Love is a game.
So I'll be focusing on this more than the Romantisme Quotidien :) I'm so excited and have so much planned for this. I've always wanted to write taiorato too
If you read A.D.A. A lot of stupid moments will make sense in this story. (Am i updating slowly? Or is this the normal pace?)
Love and Friendship
"We're going home all together today? That's rare." Jyou looks back to Yamato, who was packing up his bass and walking toward the rest of the four Chosen Children. He pats his back. "You did good."
"Thanks." Yamato replies, grinning.
"Reminded me of Mimi back in the days." Taichi nudges Jyou. "Princess Karaoke, remember?"
Sora sighs. "You should accept that Yamato lost his chance to be close to Mimi-chan." She jokes, flicking Taichi in the head.
"Oh? Is this jealousy?" The brunette teases. Yamato and Sora blush. Koushiro narrows his eyes.
"Stupid Taichi." The girl pouts. She scratches her head, shyly chuckling. "Actually, for a moment back there, I thought the song was for Mimi-chan."
"Eh?" The four boys tilt their heads in confusion.
Sora shyly pokes her fingers. "Well... The lyrics were for someone who really couldn't see the guy's presence, right?"
Taichi laughs. "Yamato could care less if Mimi ignores him." The blonde shrugs.
As they were walking, Taichi was going on about soccer again, this time debating with Koushiro if it's possible to increase momentum if the soccer ball was oiled. Jyou was just laughing at them, and Yamato and Sora were behind them.
He looks over to her. "To think we'd stay together, like this, huh."
"You shouldn't be surprised, Crest of Friendship." She winks, making him laugh gently.
He pockets his hands. "... You thought that song was for Mimi?"
"Possibly."
"I wouldn't write a song about her."
"I didn't think you could write a song about anyone, and now look at you." She smiles.
He smirks at that. "If I wrote a song about anyone, it would be for-"
"Look!" Yamato's sentence is cut off by Taichi, pointing to the beach by the school, just across the boundary of the road they were walking on. It was a vibrant, pink and orange sunset, beautiful charming lights reflecting on the water.
"Wow." Sora's eyes shine in amazement. Yamato looks at her. He smiles. He looks up and locks gazes with Taichi for a split second, whose mouth was in a straight line, eyes devoid of emotion, before he grins goofily.
"Beautiful, isn't it, Yamato?" The leader asks.
Friendship and Hope
"Takeru! How could you!" Yamato growls and stands up from his seat in irritation. The younger only laughs. "I trusted you, you squirt."
"We're betting for your guitar and you trust me? Don't hate the player, hate the game, Aniki." Takeru excitedly grabs the old instrument, the one that Yamato didn't bother to play when he was younger, because he felt like he was meant for more than that, for the bass.
Yamato runs a hand over his hair. It was the first guitar his dad bought him. "...No second rounds?"
"Nope. Your fault for not taking me seriously." Takeru cheerfully keeps the doublesided coin in his pocket.
"Meh. Taichi and Sora bought me a new one, anyway." He never named the old one too.
"Oh yeah. You told me about it." He gets up and opens the fridge, eager to find a drink of some sort. Yamato was uneventfully flipping through the TV channels. Takeru stares at his brother, and the guitar. "So... Are you going to take it seriously?"
"What am I going to take seriously?" The older cringes, seeing Desparate Housewives being broadcasted. "Man, doesn't dad get any say in this?" He mutters under his breath.
Takeru chuckles. "I meant music."
"I am taking it seriously. I'm in a band now, after all that fighting with the moron Hori Tokiya."
He plops down the couch beside his sibling, sipping sprite. "It's just... You know how I joined the theatre club, right?"
Yamato smiles. He was proud his little brother fostered a passion."You were always into those vintage plays."
"Our music director knows a producer." At the mention of the word, Yamato turns his head, locking eyes with the younger, whose eyes were shining. He knows Yamato could be someone better. "You can re-release the album with a label."
The Romantics
Laurel grunts at Mimi following her. She walks faster. "Stop stalking me, already. I don't want your company."
"But I want you to be my friend." Mimi pleads.
Laurel blushes, remembering how this girl saw her crying about her used-to-be friends, and tried to comfort her badly. She turns away. "You sound weird. No popular girl would like to be friends with me."
"That's not true! Popular girls are also human. We're all human." Mimi holds her hand. She smiles brightly. "No human's meant to be alone forever."
"... How do I know you won't betray me like them?"
"I don't betray anyone who trusts me." Mimi says, placing her hands on her hips, remembering the Chosen Children, the people who give her the most confidence. "So will you?" She holds out a hand.
Laurel sighs, hopelessly. She didn't have any choice. She figured it would be more embarassing than to be alone in the lunch table. "Fine." She takes Mimi's hand. "But. There's one thing you need to know." She avoids the pink-haired girl's eyes. "I... I'm the one who talked crap about you the most in our table... So... I'm sorry."
A moment passes, without any of them saying anything. "Aw, Harvey! That's so cute!" Mimi cheers.
"Eh? Harvey? Where'd that come from? And what's so cute about it?"
"You've been hesitating to talk to me because you thought I was a fake plastic doll, right?" Mimi was sparkling, and Laurel has never felt so confused in her entire life. She grabs both hands. "I was right about you! You have a big heart behind your always frowning mouth."
"But it was wrong of me to-" Laurel was cut off, by Mimi hugging her.
"I don't care about what happened in the past, as long we ensure a bright future." She whispers. She believed strongly different strangers can still be the best of pals. "That's what I learned from my friends back in Japan."
"There you guys are!" Michael pants, waving to them. Behind him was Trevor, who wore a face that looked like he knew this was going to happen. "Let's get going. The bell just rang." He glances at Mimi and Laurel's interlocked fingers. He smiles and scratches his head. "We may look like the villains, but don't worry, we're just people."
"Have you made a nickname for her yet, Meems?" Trey pats Laurel's back.
"Her full name's Laurel Harvard, right?" Mimi grins. "Let's call her Harvey."
Michael, Laurel and Trevor visibly shed a drop of sweat. The boyfriend sighs. "You come up with the weirdest nicknames, Mimi." He kisses her cheek. "But it strangely suits you."
"Everything can make Mimi cute." Trevor laughs.
Laurel was still dumbfounded. She tugs Trevor's sleeve. "What does she call you?"
"Michael's just Michael, but I'm Trey." Laurel resists to gag at that. They shake hands. "I promise, it's going to be worth hanging out with them." He sincerely utters.
.-.-.
The Dream Team: Courage and Love
"Who do you think will she pick?"
"If I were her, Yamato-kun."
"You guys should get to know Taichi-kun. He's such a nice guy. I would pick him."
Sora enters the ladies' room, hearing the conversation of three shocked girls. She narrows her eyes. The group mutter nervous words to themselves. Sora walks toward them, crossing her arms. "What were you saying?"
"N-Nothing." The one on the side said.
The girl on the middle of the trio wasn't shaking. "Actually, I wanted to ask you something."
Sora raises an eyebrow. "What is it?"
"I like Taichi-kun." The redhead twitches at the usage of his first name. As if this girl knows him well. "If you don't mind, I'd like to go out with him."
Sora takes a step closer. "No offense or anything, but I don't think he likes girls who talk shit about his best friends like this."
The girl dramatically gasps. "We weren't talking shit about you." She smirks, hands on her waist. "In fact, we were saying you're so lucky to be, and I quote, best friends, with two very attractive young men."
"What's your point?"
"Who do you like between them?"
"Why do you care?"
"Because, I like Taichi-kun... I feel like you're the type to fall for Yamato-kun, too. Didn't he write a song about you?"
Sora's breathing increased pressure, she wanted to slap all three of their smug faces. She mentally calmed herself down. "Frankly, Taichi doesn't like girls who talk about me, or him, or any of his friends this way."
"We're admiring him."
She feels her fists clench. "You're objectifying him."
"Oh, you mean like you?"
.-.-.
"Yamato, sorry, Sora's going to go home later than usual, you go ahead, alright?" Taichi says to the phone.
"Why? What happened?"
"She got called into the Principal's office. We'll tell you about it tomorrow. She's really embarassed right now."
"Is she okay?"
Taichi rolls his eyes. "She's the one who did the slapping." With no response, he hangs up, grinning. He was waiting for her outside Shiroyuki's office, seated crosslegged on a wooden bench. The door opens. He stands up to meet an agitated Sora. Taichi was still smiling. "You still haven't told me why you did it."
She blushes. "Girls are annoying." He laughs. She sighs, and locks their arms together, walking along. "Taichi, we're best friends, aren't we?"
"Does that make you uncomfortable?"
"No... Just..." Her eyes were gloomy. "Please tell me if I'm doing something wrong. Something that affects you."
Taichi can tell what happened. "You're doing something wrong now."
"Eh?" She lets go of his arm.
He smiles and rests his arm on her shoulder, pulling her nearer. "You're not smiling."
The Holy Trinity
Sora's feet were on top of Yamato's lap, while her back leaned on Taichi's upper torso. They were bored to death in the weekend, and like always, decided to hang out in Sora's living room. Her mom was downstairs running the shop, and the trio, positioned on one single couch, Sora in the middle, were watching a movie.
"I wish I was Alice." Sora comments, seeing the camera close up on the actress' face.
"Why? You would be in deep shit." Taichi munches on the popcorn. "Literally."
"She's so pretty."
"You're pretty enough." Yamato says in a monotone, not tearing his eyes off the screen.
"And she has all these friends who help her..."
"You have us." Taichi pats her head.
"And she slays a monster all by herself."
"You're so violent." The brunette jokes. Sora glares at him and throws a popcorn in his face.
"Come to think of it, you are already Alice, Sora." Yamato says, stretching his arms. "The rabbit hole's the digital world, and all your friends are us."
Taichi nods. "The monster can be Malomyotismon or something."
"Yeah but it's different." Sora crosses her legs, still sprawled. "She's more feminine."
Taichi licks his lips and blinks slowly. He turns to Yamato who was smiling. "You're pretty enough." The blonde repeats. Taichi rubs his eyebrows with a finger, trying to focus on what was happening on the screen. He knew that wasn't what Sora was trying to hear. Though he himself didn't know what she liked most about this movie.
Sora looks up at the said boy. "This is my favorite movie."
"I know." Taichi twirls a strand of her hair. "We watched it 10 times already."
"You're not getting sick of it, are you?"
"I'd never get sick of something you like." She grins at his reply, satisfied. They hold hands, his left being covered by Sora's body. "Now please feed me popcorn. You have both my opposable thumbs."
The Romantics
"A-Alison... It's them again." A petite half-asian girl with braces, large glasses and freckles tugs the blonde's sleeve, fidgeting in her seat. She was looking at Michael, Trevor, Laurel and Mimi, indeed having some kind of impact to the other students while walking to their seats.
Alison pops a nerve, locking gazes with Trevor. She clicks her tongue. "Oh, Eleanor. Haven't you learned that I'm better than Mimi?" She pats Eleanor's head. "Be grateful to be my pet."
"I-I am." She looks at them again. "But Mimi doesn't seem like a bad person. She became friends with Harvard, too."
Alison rolls her eyes. "Harvard's a thorn among roses, if that's the case. She hates A-listers." Eleanor subtly but longingly sucks on her lower lip. Alison narrows her eyes. "But if you really want to hang out with them, I'm not stopping you." The other people of the table smirk at her.
"W-Why can't you just be friends with her?" Alison stands up, with a menacing gaze. She slowly leaves the table, while the others follow. Eleanor was trembling. "W-Wait."
"Don't you dare follow me."
Eleanor slams the table, catching the attention of many in the cafeteria. "I'm not gonna say sorry! I know I'm right! Mimi is so much kinder than you ever were!"
Alison glares, making Eleanor tremble. She takes a step and two, bringing them nose to nose, inches apart. Before her palm could reach Eleanor's cheek, she feels a force against it.
"Ouch." Trevor shakes his hand, that stopped Alison. "Now that you don't care about me, I won't let you hurt anyone else anymore, Ali." Alison was struck, face broken by the sudden presence of a loyal friend in the past.
Sincerity
Eleanor was crying in the girl's bathroom. I could hear her sobs through the thin doors. After Trevor and Alison's encounter, she ran away. "Eleanor? Hi, I'm Mimi." I knock at the cubicle. "You shouldn't be discouraged of your worth, just because one person doesn't think much about you." I wonder if she trusts me.
"... She's the person I wanted to please the most."
"You don't have to please anyone but yourself."
"I can't please myself if I can't be someone everyone likes."
"You should learn from me and I hate to admit it, Alison too. Love yourself more than anyone else first, so that it would be difficult for other people to hurt you."
She finally comes out. "Why are you doing this?"
I smile proudly. "I've decided I'm going to be someone who my friends back in Japan were to me. Accepting, approachable, and understanding. All eight of us were so different, yet we never felt estranged, even if you can say we belonged to different hierarchies." If they're seeiing me right now, they would be proud.
She bawls out. "I treated her as if she was a true friend."
I pat her back. "There, there. Finding real friendship is hard, I know, but what's harder is trusting people who stab you in the back." She continues to cry. "I can tell you've been strong for so long, so never be embarassed to cry like this, okay?" She nods, smiling in between the tears. "Can I ask you one thing?"
She sniffles. "Okay."
"What made you be loyal to Alison."
"At first she was nice to me, and promised she'd figure out a way to make me prettier... But as time progressed, I don't know how, but she slowly changed, being more self-centered and oblivious of others' feelings." Strange. She changed? I should ask Trevor about this.
The Holy Trinity; After School
Taichi yawns stretching his limbs, turning to his best friends. "Wanna go to the arcade?"
"And what? Have you beat us in all of the games?" Sora raises an eyebrow.
"Well yeah. That's always been fun." Yamato snickers in response, as Sora kicks Taichi's leg. "Ow. Hey you're better in other games, Sora."
"I don't know if Yamato would like seeing us battle each other to death."
"..." Taichi nods.
"I'm okay with it." Yamato chuckles. "Go kill each other." Taichi sparkles at him.
"There's this three-player guitar game. Let's go try it out." The brunette holds the hands of both his friends and drag them to the other direction. Sora and Yamato smile at each other.
.-.-.
"Why are we playing this, of all games?" Sora impatiently taps her foot at Taichi who was concentrating on the metal claw above the mountain of stuffed animals. "No one ever wins this."
"I did, once. I won something for Mimi, before she left."
"..." Sora nods.
"You're so unique, Taichi." Yamato smirks.
Taichi laughs. "Koushiro was so jealous when I told him."
"Koushiro? What about him?" Yamato crosses his arms.
"Eheh." Taichi shares a knowing look with Sora. "We ship Koushiro and Mimi together."
"You mean he likes her? I think Jyou likes her more." Yamato says.
"Well, they can't help it. She's pretty cute." Taichi presses a button. Sora's eyes widen slightly and she looks away, feeling mildly disappointed.
Yamato glances at the girl. "I just don't see what you guys see in her." Sora looks up at him. He returns a smile.
"Eh? You're weird, Yamato. It's not like I have a crush on her." Taichi pulls out the prize from below the machine. His two friends gape at him. He did win. Taichi grins and hands Sora a small, as big as her elbow, stuffed magenta-pink lion. "Here. I knew that hairclip sucked."
Sora was blushing. "The hairclip didn't suck." She mutters under her breath.
"But you never use it."
"I was keeping it in a safe place so it won't be broken easily."
"... This is more stable and won't break easily, so hug it every time you need me and I'm not available, okay?"
Yamato crosses his arms. "Since when are you unavailable when Sora needs you?"
Taichi pockets his hands and shrugs. "Then. When she misses me."
Yamato sighs. "At this rate, she's never going to get married and live on her own." He jokes.
"Well if she's desparate, I'm pretty sure I won't get married, so there's always me."
Yamato rolls his eyes. "What's up with the color of the lion anyway? It reminds me of a cartoon character." He closes his eyes in thought. "What was its name... It was a creepy show. Takeru and I avoided it."
"I think it was Courage." Sora says, hugging the lion. Yamato snaps his fingers. That was it. She giggles. "Alright, from now on, this is my Courage."
"Girls." Yamato pouts, looking away.
"Aw, don't be jealous Yamato." Taichi pokes his cheek. "At least I didn't write her a song." Yamato pops a nerve visibly and chases a laughing Taichi away.
.-.-.
The Teenage Wolves: The first full moon
Friendship
All four of us were sweating, dehydrated but satisfied. Akira howls in happiness. "That was the concert of my life." We all look at each other. "I loved it."
Takashi grins, splashing us lightly with mineral water. I laugh. Though not many people attended, we had a good time. "You think this could lead us to something more than just a garage band?" Yutaka asks.
"We'll see." I do hope so. It was my first time exposing my new bass, Natsuki, to this kind of playing. I lay her down. You did well, my friend.
A knock on our door. Takashi opens it. It was a clapping Tokiya. "Congratulations." He says, without a tone of fake kindness. "That was awesome."
I grin. "Thanks for the support. We wouldn't have done it without the chorale spreading it everywhere." He hands me a bottle of water. "Not to mention you guys let me borrow your stage."
"You'll be performing in bigger stadiums and stages." He says. "I don't know if I'm fit to say this, but I'm proud of you." He pats my back.
"Tokiya. I heard you got appointed as the lead singer." Yutaka chuckles. "Congrats to you too."
"Thanks, but all of us know I can't compare to the real alpha wolf." Tokiya turns to me. "Ah, Yamato. Those two are waiting for you outside, as usual."
"Those two?" Yutaka skeptically looks at Akira.
"The usual pair." The drummer answers. "They're the three musketeers." He winks at me. "I bet Takenouchi thought you were so cool today."
"Woah. That's the first time Akira said something nice to Yamato." Takashi comments, earning him a glare from said person. "I thought you didn't support them."
Akira shakes his head and looks at Yamato, on his way outside. "I'm okay with it. You told the Captain about how you feel already, right?" Yamato nods in response.
.-.-.
Love and Sincerity
"And when the final song ended, they howled together, all four of them, like real wolves." Sora rants, as Mimi laughs on the other end of the line. The redhead sighs. "You should've been here, Mimi. He's so good in singing."
"I can't count how many times you told me that." Mimi giggles. "I wish I was there to see it too."
"They're so cool." Sora lays down her bed, facing the ceiling. She comes face-to-face with Courage. Her mind drifts somewhere else.
"It sounds like your starting to like a certain blonde boy."
"Really?" Courage had big black marble eyes, and smiled. She pokes its nose. Will she mention Courage to Mimi?
"Yeah. I would be such a proud sister if you two dated. Then we'd both have blonde boyfriends." Sora laughs at that. Mimi sighs. "I miss you, Sou-chan."
"I miss you too, Mimi-chan."
"I hope Taichi hasn't replaced me."
"Please. No one who's met you will ever replace you."
"Awww. See? No one flatters me like this anymore."
"I'm glad I haven't been replaced."
"Of course! If Yamato-kun sees you as a queen, I see you as a goddess."
Sora smiles. Only Mimi would say this. She closes her eyes and hugs Courage. "Yamato's not that great."
"Who said he was?"
That made Sora laugh. It was so easy to contradict Mimi with her own statements. "That guy's a total dork. He names his guitars."
"Eh?!" Mimi's high pitched voice almost broke Sora's phone. "So he's the type to do that... Hm..."
Sora laughs. "There's always more than what meets the eye. You two taught me that."
"I'm guessing his the type to have weird fantasies of his crushes. Be careful, Sora." Mimi jokes.
"If he's that guy, he sure knows how to hide it. He walked me home today after his concert, too."
"Ooooh. Romantic." Sora tucks a strand of her hair behind her ear. She hears Mimi giggle. "... So you two were alone?"
"Yeah."
"What about Taichi-kun?"
"He was acting stranger than usual." Sora furrows her eyebrows. "He said he needed to stop by somewhere."
"..."
"Mimi?"
"Ah, yeah?"
"So, what do you think?"
"Yamato-kun would make a wonderful boyfriend." Sora smiles at that. "Hm, but I think I imagine you two more as married, and not dating." The redhead laughs again. "Ah, probably because of Taichi-kun. He's like you and Yamato-kun's son, sometimes."
"He is."
"Children should get more attention, you know."
"Believe me, he gets more than he asks for." Sora scoffs. Mimi shakes her head to herself.