I just want to thank you for all of the support. It really means so much to me, especially because it never feels quite the same the second time writing something. I was so overwhelmed by the kind words that I tried to get this up faster, but as a warning, this is the longest chapter so far.
Paradigm Shift
Chapter 28: Old Habits
A day had passed, and they still hadn't spoken to each other. After everything they had been through, he wondered just how it was that she could cut him so cleanly from her life. Granted, he hadn't reached out either, but he refused to talk to her first. If she could throw him out so easily, so could he.
He had gotten nothing done at work the day before thinking about Joe, and he got just as little done at work today thinking about her. Sometimes, he would reach a point when he'd want to cry, but he was still so angry that he couldn't produce tears. If anything, between bouts of anger, he felt a shock more than a sadness.
He was slumped in the armchair, having banished himself from the couch so that Matt and Megumi could once again take up the entirety of it. He drank the whisky in his glass, impatiently counting down the time until he'd meet his friends. It had been ages since he had a proper night out.
"Why are you being so quiet?" Megumi asked him suddenly. "You're never quiet."
"Do you guys want to go out tonight?" he asked in response, not answering her question. "Some of my mates and I are going to grab a drink. You guys should come."
"No thanks," came Matt's immediate reply.
This was a predictable response.
"It'll be fun," he tried again.
"It's a Tuesday," Megumi pointed out lazily. She was already horizontal against Matt's lap, which meant she wasn't going to get back up again.
He hadn't really expected anything more from them. Matt and Megumi were homebodies to the point that he wondered just how they could possibly fill their days being by themselves in the flat all the time. He thought they must live such boring lives.
"Are you all right?" Matt asked, looking confused. "You seem odd."
"I'm fine," he muttered.
Matt raised an eyebrow but didn't press him.
They would have probably gone out if he had told them that Sora had broken up with him, but he hadn't disclosed that with them yet. He didn't want to talk about it anyway, not when she had already preoccupied his mind all day up to this point. He just wanted to forget her, the same way she seemed to have forgotten him too.
They had gone to an izakaya to eat and drink, where he and his mates were by far the loudest table in the establishment. They were a group of nine squeezed together in an area meant for six, each of his friends roaring with laughter and conversation.
It had been his idea to meet, but once there he found himself feeling fairly antisocial and sat off to the end of the table. He was lodged between Davis, who had promptly placed himself beside him upon arrival but was busily chatting with their other mates, and Izzy, who was wedged against a corner.
He and Izzy had been part of two separate social groups in school, he with the other athletes and Izzy with his academic crowd, yet the two had struck a friendship that had somehow lasted through the years. Similar to Matt, Izzy was not a part of their group chat, but they all knew him through Tai, who often invited him out separately.
Izzy also tended to avoid crowded gatherings and had predictably declined at first, only changing his mind when he told him that he needed a night out after breaking up with his girlfriend. He was the only person Tai had told about Sora, which admittedly was to guilt him into going out because he needed someone responsible and the rest of his friends were not. For as boring as he found Matt and Megumi to be, they were both quite good at taking care of him when he got too drunk. Izzy was comparable in that regard, but, unlike them, he helped without complaining the entire time and badgering him the next morning like they were his parents. He also saw him much less frequently, which meant he could avoid having the constant look of sympathy that Matt and Megumi would undeniably give him.
The last thing he wanted was for anyone to pity him.
"You should eat something while you drink," Izzy told him, looking like he pitied him.
"I'm not hungry."
Overhearing him, Davis turned around, looking concerned.
"Do you not like the food? Do you want us to order something else for you?" he asked.
Why were they nagging? They were just like Sora.
"No, I'm just not hungry. I ate before I got here," he lied, bringing his highball to his lips. Even though it wasn't true, and the reality was that he hadn't had an appetite all day, he knew it would get them off his back.
At the centre of the table sat Kenji, the friend he had known longer than anyone else at over twenty years. He and Kenji were the de facto leaders of their social group, though Tai had taken a backseat once he had started dating Sora and saw them less. Kenji was a huge partyer and usually the one rallying everyone together.
Kenji shouted over the table at him. "Tai, why are you being so antisocial?"
He answered, but Kenji couldn't hear over everyone else talking and wobbled his way over to him, a bit tipsy already. He clinked his glass with Tai's.
"What's wrong with you?" he asked, laughing, kicking Davis out of his chair so he could sit down instead. Davis, a few years younger than them, was used to this hierarchy and easily gave up his seat.
"Nothing," Tai answered irritably.
"Is your girlfriend giving you a hard time?" Kenji asked in a teasing tone, talking to him as if he were a prepubescent child. "Is she mad at you for going out with us? Are you crafting your excuse to make your exit? I bet she's the one who made you get your dumb haircut. You look so corporate. It's ghastly."
Davis popped into the conversation, wanting to remain included. "How's your girlfriend, Tai? You should invite her out with us!"
He thought about how much Sora would judge his friends if she were here. She'd spoil the entire evening, annoyed at how loud and obnoxious they were because they were just like him.
Probably Joe's friends sat together over some nice wine, calmly discussing whatever research they were all conducting. Probably they had all gathered in whatever flat she and Joe had shared together, because they had bloody lived together.
He was glad she wasn't here. She would have ruined his night even if they were still together.
"We broke up," Tai grumbled.
"You guys broke up?!" Davis shouted, so loudly that everyone in the izakaya could hear. "Does that mean you're single again?!"
"That's amazing!" Kenji yelled just as excitedly. "Mate, you've been so boring lately!"
With the exception of Izzy, his other friends echoed Davis' and Kenji's reaction, more excited than sympathetic. They declared that tonight would be in celebration of his newly single status, and while at first he hadn't been in the mood, their glee was infectious, and he soon found himself grinning and laughing alongside them too.
When he had gained a burst of excitement and had finally started to enjoy himself, Kenji suggested that this night shouldn't be contained in an izakaya at a table too small for their party. There was a nightclub not too far from where they were.
Tai, despite now having a good time, didn't feel like going to a club, but the moment he showed some apprehension, he was immediately called out.
"Why? Are you sad?" Davis asked, genuinely looking concerned.
"Leave him alone. He has a broken heart."
Kenji flung an arm around his shoulder. "Come on. This is your night, Tai! Forget that bitch ex-girlfriend of yours, and let's party!"
He could suddenly remember how annoying he had found Matt back when he had defended Megumi whenever he had called her a bitch. He had thought at the time that Matt was being a baby, but now that his friends were calling Sora one, he wanted to defend her even though he was mad at her.
They were calling her a name, but they didn't even know her.
He didn't say anything though, because he knew it would only end in them making fun of him the way he had done to Matt.
His mates looked at him with mixed expressions. Even when he was being more reserved than usual, they still looked to him for direction.
"Tai, are we going or not?"
He looked at his group and grinned. "All right, let's do it. I'm going to go buck wild tonight!"
Pleased with his response, Kenji bought shots for the table, including a double for Tai, which they downed before hitting the streets. With no food in his stomach, he could feel the buzz from the drinks he had had at the izakaya. Although they had already been loud in the bar, his friends grew even louder now that they were on the streets, excited for the prospects of the evening.
Despite it being a weekday, they were met with a long queue to get inside, though Kenji knew the bouncer and got them in almost immediately. No sooner had they gotten their first round of drinks that his group scattered themselves throughout the venue, leaving him.
At first, he was pumped to be inside a club without having to worry about Sora, but once the effects of the booming music became familiar and his buzz faded, the excitement disappeared as quickly as it had come.
He chose to stay with Izzy, who quite possibly looked the most uncomfortable Tai had ever seen him. He felt a bit guilty that he had dragged him into this, for he knew he surely hated everything about this situation.
They stood idly by the bar, neither dancing, Tai drinking his millionth drink while Izzy nursed the same beer Tai had gotten him earlier in the night.
They weren't talking, Tai glaring off into nothing as he thought of Sora. If she were here, she would for sure tell him off for everything. Why was he out, why was he clubbing, why was he drinking so much?
Not that he cared, but she would probably be so disappointed if she were to find out he were out.
No, he didn't care at all.
Izzy suddenly passed him a glass of water. "You need to hydrate yourself."
Sora would tell him to drink water too. He took it from Izzy and put it off to the side, drinking from his current whisky glass instead.
Kenji wobbled up to them, alongside some girl he must have just met.
"Tai, what are you doing?" he asked, sounding a lot more drunk than he had when he had last seen him. "You're just standing there! Are you sad?"
"No, the music is just giving me a headache." He downed the rest of his drink. "I think I'm going to head home first."
"No, you can't!" Kenji cried. "This is supposed to be your night!"
He argued with Kenji for a while, but Kenji refused to let him leave, instead compromising that they go to a pub instead where it would be quieter. Despite being ready to call it a night, he was successfully guilted into staying, and so he waited outside with Izzy while Kenji gathered the rest of their friends.
"You can go home if you want to," Izzy told him. "I can tell them you've left once they come out."
Tai stared at the ground, his hands in his pockets. "I don't want to."
It took Kenji twenty minutes to find everyone, their party having dispersed to every area of the club. In that time, Izzy bought him a bottle of water from a convenience store, and even though he felt drunk, all he did was pick at the wrapper.
Stop playing with the water bottle, Sora would have said if she were here.
She would have forced him to drink it. She would have watched him do it too, telling him all of the reasons why he should be hydrating while he dehydrated. Never mind that he thought he already drank so much more water than her. Every time they played tennis, he would finish his water bottle first and drink from hers. She would pass it to him the second she noticed he needed more. She needed to hydrate more, he wanted to tell her.
"Tai, come on!" Kenji urged, pushing him forward. Their entire party had gathered, and he was the only one still standing instead of walking.
Snapping out of it, he walked on his own accord, and they went through the streets of Shibuya once again. He noticed that his mates had brought over some girls they had picked up from the club, but not wanting to socialise with any of them, he walked ahead of everyone else with Izzy. Izzy had spent the entire evening keeping to himself, which was typical, and while he was usually so reserved that walking in silence didn't bother him, today he was making attempts at conversation.
"Are you sure you're all right?"
"Yes."
"Your 'yes' sounds an awful lot like a 'no,'" Izzy retorted.
He felt himself jut forward as someone knocked into him.
"Come on now! Since when does Tai Kamiya need a woman?" sneered Kenji, throwing an arm around him.
"I don't."
"Exactly! So stop being so moody, and enjoy the night!"
"I am enjoying it."
Kenji looked properly annoyed with his short answers and gave up, retreating to join the rest of their mates. He felt bad that Kenji was extending his energy, but it wasn't like he was standing in the middle of everyone begging for them to give him attention either. He walked in the front of the group with Izzy in silence, only stopping once Kenji announced he had found a pub he liked.
He turned around to walk the few steps back to where the rest of his friends stood and froze when he saw where they had chosen. In a cruel twist, his mates had ended up taking him to the bar where he had first met Sora, the place that he had only walked into because he had wanted to take Matt somewhere where he and Megumi had never gone.
He stood immobilised as the rest of his group filed inside.
Davis looked over at him, confused. "Tai, aren't you going in? Do you want us to find somewhere else?"
He did, but everyone else was already inside, and he knew they were already annoyed that he had withdrawn them from the club so early. He shook off the feeling and stepped inside, and while he had only been there once, memories swept over him as he remembered the night he had met her. Where he had been standing, where he had first seen her, where she had approached him, where she had helped him.
He wanted to see her, he realised. He wanted to revisit these same memories with her. He wanted her to tell him how funny it was now in retrospect, how desperately he had tried to set her up with his heartbroken flatmate, how slanderous Matt had been to his character, how despite that she had still stayed to help him and even spent ten long months dating him.
Kenji thrust a drink in his hands, taking the water bottle Izzy had given him away.
"You're breaking my balls here. Just enjoy yourself, okay?" Kenji grumbled.
Feeling bad that he was quite possibly ruining Kenji's night the same way Matt had once tried to ruin his in this very bar, Tai tried to make more of an effort. He sipped from the glass that grew stickier as his mates animatedly knocked into him and made him spill the contents, laughed alongside them even when he didn't know what he was laughing about, and contributed enough to conversation to where they didn't think he was being anti-social. His mood no different, it somehow worked even when he didn't think it would. The alcohol probably helped.
Izzy was once again telling him to drink water when Kenji pulled Tai away from that conversation, instead seating him next to some girl that he recognised as having walked with them from the club. Kenji introduced them to each other, though he forgot her name the instant it was said to him.
The girl in front of him was blonde with long legs that reminded him of Sora. She was pretty and probably his type, but he felt like literal scum as his eyes scanned her from her knees that were against his thigh up the rest of her. Out of courtesy for Kenji's attempt, who was in his own way trying to make him feel better, he spoke to her despite the lack of interest.
When he finished his drink and ordered another, he changed to beer because Izzy had told him he was drinking too much. He ordered for the girl too, a cocktail she had requested. Sora had also wanted a cocktail back when they had first met. Which was it? He wished he could remember. He thought he was drunk because he suddenly had the urge to text her to ask. She would definitely remember. Her recollection of their memories together was far sharper than his own, and if she weren't so mad at him, he could see her scolding him for his terrible memory before telling him exactly what it had been.
Even if she told him today, he'd forget by tomorrow. Unlike him, though, she knew exactly what he liked, from his favourite drink to his favourite snacks, his clothing size, his hobbies, his interests, his dislikes, and everything in between.
The bartender set down their drinks, and once he had turned back to the blonde girl, he watched her place her straw flat against her pink tongue, slowly closing her lips over it to take a long sip. He watched her throat constrict as she swallowed.
Anyway.
He tried his best at making small talk. He was actually quite good at it, and while she smiled at his bad jokes and offered what she could, more than anything else she made it so obvious that she was interested in him. He didn't feel the same, and while at first he pretended he couldn't tell, her attentiveness was enough to eventually make him flirt right back with her. He had to admit that he had missed the feeling. Flirting was fun to him, and she was so forward. Just like him.
She told him she enjoyed painting. Really? She should show him her work sometime. Was this his attempt to get her to show him the inside of her home? No, he would never. She enjoyed yoga too; it helped with her flexibility. He wasn't flexible at all. She bet he could be.
He was just saying words with no meaning. She probably was too, but when she stopped him midsentence to call him hot, he grew a bit flattered. After months of being in a sexless relationship, the idea of philandering with someone who actually wanted him was tempting.
She probably only wanted him because she was drunk and he was there and available, or perhaps she too was trying to replace someone she actually cared about for a fleeting moment with a stranger she'd never see again.
Whatever it was, he wasn't willing to give it to her.
She scooted closer to him, uncrossing her legs and placing each of them on either side of his left one. He looked down at her left knee, dangerously close, then back up at her, grinning. Her perfume smelled musky, unlike Sora's usual floral scent.
She called him hot again. She liked his arms and placed one hand on his bicep.
"I think it's your drunk goggles," he suggested as her hand slid up the side of his arm.
"I don't think so," she said, her hand now gliding from his neck down to his shoulder blades, bringing her closer to him in doing so. She moved her head forward in an attempt to kiss him, but he pulled back. She didn't seem fazed, looking at him with her lips spread in a pretty, glossy smile. "Aren't we a little old to play silly games?"
"Who says I'm playing a game?" he asked. "I'm not really looking for a hook-up."
She laughed and reached for him again. He realised she was probably as drunk as he was. She probably didn't remember his name either.
She made another attempt, and just as he was about to pull back again, he felt someone shove his shoulder hard, the force making his ribs slam painfully against the mahogany counter. Stunned, he turned his head to face the accuser and in doing so, the blonde girl's lips came in contact with his cheek.
He stood up abruptly, shock replacing everything else as his heart thumped against his chest. Flirting was fine, but with the sudden physical contact, he now felt like he had done something wrong. He could physically feel the blood rise to his face.
Furious, he turned to see who had caused him to make such a mistake but was instead met with a drink to his face. The blonde girl screamed, standing up as she too had been in the splash zone.
"Holy shit!" one of his mates cried.
He rubbed his stinging eyes with his wet shirt sleeve, blinking hard as he tried to focus on the image in front of him. He came face-to-face with Sora, who was glaring at him with watery eyes, red in the face. She was trembling all over, her short, erratic breathing only exacerbating that fact.
Behind her, he could see Mimi, who looked far more collected but was also teary.
"Tai, are you all right?!" Davis cried, appearing beside him. He looked alarmed, eyes shifting between him and Sora, unsure what to do or say.
Izzy silently passed him a stack of napkins, which he threw back down on the bar top in rage.
"Sora, what the fuck?!"
"'Sora, what the fuck?!'" she repeated just as loudly, her voice shaking as much as her body was. "That's what you have to say for yourself right now?"
"What's happening? Who is this?" the blonde girl shrieked, seizing the napkins he had thrown down earlier to dry herself off.
Sora turned from him to her, her face redder than her hair, her eyes even redder than that. "Who am I? Who are you?! I'm the girl he's cheating on!"
He glared at her, taking her by the arm so she'd look at him again. Now touching her, he could feel just how much she was shaking, his hand unable to steady her. "What are you saying, Sora? I can't cheat on anyone if I don't have a girlfriend."
She stared at him, not saying anything but the anger in her face slowly fading, replaced by something much worse. She took a step back.
"You have a girlfriend," she said, he practically having to read her lips to understand because her voice had gotten so quiet.
"No, we broke up last night," he reminded her, his tone now sounding too aggressive compared to hers. "You're the one who said you can't be with me, so don't come in here and make a scene like you have any right. You're really crazy, you know that?! You're actually insane!"
He felt another force hit him against the side of his head, surprising more than painful. Mimi had approached them, red eyed too and breathing hard. She had just hit him with her bag.
She grabbed Sora, not even looking at him. "I told you he's trash. Let's go, Sora. Come on. Let's go now!"
Sora looked like she hadn't even heard or seen Mimi, frozen in her spot and still staring at him.
"Tai, it was just a fight…" she said meekly. "We were just fighting…"
He stared at her, confused, blinked and saw her running off. His reaction delayed by the alcohol in his system and his sheer astonishment, he stared at the door where she had gone.
Kenji broke his line of sight by stepping in front of him, looking both delighted and alarmed at the same time.
"Mate, are you okay?" he asked, looking like he didn't know whether he could laugh.
His rage returned, and he stormed past Kenji out the bar. How dare she? Who the hell did she think she was? He was going to give her a piece of his mind.
Outside the entrance, he couldn't see her, but she couldn't have actually gone very far. He turned his head to check the street on both directions from the bar, searching for her figure but seeing nobody. Instead, he made eye contact with a staff member who had stepped outside for a cigarette, and the man turned his head to signal towards the alleyway separating the bar from the next building.
Following his cue, Tai turned the corner of the dark and musty backstreet, and somewhere between the rubbish, he saw Sora sitting on the floor, arms around her knees, her head down.
"Sora," he snapped, fuming. "Have you gone mad?!"
Sora had the ability to always look put together no matter the circumstance, but when she raised her head upon hearing his voice, she had in less than a minute become unrecognisable to him, the darkness of the alleyway failing to conceal anything.
He had made her cry twice before, but never like this. The first time, she had come from a place of frustration, the second from sorrow, but this time, she looked at him as if he had betrayed her.
The other times, she had tried to maintain some composure for the sake of conversation, but that attempt was nowhere to be found. Her makeup was smeared against her scrunched, wet face, wailing loudly as if nobody could hear, her dress dishevelled and hiked up from sitting so that he and any other passerby could see her underwear. Normal Sora would have died at the thought of such indecency in public.
The juxtaposition of the Sora he knew with the Sora in front of him made him put aside his anger. He dropped to the ground to be eye level with her.
"Sora, are you all right?"
A loud howl came from her as she swung her arm at him. It flaccidly made contact with his shoulder, not enough to hurt but enough to make him lose his balance. His butt touched the ground, likely changing the colour of his trousers, but he didn't care, and he scooted forward to bring her to him. Her words became unintelligible when muffled against his shirt, though he could make out that she was telling him not to touch her.
He held her anyway, put a hand at the back of her head and pressed her against him with a mild concern that he could possibly be suffocating her. Never in his life had he seen anyone cry about him in this way. Even Kiko, who had cried a lot, hadn't appeared so damaged to him. Perhaps it was now that she was muffled that she bawled even more. He could feel her convulsing, and for the first time in as far back as he could remember, he cried too.
Her face was against his chest, so he lowered his head against the back of hers, wiping his tears against her hair that smelled like the floral perfume that she always used.
"I… hate… you…!" she managed to say between sobs.
He couldn't respond, clutching her closer, squeezing his eyes tighter, starting to tremble too as he swallowed the lump in his throat. He tried to speak, but the noise that came out of him was a pitiful whimper.
With no verbal response from him, she told him over and over how much she hated him, each time drawing more tears from him. He tried to collect himself just to get her to stop, but he couldn't, and in the end, she recovered first. It seemed it was only then that she realised he was crying too.
Her movements constricted by him, he felt her hand rise just to rest against the side of his back.
"Stop crying," she told him, patting him half-heartedly.
Her effort to be consoling even when she was so distraught made him feel even worse. He wanted to tell her to stop. He would rather her just be spiteful, so he could focus on that singular emotion instead of having to deal with this complicated mix of sentiments.
"Sorry," he croaked when he could finally speak. "Sora, I'm so sorry."
"It's not okay. I hate you so much. I hate you so much, Tai."
He had been wrong. He thought she had composed herself, but she had only stopped crying, her words laced with far more emotion than he had ever heard from her.
Despite that, and despite what she was saying, however, he felt her arms circle around his back and hold him to her, squeezing him harder than he had her.
"You're the worst."
He swallowed another lump. "Sora, I just… I thought you had broken up with me. I was just out to relieve stress. That was all."
She finally let go of her grip and looked up at him, her makeup smudged and her eyes so puffy that she no longer looked like herself.
"Even if you thought we were over, how could you… how could you…!"
She was referring to that girl at the bar, the girl whose name he didn't know, who probably didn't remember his either.
"I was just talking to her. I wasn't going to do anything. I swear!"
She stared at him, her fists pulling against his shirt, her eyes glazing over again.
"You got over me in a day."
She was wrong, and he wanted to refute her claim, but seeing her so defeated made his eyes water too, and however she interpreted that, she broke down again. She told him how much she wanted him to go away as she clutched onto him further, and somehow this moment was sadder to him than every other feeling he had felt in the last 24 hours.
He held her tightly as she cried. Actually, he needed her to hold him just as much. He might have needed it even more. He tried to explain things to her, but between his tears and the alcohol in his system, he was babbling. He swore he wouldn't have done anything. He swore he wasn't over her. He swore he was sorry, and that he'd do anything to make up for it.
She didn't respond to anything he said, making him wish for nothing more than a time machine to turn back the clock even to the last hour, when he should have just gone home from the club.
He wanted to blame his friends, but he knew it was his own fault.
This time, it was he who stopped crying before her, and he chose that time to spew words, saying everything he could to convince her that this was all a heinous misunderstanding. She didn't respond to any of it, but he kept going back further and further. He was sorry that he went out, he was sorry that he had yelled at her the night before, he was sorry he had interrupted her lunch with her ex-boyfriend, he was sorry he had lost his temper from the beginning.
He wasn't sure whether she was taking in a single word he was saying, but after a prolonged interval of her not replying, she finally let go of her grasp, her arms falling limply to her sides.
"I forgive you," she said at last.
He pulled back to look at her, her face still puffy and splotchy. He wondered what his looked like.
"Sora, I really am so sorry."
"I know you are," she said, staring at him. "And I'm sorry too. I'm sorry if I made it sound like I was breaking up with you. I didn't want that. I still don't want it. I don't want you to be stressed because of me either, but it's just that you're also giving me stress, and I don't want you to think I still love Joe when I don't, and I don't want you think that I don't love you when I do, and I don't want you to want other girls, but I don't want to feel pressured into having sex with you, and I don't want you to think I'm crazy, and I don't—"
"Sora." He shook her hard on her shoulders once, alarmed by her sudden rambling. "Sora, calm down."
She stared at him with glassy eyes.
"How could you get over me in a day?" she asked him, her eyes watering again, making his water too.
"I wasn't. I didn't. Sora, I was just talking to her. I swear on my life that I wasn't thinking about doing anything with her."
She stared at him without saying anything, then reached out and wiped his cheek with the back of her hand.
"You have lipstick on your face."
In a flash, he also pressed his hand against his cheek, smudging it as hard as he could.
"I love you, Sora," he said, still scrubbing his flesh which was now starting to hurt.
She gave him a small, broken smile and took his wrist to remove his hand from his face. "You're going to damage your skin."
She rubbed the same area on his cheek with her thumb, her touch much softer than his.
"I don't know what else I can say other than to tell you how sorry I am," he said to her, thinking he sounded as inept as he felt.
She leaned forward and kissed him on his other cheek, just a small one before pulling back. "Let's go back, Tai. I feel bad for Mimi. She's by herself."
"Wait, I'm not done," he interjected, not ready to end the conversation. It didn't seem over to him.
She looked at him, giving him the chance to speak, but he couldn't form what he wanted to say.
He didn't know what else he could say.
Understanding, she opened her bag and took out a compact mirror and some tissues. She wiped her face and applied some powder, and within moments looked presentable again save her eyes that remained pink and puffy. She dropped her mirror into her bag but kept another tissue for his face.
"You look so drunk right now," she told him, as she wiped him down, dabbing the tissues against his eyes, the cheek with the foreign lipstick, and even his hair in a futile attempt to dry it. "Sorry I threw a drink in your face."
"You have impressive aim," he told her, tilting his head so that his left side was pointed towards the ground. "I think you got some in my ear."
She wiped his nose last, then tossed both of their soiled tissues in the nearby bin.
"Believe me, you got lucky. Mimi told me to hit you with the glass, but I didn't want to get charged for assault." She smiled again, it looking as fragmented as the first. "I've always kind of wanted to try to do something like that, and now I can say I have. It was satisfying."
"I'm glad I could give you that."
She stood up first, dusting herself off before offering him a hand. He took it and hopped up. She dusted him off too, muttering how they were surrounded by rotting, putrid rubbish.
"Sora," he said, taking her hand again. "I know it didn't look like it, but I wasn't trying to hook up with her. I was having the worst night of my life. I was thinking about you."
She stared at him, taking longer than he expected to react.
"Okay," she said simply when she finally did. She reached over and pecked him again, this time on the lips. They were swollen from crying. "Let's go. Mimi's all alone."
He let her lead him back inside, where he expected his mates to immediately jump on his case, but they didn't. He prayed that the blonde girl had left, but he saw her now flirting with Davis at the other end of the bar. People had often told them that they looked like doppelgangers, though he couldn't really see it himself. He purposely turned Sora away from where they stood so that she wouldn't see. He saw his other mates all standing in a semicircle around the bar, Mimi at their centre.
She sat with her back leaning against the counter, her bare legs crossed as her right leg dangled in the space between them. He grew embarrassed seeing his mates all over her, with the exception of two who had girlfriends and Davis who was with the blonde girl.
Mimi looked as though she was absolutely loving the attention, and he made a note to tell them later that she was Matt's ex-girlfriend. They all knew him to varying degrees—enough to back off.
"Hi!" Mimi waved her arm in the air at the two of them as they approached them. "Sora! Sit here!"
She stood up and patted her seat, taking Sora from him to set her down on the chair. Instantly, Kenji stood up from beside her to let Mimi sit, and she plopped down as if she had already expected him to offer it, barely paying attention to him as she readjusted the fit of Sora's dress and the parting in her hair.
"Isn't Sora so beautiful?" Mimi gushed to her new fan club. "I really can't believe she sees anything in Tai."
To his annoyance, his friends all roared with laughter as if she was so funny. Even Izzy, who he had always flagged as being on the verge of asexual, seemed smitten, smiling when he usually never would.
"What are you guys talking about?" Sora asked her, as if she hadn't heard the low jab.
"How stupid Tai is," Mimi answered, looking at him pointedly. "You look terrible."
His mates laughed again, and he glared at all of them for being bad friends. Mimi turned to the bartender and ordered a drink for Sora under his name. Not having remembered ever opening a tab, Mimi informed him that she had done it on his behalf because it was the least he could do.
He was okay with this, until Mimi ordered top shelf shots for his entire party.
"Mimi!" he hissed.
She glared back at him. "What? What could you possibly have to say for yourself?"
He frowned but couldn't say anything, so he ordered a bottle of water for himself and watched everyone else take their shots. Sora held his out to him, but he shook his head and let her take his too, saying he'd stick with water to sober up a bit.
He stood practically attached to her, a hand around her waist, stealthily trying to gauge her mood every now and then. He always looked how he felt, but Sora seemed too relaxed for having been so shattered just moments ago. She sometimes looked up at him, catching his eye and smiling at him as if checking on him too.
As much as his mates were enamoured by Mimi, they were also intrigued by Sora. Most of them hadn't even met Kiko, so their most recent memory of him being in a relationship had been of Sakura, his high school girlfriend that had been a status symbol more than anything else.
He prayed that none of them would mention Sakura, and they didn't, too fixated on Sora's existence. Even Davis pried himself away from a potential lucky night to come over and introduce himself. Sora seemed to be enjoying it, as it was also her first time meeting them.
His social circle from school was made up of teammates from the soccer team and classmates with similar personalities. He had always expected she would find them too animated for her liking, but the judgment he had expected from her wasn't there.
"You seem a bit too good for our Tai here," Kenji joked. "What do you see in him?"
"Shut up," Tai growled, pulling Sora closer to him. She let herself lean against his body.
"What was Tai like in school?" she asked.
"He was a lousy student who prioritised football over schoolwork."
Sora and Mimi giggled, and he glared at Kenji, especially because he had been no different. He wasn't actually upset though, because Sora seemed to be enjoying herself, which was more important to him than an elapsed reputation. He continued to monitor her mood as she drank more with his friends and grew tipsier.
"Are you having fun?" he asked, lowering his height to her seated position. Still leaning against him, she giggled and held her drink to him so that he could try some too. She was definitely drunk. Happy that her buzz was putting her a better mood, he took a sip of her drink, a glass of wine that meant he had now ingested a cocktail of each alcohol category.
He had stopped drinking once Sora had come in, but after sharing hers, he could feel that he had finally tipped over the edge. He tended to hold his liquor well, so most people couldn't tell when he was drunk until he became completely trashed. He sometimes couldn't tell either, but what he could tell was that he was getting sloppier by the minute, his memory becoming hazier as he went in and out of consciousness. He became too all over Sora, who was trying to stop him but with little effort given her own state. He pulled her away to a corner to make out, which she actually allowed until Mimi showed up and yanked her away from him.
"Are you two fifteen?!" Mimi shrieked at them, holding Sora protectively. "Get away from my friend, you rat bastard!"
She dragged Sora away, but he followed her, and Sora too wiggled out of Mimi's grasp to go back to him. Perhaps it was because Sora was so willing, but Mimi, despite her exasperation, didn't pull them apart this time. He didn't really care, too drunk and roused to worry about Mimi's opinion of him.
It was Izzy, who hadn't really been drinking, who finally noticed that Tai was too drunk and suggested he go home.
"You're drunk," he told him.
"I know," Tai slurred, putting his body weight on a giggling Sora. "Sor, do you want to go home?"
"Mmhmm," she answered in the affirmative, squealing as he bit down on her ear.
"I'm going too," Mimi declared. "I'm not going to let you take advantage of my friend!"
"She's my girlfriend."
"Tell that to yourself a few hours ago!" she snapped back, pushing him. He lost his balance and stumbled a bit, but Sora caught him. They laughed at each other.
"Let's go," Izzy muttered. Tai could feel the silent judgment coming from him too.
His friends were more gutted about Mimi leaving than him, Kenji unsuccessful in his bid to get her number. Tai smirked in revenge as Mimi grabbed both his and Sora's arms and dragged them outside.
"Why are you rejecting my poor friends?" he asked. "Kenji's all right."
"I'm over you and your scum of the earth friends," Mimi snapped, pulling her hair back.
"Mimi."
The three of them turned to the direction of the voice and saw that Izzy had followed them out. He was typing on his phone but looked at Mimi with a bashful gaze. "Er, do you mind if I ask where you live?"
She furrowed her brows at him. "Excuse me?"
He looked flustered. "Er, it's just that I'm about to call a cab, and I thought it'd be best to pre-determine the best route to get us all home. I already know where Tai lives, and I assume Sora will stay with him, but—"
"Sora's going home," Mimi clarified defiantly.
"Oh, er, sorry… Well, in that case, do you mind if I ask where she lives too?" He reddened, looking at Tai for help. "I do suppose it's a bit crowded at your place now. Davis told me earlier that Matt got back together with his girlfriend?"
Tai cleared his throat loudly, which Izzy didn't pick up on because he never picked up on social cues.
"Sora and I both live around here," Mimi disclosed tartly.
"We're all walking distance," Tai added, trying to diffuse. "Just get a cab for yourself."
"You're in no state to walk home."
"I'm fine," he insisted, trying to walk in a straight line but wobbling from side-to-side. "See?"
He stumbled, but Sora caught him, laughing again as she did. He cupped her face, kissing her while Mimi glared at them disapprovingly.
Izzy shook his head and went back to his phone. "I still think it'd be better to call a cab."
Tai pulled away from Sora, and Mimi instantly grabbed her and pulled her to her side.
"You live in Odaiba," Tai argued. "There is no best route."
"If we ask the driver to drop you three off first—"
"You're going to ask the cab driver to make four stops? Are you mad? He's going to be pissed."
"I don't think you have a complete grasp of how much you've drank tonight. I've been watching you. You're well over your limit."
Sora had wiggled away from Mimi and was back at his side again.
"Have you eaten?" she asked him, rubbing his stomach.
He grew distracted from his conversation with Izzy, and he leaned down to kiss her again.
"I'll take them home," Mimi offered. "We all live around the same area, and I'm not drunk."
Izzy looked conflicted, looking at Tai for clues, but he was too busy trying to make out with Sora again.
He felt Mimi pry them apart. "Can you guys stop? It's disgusting."
"You know, Mimi, you didn't think I was all that disgusting before," he said to her, bobbing his eyebrows.
She hit him. Sora hit him too. Izzy looked flustered and embarrassed, understanding what that meant.
"I can assist you," Izzy offered to Mimi. "Perhaps you can walk Sora home, and I can walk Tai back?"
Izzy was a good friend, but probably more than anything else he had been conditioned to take Tai home at the end of the night and felt it was his duty to not pass that off to someone else.
Mimi wouldn't accept his offer, insisting they were both on the way home for her. She flagged a cab down herself and practically forced Izzy inside the vehicle before turning to Tai and Sora.
"He seems nice," she said, pulling them away from each other again.
"Do you want to date him?" Tai asked with a grin. "I think he's single. I can set you two up."
The thought of Izzy and Mimi together was a little funny to him. She'd probably destroy him.
"I hate you and your friends," she snapped back pointedly before sighing. "Come on, let's go. I just want to get home, take a bath, and go to bed."
Mimi clutched Sora's arm as they headed to her home first, for she was the closest to the bar. Annoyed that Mimi wouldn't let him hold Sora instead, he simply intertwined his fingers around hers and walked alongside them both. He could tell he was by far the drunkest, but somehow he was able to walk despite Mimi badgering him that he was slowing them down.
They dropped Sora off at her flat, he trying to force his way into spending the night, though Sora refused him.
"She said no!" Mimi hissed, growing impatient that he wasn't backing down. "How long are you going to stand there and beg her?"
He ignored Mimi, kissing Sora against her door, murmuring to her to let him in because he was too drunk to go home. Despite this, she refused and gave him a final kiss goodnight. He waved sadly as she wished them both a good night and closed the door.
"You're pathetic," Mimi said to him, grabbing him by the shirt sleeve and dragging him away.
"She won't sleep with me," he whinged loudly as she threw him into the lift.
"I wouldn't sleep with you either if I were her," she snapped, clicking the button to close the doors.
"I've already slept with you," he grumbled.
She hit him with her bag repeatedly until he finally shouted out in pain.
"Ow! Can you not?!"
She didn't respond, only stepping out of the lift as it reached the ground floor. He followed suit.
"You know, you're pretty amazing," he said, sucking up a bit because he could tell she was annoyed. "All my mates were flocking to you."
"Duh," she said back. "I'm young and pretty and single, so why wouldn't they? And as you so crudely mentioned, I got you too."
"Well, technically, I'm the one who got you."
She glared at him hatefully, and he decided to shut up, trailing behind her. Without Sora or conversation to distract him, however, he felt the alcohol more powerfully. He knew he was wobbling from side-to-side, but whereas Sora would have stopped to help him, Mimi showed no indication that she'd be willing even if he asked, which he wouldn't.
Instead, she continued to pace a few steps ahead of him, while he tried his best to keep up. He had never noticed it before, but she was quite a fast walker—or maybe it was just because she could go in a straight line.
"Meems, wait for me," he slurred when he couldn't take it anymore.
She spun around upon hearing his words. It shouldn't have startled him because he was the one who had requested it, but it did anyway because he hadn't actually expected her to comply.
"Jesus," he muttered in surprise, stopping too.
"Don't give me a cute nickname," she berated him.
He chuckled. "Why not? It's a cute nickname for a cute girl."
She looked at him as if she despised him. Actually, unlike Sora, he thought her angry face was funnier than it was scary, but his level of remaining sensibility was just enough to not say this to her.
She crossed her arms against her chest, looking at him judgmentally. "You're such a hot mess right now. How drunk are you anyway?"
He wanted to hold onto something for support, but they had stopped in the middle of the pavement. He could feel himself swaying slightly as he struggled to balance himself.
"I'm pretty wasted."
She looked at him oddly, and he was struck with the realisation that she wasn't actually asking him out of concern for his wellbeing.
"So wasted that you won't remember anything tomorrow morning?"
He was confused as he tried to figure out her motive. "Maybe not that wasted. Are you trying to make a move on me because I'm drunk? I have a girlfriend."
She glared at him. "Get it through your thick skull that I don't like you!"
He laughed, even though she was not laughing with him. She reached out to hit him, and once again caught off guard, he stumbled over himself. Alarmed, she grabbed him just as his legs gave out, grabbing him right before he could tumble onto the pavement.
"I can't believe how drunk you are!" she shrieked, looking flustered by what had almost transpired.
"I'm not that drunk," he lied, though his vision was starting to get a bit hazy too.
As if understanding that he was not okay, she begrudgingly lent him her arm for support before marching onwards once again. By itself, her arm didn't offer enough stability, but knowing he had to watch how much weight he was putting on her momentarily made him gain back his focus.
She was still walking too fast though, nearly dragging him because he just couldn't adhere to the perfectly straight line in which she walked. He had been putting all his concentration into following her when she again spoke to him, her voice much softer now.
"Can I ask you how Matt is?"
He frowned and looked down at her. Her eyes were pointed straight ahead onto the street. "Matt?"
"Matt Ishida. Your flatmate."
He was still frowning. "I know Matt Ishida. Why? Are you still thinking about him?"
"No."
"Then why are you asking?"
"If you don't want to answer, you don't have to."
She seemed disgruntled. He tried to interpret her expression but couldn't make it out.
"He's fine," he said, feeling like he shouldn't say anything more. As much as he didn't agree with Matt's life choices, he was still his closest friend, and it felt wrong to disclose information about him to his ex-girlfriend. She wouldn't want to hear the truth anyway.
"That's good to hear," was her only response.
Even though she mostly drove him crazy, he couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for her. She had probably struggled with herself over whether she should ask him, only for his response to be that.
"Hey."
"What?" she asked, sounding annoyed again.
"Matt isn't so great."
She didn't give him any reaction. He wondered if she had heard. Perhaps he was slurring because he was so drunk.
"I can say that. He's my friend," he explained, even though it didn't make sense. "Honestly, you dodged a bullet there. I wouldn't date Matt for all the money in the world."
"You're just trying to make me feel better," she muttered, though he could see a small grin appear on the corner of her lips. She finally turned to look at him, smiling more now. "But thank you. I'm too cute for him, aren't I?"
"Yeah," he agreed for the sake of agreeing.
This seemed to please her, and she raised her arm higher for him to hold onto. Of all the qualities Mimi had, height was not one of them, so he was thankful for any extra support.
"I like your haircut, by the way," she said to him, sounding much nicer than she had all night.
"Thanks. I've been getting mixed messages about it."
"Did you notice that I've changed my hair too?"
"Not at all."
Her cordiality was short-lived, and she instantly tried to shake him off her arm. "You're actually the worst! Get off of me!"
The force of her shake was not very strong, but he stumbled anyways and finally fell on the concrete. Her eyes widened as she helped him steady himself. She didn't apologise, but he could tell she was concerned, because this time she ensured that he had a good grasp on her arm before she started walking again, finally reducing her pace.
"You walk really fast," he told her.
"Actually, most people think I walk pretty slowly," she said back to him. "I hate walking."
He chose to ignore her accusatory tone.
"Sora and I like taking walks," he mused, thinking of her. He wished she had let him stay the night.
Mimi rolled her eyes. "Well, Sora and you are not wearing heels right now."
He looked down at her feet. He was wearing what he considered to be the most impractical and uncomfortable pair of sandals he had ever seen. The colour was slightly pinker than her own skin colour, barely supported by its long, thin heel or even strapped together with enough material.
"Why are you still so short when you're wearing such tall heels?" he asked, genuinely confused.
"Shut! Up!"
She was seething but seemed to go easy on him just because he was so drunk. They walked again in silence, and despite how frail her limb was, the more time passed, the more he needed it. His head was beginning to spin, and it seemed like they had been walking for ages. He didn't remember living so far away.
"Matt… tragic… happy… for him…"
He realised she was talking to him and tried to focus on what she was saying, but he couldn't.
"Cold… but… second… thought… loved me…"
He blinked hard, trying to decode her sentences.
She sniffled.
"Are you crying?" he asked, confused.
She glared at him, and he was able to confirm for himself that her eyes were indeed mistier now. "Were you even listening to me?!"
"I'm drunk," was his response.
Despite that he obviously hadn't been listening, she didn't look any angrier with him, instead just appearing glum. "I'm not crying because I care about him. I'm crying because I let him do that to me, and I'm better than that."
He frowned, realising she was still talking about his friend. "Matt's an asshole. Don't cry over him. He isn't worth it."
She was unmoved. "What do you care? You don't even like me."
"I like you!" he protested loudly. "We're friends."
"You are not my friend."
Her aggression made him laugh, because he didn't understand why she still did it. "That's fine, but I consider you mine. In my mind, we're friends."
He laughed again seeing her falter, her angry pout quivering as she fought not to smile. At times, she reminded him of himself.
"Okay, if you insist, then I guess I can call you my friend too—but like a really distant one who I don't actually like very much—who I only put up with because you happen to be around all the time—and I can't get rid of you."
He burst out laughing, and this time it made her giggle a bit too.
"Deal," he agreed, extending his free hand for her to shake.
Instead of shaking it, she turned around to give him a big hug. Her grip on him was so tight that he didn't stumble this time, and he returned the hug with the same tight hold. Finally having sufficient support to where he didn't have to think so much about keeping himself upright, he felt the full vigour of his inebriation hit him at once.
The world spun, and he couldn't make out his surroundings anymore. A sudden nauseous feeling ran through his system, and he felt his body temperature rise. Mimi was saying something, but he couldn't hear. He let go of her—at least, he thought he did—and ran to what he hoped was a bush, the contents of his stomach spewing out of his mouth as he stopped. The last thing he could remember was falling, Mimi screaming his name before he blacked out entirely.
His phone rang again. Mimi was calling him for the third time in a row, so for the third time, he declined her call. Annoyed, he put his phone on silent and put it face-down on the side table, making a mental note to block her number later. They hadn't spoken in months. He thought she must be out of her mind.
"Who keeps calling you?" Megumi asked, looking up from his lap.
"Nobody," he muttered.
"You can answer," she told him, turning the volume of the TV down. Actually, neither he nor Megumi were really paying attention to what was on anyway.
Instead of replying to her, he bent down to kiss her, which she gladly reciprocated. She stretched upwards and hoisted herself by his neck to make it less uncomfortable for him to hunch so low, but within seconds the kissing grew more passionate, and he lifted her body over his for a more ergonomic position.
Since they had gotten back together, they had discovered a newfound and insatiable physical spark. It wasn't that what had existed previously had been deficient, but after thirteen years together, it was a welcome revitalisation.
It was now past midnight, which meant Tai could come back at any moment, but he didn't care. She drew her head back and let out a breathy gasp as his fingers slipped underneath the boxers she wore as her pyjama shorts. In response, her hands slithered across his stomach up to his chest, taking his shirt with them. He quickly took it off and discarded it on the floor, then reached under hers—also an old t-shirt of his—to do the same. Feeling pressed by need, he crushed his lips to hers, bringing her closer still to remove both her shorts and underwear in one swipe faster than she could do the same to him.
She had just reached a hand into his pants when they were interrupted by the sound of the doorbell, followed by hard knocks against the front door. They stopped and stared at each other, the moment gone.
"I guess Tai's back," Megumi said, kissing him on his lips one final time before putting her clothes back on calmly.
Annoyed by Tai's timing and also the possibility that he may have lost his keys on a night out yet again, Matt stormed to the door to give him a piece of his mind.
Upon opening the door, however, his annoyance transformed into shock, surprised to see that it was not just Tai but that he was in fact passed out on top of an exhausted Mimi. Too dazed to react, he stared at them like a deer caught in the headlights.
Mimi, however, looked positively livid as she threw Tai off her back. He managed to catch his unconscious flatmate before he could land on the floor.
"You couldn't answer your phone?!" Mimi yelled at him despite being out of breath, her cheeks flushed from having carried Tai. "If someone calls you that many times, isn't it obvious that it means it's an emergency?!"
He was confused. Why had Tai been out with Mimi? They weren't friends as far as he could tell. Perhaps because of her friendship with Sora, but he felt like Tai would have told him if he were going to hang out with her.
He felt a little betrayed by him and, ignoring Mimi's criticisms for now, shook Tai awake.
"Hn? Wha—?" Tai muttered, coming into consciousness. "Where am I?"
"You're home!" Mimi screamed, evidently not caring that she was likely disturbing their sleeping neighbours. "I carried you here, so thank me now, you jerk!"
Megumi appeared beside him, her hand touching his bare back and reminding him he was standing only in his underwear.
"Hello again," Megumi greeted as she helped him balance Tai on his own two feet. She looked again at Mimi. "I'm sorry, we didn't hear the phone. We were watching TV."
Mimi glared at all three of them, pausing a second longer when her eyes fell on his shirtless frame. "I'm sure."
Tai squirmed in his arms. "Hna—! Where's Sora?"
Mimi jerked her head towards him, glaring. "She's home, you idiot!"
"Sora, I—I need to—I need to—" Tai stuttered, eyes rolling back. Suddenly, he began to undress himself, throwing off his shirt before starting to unbuckle his trousers.
"Stop!" Matt hissed, shaking him once, but Tai grunted angrily, stumbling backwards.
"I'll take him," Megumi offered, taking Tai by the arm. "Come on, let's get you to bed."
"Wha—no—Meg, I can't! Matt'll kill me, and it turns out I still have a girlfriend!"
He and Megumi were equally confused, but she took him anyway in the direction of his room, he flailing behind her with the grace of a newborn giraffe. He turned to Mimi, unsure of what to say, wishing Megumi hadn't left them alone. Just to conceal himself a bit more, he picked up Tai's shirt off the floor and put it over his head.
"He threw up on that shirt," Mimi deadpanned.
Smelling that she was telling the truth but refusing to react, he only said, "Thanks for bringing him home."
He expected her to say something biting and leave, but she didn't move from her spot. "The least you could have done is answer your phone. None of the cabs would take us because he was covered in vomit. I had to carry a full-grown man here, and Tai is a lot heavier than he looks."
"I didn't hear it," he lied. "I'm sorry."
She saw through his story. "Did you think I was calling you because I missed you? Don't think so little of me or so highly of yourself."
"I didn't think either of those things. I just didn't hear it."
Mimi sighed but still didn't budge from his doorstep. He didn't know what to do in order to make her leave. He noticed that she had dyed the ends of her hair a soft pink, her wavy curls bouncing as she moved a loose lock away from her face.
He thought the hairstyle fit her well, not that he would say this to her.
He felt awkward and didn't know what to say. He didn't particularly want to engage in conversation, but he couldn't ask her to leave either. For how silent he was being, however, she was no better. He wasn't making eye contact with her and therefore couldn't see just how she was passing her time, but neither were talking.
Eventually, Megumi appeared by his side again. She was probably confused why Mimi hadn't left either.
"I put Taichi to bed," Megumi said to him. "He's so drunk."
"Yamato… and Taichi…" Mimi repeated quietly to herself. "Cute nicknames… for cute…"
Megumi turned curiously to her, not correcting that she simply called them by their legal names. "Thank you for bringing him back."
Mimi blinked at the two of them.
"You're welcome."
"Er, would you like to come inside for some tea, or—?"
"No, thank you," Mimi cut her off, then finally excused herself, wishing them both a good night as she left.
As he closed the door, he made eye contact with Megumi, who wasn't showing any particular emotion.
"Was that weird?" he asked.
"No, why? Did you think it was weird?" she asked him back.
"Honestly, kind of."
She smirked as she draped her arms across his neck. "You know, the next time she calls you, I don't mind if you answer."
Embarrassed for having been called out, he hung his head low. "I thought she was drunk dialling me. That's why I didn't pick up. I wasn't trying to hide anything. I just didn't want you to misunderstand."
She scoffed and tapped his chin to make him look up. "I wouldn't have misunderstood, Yamato. I trust you, the same way you trust me." She lifted herself up and pecked him on the lips, then scrunched her nose. "You smell bad."
She pulled away, and he looked down at his shirt. Now that he thought about it, it was a little damp.
"This is Tai's," he muttered. "He threw up on it."
"Gross! Yamato!" she squealed, jumping back. "Take it off!"
He did so, and while he hoped they could just pick up where they had left off before their interruption, Megumi now refused to touch him unless he showered.
"You touched him too," he protested.
"I did," she confirmed. "I had to take his trousers off for him and everything."
"Why were you undressing Tai?"
"Because they were soiled and gross, Yamato. I couldn't stand the thought of him sleeping in them."
Actually, he didn't care that she had. Tai was more like a brother to her than anything else, and in all honesty they had gone through so much together that nothing really fazed them anymore. They had seen each other in their most vulnerable, their most regrettable, and their most humiliated states.
Nevertheless, this was the first time either of them had an ex. It was an entirely new dynamic that could make him uneasy when he thought too much into it. He noticed, however, that he couldn't actually tell whether she felt the same.
"She really is so beautiful though," Megumi said, scrunching her face at him. "She's nearly as beautiful as you."
She poked fun at him often, so at first thought she was only teasing him. When she wouldn't drop it, however, he realised it wasn't it just that.
It started with mentioning Mimi's beauty, but within moments it became something else. Mimi had looked so glamorous even after lugging Tai around town. Did the girl even sweat? She had felt sloppy in comparison, makeup washed off her face to reveal her imperfections and wearing his old clothes as pyjamas. Even when he insisted he liked that she wore his clothes, she bet Mimi looked stylish even to sleep. He thought of Mimi's short, lacy nightdresses but didn't disclose this to her, thinking it'd only make her more self-conscious.
As they tidied the traces of their night in from the shared living space, she continued. According to Megumi, Mimi had better everything, from her hair to her bone structure to even her eyelashes. He thought he already knew every physical detail about her, but Megumi spent a while explaining to him that her eyelashes were in fact sparse, dissecting their composition until he was forced to agree.
His attempts to deny everything she threw at him were useless, so in a bid to make her stop, he suggested they shower together to rid themselves of Tai's vomit before going to bed. He hoped to rekindle the passion from earlier, but he failed, because in the shower, she looked down sadly at what was in his eyes her perfect body and pointed out that Mimi seemed to have a better figure than her too.
30 November 2020
Everyone's favourite is baaaack—sort of. I was actually surprised by just how many people were waiting for her return, so I brought her back a bit earlier than I had originally planned. Without ruining anything but not wanting to disappoint either, I do want to be clear that Mimi was never supposed to be a primary character the way Tai, Matt, and even Sora are. I had always planned to bring her back, but you may have noticed that I purposely left her out of the story tags, so please do keep that in mind.
One additional change I made from the original draft was that I had initially assigned all of Tai's mates as the other goggle boys. Unfortunately, it became too complicated for filler characters in an already lengthy chapter, so I removed identifiable characteristics from everyone but Kenji, Davis, and Izzy.
Quite a few reviews ended with "stay safe," which I thought was so wholesome and cute, so I hope everyone who reads this is safe as well! Thank you again!