*Riiing!*
'Alright, that will be all. Have a nice weekend and good luck with the assignment!'
Their class teacher, Mr. Egawa walked out of the classroom with the students preparing to leave as well, though among them, one of the less enthusiastic ones was Mimi Tachikawa, who glanced at her assignment sheet with a sigh of frustration.
('Why does it have to be computers…') She thought to herself, scanning the containments of the sheet one more time for clarification.
Mr. Egawa requested his classmates to submit their math homework digitally through a newly set up program, the kids being given a sheet of paper containing the URL for downloading the program along with a unique digit-based username and password.
This was being done in response to the increasing reliance on the internet and the school staff took this as a test initiative to see if students could adjust to digital appliances as well.
Mimi however, wasn't too optimistic about this. She wasn't the most excelling at computers since the only one at her home was in the living room and her father only uses it for work when he's home.
And while her math grades were average at best, she realized awhile ago that she needed to put serious work into it. Yet despite her resolve she continued to score average grades, and she tried to ask her parents a few days ago for assistance but they weren't the best with math themselves either.
Then, it suddenly hit her: 'Koushiro!'
Looking up, she noticed the classroom was practically empty with the last few students just leaving the room, and she hurried out as well, intending to find the red-haired boy.
('I know he'll be likely to help me. After all, we–')
'Hey Mimi!' A voice called out to her in the hallway, and turning around, noticed it was Taako, one of her friends alongside Mi-chan standing next to her, waving to her.
'Oh, Taako!' Mimi smiled, but had the intention of briefly keeping their chatter short as she had priorities on her mind.
'Want to go to town and get something to drink? I can use something refreshing after today.' Taako suggested, but Mimi politely shrugged her head, smiling. 'I'd love to, really, but I'm a bit busy this afternoon. How about we do that tomorrow?'
'Oh? Sure, that shouldn't be a problem–' Mimi then darted her eyes to the left. 'Thanks! Oh by the way, did you two see Koushiro just now? I need to ask something of him.'
'Koushiro? I think he went that way.' Taako pointed to the south. Mimi thanked her and rushed off. 'I'll call you later, bye!'
The two were left in confusion. 'Mimi wants to ask something of Koushiro?'
'Yeah…don't you find it weird? Prior to last summer, she hardly talked to him. And ever since that brief camping trip she suddenly seems well-acquainted with him in class.'
'Hey… could you think she likes him?' The two snickered over that thought, finding it ridiculous. 'Nah, that's too silly to even think about.'
Still having no idea where he is as she exited the school grounds, she then got reminded of the Digivices they still had since their return from the Digital World.( 'Let's see… there was a function to locate other Digivices…there we go!') She noticed a red dot on her display north of her, and hurried over the streets, noticing a familiar short red-haired boy in the distance.
'Koushiro!' Snapping out of his thoughts as he took a shortcut through a park, he turned his head around spotting Mimi running towards him.
'Oh, hey Mimi. Is there something you need?' Koushiro smiled faintly at her.
'Yes, you could say that. Are you by any chance available soon?'
'Available soon? Well, I don't have anything urgently planned, but what is it you require of me?'
'Well, you know that math assignment that requires us to download something, right?'
An half hour later, Koushiro sighed to himself as he was cycling his way over towards Mimi's residence, using the small piece of paper she noted her address on to locate where it exactly was.
('Why does she require my help exactly? The instructions to download the program seemed pretty straightforward to me, and I doubt navigating a PC seemed that complicated. Still…')
Noticing the apartment complex where she lives he parked his bicycle near the public parking spot for other bikes, wrapped a lock around the wheel and made his way up the staircase to the 8th floor and through the open walkway.
Scanning through the digit addresses, he noticed what immediately gave away it was her residence to him: A small wooden sign on the door displaying 3 figures on it of which Mimi was in the very center, and the family name 'Tachikawa' in bold letters underneath them.
Pressing on the doorbell, he was greeted by a woman with a smile on her face.
'Oh hello, you must be that classmate boy Mimi said would be coming over! Um, what was it again… Kashiko…?'
'K-Koushiro, Ms. Tachikawa, I presume?' He was caught off guard by her over-enthusiastic demeanor.
'Right! Come on in, Koushiro!' She gestured her arm out as she stepped to the side, him stepping through the doorway although still a bit nervous for reasons he couldn't quite put his finger on.
Leading him to the main living room, Koushiro spotted Mimi sitting in front of a PC stationed on a desk near a corner in the furthest end of the room.
'Mimi! Your classmate's here!' She turned around and waved to Koushiro.
'Oh, just in time, I was just turning it on. Come on over!'
'Now now, dear, shouldn't you first make our guest feel welcome? Would you like something to drink, Koushiro?'
'Oh, sure.' He took off his backpack. 'Would you by any chance happen to have oolong tea?'
'Oolong tea, hm? I think I do. Just a minute.' Walking over to the kitchen portion, Koushiro himself approached Mimi who was still looking at the loading screen of the monitor.
'Your mother's really nice.' Koushiro commented as he grabbed a nearby stool and sat down next to Mimi, noticing she had her math books from school lying next to the monitor.
'Mm-hm! Dad's still busy with work, but he was alright with us using his computer.'
As the main screen finished loading, Koushiro showed Mimi the URL link and told her where to click and input it.
'Here you go.' Mimi's mother Satoe placed the drink on a table in close proximity to Koushiro, him smiling as he grabbed it. 'Thanks, Ms. Tachikawa.'
'You're welcome dear! Oh, that reminds me, I need to head out for a bit to do some grocery shopping, I forgot some ingredients for tonight's dinner. You two will be fine on your own, yes?'
'Oh it's fine, mama! Have a good trip!' Mimi hugged her mother goodbye and Koushiro nodded, Satoe hurrying over to swap into outdoor clothing, the two hearing the door close indicating she was gone.
A few minutes later, Mimi smiled as she not only got the program running and logged on, but Koushiro also showed her how to make her own e-mail account so that the verification process and any news regarding the school would come in to her and not flood her father's inbox.
'Yes, thank you so much, Koushiro!' Finishing up his drink, he nodded and intended to step off the stool and make his way home to do his assignment homework before dinner.
'You're welcome, Mimi. I have to get going–huh?'
He felt her hand grab his arm gently, her eyes daring to the corners of her eyelids.
'Um… Koushiro?' She blushed, making his heart pound as to what she was going to ask…
'I-I know this sounds probably selfish, but would you like to help me out with my math homework?'
His eyes widened at that question, and briefly backed off. 'What?! Mimi, you only asked me if I could help you set up the program. You didn't say anything about math as well.' It then hit him as to why the books were placed next to the monitor as well.
'Besides, I'm not going to do your homework for you–'
'I know!' Mimi interrupted him, and looked at the books with a depressed frown in her face.
'And… I don't intend for you to do my homework for me. It's just that… I feel embarrassed talking about it in public because my math grades aren't the best, and I don't know who to turn to because I don't want others in our class to start gossiping about it plus my parents aren't the best at math either.'
'Mimi…do you mean that?' Koushiro grabbed one of the books.
'Yes. I have been trying to do better on my own the past 2 weeks, but it's all so complicated that I get frustrated from it.' She placed her hand on his arm once again but in a gentle manner this time.
'Koushiro, I'm really sorry to ask this, but could you stay for just one more hour or something to tutor me? I'll do the assignments on my own but I only want to ask you for help in explaining something that I just don't get, okay?'
'Mimi, I…' He thought about it for a few seconds, being genuinely surprised by her request, and feeling somewhat bad for assuming she was just taking advantage of his intelligence and that they've gone through so much together. Plus, she caught on to stuff easily from the program installation earlier.
'Alright, I can spare some more time to help you out. Let's waste no time and fire up the program, okay?'
'Got it!' She opened up the window again with one hand on the mouse while grabbing for a book with the other.
30 minutes gradually passed, and out of an indicator on the screen showing the progress percentage, she was about almost a third out of four done at 74%.
'Okay, so this equation, how does this work?'
Koushiro was genuinely impressed. He didn't say anything but from his observation, she was correct on the majority of the questions and puzzles, and he didn't have to explain stuff as much as he thought he should have. She worked out the test equations he provided relevant to the actual questions on-screen on her own and not once asked him if what she inputted for solutions on the program's questions was correct.
('She really does take her math homework seriously.'), he thought to himself, smiling softly.
'And that's done!' Mimi exclaimed as she saw the notification along with the progress rate showing 100%. It took about 42 minutes in total, much to Koushiro's surprise, as he took a look at the clock display on the lower right of the screen, and finished drinking his 2nd serving of oolong tea that he helped himself to during the homework session.
'Good work, Mimi.' He gave her a thumbs-up as he got off the stool and placed the used glass back in the kitchen.
'Thanks Koushiro, but… do you really have to go now?' Mimi asked him, submitting the homework and shutting off both the program and PC afterwards.
'Yes, it's 5 PM and I need to get home in time for dinner, as it takes about 20 minutes to reach my home from yours on the bicycle.'
'Alright, take care Koushiro, and thanks for all your help!' They waved each other goodbye as he grabbed his backpack and left through the front door, but somehow… she felt empty that he had to leave so suddenly.
'That Koushiro… making time for me on such short notice.' She whispered to herself, thinking about him as she peeked through the main window outside to the city.
('We both went through alot back in the Digital World, it's hard to really think back to how before that summer three months ago, he was still that silent boy who didn't interact with anyone in the class, let alone even help someone like me out with something.')
The memories of their journey and struggles both in the Digital World and here in Odaiba are still fresh in her mind as if it happened yesterday.
Though a few minutes later, her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of her mother entering the home, calling out to her. 'I'm home! Mimi?''
'Oh, over here, mom!'
Though during the evening as both the Izumi and Tachikawa families finished their dinner and were spending their evening at their own leisure, Mimi was in her room calling Taako through her own cell phone to reassure them of their meeting tomorrow afternoon.
'Alright, 1 PM it is. See you then!'
'See you then Mimi! I'll let Mi-chan know.' *beep*
As Mimi hung up, another idea came up in her mind. She was sure her mother wouldn't mind what she was going to ask of her, but first she had to know something else as she dialed another number…
'Hello? Takenouchi residence?'
Much later, as Koushiro finished browsing through the internet and prepared to go to sleep in his bed, his mind turned to Mimi once more.
('…Still can't believe she actually takes her math homework seriously. Guess we all changed in certain ways…') Confident that she'd get a good grade for it after the weekend was over, he pulled the sheets over his body, dozing off.
The next morning though, as the clock hit 11:00 and the sun was shining brightly in Odaiba, a certain pink-hatted girl was walking through the streets, using the directions on a sheet of paper for a hand drawn map to navigate herself, carrying a bag on her left arm as well.
'Ah, here should be that apartment complex. Now which address?…' She said as she flipped the sheet around.
*Riing* The doorbell rang, surprising Ms. Izumi as she shut off the vacuum cleaner and walked to the front door.
'Hello!' A girl dressed in red and wearing a pink cowboy hat greeted her. 'Is this the Izumi residence?'
'That's right.' Kae responded, smiling softly. 'Is there something I help you with, miss…?'
'Mimi Tachikawa. I came to bring you this as a gift to Koushiro for his help yesterday at my place.' Offering the bag to her, Kae gladly accepted it.
'Oh, thank you so much. Koushiro did mention he had to help a classmate out with some computer stuff when he came back home from school. I guess that would have been you?'
'That's right, and I wanted to repay the favor with something delicious.' Mimi smiled.
'That's so kind of you.' She then looked at the contents of the bag, containing what looked like cookies and a letter.'
'Enjoy, I need to head off now!' She waved goodbye as she made her way to the staircase, Kae waving as well in response. 'Thanks again, Mimi!'
Closing the front door, she then knocked on the door to the left. 'Koushiro?'
Pausing his browsing, he opened up. 'Yes, mom?'
'Here, I just received this bag as a gift from that girl you apparently helped yesterday.'
'A gift? From Mimi?' He accepted it, feeling both grateful and confused, but smiled to her regardless. 'Thanks mom. Um… did she mention anything about me, by the way?'
'No, but I did notice there was a letter inside that bag. Maybe it's directed at you from her?' She simply smiled warmly.
He blushed slightly from embarrassment, but shrugged it off. 'Heheh… I'll check it out. Thanks again.'
As he closed the door, she resumed her vacuuming. ('He's grown into such an helpful boy… that Mimi girl seemed really nice too!')
'How did she know my address?' Sitting behind his desk, he checked the bag, noticing a bunch of cookies and just as his mother noted, a letter. Unfolding it, he started reading it:
'Hey Koushiro! I really wanted to repay you for your help yesterday so I told my mom I wanted to help bake some of the usual strawberry-flavored cookies she prepares weekly for us at home so I can deliver them to you next thing in the morning. Hope you and your parents enjoy them! If you ever want to do something together or just talk about something, mind emailing my inbox? I know you probably still remember it, but I included it at the bottom of this letter just in case.
Thanks again!
By the way, in case you wonder how I got your address, I asked Sora last night.'
-Mimi
('Heh…so that's how.) He took the bag with him out of his room, intending to share it with his parents, and feeling slightly flustered, was trying to think of something to mail back to her later…
END
