. She even wants Sora to study that at university level."
"And?" Yamato prompted him.
"And Sora has agreed to do it." Taichi mumbled quietly.
"So what's your problem?" Yamato asked casually.
Taichi sat up and glared at the blond, "I know she doesn't want to do this okay? She doesn't like this stuff at all. You know she runs faster than me? And she's good with Tennis, Volleyball and Soccer. She doesn't need to learn flower-arrangement!" He retorted furiously.
"That's not something for you to decide. Sora can make her own decisions." The blond replied calmly.
"I know her better than anyone else, she doe-"
"Did she say her mom is forcing her to take these classes?"
Taichi was silent for a few minutes and then he replied grudgingly, annoyed that his best friend wasn't taking his side, "No. Her mother suggested it and Sora decided to try it."
"There's nothing wrong with trying new things right?"
"She's going to hate it."
"If she does then she'll stop doing it, at least give her the chance to try."
Taichi grimaced and turned on his side with his back now facing Yamato, "If she likes it then-"
Yamato sighed exasperatedly and interrupted his best friend once again, "If she likes it then she'll still hang out with you. Do you really think Sora only spends time with you because of your common interests? No, idiot, she does it because she likes you."
"Not in the same way that I like her."
"You don't know that for sure." The blond encouraged him, "You're going to have to ask her out first."
"I already did."
"What?"
"I already asked her out last week and she turned me down." The brunet muttered, he could imagine the look of shock on his best friend's face quite well so he decided against turning around to face him.
Yamato didn't know how to respond to that. Should he ask him why Sora said no or should he let the topic go? He really had no experience regarding this kind of talk but he wanted to help Tai so he decided to venture on to dangerous territory, "Why did she turn you down?"
It was easier for him to question his friend since the latter had his back to him. If he had to look Taichi directly in his face and ask him that question, the blond would never have been able to say it without stuttering a million times. He knew how much Tai cared for Sora and he had also noticed how happy Sora was when she was around the brunet, every time Tai walked into the room, Sora's face lit up like a Christmas tree. She was the only one who laughed at his poor jokes or actually paid attention to his bizarre plans. She was the only one who could argue with him about sports teams and athlete stats and scold him about his shitty habits. She was the only who left him tongue tied and kept him always on his toes. It was for these reasons that Taichi had fallen in love with her and Yamato had assumed, that she had fallen for him too and that's why the fact that she turned him down didn't make sense to the blond. Taichi moved suddenly and Yamato gulped nervously, waiting for him to reply.
The brunet sat up, crossing his legs and running a hand through his hair, he faced his friend and answered the lingering question, "She said that, it's not like she doesn't want to be with me. She likes me a lot too. But-" He paused and took a deep breath before continuing, "But, her mother doesn't want her to date me."
Yamato was taken aback, he frowned and questioned the brunet again, "And Sora is okay with that?"
"She's not, but she doesn't want to disappoint her mother so she thinks its best that for now we stay just friends until the right time comes." Taichi emphasised the last part in a perfect Sora impersonation.
If the blond hadn't been so distraught, he would've commended Taichi for his talents. He couldn't even imagine how much his best friend must be suffering inside. He had managed to maintain the goofy exterior without fail and Yamato wondered whether Sora could tell he was hurting, he wondered if she was also feeling the same things or not.
"Anyway, it's been more than 5 minutes. It's my turn now." Taichi said as he rubbed his hands together in anticipation of the blond's embarrassment.
"Fine, go ahead." Yamato replied, half-heartedly.
"Let me make it clear, I'm going to ask you two questions." Taichi said, putting up two fingers in front of Yamato's face to ensure that he understood.
"Not fair. I only asked you one." Yamato frowned and pushed his hand away from his face.
"Technically, no. You asked me why I was fighting with Sora and then you asked me why she turned me down, two entirely different things." Taichi smirked.
"Fine, whatever. Just make it quick." Yamato replied wearily.
"Why are you running away from Mimi?"
Yamato had already braced himself for this question the minute Taichi had said 'we need to talk' instead of his usual 'morning, blondie'. He had already prepared what he was going to say so he took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a few seconds before talking.
"Because I think that what I'm feeling for her is fake." He glanced at Tai to see if his best friend understood what he meant and saw him frowning and tilting his head in confusion. Yamato rolled his eyes and asked the universe why he couldn't just communicate through telepathy because every time he said his thoughts out loud, they seemed to make much less sense and sound more stupid than they did in his head.
"If you hadn't told me about how she felt, we probably wouldn't even be talking about this right now. I mean sure, I'm thinking about her all the time now but the fact is that it's only happening because you told me. I didn't notice it at all before and so I think my brain is just forcing it on me now, why are you laughing?"
Yamato glared at the brunet who was now clutching his stomach and grinning from ear to ear. He wondered if his friend had even paid attention to anything he had said before because he was in no mood to repeat such silly things.
"You're thinking about her all the time?" Taichi raised an eyebrow, the grin never leaving his face.
Yamato felt his cheeks and ears get hot and he figured he resembled a tomato right now but he still managed to cry out, "That's not the point!"
"The point is Yama, that at least a hundred girls have confessed to you and you never gave them a second thought. But, when I told you about Mimi you reacted instantly. Doesn't that say something?" Taichi looked at him hopefully.
"If it does, I don't understand it at all." Yamato muttered, rubbing his forehead, all this talk was confusing him again and he felt like his head would burst any second.
"You told me before, that looking at Mimi's face makes it easier for you to perform right?"
"What does that have to do-"
"Everything! It has everything to do with everything!" Taichi interrupted him impatiently, "What I'm trying to say is that maybe you've always felt a little something for Mimi but you're just realising it now."
Yamato considered Taichi's words for some time. Mimi's presence was soothing for him at his concerts and though they didn't talk much, he did like hearing her voice or watching her smile. He'd never attached any meaning to these feelings because he just hadn't imagined that Mimi would be interested in him.
"Even so, I can't just approach her on 3 days' worth of feelings!" Yamato felt the colour return to his cheeks as he said that because it meant that he was acknowledging the fact that he had feelings for Mimi. The thought made him feel a little queasy and he wondered if that was his black hole of a heart rejecting all the mushy feelings.
Taichi groaned loudly and yelled at him, "Fuck Yamato, I'm not asking you to marry her tomorrow. I'm just saying that you should spend more time with her. Talk to her, get to know her better and then decide."
"Oh." Yamato muttered quietly.
Taichi passed him an exasperated look, "You're supposed to be the smarter one."
"Trust me, I'm not a big fan of the omniscient you either." Yamato shot back.
"The fuck is omnishent?"
And for the first time that day, Yamato let the smile take over his face.
Satisfied with the conversation, Taichi got up and dusted his trousers, "Come on, we're late for class." He said opening the door of the roof and stepping out.
"So. Talking to Mimi. That shouldn't be difficult right?" Yamato followed him out, a hint of nervousness in his voice.
Taichi snickered, "Oh this is going to be so much fun to watch."
"You still have one more question left." The blond reminded him as they neared their classroom.
Taichi turned around and smirked at him, "I'm gonna save that one for later."
-x-
A/N: No, Sora's mom isn't a villain, she just thinks of Taichi as the delinquent type. I hope to stay possessed so that I can write more and as always, reviews are much appreciated.