A/N: It's always great to know that readers like your story. Reading your reviews gave me a boost to write more after that. I hope I don't falter when going on, because I always have the tendency to give up in the end – but I don' think it will happen again now. Thank you all who read the previous chapters and reviewed. You are my great supporters! Enjoy!
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INYEON
Better Off Alone
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Mimi Taichikawa, twenty-four years old and unemployed for the umpteenth time - groaned as sunlight shone trough the room. She shifted and pulled the covers above her, blocking the rays so she could go back to sleep. Unfortunately, she couldn't have the chance, for her door was suddenly open, disrupting her. She didn't need to know who it was.
"Get up," he told her.
"No. Let me sleep." she grunted.
"It's already eight o'clock, woman. You should be up already."
"No." she moaned tiredly. "Leave me alone." Mimi turned around, almost taking the whole blanket with her.
She heard how he grunted under his breath, but since she was underneath, she couldn't decipher what he said. Mimi closed her eyes again, going back to that peaceful place.
"You leave me no choice, then," he said.
She felt some movements behind her, but ignored it. It wasn't until she felt a weight being added on the same bed that her eyes suddenly snapped open. For a moment, neither of them moved from their position. It was silent in the room. Only the chirping birds could be heard outside and some rustling movements of the wind.
Mimi thought he had fallen asleep since he still hadn't uttered a word for a while now. She decided to see it for herself.
Timidly, she grasped the blankets and pushed it downwards until it reached her nose. She froze instantly.
"Get up."
He was looking down at her, a grin plastered on his face. His nose almost touched her and it surprised the brunette how close he suddenly got. Without warning, Mimi pushed him with both hands hard from the bed, making him fall.
"What the fuck are you doing, you wench!" Yamato cursed angrily.
"Sorry!" Mimi cried, standing up on the bed, pointing a finger at him. "Y-you surprised me. It was a reflex!"
"Reflex, my ass." Yamato groaned, massaging his temple. "At least you're up, now." he said, rising from his place. He narrowed his eyebrow at her.
Mimi saw him advancing towards her and she knew for certain that he was up to something. The smirk at the end of his lips told her that. But it was already too late when she realized what he was up to. He had already seized the blankets before she could react, and with a pull – he made her fall from her spot. She shrieked underneath.
Her whole body was once again sprawled across the bed, her knees away from each other, giving Yamato a perfect view of her feminine parts. She blushed when she realized what he was staring at and immediately threw him a pillow. He caught it easily with one hand.
"Get dressed, woman." he ordered her, an arrogant smirk on his face.
He threw the pillow at her direction and went for the door.
Mimi stuffed her cheeks with air, irritated. Not wanting to give up that easily, she threw the pillow back at him again, making him face her. Mimi didn't give him the chance to speak before another one flew to his direction – hitting him square in the face. Feathers flew around him.
She laughed at the scene.
Yamato grabbed the pillow in his hand, spitting some fluff out of his mouth. He didn't look happy, but he wasn't really angry either. He scratched his hair.
"Damn it, woman." he called out, aggravated. But Mimi continued to laugh until it dimmed down in giggles.
"Ah, gomen, gomen." she apologized, chuckling.
Yamato gave out a long and droning sigh. He dropped the pillow on the floor, trying to clear his mind silently. Mimi stopped and looked at him with a worried expression.
"Yamato?"
Yamato shook his head, his eyes suddenly turning cold. Mimi noticed the slight change in him.
The blond glared. "Stop messing around, wench. Get dressed already," he suddenly commanded her, face serious, "I don't have time for this ridiculous child's play. Even though you may seem pleased about the fact you have a roof again – do not forget the promise you made me to obtain it."
He turned around, "I may not have the claim of my family's heritage yet, but I still hold a lot of authority. I can easily kick you out of here if you don't respect the agreement."
Mimi suddenly turned quiet, letting the words sink in. Yamato smirked haughtily.
"Of course I'm not stupid, you baka!" she exclaimed, not knowing why he turned cold all of a sudden. Yamato looked from across his shoulder, impassive.
"I already know what I've put myself into." she said, placing a hand where her heart was. "And I always keep my promises."
Yamato snickered, his hand running across his hair.
"Of course you would," he said nonchalantly. "Money is everything."
Mimi was taken aback.
With that said, Yamato left the room and closed the door behind him.
Mimi needed a few moments to finally be able and understand his words. Letting out a sigh, she let herself fall back on the bed again, staring at the ceiling above her. With a hand, she placed it across her eyes, her lips quivering as she remembered something.
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"Taichi." he called out when he descended the stairs. "What are you doing here?"
He rolled his eyes when he saw his friend holding something, knowing he had passed the kitchen before reaching him. Taichi grinned, taking a bite from his croissant.
"I came to drop you this." He spoke through his food and gave him a letter, sealed with a crest. Yamato acquired it, a bit disturbed at his friend's eating manners, and ripped the envelope. He frowned.
"The Motomiya's?" he said, surprised when he read the golden letters. "Who are they?" He looked at his friend.
Taichi took another bite from his food before responding.
"Some people making money by selling noodles." Taichi gulped down.
"Noodles?" the blond was flabbergasted.
"Yeah, they started as a small business, running a noodle cart all over the country. It slowly became popular and after that they made their own company." Taichi continued. "They are very rich, you know? I heard they even surpassed The Izumi Tech. Industry."
"You've got to be kidding me?" Yamato gaped, when he stared back at the card. That noodle company was even richer than Koushiro?
"It's not that bad. You should try it once." Taichi snickered, eating the rest of the bread down. Yamato looked like he was insane, but glanced a with a grimace.
"And now they think they have it all. How pathetic." Yamato threw the card at Taichi who snatched it. "Are they really inviting us to some commoner's party?" he grunted.
"You know you can't refuse, Yamato." Taichi reminded him. "Your father's away now and you have to show your face somehow."
Yamato groaned, not believing he had to deal with that. "Fine." He knew his friend was right and he cursed his old man for putting him in this situation. He needed to cool himself down for a bit, but his friend stopped him, remembering something.
"Actually, what happened to that girl yesterday?" Taichi asked him, his face curious. "You still haven't told me what happened yet."
The blond rolled his eyes, annoyed. "Look for yourself." he stated over his shoulder and pointed his finger upwards, indicating his friend to look upstairs. Taichi blinked, staring at him strangely before looking up and gasped.
"You brought her here?" he cried, stunned.
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Mimi wasn't the type of girl that needed much time to prepare herself. After discarding the clothes Yamato picked out, she went to her own luggage and preferred to wear simple jeans and her favorite navy t-shirt. She swiftly combed her hair, bringing it up to a ponytail and took some sandals out.
She took one last glance at herself at the mirror. When she was done, she almost gagged when she came across the clothes she had to wear from him.
'Like hell I will.' she thought, and almost cringed.
She opened the door of the bedroom and tried to remember her way out of the corridor. When she reached the stairs, she froze when two people gazed her direction from downstairs.
"Yamato? What is she doing here?"
Mimi recognized him. He was Yamato's friend. He had a shocked expression on his face, but was trying his best to get an answer from the blond. While Mimi descended, she noticed how Yamato followed her actions – almost stalking her. When she reached the floor, she looked up at the two.
"Looks like we meet again miss." Taichi greeted her with a smile.
Mimi just nodded, not really knowing what to say.
"What are you wearing?" Yamato asked, mostly glancing at her t-shirt. Taichi chuckled when he noticed it too.
"This?" she pointed at her clothes. "It's what I usually wear."
Yamato's eyes narrowed. "What happened to that outfit I gave you?"
Mimi mad a face. "What? You mean that grandma outfit with matching shoes? Really, how old do you think I am?" she exclaimed.
"A child?" he glared at her. "If u can't beat 'em, annoy' em? Who wears that?" he grunted when he read the letters across her shirt, disgusted.
"I am." Mimi argued, "I always liked this shirt and you can do nothing about it."
But their argument stopped as soon they heard someone laugh.
"Shut up, Taichi." Yamato warned him.
His friend just shrugged and smiled. "Sorry. This is actually the first time to ever see you lose your cool over something so small."
"Whatever, I'm going to smoke." Yamato had enough of them both and left them without saying anything else.
"Mou. He's rude!" she pouted, when he was gone.
Taichi chuckled. He turned to face her. "I'm Taichi Yagami. Nice to meet you." He took her hand and softly planted a kiss at the back.
"Mimi Tachikawa." she smiled.
Taichi grinned and called out a butler. "Please escort her to the kitchen so that she can have breakfast."
"Hai, Yagami-san." the man bowed down and led the girl away from him. Mimi looked lost, but Taichi just nodded at her direction. He waited till she was out of sight before starting his search for the blond. He had some explanation to do.
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"Tachikawa-san, please. Let us do it," the girl told her, but it looked like the brunette had too much fun and continued with what she was doing.
The first time she had entered the kitchen, she was sure her mouth fell open just to see the size of it. It was gigantic; probably five times her living room. The servants all greeted her at the same time and she just waved timidly. But the moment they started preparing her dinner, she insisted to help them – which brings us to our current situation.
"Tachikawa-san, it's our job to do." One of the maid said when Mimi threw flower in the bowl and started to stir the ingredients.
"Mou, just call me Mimi. Onegai."
"M-Mimi-san." the maid hesitated, "Please let us handle that. We don't want your clothes to get dirty."
But the brunette refused. "Don't worry."
The maids looked at each other and every one of them just sighed, dejected. When Mimi was done, she gently took the paste and smashed and rolled it between her hands, making round forms. After her preparations, she placed everything in the oven, checking the temperature and time, cheering when she was done.
"Yatta!" she chided.
The maids around her chuckled and smiled at her behavior.
"Now it's time to clean." she announced to herself, but hands stopped her. Mimi looked around her.
"Please, Mimi-san. Let us do it this time."
"But, I made a mess." she said, feeling responsible.
The maid gently placed a hand over hers. "You are kind, Mimi-san." she said to her gently, "Let us do our job of cleaning the kitchen while you can watch over your cookies."
Mimi hesitated at first, but eventually gave a small nod, not really happy with the decision.
The maids smiled and started cleaning the place. Mimi went to the oven and got to her knees, watching it rise. She beamed.
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"Where is that wench now?" Yamato scolded when he looked around.
"I've sent her to the kitchen." Taichi told him. "Maybe she's still there."
As they neared the kitchen, a wonderful smell lingered around them. Yamato and Taichi glanced at each other before going in. What they saw was something out of the ordinary. Maids and butlers were all in the same room, munching on something what Mimi was serving.
A big vein appeared on Yamato's forehead, while Taichi just grinned at his friend's behavior.
"What the fuck are you all doing, slacking like that!" the blond yelled.
Immediately, everyone froze, even Mimi couldn't move her body.
"Back to your work! Now!"
"Hai, Ishida-san." they said in unison before staggering and evacuating the kitchen.
Mimi glanced at him, still with the tray in her hands.
"It isn't their fault, you know. I made them do that." she explained, a bit angry, "I'm the one to blame."
Yamato advanced forward. "Oh, there is no doubt that it was you responsible for it. You haven't listened to anything I have ordered you so far."
Mimi glared at him. "I am not a puppet, Yamato. And neither are the people here working for you."
"What do you know about that?" Yamato was only a few meters away from her. "They work here. Orders are orders. If they don't follow them, they are kicked out of the mansion."
Yamato suddenly grinned, making Mimi back up until she hit the oven from behind and making it impossible for her to escape.
"You should immediately stop thinking this is your house, wench. You can't do things as you please like you own this place, because you don't. You are not my wife yet. You are merely a guest here," he warned her. "I will not tolerate this behavior again. The next time, I will fire everyone."
The feeling of anger that started to build towards him was becoming too strong that she couldn't hold it anymore. Tears were starting to build as she let the tray fall, knowing it was a waste.
"Who are you to decide all of that?" she shot back. "You may be the one giving orders to this place - at least have respect to those who listen to you. I also know this is not my house to begin with, but I don't think I deserve to be treated this way! I have done nothing wrong in the first place! I may have accepted your proposal for money, but it was mostly because I really wanted to help you! And maybe now I understand why you can't have it!" Mimi cried out.
Yamato took a step back from her sudden outburst. He didn't know what to say after hearing that. She brushed past him and almost hit Taichi in the process. All she wanted was to leave this place.
She didn't care where she was going - as long as it was not here. Seeing the familiar corridor and the gigantic stairs, she neared the exit of the mansion. She didn't care anymore. There were others who could replace her. She didn't need him. She didn't need anyone. She was better off alone.
Her view became blurry, but she could still make out the shapes around her. It was when she had reached the gates did she crash into a person that was headed this way. She fell after hitting a muscular chest. But as the person extended his hand, offering her his help, she slapped it away and continued to run.
The person was perplexed. "What was that all about?"
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Taichi stretched his arms above him, glancing closely at his friend. Yamato stared at the remaining food, wasted on the floor.
"You should be able to catch her if you leave now." he told him.
Yamato turned around, his eyes distant. "And why would I do that?"
"Because the woman I just passed has left the mansion and is probably heading towards the forest," a voice announced.
"Ken." Yamato glared at the man. "You've seen her?"
The man nodded, his face serious.
"What happened does not really concern me. But that place is dangerous if you are not familiar with it." Ken replied. "That girl will get in trouble."
Yamato clenched his fist. "That idiot."
Without taking another second, Yamato leaped across the kitchen and dashed outside the mansion. Taichi glanced at his friend's retreating figure. Somehow, that girl was different in a way he never saw before. Maybe that is why she was here. He wondered if Yamato saw something in that brunette. Taichi snickered. Things suddenly got interesting.
"Who was that girl?" Ken finally asked when the blond was already out of sight.
Taichi grinned, remembering the conversation he had a few hours ago.
"His fiancée."
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To Be Continued
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A/N: And this was chapter three. Hope you guys liked it.
I really hope you guys review faster - there are still many things that must happen to both of them. And apart from those two, there are still other couples I still have to introduce, but this is and will be Mimato. I also noticed I made Yama-kun a bit colder than I originally had in mind. Oh well, maybe it's a good thing. That way Mimi can melt that heart of his. (grins)
As always, 10 reviews before I post the next chapter. I know, I know - that much, but you already know why.
- aoi senshi