Well, it is the exact same day that I finished writing Chapter 8, and I am still terribly upset about my lack of a social life due to work, school, and, well, more work. But, well, I'm not here to complain, so, let me get on with the chapter. Oh, yeah, I might also get distracted from time to time, seeing as I have a computerized version of a SNES and have been playing Zelda: A Link to the Past every day for, like, ever. And I've also become distracted by Chobits episodes on tv-links. I love Chobits.

Random note, set about two days since I wrote the above paragraph: I am angry with Zelda. I cannot defeat the first boss in the Dark World. I am upset. : (

Update: I BEAT THE BASTARD! Foooook ya!

Another random update: I GOT THE NEW AYU CD YESTERDAY! IT'S AMAZING! IT CAME WITH A DVD. I am HAPPY!

So here's the continuation of my random filler chapters!

Chapter 9

Methods of Entertainment

Mimi choked back a cry of despair, fear, and anxiety as Kari uttered the words she feared most. "I think that you've been lying to us." She could feel the heat rush away from her face, and knew that her skin had paled considerably, and dizziness swept over her head, causing her to fight back the urge to sway and stumble. Instead, her hands gripped the counter tightly, and she fought for some sense of sanity, and some form of a lie, to consume her mind.

Squeezing her eyes shut, she opened them, revealing a blurred image of Kari filling her vision. She tried desperately to reconstruct the dam that had begun to leak, and succeeded in her mission as the image clarified itself.

Swallowing thickly and eating away at the sobs, she breathed in deeply before taking another look at Kari. "What makes you say such a thing?"

Kari shrugged, looking down at the sinks. One of the taps was dripping and the sound was growing quiet irritating. "I'm not sure. It's just, that, you really hesitated when you were answering our questions, and you didn't say who your boss was or anything. It just looks … suspicious, that's all." She looked down at Mimi's teary gaze. "Sorry."

Shrugging, attempting to appear nonchalant, like she hardly gave a second thought about the accusation, Mimi smiled at the girl. "Oh, no, it's all right. I just wanted to keep it a secret for a bit, you know, surprise everyone on Christmas and all by telling them about the awesome job I got. I thought that it would be, you know, cool." Great lie.

Kari smiled in return, before hugging Mimi tightly. "I'm so sorry for saying that. It was really rude of me." Pulling back, she looked directly in the girl's eyes. "But, you know, not saying anything does make it look suspicious, and I'm not the only one who's noticed it, either. Remember, we're not stupid." Her look turned serious. "So, Mimi, seriously, if you are hiding anything, please, think it over before lying to us. Nobody wants to get their feelings hurt, or hurt anyone else's feelings; it's not fun. If it's something major, you know that in the end, it just might do more harm than good." She then smiled softly. "I just thought you wanted to know. I'll see you back out there."

Once the door shut behind the younger girl, Mimi turned to look back at the mirror, gazing in the cold glass at her reflection. She hated her reflection; it lied just like she did. It was so fake and crude, hiding her true interior, creating a beautiful mask that whispered sweet, terrible nothings, like a siren's call, beckoning those to come forth and go to their doom.

She wanted to see the real her, the broken her, the battered up, ugly, fake her in the mirror; she didn't want to see the pretty princess looking back at her anymore. She wanted to the pretty princess to die.

Burrowing her fingers fiercely in her hair, she let out a low, guttural sound that resembled one of pain and sheer agony, feeling the hot tears welling and pouring down her cheeks. All she was going to do was hurt them; she was ugly and a whore, just like he told her. He always spoke the truth, and she never once said a true word. She always lied, lying about her feelings, her thoughts, and her life. Lying makes you look and feel ugly, and nobody likes to feel ugly. That was something her mother had taught her long ago. Why hadn't she listened to her mother's wise words instead of ignoring them? Why had she pushed them aside, thinking that lying could make her beautiful, believing that exposing herself could make her gorgeous and perfect?

The pretty princess stared back at her, hair rumbled, eyes swollen, but always managing to look so beautiful, so perfect, so honest.

The image shattered into a million fissured pieces, shards falling off the wall into the sinks, pieces glinting in the light on the floor, and gaping whole situated in the center of the once solid, whole mirror. All that remained was the broken pattern of her face, spider web upon spider web of cracks breaking the face into a million little pieces, causing her skin to appeared cracked and weathered like the earth when it has been dried of its beauty and nutrients.

Panting heavily, her eyes flew open and Mimi found herself staring into the solid reflection, tears staining her pale cheeks, choking on quiet sobs as her body trembled.

"My Kami, what am I doing to myself?"

Tai reclined in the chair, gazing at the dessert menu propped up against the table. Smiling at the lovely images of cakes, brownies, ice cream, and what he called Kami, Tai squeeze his eyes shut. "Ah! I can't decide! I want them all!!"

Sora smacked Tai on the back of the head with her menu, snarling at him to choose one, while Mimi giggled. "Well, Tai, if it really bothers you, then you can choose two, all right?"

"Really Meems? I can have two desserts? Wow! I think I love you!" Tai grinned joyously like the happiest child on earth. "You're awesome!"

Mimi smiled, placing her menu aside, having chosen what she wished to have for dessert. That's just when Matt leaned over, gazing at her intently. "What do you want Ishida?" She only ever used his family name when teasing, annoyed, or pretending to be annoyed. At the current moment, it was only a façade.

"If Tai can have two desserts, can I have two, also?"

Rolling her eyes, she pushed the blond boy away, who scowled in return. A sigh of false annoyance escaped her lips, and she sipped the remainder of her green tea. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, you know, it wouldn't be fair."

"What if I only did it to shut Tai up?"

"Well, then, how about I start talking and acting like Tai?"

"I would hurt you."

"That's not a very nice thing to say."

"But I said it."

Matt frowned, looking down at the tablecloth. "But I'm having troubles deciding, too."

Mimi giggled then, unable to pretend for any longer. She knew that he was simply acting like a child on purpose, wanting to have two desserts and annoy her at the same time. Matt acted just like Tai sometimes, same actions, same facial expressions, and, at one point during their early teen years, same messy hairstyle, although Matt's had been just a touch more tame.

"All right then, you nuisance. But remember this, this will be the only time I ever let you get away with that, all right?"

Matt smiled, before frowning at her waving index finger. "All right."

The waitress came, once again commanding that they order, listening at they named their much-wanted sugary, sweet desires, before handing back the menu. It wasn't long before their heart's most passionate, most wanted objects were sitting on the plates and in the bowls before them, and their forks and spoons dug into them.

Mimi tentatively tasted the chocolate raspberry swirl cheesecake piece before her, and nearly melted in her seat. "Oh my Kami, is this was love feels like?"

"I'm not sure, but if it is, then I'm going to fall in love with whoever made this," Sora moaned after eating a forkful of her chocolate brownie fudge cake.

"I concur," Izzy said through a mouthful of his chocolate sundae, wiping at a small strand of chocolate sauce dangling from his lower lip.

"You people are so unhealthy." Jou muttered those words, looking down at his fruit salad and ice cream, eating it slowly, making sure that he enjoyed his sweet and healthy dessert.

"Well maybe you're just a party-pooper." This came from T.K., who snagged a bite of Kari's lemon meringue pie.

Kari, in return, gestured to T.K.'s brownie ice cream, scowling in response. "Eat your own food! Jerk."

While T.K. laughed and apologized at the same time, Tai managed to breathe and speak briefly, saying something rather incomprehensible through the mouthful of his apple crumble, which was situated beside a piece of black forest cake.

"What the hell did you just say, Tai?" The last of the friends to say anything, Matt, frowned in Tai's direction, the spoonful of his banana split stopped halfway to his lips. Matt had decided that, just out of kindness for Mimi, he only wanted the banana split, and a taste of Mimi's cheesecake.

Tai was sitting back in his seat, hands on his stomach, eyes shut in what appeared to either be passion, or death. Sora poked at him with his fork. "Are you dead?"

Kari giggled, following Sora's actions and poking Tai with her own fork. "Nope. He does this whenever he eats something really good. I think it's like … his way of having some sort of passionate interaction or something with the food. I think it's weird."

"Agreed." Mimi choose to ignore the abnormal actions by stuffing another forkful of her cheesecake in her mouth, savouring the sweet, fruity and chocolaty flavour that filled her mouth. "I love this. I love life right now. Every little thing about life. This moment in particular. Oh Kami, I love life."

Jou leaned back in his seat, watching everybody indulged themselves in their sweet treats, and smiled before speaking. "Did you know that you can tell a lot about somebody, by what they order for dinner and dessert?"

"Really? That's cool. How?" This was from Kari, who leaned forward in slight interest.

Most around the table were actually fairly interested in the subject, while Tai and Matt continued to tear away at their poor, tortured desserts.

"Well, who wants to be used as an example?"

Mimi grinned at the prospect, lifting her free hand. "Sure, I'll be your test subject."

"Okay, well, first off, Mimi has been drinking tea, which shows a sense of class, and the image that she likes soft, gentle tastes. It means that she likes to feel relaxed, calm, not wanting to lead an extremely stressed life and so forth. That's pretty simple. She had a salad for lunch, again, demonstrating simplicity, liking something that's simple and easy to make, and it also shows that she cares about her body image. Unlike, say, Tai, who ordered something high in fats, she ordered something low in fat, with vitamins and minerals that are good for her body. That means that she really cares about her health. Now, for dessert, she ordered the classic cheesecake, meaning that, although she does care a lot about her image, she's willing to indulge herself in something delicious. It, in a way, shows that she could be good with her spending, being strict about how much money she spends, and then, she'll indulge herself on something once in a while. She doesn't spoil herself like crazy, but will give herself something good when she knows she deserves it. I guess it's something like that. I like to think so." Jou shrugged, and went back to eating his dessert.

Mimi smiled in Jou's direction, before taking a bite of her cheesecake, swallowing and continuing to smile. "You know, Jou, you're somewhat right. At least, I like to think of myself, from time to time, in that way." She winked. "Where did you learn that?"

"Oh, well, I took a Psychology class on the side in College; we were forced to because we needed the extra credits, and they said that it would help us better understand our patients." His shoulders shifted in a shrug once more. "I thought it was interesting."

Mimi giggled softly along with Sora, and they continued to 'indulge' themselves in their delectable desserts, occasionally speaking with one another about random subjects.

Having completed his quest of demolishing his desserts, Tai leaned back in his seat, rubbing his stomach with contentment. "I'm so full." He turned to Mimi, who was sipping her drink. "I love you. You are my new God. I'm serious."

Laughing as Sora scowled in his direction, Mimi grinned. "Well, thank you, Tai, at least someone's gracious."

At this, Tai laughed at Sora, who blushed darkly before mumbling a quiet thank you for the lunch and dessert, which Mimi waved away, claiming that she was only kidding.

Meanwhile, Matt was scooping the last few globs of ice cream onto his spoon, leaving only a small amount with chocolate sauce on the platter. Taking in the spoonful, he placed it aside, mimicking Tai's movements. "Oh, I'm so damn full."

Mimi frowned in Matt's direction, before gesturing towards the remainder of the group, all of who had finished their desserts. "What? You can't eat anymore?"

The blond boy shrugged in return, frowning in return. "It's not my fault that I'm full. You bought me too much food. It's your fault."

The brunette's frowned shifted into a scowl, and she rapped at him lightly with her spoon. "You jerk. You wanted two desserts just a few minutes ago, if I remember correctly. Maybe if you weren't such a pig, you would've been able to eat the rest. That thing was expensive, so you better eat it."

Hands on his stomach, he leaned back in his chair, reclining, yawning slightly, he arched his brows. "Jeeze, you're still the same old Mimi, always stingy about money, wanting to make sure that every penny is worth it. It's really not my fault that I'm full. Eat the rest yourself if you're so adamant about not wasting any food."

Without saying a word, she reached forward, plucked the bowl from in front of him, plopped it before her, and began to eat the last few spoonfuls of the sundae. After the first tentative taste, her lips curled upwards into a smile, and she grinned at him. "It's so good. I can't believe you didn't want anymore!"

A tiny dot of white ice cream lay upon her lower lip, and, since she had unfortunately brushed her middle finger against the rim of the bowl, Matt felt his body tighten in response as she slid the finger into her mouth to clean it of the ice cream staining the flesh. His heart race increased immensely, his breath coming in shorter, quickened gasps, and he felt his blood rush to the nether regions of his body.

Jerking violently forward, he stood quickly and rushed off to the bathroom to cool his senses before something embarrassing occurred.

Mimi stared at him, licking the last bit of ice cream off of her finger, confusion glittering in her eyes. "What happened? Did I do something?"

The television screen flickered from one show to the next, changing from Oprah Winfrey to Days of Our Lives, causing the viewer to make a sound of disgust and quickly change the channel once more.

Her head flopped back in boredom, resting it upon the leather pillow as a loud sigh escaped her unpainted lips. Her hand flopped aside limply, letting the remote slip slightly between her fingertips.

"I'm so bored."

Rolling over onto her stomach, she grumbled in annoyance before stuffing her face against the pillow. "I feel like I have no life."

The door opened slowly, and she jerked up violently, before leaping at Matt, lunging at him, forcing him against the wall. Poor Yamato was pressed against the wall, defenseless, his hands full with groceries, half of which had fallen to the ground in a disarray of food and other random objects.

"Oh, what the…hi…?"

Mimi hugged him tightly, nearly crying with joy as she buried her face against his shoulder. "Thank Kami you're back!!! I was so fucking bored!"

Currently speechless and focused on the full breasts pressed against his chest, Matt simply gaped in awe at the brunette pressed against him, feeling the blood rush to his body as his muscles tensed and tightened, his heart rate increasing rapidly. His breath shortened and he jerked violently in reaction, his arms ached to twine around her body, to grasp hold of her buttocks and force her even closer. His groin tightly, aching against the zipper of his jeans, as his muscles ensued, tightening to an extremity, fighting against the clothing that had become all too encompassing. Images of Mimi sucking on her finger a couple days before filled his mind, and he fought back a groan that rose in his throat.

Instead of plundering her mouth with his own, he lifted he, achingly slowly lifted his arms and pushed Mimi away gently, staring down at her with, hopefully, confusion in his eyes.

Attempting to keep conversation light, and forcing the lustful note out of his voice, he asked her, "So, why didn't you entertain yourself?"

Pouting, Mimi crossed her arms across that lovely, full chest she possessed before sticking just the very tip of her tongue out at him. "You can't entertain yourself! It's too boring, and gets lonely after a while. I prefer having someone there to entertain me, instead of entertaining myself."

Matt nearly choked out a groan at the double meaning he decided to take on that particular sentence, and the image of Mimi 'entertaining' herself filled his mind before he violently forced it out.

Gesturing towards the grocery and shopping bags, half of which had fallen in heaps on the ground, the other half having been placed carefully by the closet at the entrance, Matt grinned. "Well, you see, I have some shopping to do before I had to get ready for tonight. So, I kind of had to buy a few things, like, some, uh," he muttered the last word.

Mimi leaned closer, interest filling her features. "Buy some what? Condoms? Are you planning on finding that special girl for Christmas Eve tonight? 'Cause if you are, you're going to have problems because we have a special VIP room, for guest-list only people, so, it means that your list is going to be very short." She winked at him, before giggling and twirling away in her Mimi-like fashion, the long, purple skirt she wore fluttering around her pale ankles. "Poor Matt, no variety."

Gathering the bags she before he could say anything, she hoisted half of them into the kitchen before rummaging through them. He didn't even have a chance to stop her before she pulled out an infamous magazine of lust, nudity, and lots, and lots of sex.

Fighting back the urge to gasp, Mimi forced a teasing smile to her face as she waved the Playboy magazine around. "Oooh, Matty! I always knew you were a collector! Which issue is this?" She focused on the date instead of the woman on the cover. "Last months. Oooh, lucky boy. And now let's see who's on the cover!" Focusing her sight on the woman, she blinked once, and then twice, before scowling.

Matt, who's face had gone a bright, brilliant shade of red, frowned. "What's wrong?"

Waving at him in response, Mimi continued to scowl slightly. "I forgot that Japan edited the images hardcore." Brightening, she smiled at him. "Sucks to be you, eh?"

Shrugging, attempting to appear like he didn't care, although it was given away by the fact that he was as red as a ripe apple, Matt gave her a half smile. "I guess it does."

Placing the magazine aside, Mimi continued to rummage through the grocery bags, putting on the counter milk, cheese, and other typical products found in the grocery store.

"So, was what it that you needed to buy? Aside from groceries, that is."

Jerked out his thoughts, Matt looked down at the bag hanging from his right hand, hiding the label from Mimi's view. "Uh, um, clothes."

Tilting her head as she bent over, placing a bag of grapes in the fridge, Mimi frowned. "Uh, um, what?"

Clearing his throat, attempting to appear dignified, and failing miserably, he replied. "Clothes."

Squealing with glee, she nearly skipped joyously over to Matt before peering down at the bag by his hips. "What label?"

"What does it matter?"

"Because, the better the quality, the longer the clothing will last."

"Not necessarily."

"You're just cheap."

"Am not!"

"I hope you're not cheap on dates, either."

"What the hell does that have to do with clothes?"

"Nothing. Ooh, nice!"

Throughout the conversation, Matt had been so distracted in defending himself that Mimi had managed to get hold of the bag, and was now staring into it.

Tearing the bag out of her grip, Matt scowled in her direction. "That wasn't very nice of you."

"But I'm too impatient to wait for tonight, and why aren't you dressing up, like Santa or something?"

Heading towards his room, arms laden with bags, he turned his head to face her. "Because it's just stupid."

"But Sora said they're having some sort of Christmas Fetish night, and a lot of people are dressing up."

"I'll just say that I have a jean fetish."

"That's just stupid."

"So is dressing up at Santa Claus."

"But it's Christmas time." There was a severely whiney emphasis on 'Christmas'.

"Who cares?"

The statement just came out sharply and abruptly, possessing a tone of anger, callousness and a hint of violence. Mimi jerked back at how violent it sounded, before feeling the pit of her stomach suddenly drop down to her knees, and her heart beat jerk in the middle of its pattern.

Face falling, she looked down at the carpet under her feet. She knew it was almost childish of her to feel such sadness, embarrassment, and utter woe because of the two-worded phrase, but she couldn't help it. It meant too much to her.

"I'm sorry…"

Matt, completely oblivious to her sudden change of state, simply shrugged roughly, before barging into the room, shutting the door and locking it.

"…if Christmas is the only time where I'm happy."

After everything had calmed down, and happiness had once more been restored to the apartment, Matt and Mimi were found in their own separate rooms, both dressing for the night's events. However, Matt took a lot less time than Mimi, seeing as he was ready in twenty minutes, while it seemed to take her twenty hours.

Reclining on his sofa, Matt checked the kitchen clock, noting that the party was supposed to be starting in just a little over forty-five minutes, and it would take him a while to get to the club.

Tonight was Sora's Christmas party, which she held annually in celebration of Christmas, and every year, all of the DigiDestined were invited. Although, this was the first year Mimi was going to be able to attend, and, Matt thought bitterly, probably the last.

Sighing softly in irritation, Matt chewed on a piece of gum as he waited impatiently for the sloth to exit the room so that they could finally leave. Not that he really wanted to go, anyways. He always found the party to be a bore for him; he was never a huge fan of getting drunk and performing stupid, regrettable acts. Instead, he found himself sitting by the bar, which was usually free, sipping on a beer for the majority of the night, watching as Tai drank himself into a stupor and danced on tables.

He wondered if this particular year it would be different, especially since Mimi was visiting. From what he had heard, Mimi had been a hardy partier, and had constantly enjoyed going out on Fridays and Saturdays to bars, clubs, and strip clubs. At least, that was what Sora told him, and he couldn't be sure that Sora always told the truth.

Finally, he heard the turning of the doorknob, and footsteps as Mimi approached the living room. It sounded as though she was already wearing shoes, and Matt scowled at the idea of her wearing shoes on his carpet. His landlord would have a fit if she stained the carpet with mud or something. However, Matt tossed that idea aside; Mimi took good care of her stuff, and he knew that she would never; ever let her shoes get muddy.

Sitting up straight, he felt a rush of sudden arousal hit him as she stood in the living room doorway.

Her long, creamy legs were clad in a pair of shiny, vinyl red boots that laced up in the front, and possessed killer 6" spikes and front platform. He caught sight of a pair of lacy, white stockings that rod up past the hem of her clothes, just glimpsing her flesh through the sheer material. Her body was covered in a long, velvet coat that was closed just enough to cover what she wore under. It opened just under her mid-thigh, and the hem went around to form a small, curved point at the back in the same spot as her ankles. Rimming the hems of the sleeves and the jacket was a white, imitation fluff material, contrasting slightly against the bright, scarlet red tone of the jacket. Her neck was covered with a red vinyl choker that obviously matched the boots. Her hair fell down to her waist in waves of golden brown, slightly curled, making him want to touch it to see if it was stiff with hair spray, or as soft and tender as it appeared. Her head was covered in a velvet, red replica of Santa's hat, white trim and puff included.

He could only imagine what she wore underneath the jacket that could match the choker and boots, and could just barely contain his arousal from her, fighting the urge to ram her up against the wall and 'entertain' her for the rest of the night. His heart rate increased alarmingly, while his breath remained caught in his throat. The need and desire that had been quenched a mere couple hours ago had returned, and with a vengeance.

Instead of performing lustful, carnal acts of passion, he stood, carefully, and grinned in her direction. "Very nice. Where'd you get it?"

She didn't respond immediately, as her eyes were currently taking in his image. He wore a pair of dark, but slightly faded and worn jeans that seemed to be just loose enough, leaving a girl to her imagination while they showed off his buttocks perfectly. He wore a nice, white button down shirt, which was not tucked into his pants, the hem just begging to be lifted by her hands as they yearned to roam across his chest, which showed as taught, just broad enough, and ever so masculine. Instead, she allowed her eyes to roam over the ever-so sexy leather jacket that he wore, which added a sense of danger, making him appear like a sexual predator in search for his next 'victim' of carnal lust. His hair was down, like usual, but combed in a way that made it look a touch messy, giving it almost a Johnny Depp look, making him appear sexy, naughty, and dangerous. She wanted to slide the jacket off of his shoulders and ask him if he was a dirty boy.

Similar to his reactions, she fought off the sexual urges and returned the smile, her teeth seemingly flashing. "At a Fetish Sex Shop, where else?" She twirled slightly, and Matt gazed in awe as to how she could just simply walk in the boots.

Gesturing to the door, Mimi continued to smile, slipping a matching, red vinyl purse to hang on her shoulder. "Ready?"

"Oh, yeah."

Matt quickly dialed Tai to let him know that they were ready, and the friends made their way downstairs to wait for the brunet by his car, which Matt was to drive there and back.

As they stood at the car, both fighting the urges to defile the car and parking lot with the arousal pent up within their bodies, they exhaled in unison, thinking, 'How am I going to get through the night?'

So, yes, I sincerely apologize for such the long wait. I had to work so hard to get myself out of the rut I was in, and there was so much shit going on that I was ready to die at any moment.

Ugh.

Anyways, here it is. I wonder how Matt and Mimi are going to get through the night, especially if there's alcohol involved? Haha.

Anyways, I promise that it should take me a little less time to get the next one up.

Ciao for now.