Wisselen
Author's Note: Set after Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna. Enjoy the story and R&R.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to or of the Digimon series.
Pairings: Established Daisuke x Michael. Referenced one-sided (canon) Daisuke x Hikari, one-sided (canon) Koushiro x Mimi.
Summary:
Come for what you want in Tachikawa Mimi's online store. Leave with what you need.
"Give it a try! If you don't experience positive results, you can have a refund!"
Daisuke lingered on Mimi's original sales pitch. Running an online store for cute items suited her. She was a clever and somewhat conniving business girl, but more importantly, successful, offering her customers what they thought they wanted, but giving them what they actually needed.
He was convinced. She'd done the exact thing for him, changing his life in a single transaction.
Mimi wasn't selling exotic articles so much as she was selling epiphanies.
He'd spent years chasing the dream of being a sparkle in Hikari's eye. It'd been humiliating, obsessive, and now, with the benefit of hindsight, admittedly a little creepy.
A three-piece rose tea set. That was the item Daisuke found on Mimi's website which he planned on getting Hikari for her birthday.
But Daisuke shouldn't just present the tea set unopened, Mimi stressed. To truly impress, he needed to show her knew the proper way to prepare and serve the tea.
He couldn't be clumsy about this. There was an art. A dance. A ballet.
Outside the ceremonial aspects of cooking ramen, Daisuke wasn't familiar with such rituals. Mimi intended on teaching him the nitty-gritty herself.
In retrospect, this was part of her ingenious manipulation as well.
Who says Koushiro was the only genius? And yes, he realizes Ken was technically a former genius, and there was also Miyako to a degree, except he'd never let her win that award.
Mimi flew in one afternoon to meet Daisuke (favouring pampering herself on the plane instead of taking a Digital Gate, despite the cost), and brought Michael.
She'd made a habit of traditional travel after bouncing around between Japan and America over and over due to Papa's job and the incidents involving Diablomon and Kuwagamon, relishing the comedy of demanding Taichi pony up the dough for her airfare and dropping in unexpectedly to tease Koushiro about his crush on her.
Nauseating though it may sound, the warm milk and lima beans they handed out during the inflight meal service weren't half bad, and Mimi had developed a weakness for them. So much so she ordered them every flight.
Okay, returning to Daisuke.
Michael wasn't provided any particulars in advance as to why they were going to Japan, other than to visit Daisuke. Which was cool with Michael; he and Daisuke got along great, and Michael had no reason to suspect Mimi invited him to do anything else.
While Mimi taught Daisuke what she'd promised, Michael stood and waited quietly. As the minutes dragged on, however, he took a keener closeup at Daisuke and Mimi's tutorial, enraptured with growing fascination. It was then that Mimi delivered the coup de grâce: a sage wink at Michael, like a thorny rapier impaling all his heart's secrets on its blade, spearing them out through his back and into the open.
One piercing glance, and Michael stiffened. He might've looked the same if Betamon shocked him or if Seadramon froze him. He was a teenager again, on his dad's jet with Daisuke, hot-cheeked from having to confirm to Daisuke he was indeed the son of the Hollywood movie star in the pilot seat.
Maybe his dad's movies were partially responsible. They'd primed Daisuke with a certain image…a conception of American good looks Daisuke admired and subconsciously climbed towards.
It was awkward for Michael to imagine his father's rugged appearance and perfect teeth might have contributed to Daisuke's eventual renunciation of Hikari. Michael didn't glamourize himself.
"Is this right?"
"You've got it, Daisuke-kun!"
Daisuke poured the tea. The smell was strong. Quite pungent, in fact. Far from your garden-variety extract, this blend – "Forbidden Temptation" – was Mimi and Palmon's own creation. The base was derived from Rosemon's petals, mixed with ground persimmon leaves, mint, and chia seeds. For the final ingredient, Mimi had asked Koushiro to scan Palmon and isolate the data for the miraculous stench belonging to Rafflesimon, an alternate Ultimate in her partner Digimon's evolutionary line. In essence, plucking hidden fruit off a vine.
With Koushiro's assistance, they'd distilled the enthralling power of one of the Digital World's leading beauties into liquid form. The new couples she'd set into bloom, Mimi could've marketed Forbidden Temptation as a bona fide love potion, but that would've removed the personal touch. The tea was the vehicle, not the driver. Mimi enjoyed a pinch of chaos with her tea.
"I did it! Haha, thanks Mimi-san! Hikari-chan will be impressed!"
"Considering the number you've done on Michael, I don't doubt it, Daisuke-kun."
"On Michael?"
Michael's heart was still outside his chest, metaphorically speaking. His cheeks were as red as the petals used to boil Forbidden Temptation, and the charm he usually displayed was pooling behind his neck.
That's where Mimi came in. She stirred the pot.
"Michael's had his eye on you, Daisuke-kun."
Her bestie opened his mouth, yet gulped down what he was going to say.
Stunned too, Daisuke went through a silent identity crisis in a matter of seconds. Daisuke was mainly straight, except Mimi knew he harboured a gay streak (even if he couldn't fess up). Regardless of the nerve her product gave him, deep down, a shred of him definitely already accepted it wouldn't pan out with Hikari.
"Go!" Mimi slapped Michael across his sweaty shirt.
"Daisuke, I –"
"Nope!" Daisuke stopped him. "Allow me."
Mimi smiled. Look at Daisuke acting all mature!
"You like me. Like I like Hikari-chan?"
"I am int-er-usted, Daisuke. Yes." Michael stuck his hands in his pockets.
Betamon and Chibimon were engaged in a stare-off as their humans were, Betamon from Michael's shoulder, and Chibimon from the top of Daisuke's head.
"Daisuke, have you kissed a woman?" Michael claimed the next move.
"Gyuh!" Daisuke squeaked. "H-have you?"
"I have. Women and men, I mean."
Pink gas rose off the cup Daisuke poured.
"I…haven't. Women, I mean!" he accidentally confessed to kissing men.
Michael chuckled.
"Michael! That's not what I meant!"
"I'm sorry." The blond cleared his throat. "You're right. It isn't funny."
"I thought it was funny!" Mimi raised, and Chibimon agreed.
"Mimi-san, you were supposed to help me with Hikari-chan!" Daisuke griped.
"Oh! You're requesting a refund?"
He drifted back to staring at Michael. Michael was…good looking, like his movie star dad.
The hairs on Michael's neck shot up. Urk.
Daisuke flitted from Michael, to Mimi, to Chibimon, back to Mimi.
"Can I keep it and try it out for a week?"
Daisuke's quest to impress Hikari ended there. He never bugged Mimi for a refund, and the tea set sits in Daisuke's kitchen to this day, trotted out whenever Michael swings by Japan.