A/N: OKAY this was supposed to be drabble/filler chapter but then I started writing and it turned into a thing and now it's a full chapter and a fast update so I guess I don't have to apologize for anything.

Thank you everyone for reviewing the previous chapter, means a lot!

-x-

Mimi raised her eyes towards the heavens, questioning them where she had gone wrong in her life to be stuck in this situation right now. She had already abandoned the whiny habits and demanding nature that she had possessed during her younger years, well at least she had let go of most of them as Kou-chan would've pointed out. But, she did truly believe that she was the best version of herself as of now and that should amount to something. So why had the universe decided that when she and her parents made a random plan to go watch a movie together this evening, they just happened to run into Yamato-kun and Takeru-chan at the theatre.

The even more important question was, why were Yamato-kun and Takeru-chan in this movie hall anyway? Why couldn't they just watch a movie at home while building up their brotherly bonds in a comfortable space? Why was her mother so talkative and social? Why was Takeru-chan gloating like he had just won the lottery? These were all the things that that special someone in heaven other people liked to call God was supposed to answer for Mimi via email or text or right now. Especially the part about her mother, though it looked like her dad had been asking that question for quite a while now. This whole predicament could've been avoided if her mother had just stayed quiet and pretended not to notice anyone. But if life were that simple, Mimi surely wouldn't be thinking of texting God right now.

"Oh my, isn't that Ishida-kun and Takeru-kun?"

At her mother's voice the two blonds who were standing a little ahead of them in the line turned around, their faces holding expressions the complete opposite of each other. The brunette had already noticed them a few minutes back, and she had decided to hide behind her parents till they were inside the dark hall. As her mother waved at them, Takeru-chan's face lit up with a playful grin as he looked at his brother, then Mimi and then at his brother again, the grin spreading with every turn his face took. Yamato-kun on the other hand, took one look at Mimi and his eyes turned upwards, just like Mimi's had a few minutes ago, probably asking the same questions. Her mother decided to drag her and her dad to where the two of them standing so that they could talk properly. The brunette looked around for options that could swallow her whole right this instant.

"It's been so long since I last saw you, Ishida-kun! Takeru-kun still comes around occasionally, my god you've grown so tall." Her mother remarked, smiling brightly as they came to a stop next to the brothers.

The older blond smiled a little in response, bowing his head slightly to show his respect. Discomfort was visible on his face but he played it off with polite nods and stiff smiles. Her mother didn't seem to notice this so she continued asking questions, some were answered by Takeru-chan but most were directed towards Yamato-kun, as her mother was bent on catching up with him. Mimi hovered in the background, counting the minutes till they would be allowed to go inside the hall and this torture, for both her and Yamato-kun, would be over. Her dad seemed to notice her attempted disinterest in talking to her friends and eyed her suspiciously. He was well aware that Mimi had inherited her mother's social skills and thus was surprised that she wasn't charging forward and babbling things.

"Mimi told me you're in a band. That's amazing! She says you sing like an angel."

That was it, Mimi thought, as she stared at the ground intensely wishing for a hole to open up so she could fall into an endless pit. She felt Yamato's gaze on her for a brief moment and she knew that her face was more than just pink by now. She swore on her soon-to-be dead heart that she would never, ever talk to her mother about Yamato-kun again. Even if they did start dating and they did get married, her mom would not be invited.

"I wouldn't go that far…" Yamato replied awkwardly, she wasn't brave to enough to look up at him so she didn't know what he was feeling exactly, but she could tell from his voice that he was embarrassed.

"Yes, our daughter does exaggerate things quite often. Besides, this band thing just sounds like a waste of time, you should concentrate on your studies more. You guys will be entering the last year of high school now."

Okay, so her dad was uninvited as well.

There was a long pause after her dad's statement in which her mom nudged him really hard and shot him a death glare, Takeru-kun's grin faltered as he deadpanned slightly afraid of what his brother might do, and Mimi finally decided to look up. The minute they went back home, the brunette was planning to shun her parents. She couldn't even believe that her dad would say something so mean to her friend on their face, he didn't even know yet that Yamato-kun could be her potential boyfriend and he was already giving him such a hard time, she could only imagine what he would do if they ever started dating. And of course, there was her dear mother. Who just could not stop herself from blurting out things. Mimi decided then, that unlike Sora-chan, she wouldn't bother to tell her parents anything about her love life.

She was surprised to see that Yamato-kun was looking right at her when she did raise her head, he held her eyes before turning to smile politely at her father. She couldn't tell what he was thinking, she wasn't used to Yamato-kun looking at her, just looking at her since they barely ever got time together. But this had been different and she wanted to know what it meant, his azure eyes were devoid of any anger or irritation that she thought he might have felt at her dad, instead they were completely calm. And at this moment, Mimi understood that the blond usually conveyed his feelings not through words, or his face but through his eyes, which she had failed to notice up until now because she hadn't dared to hold his gaze for longer than five seconds.

"I do completely agree with you, Tachikawa-san. I only started the band thing because there's a little bit of money that comes out of it and I just want to help my dad with the expenses in every way that I can."

She could tell from the way Takeru-chan's eyes widened, that what the older blond had said right now was total bullshit. Her dad looked taken aback by the answer and Mimi thought it served him right for being so rude in the first place, Yamato-kun had a humble look on his face but it didn't really reach his eyes. His eyes were flashing in a challenging manner, and she realized that his music and anyone who didn't respect it were things that the blond didn't take lightly.

"Ah, well. That's a good thing then." Her dad muttered quietly, the look of disapproval deepening on his face.

Mimi remembered then, that her dad always did have a problem with Tai-chan and Yamato-kun. He had told her that he liked Jyou-senpai the best out of all of her male friends and that Takeru and Koushiro were fine but he'd prefer it if she didn't spend much time with the remaining two. Even though Tai-chan and Yamato-kun were probably the most noble out of all of them, people always got the impression that they were the bad influence. It was just a weird delinquent aura that they gave off around parents. Looking at Yamato-kun right now in his black jeans and black combat boots, with a dark grey t-shirt (that almost bordered on black), and his messy golden hair (that many people assumed was bleached) and the look of perpetual disinterest on his face, he sure looked like every teenage girl's dream guy and their father's worst enemy.

"Oh you boys must join us for dinner." Her mother chirped, trying to replace the tension with her perky attitude. But luckily for Mimi, everyone, other than her mom, was opposed to that idea.

"Sweetheart, you really shouldn't force them like that." Her father smiled forcefully.

"As much as we would love to, Tachikawa-san-" Takeru-chan began.

"I already prepared dinner before coming here." Yamato finished for him.

"And mom, they don't really get to spend time together that often so we shouldn't intrude…"Mimi muttered finally deciding to speak up. Linking her arm with her mom's, she hoped that her mother would get the hint that this was their cue to leave, but instead her mother only took back one thing from all of it.

"Ishida-kun, you know how to cook?" She asked, bewildered.

"Oh, Nii-san is an amazing cook" Takeru-chan grinned in reply.

And Mimi saw it then, the switch that went off in her mother's head. After all, the same switch had gone off in her head years ago, turning her into the lovesick groupie she was right now.

"The movie's about to start." Her dad motioned towards the entrance of the hall trying to get his wife's attention, but her mom was too busy bombarding the older blond with more questions, she had unlinked herself from Mimi and was now walking with the two boys. Mimi was with her dad as they entered and the others were behind them when she heard her mom say "tall, handsome, good singer and a good cook? I'm surprised Mimi hasn't snatched you yet, that's basically her checklist". The brunette was thankful that the hall was dark and her dad couldn't see the colour rise in her cheeks, she heard Takeru-chan laugh and although she was curious about Yamato-kun's reaction, she was more worried for herself and the possibilities of death by embarrassment. She studied the floor and let her dad usher her into her seat as the opening credits of the movie began. If she had decided to look up however, she probably wouldn't have ended up sitting next to the blond who was responsible for her fast heartbeat and red face.

-x-

Takeru had picked the movie, instead of staying in and playing video games and if they had done the latter, Yamato surely would've been more relaxed right now. Mimi's mother's words were ringing in his head, not allowing him to concentrate on the movie. Well that, and the fact that Mimi was sitting right next to him was also one of the reasons he couldn't think straight. She was sitting between him and Takeru, with her parents on Takeru's other side, her dad being farthest away from Yamato. Which was a good thing, because the blond wasn't his biggest fan right now. All the confidence that he had possessed a few hours ago, at the terrace in front of Taichi and Koushiro had gone up into flames the minute he'd seen Mimi in the waiting line outside the theatre. He had begged Takeru to leave but his diabolical little brother had walked up in front of her family, waiting till her mother noticed them and everything that happened after that was now permanently etched into his brain.

He took a sideway glance at the brunette and noticed that she wasn't watching the movie either but was rather playing with the hem of her dress, her hair was falling loose and covering her face, blocking Yamato's view. He shifted his eyes back at the movie screen and contemplated the situation. They were in a dark hall, supposed to be watching a movie, which means that there was no reason for them to make eye-contact, plus the lack of light made it easier to hide the colour on one's face, so if Yamato had to get used to talking to Mimi on a one-on-one basis, here would be the right place to start. He sunk a little in his seat till he reached her level, making sure to keep his eyes fixed on the screen and in the quietest voice manageable, started talking to her.

"It's good to know that you have a checklist."

He saw from the corner of his eyes that she covered her face with her hands, he couldn't help but think that her embarrassment was cute and he had to work really hard to stop the smile from spreading wider on his face. She didn't speak for some time, but then she uncovered her face and sighed, leaning towards him slightly to make sure that Takeru wasn't privy to their conversation, she whispered back.

"Can you just forget everything my parents said today? Every single thing?"

"No way, some of it was really good stuff."

"I'm sorry about my dad."

"You don't have to apologize for that." He paused and when there was no reply from her side, he smirked, "The fact that you think I sing like an angel kind of makes up for it."

Yamato didn't need to look in her direction to know that she was blushing right now, he could feel her squirming and fidgeting in her seat. The blond thought that this feeling wasn't that bad, teasing Mimi was fun and if he wasn't such a loser when it came to social interactions, he'd do it more often. For a while she didn't say anything and Yamato thought that maybe she didn't want to talk anymore, but then she spoke quietly.

"Why does what I think about you matter to you anyway?"

Yamato blinked, taken aback by her reply. He wanted to look at her while answering but he knew that would catch Takeru's attention so he forced himself to keep his eyes fixed on the screen. This was his second chance to prove that he was interested in her as more than just a friend and he wasn't going to blow it up like he did last week at his balcony.

"For many reasons."

"Name one." She murmured.

Yamato thought out his next few words carefully, and waited a while before replying.

"Taichi thinks that I should've told you this earlier but," he paused and he heard her gulp, "I wasn't sure what you'd think so I didn't bother." He took a deep breath before speaking again as he couldn't believe that he was actually going to admit this to Mimi out loud, "When I'm on the stage during concerts, looking at your face and the smile you have makes it easier for me to perform…"

Yamato thought that Mimi had stopped breathing because she went completely still. He was about to turn and check up on her when he felt her grab his arm. Her hand clutched his arm tightly and one glance at her told him that she was trying very hard to control her urge to squeal. The blond also checked up on his brother and her parents and was relieved to see that they were engrossed in the movie and were definitely not paying any attention to the two of them. He settled back in his seat, feeling content because of how happy Mimi seemed to be by just this piece of information. He was sure that she'd probably faint whenever he decided to finally ask her out.

"Really?" She managed to ask after a few minutes, trying very hard to keep her voice down, despite of how excited she was.

"Yeah, uh, it's kinda easy to spot you in the crowd so," The blond could tell from her voice that her caramel eyes would be shining bright with bliss right now and just thinking of that, and the fact that she was holding his arm, made the colour rise in his cheeks and he hated himself for stuttering.

"But why is it easy to spot me?"

"Uhm, you know, because you're uh…"Yamato mentally kicked himself for being so silly and in a voice lower than the one they were using he managed to say, "because you're really pretty so, uh it's easier…"

Her grip on his arm tightened and he understood that she was concealing more squeals. He decided to stay quiet after that because he was sure that he wouldn't be able to form a coherent sentence anymore and he didn't want to embarrass himself in front of her. Even though it wasn't much, Yamato felt that they had progressed a little further. He had made her understand that her feelings weren't a lost cause, and that if he tried, he wasn't a lost cause either and that was more than enough for now. She didn't let go of his arm till the end of the movie and when they all got up to leave, Takeru eyed them suspiciously but somehow the two managed to look aloof and normal, not flustered and embarrassed and Yamato felt like they deserved a medal for that, because on the inside he was bursting with emotions he'd never felt before, feelings he didn't think someone like him could feel. In other words, he was as happy as it gets and though his face held a blank expression, his azure eyes sparkled like the ocean.

-x-

A/N: Hahaha. Was this any good? I think I went easy on Yama by giving him a totally safe situation to start with. Next time he's gonna have to do this with Taichi present. Leave a review, if you can, always helps!