Chapter 2
…
It seemed like the day was already starting off horrible. Before daybreak, she had awoken to the loud grumbling thunder and violent wind attacks hitting against her window. If anyone had ever had the displeasure of waking up before dawn, they'd know the horrible headaches that came along; the worst part of it all, though, was that Mimi was already suffering with Insomnia, and the little sleep that she could get was now robbed from her. The thunder became noisier by the minute and her tossing and turning didn't help, so she decided to give up. These kinds of storms were too unusual for the current season.
Ugh. She began smelling the earthy-rain seeping in through her window. Uncovering her bare legs from the comfy covers, she stood from her bed and headed towards the light switch. Everything was still blurry, and rubbing her eyes made things worse—bringing along that burning pain.
After a good seven minutes of squinting, her sight adjusted. She winced when her eyes landed on the electrical clock; it was around five in the freaking morning, so much time between now and when school started. Knowing fully well that there was no way she was getting back to sleep, she began thinking of errands that needed tending to.
As she headed down stairs, she heard a couple of noises coming from the kitchen, presumably coming from her aunt. It took a minute for the silhouette to become clear, it was then that she heard her.
"Couldn't sleeping either, huh?" her aunt questioned.
"What was your first clue?" Mimi replied.
"Ha-ha, smart-ass," she turned around and rotated the nob on the stove. "I'm making oatmeal, want some?"
Mimi looked at the clock hanging above the fridge. "Sure."
After realizing that her phone was on the counter, she took a seat on one of the stools. She had a couple of news feeds that weren't particularly interesting, most of them—useless celebrity gossip, as if people didn't have anything better to do than to invade the personal affairs of others.
On the corner of the phone, the envelope Icon had a big five. It was always really nice when she got privet messages from her friends in Manhattan. They were always so cordial around her, sending her greetings and sweet nothings, and she always replied with 'thank you' and 'miss you too'. Rarely—because of the time difference—had she had the time to have any conversations, although, she would have probably reject the idea anyways.
"I suppose you don't want coffee," her aunt hinted.
She shook her head, "I'll have some water though." She didn't like coffee, not after the discoveries scientist had unveiled.
"So how's your dad doing?"
"…Fine," she answered, skimming through a couple of unanswered D.M's. "He sends his regards."
"That's nice of him, did you tell him about my sweets thought?" Lysa teased.
"Um…"
"You, did tell him to ship me some, right?" The silent demeanor from her niece informed her that she hadn't told her brother. "Shame on you, you know I love them, especially when they come straight from the chocolatier."
"It's expensive though, and you should be thanking me for helping you halt that weight gain." It was a relief to Mimi when she learned that she would be staying with her aunt. Lysa was only ten years her senior, so they got along like siblings.
"You bitch," They both couldn't contain the giggles, especially with the way she said it. "I'm not even fat." Lysa stuck her tongue out, a Tachikawa custom.
"If you eat a lot of sweets, you will be," Mimi teased.
"Ugh, whatever… Like I need to discuss my nourishment with you."
"That's isn't nourishment though."
"Anyways, moving on, how's your mom doing?"
"I don't know." In truth, Mimi had no idea how her mom was handling her fatigue. It had occurred before her departure, and for a moment, really frightened her without warning. Once she was checked into the hospital, they informed them that she was dealing with muscular weakness. The original plan was that her mother was going to accompany her here, but out of care, they all agreed it was best for her to stay in New York, she needed to replenish her health. She wished nothing more than for her mom to get better. "I just hope she gets better."
"She will."
Mimi smiled at the notion, she didn't mind compassion for her mother.
Lysa set a plate in front of her and began pouring the oatmeal for her. Mimi replied with a thanks before setting her phone aside. She learned a long time ago to put an ice cube in the bowl, to cool it off first, the damn things was always hot. Dripping some fresh berries in the oatmeal, she began blowing every spoonful she took.
After a while, they both noticed the noise outside had ceased, even the winds were returning to their regularity.
"Strange weather," Lysa started.
"Was it like this last year?"
"No, but they said that today would be the last day."
"Oh."
"I'm going to go get ready for work, can you wash your dish for me, please." Assuring her that she would, her aunt retreated back upstairs.
That incurable headache she got in the morning was almost gone entirely, even though she was still feeling lazy. After a couple of minutes of cleaning up, she too went back up stair to freshen up. There was only an hour left, and a couple of things still needed to get done before then.
Entering her room, she looked at the school uniform sitting on the edge on her bed, it needed to be pressed, her hair-ends needed to be curled, and her phone needed to be charged.
"Wow, this is a messy," Taichi blandly stated. There were plastic covers over some of the computers—probably to protect the remaining systems. The leak had done its damage across the room, and the server looked… engulfed by water.
"You're so observant." Koushiro moved around cables and tables that surrounded the computer. He had unplugged it since the day before, just so it wouldn't contain any static charge. "They're going to move it today."
"Where to?"
Koushiro shrugged, he had no idea what was going to happen to the computer, but they needed to take precautions, the room could still be very dangerous. After sighing loudly, he decided to leave this matter to the higher ups.
"Here you guys are—whoa! What happened here?"
As annoyed as Koushiro was, he decided to ignore Yamato's stupid question. It was, In fact, all their faults; how they were so dense, was beyond him. "Where's Sora?"
"Eating breakfast with some friends," Yamato answered.
"Great, now we are left to pick up the pieces," Taichi added.
"Well this wouldn't of happened if—"
"I know Kou-, I know." It wasn't his fault the idiotic room had defects, it hadn't even occurred to him that it was going to be raining that day either, it's not like he watches the news.
"So what are you guys gonna do about this."
"You guys?" Taichi mimicked, "You should be the first one to notice when Koushiro doesn't come."
"What? I wasn't even aware of Koushiro's absence."
"Thanks, Yamato." It honestly felt more like an insult than a rhetorical statement.
"I didn't mean it like that Koushiro, I—"
"It doesn't matter, I'm going to talk to the counselor after school, Tai your coming with me. Yamato, you and Sora be available if needed."
"What, why don't you make them go with you," Taichi whined, he hated how Yamato grinned at him.
Koushiro rolled his eyes at him, Taichi was known for whining when something wasn't going his way, and everyone had grown accustomed to it. "I'm going to class now, I'll come get you when later."
"Whatever, it's not like I have any other choice," Taichi followed close behind Yamato, who was heading to his homeroom.
Her arrival at school was—per usual—quite mundane. Other girls—already in their cliques chatting away the minutes that occupied the time before sessions began. In the beginning, some few girls offered their generous hospitality, which she had gracefully declined. Whether it would ever be offered to her again, was not of any relevance to her, although, she did like studying the conversed interactions among them. However, it always reached a point where girls began acting so… basic. They talked about who was with who, the guys they were crushing on, where they were heading after school, what time their 'guys' were picking them up. For an all-girls private school, the hormones were real. To some degree, at one point, she was sort of like them; thankfully, she had now reached a point of enlightenment, were she wasn't swooned by those type of things anymore.
Once her homeroom teacher stepped in, all current thoughts vanished. The good thing about the school was that it adapted from western culture school systems, which made her move back, so much smoother. The teacher also seemed to understand her circumstances, something she wished more people would adhere.
…
Time went by quickly for her, the last subject of the day—math—was the last class before school ended. Unbeknownst to anyone else, she wasn't particularly bad at solving these basic algorithms.
The teacher called some of the girls to the front of the class to explain on the board how they had gotten their answers, when it was her turn, she repeated the steps the rest of the girl had taken. In turn, this was one of the harder problems, which needed a lot of explaining.
It wasn't until she was almost done writing the problem that she realized how uneasy she was feeling; she could feel the stares of her classmates, gazing at her turned back. Breathing in lightly, turning to face them, and flipping a strand of hair to the side, she began.
As she began explaining, a couple of the girls kept looking down on their workbook and back on the board, she wondered if—perhaps—she had gotten the answer wrong, but the teacher assured her that it wasn't.
"Well done Mimi," by the look on some of his student's faces, a lot of them got mixed answers.
Giving an unconvincing smile, she bowed and went back to her seat. Afterwards, the teacher announced that they needed to clean up before they left. The task didn't take more than five minutes, and before she knew it, she was leaving school grounds.
It had been a long day, full of waiting. Waiting through a long day of school. Waiting through Koushiro silent demeanor. Now, both he and Koushiro were waiting patiently for the counselor to receive them. Taichi kept fidgeting a pen between his slender fingers, which he saw, made Koushiro irritated. To say he was nervous, was putting it lightly. The reason why? Well, let's just say he was expected.
Once the door opened, the gentlemen stepped in.
"Hey guys," she greeted, "have a seat."
"Thanks." Koushiro—always so formal—accepted her suggestion. "We," he gestured to Taichi and himself, "just came to see if there was any news about the computer."
She hadn't noticed that Mr. Kamiya was the one accompanying Izumi, so she decided to take advantage of the situation before she informed them of what was going on. "Taichi! You've finally decided show up at my office," she began, "I was beginning to wonder if you'd ever show up at all."
"Yeah…" Taichi smiled, embarrassingly so. "I know what you're gonna tell me, but don't worry, I've already started looking at colleges, don't need the lecture."
"Better late than never I suppose," Koushiro interrupted.
"Hey, I haven't had the time, okay."
"Yeah well, just make sure you come see me when you do decided, and make it soon." The counselor had been waiting for Taichi since the first semester of school for him to come see her, at least he assured her of his decision. "Anyways, we talked to the tech repair store, the computer has a warranty, and we could return it at any given time—"
"Thanks goodness, we have a lot things to run on that system." Taichi said in glee.
"Well," she inquired, "yes, it is warrantied, but that doesn't mean well get it back in a week."
"What, why?" asked Taichi.
"Because," the red headed boy added, "The shipment don't come in a week, not unless you pay them more."
"Exactly. We also have to send someone to fill out the form. I'm sorry but that's our only solution."
"How long would the shipment take?" Koushiro questioned.
"The earliest shipment could arrive with-in a month or so, give or take."
"A month!" Shit. Taichi wasn't sure if he could take a month of Koushiros nagging, he would surely blame him, if nothing else.
Koushiro knew something like this would happen, he had figured that if the server was warrantied, then perhaps, it would take time before they could regain it.
"You also have to wait, our tech instructor is on his week off, so you would need to wait until he came back to—"
"I can fill out the form, with the schools permission of course," Koushiro interjected.
"Well that sounds all fine, but the problem resides with the location," the woman looked at her computer screen, "The repair stores is in the central part of Toko."
"That's not far, we can use the transit," he insisted.
"Well, if you're that eager, I can print out the location for you."
"Thanks you." They needed to cut their losses and take action now, waiting, wasn't an option for them.
After the woman agreed to their request, they began looking up the transit route. It was merely evident that they needed to go today.
Mimi arrived at the post office before closing time, she wanted to turn in this irreverent application. She hadn't expected the post office to be full at this time of the day, they must have been like her, waiting till the last minute.
After a few minutes of waiting in line, it finally became her turn, the young man working the line warmly received her.
He asked her many questions—things that should've been written on the package. Guessing by his inexperience, she concluded that he was an intern.
It seemed like a while since she had been there, and in the end they couldn't even mail the damn thing. Apparently, the school needed to authorize the envelope, which pissed her off. It was upsetting that no one warned her about this.
There was no point trying anymore, the most effective solution would be for her to take the packet back to the head mistress.
Koushiro checked the options on the warranty, there were many options they could use for the return policy. He wanted to make sure everything on the list was taken care of. One of the suggestions that was offered explained that they would be able to pick up the machine at the school directly, but it would be until Friday. It was the best option on the form, so without hesitation, he gladly checked that off.
Taichi, on the other hand, was looking around the small shop and was intrigued by all the computer peripherals. He wasn't one to be fascinated by such things, this was usually Koushiro's area of interest.
After he finished revising everything, he handed to the form to the manager of the quaint shop. As the manager handed him the carbon copy, he asked, "Is this the only shop that offers replaceable units?"
"Well for the one you're looking for, yes. By the way, your school needs to read the new warranty measures," he handed Koushiro the large envelope, who then gave it to Taichi—who was looking at the objects beneath the glass counter.
"Then everything is set? Nothing left to sign?"
"No, that will be all. Make sure to give that to whoever is in charge."
"That seems simple enough," Taichi responded.
"Well then, the shipping order has been made for the arrival on three weeks."
Koushiro sighed in relief, he thought that they would be given a larger due date, but thankfully everything was in order. "Thank you for your help."
"No problem. Anything, for that old school."
"You attended Odaiba?" Taichi questioned.
"Yep, almost been thirty years since those days."
"Oh, how did—" He was about to finish but Koushiro nudged him.
"The bus is about to arrive, we need to go." Koushiro and Taichi bowed to the elderly man, quickly heading off in a hurry.
It was a good thing it stopped raining that morning, Mimi didn't want to find out how soaked she would of gotten if it hadn't. It was still chilly though, and the winds were moderately present. The streets were still covered in puddles and there wasn't a hint of sun light available.
Even though her plan didn't go quiet as expect, she was a bit relieved, for the most part, mainly because she wouldn't have to spend a dime on the damn carrier, since the school would be obligated to do so.
It was lovely how colorful this part of town looked, there were shades of greens, oranges, reds, and violets. It reminded her a lot of the vivid colors of the digital world. Her last visit seemed like a century ago. All the escapades with the others were a lot of fun, even when the circumstance were at their worst, they always pulled through, together.
…
She reached the corner of the street when someone ran by, perpendicular to her own side, causing her to pause. The next thing she knew, someone else crashed hard against her own body, making her tumble down on the concrete floor. At first, the impact felt miniscule, that is, before she felt the small scrape that opened on her palm. It didn't stop there though, the collision was so strong that it indirectly caused her to fall on a puddle.
As she stumbled to get back up, the culprit stood up quickly offering her a hand.
"I'm really sorry." It was a voice too familiar.
As it became apparent who he was, the first thing that stuck out immediately was his wild brown hair. It wasn't long after that she noticed the predicament that she was in.
Taichi looked down at the lithe girl with discontent. He didn't mean to harm her, but by the looks of it, he had done just that. "Let me help you up," he offer his hand, but she gently slapped it away. She was acting difficult, and making it hard for him apologize. As he reach down to retrieve one of the manila envelopes, he caught a quick glimpse of her amber colored eyes. He faintly remembered someone he knew having them, but he couldn't distinctly remember who.
"Tai, what are you doing!?" Koushiro was halting the bus driver, who was becoming irritated by the fact neither of the boys were getting on.
When Taichi looked back to the girl, she had stood up, staring at the wet stains on her pants. He frowned, feeling guilty for her mishap. He wanted to offer her a sincere apology, but Koushiro had stalled the driver long enough, he needed to leave.
"I am really sorry, please forgive me, I would make it up to you if I could." He began heading towards the bus, "I'm sorry," he said, one last time.
Her pulse was beating fast, everything happened so suddenly, so many things started running through her head. When Mimi heard footsteps steadily retreating, she turned around to make sure her eyes weren't playing tricks on her. The resemblance was uncanny, it was Taichi, and by the looks of it, Koushiro was with him. As she regained her composure she picked up her envelope and began dusting off the dirt.
…
"What happened?" Koushiro asked, looking at Taichi who was of breathing heavily.
"That girl…" He pointed out the window to the young female, "we collided."
"Did you at least apologize?" Koushiro examined the girl, she was standing still, perhaps cleaning herself off from the dirty collision with Taichi.
"Of course I did," Taichi snorted, "she didn't even indulge me."
"Your ego surprises me."
"Whatever, she could have at least looked at me."
Koushiro shook his head, clearly, Taichi was missing the point.
…
When the engine of the transit was no longer in hearing range, the panic from the occurrence began settling in her mind. How, No. Why were they here? The headache from this morning starting coming back again. She didn't need this, not now.
Her palm was throbbing and her skinnies started feeling soggy from all the water they had absorbed. This couldn't of happen at a worse time.
This was indeed turning out to be a horrible day.
Thank you, to all everyone who has read, favored, followed, and reviewed this story, You guys are awesome. I hope this chapter is satisfying, there isn't a lot of interactions among the main characters yet, but the next chapter should be fun.
Anyways, Thanks again, and have a nice day! R/R