Series: Flaming Ivy||Story: Pure Confusion
Characters: Miyako, Momoe, Hikari
Chapters: 1-1||Words: 1,500
Genre: Friendship, Family||Rated: G
Notes: Firestarter/Healer AU. Same time frame as To Begin Somewhere, but on Miyako's side of things.
Summary: Miyako's never met a Firestarter she was interested in – until she met Hikari. Good thing she has someone she can ask for advice.
Miyako knew of Hikari even before they properly officially met. She didn't often notice Firestarters, but something about the younger girl's Flames called to her from the first moment they brushed near each other. She wasn't sure if Hikari even remembered that first meeting. If one could call it a meeting. Did it count when she'd been stocking shelves at Ai Mart and Hikari came in once over a weekend to get some snacks
Probably not. Miyako hadn't even known the strange Firestarter's name at that point. But feeling those Flames so close to her – it made her want to find whoever it was and talk to them, get to know them better. Her parents had always said when she met her proper Firestarter, then she'd know about it.
And I didn't believe them. She still wasn't absolutely certain. What sort of Healer could she make someone, anyway? Sure, she had a way with plants. But that was standard Healer issue. Every Healer could do that, and Heal as well. Nothing out of the ordinary at all.
Her fingers tingled the first time that they brushed against Hikari's, when she handed over the message from the elder Yagami. That was just the beginning. Feeling Hikari press up against her made her tingle all over, and she'd done her best to separate, even though every instinct told her to cuddle under those Fires and stay there forever.
At least she'd kept something of a leash on her tongue, when the first question she wanted to ask then was "What is the Digital World?", followed quickly by "Would you like to court, please?"
That night she slammed her fists repeatedly into a pillow before throwing herself down on her futon and staring at the ceiling.
I met a Firestarter. I met someone who I might like for my Firestarter.
There was that whole Digital World thing too. But they would definitely find out more about that tomorrow. The weight of that device in her pocket told her that. She tugged it out to look at it. She'd seen strange creatures on the other side of that screen – she'd heard Daisuke babbling about someone called "V-mon" and she wondered if she would meet a friend like that too.
Did Hikari have one? She had to. What would her partner be like? Perhaps she'd meet them tomorrow.
Her thoughts flicked back to Hikari, the Firestarter. Was Hikari even looking for a Healer? Most Healers and Firestarters did look for a partner at some point in their lives. Miyako had even attended one mixer that was supposed to help unbonded ones finding their partners. She'd been so bored she'd almost fallen asleep on her feet there.
Noise came from outside the room – Momoe's voice, raised in glee as she bounced into the apartment. Miyako could only hear bits and pieces, but since she heard "Jun" very clearly, she could guess that Momoe's courting was going very well.
Motomiya Jun? Miyako frowned. She'd heard mentions of Jun's brother during some of the times when Jun visited, but she'd never paid much attention. But now she wondered -
She poked her head out of the door. Momoe lounged on the couch, grinning in satisfaction. She glanced over as soon as Miyako looked at her.
"Hey! How was the first day of school?"
Miyako waved one hand. "Ok. I have a question, though.
Momoe blinked, extending one hand to one of her indoor plants, caressing the side of it. "What? Got a problem with your homework already?"
"That's not it. I met someone – not like that!" Miyako waved her hands quickly to make sure that Momoe didn't get any ideas. "I met two someones, really. But the one I wanted to ask about – Jun has a brother, right?"
Momoe tilted her head. "Daisuke. She asked if you wanted to meet him, remember?"
Miyako scrunched her nose. "I remember." She'd turned down the prospect. She wasn't interested then in bonding to him, not even meeting him. "But I think I've met him now." Well, that answered her first question, at least. Daisuke was Jun's brother. Which did mean he was going to be a pretty powerful Firestarter. She thought Hikari might be a fraction stronger. But stronger or weaker, Hikari's Flames were far more to her tastes than Daisuke's were.
Her sister started to look a little more interested, but Miyako didn't want her getting any ideas like that. "I also met Yagami Hikari." She hoped she didn't sound half as dreamy as she did to her own ears. "She's a Firestarter."
But now Momoe leaned forward, her eyes gleaming with interest. "Is she an interesting Firestarter?"
Red scorched up Miyako's cheeks and she ducked her head. "Yeah. Kind of." She fidgeted. "What should I do?"
For a few seconds Momoe just regarded her, then nodded. "Get to know her. It's almost like trying to go out with someone. Find out if you like some of the same things and what those things are. Spend time together. You could take her to the Flaming Ivy." Her lips quirked. "I promise if we see you there, we won't talk to you."
That eased just a trifle of her tension. Not that she was entirely sure she believed Momoe. But it was nice to at least have that promise.
"Are you sure you wouldn't like a test visit first? Say, with Daisuke?" Momoe teased. Miyako glared at her, one of her own plants uncurling a long limb to lightly smacks Momoe on the back of the head. "I'll take that as a no."
Momoe snickered as Miyako stalked back to= her room. All of her plants in here curled close to her, and she stroked the violets that were closest to her gently. Being here soothed her temper. Surrounded by all the life that she'd brought into the world – maybe she should work up a bouquet or something for Hikari? She remembered seeing Momoe doing the same thing for Jun, taking her a lovely bouquet of blossoms that she'd grown herself.
Only would it be too soon? They didn't even have a proper first courting date set up. They were too young to properly bond – they wouldn't be able to until their powers settled somewhere around eighteen or nineteen, and that was the earliest. Some people didn't bond until much later.
Should I ask her? I guess I should. She didn't know if Hikari even knew about the Flaming Ivy. It was one of the most popular places for Firestarters and Healers to visit for a good drink and good company.
She tried to settle herself and wasn't having a great deal of luck. Tomorrow she would see Hikari again. Tomorrow she would maybe get the chance to ask Hikari if she wanted to go to the Flaming Ivy. Tomorrow she would go to the Digital World for the first time. She knew they would have something to do – Daisuke went to a lot of trouble to play up how horrible the battle had been for him and his partner and the evil of that "Digimon Kaiser".
Frankly, Miyako wondered if he wasn't playing it up a little to make himself look better. No one could be that evil.
The asking didn't go quite the way that Miyako expected. But that wasn't much of a surprise. Daisuke being kidnapped – the sensation that the Digimon Kaiser was a Dark Healer - meeting Hawkmon – all of those blew the thought of asking Hikari to the Flaming Ivy out of her mind.
But things didn't say too bad. They rescued Daisuke within hours and no real harm seemed to have come to him. It wasn't that difficult to ignore the fact the Kaiser was a Healer. She was tempted more than once to challenge him to a Healer's Battle, but he never stayed around long enough for her to issue the challenge. Sometimes he didn't even show up at all.
On the first Friday after school had begun, once they returned from the Digital World and were heading out, Miyako made up her mind. Daisuke had gone off somewhere. He did that a lot these days. Takeru and Iori were also off somewhere – she wasn't sure if they were pre-courting or not. That left her and Hikari.
Hikari turned to her, a brilliant, bright, and warm smile lighting her face up. "Hey, would you like to go out for a cup of tea or something? Just us?"
Miyako blinked briefly, tilted her head, and returned the smile. "I'd love to! My sister has a lot of good things to say about the Flaming Ivy. Want to go there?"
"I was just going to suggest that," Hikari declared, eyes bright as stars. "Taichi goes there with Yamato a lot."
They settled on going the next day. Miyako knew this wasn't exactly what she'd planned, but it didn't matter. Now she had the chance to get to know her even better, and the future shone bright.
The End
Notes: I might write their actual visit to the Flaming Ivy at some point. But I'm debating next writing a Digimon NEXT fic. I have Plans for Kahara Shou. Yes, I am cackling evilly.