Note: Chapter 7 is up in the same week! Just in case you need to know, this chapter is literally based on a song "Need You Now" by Lady Antebellum. I was listening to that song earlier today. Another thing, Keisuke is Mimi's father, and Satoe is Mimi's mother; in case you didn't know. Regardless, leave a review? Yes? No?
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters besides Kira Mori and the story.
- Chapter Seven -
During their drive home, Mimi and Taichi were having their casual, best-friend-conversations.
"You said what? A lot of girls were drooling over Yamato at the shoot today?"
"Mhm," Mimi nodded. "All the girls couldn't keep their hands to themselves." The girl adjusted her seating position and turned to the right, where Taichi was sitting. "Not that I blame them, though. I went through that myself. I remember all those years I spent growing up with Yamato. I just couldn't keep my hands to myself either..."
Taichi cleared his throat. "But you're over Yamato, right?"
Mimi shrugged and sighed. Then she adjusted her seating position again, this time, facing the front. "I don't know, Taichi. He came up to me after the shoot while I was alone at my desk." The young girl sighed again.
"He did?" Inside, Taichi was beginning to get furious. Yamato must've said something to Mimi that made her change her mind about the blonde. "Well, what did he say?"
"He said he's sorry for what he did... And that he misses me." Mimi took a deep breath and exhaled. "But I told him I didn't miss him. I can't lie to him anymore. It's as good as lying to myself, Taichi. Sure, I missed him but that was many months ago but I hate how there is a little part of me that wants him to stay..."
Taichi now couldn't feel anything. He couldn't tell if he was in rage or if it was jealousy that turned his heart numb or if it was something else.
"So, that means, you still have feelings for him." Taichi didn't know how else to construct his sentence. Fingers crossed, he was hoping Mimi wouldn't misinterpret it.
"As of right now, maybe twenty percent of the whole hundred. I cannot not love him, Taichi. You have to understand..."
Taichi let out a frustrated sigh and focused on the driving. Now, he could tell he was frustrated.
"Taichi, please. Please understand... I spent my whole life with Yamato and maybe it's because I'm too used to having him around for more than a decade, it's gonna take even longer for me to get used to not having him around."
"Well, you did, didn't you?" Taichi scoffed and shook his head. "I can't believe you, Meems. Now I see this side of you I never knew – you're way too dependent on people."
"Yes, it's true, Taichi! I am the type of girl that needs to have a companion! Don't tell me you don't need a companion. I know how emotional you can be, Taichi. You just don't like to show it."
"You wanna know something, Mimi? Every time when Yamato's name comes into the picture, this is the way our conversation goes."
"The problem is, you don't understand, Taichi!" Mimi crossed her arms and kept her eyes on anything except Taichi. She didn't want to make any eye contact with the boy.
"Because basically it's all about Yamato and you! Honestly, Mimi, I'm getting bored of talking about Yamato. I don't mean to be harsh, but I'm telling you the truth."
Taichi stopped at the red light and sighed. He rubbed his forehead and ruffled his thick mane and sat quietly.
To break the silence, Mimi decided to open up a new topic.
"Yagami Taichi, you never talked to me about you and Sora."
Taichi sighed at the mention of Sora's name. "Don't you speak of her."
"Why?" Mimi finally shifted her gaze to the boy. "For goodness sake, we're best friends, Taichi. Since the start, I waited for you to open up to me to talk about your relationship with her but you never did and I never asked what's wrong because based on your actions, I felt like you needed space—"
"What I needed was someone to tell me everything was okay!" Taichi blurted out.
Mimi threw her head back against the headrest and shut her eyes as tightly as she could.
"To be honest, Mimi, I am not as vocal as you think I am! I was searching for you the entire time but you weren't there but I didn't push it because you were having friendship troubles with Yamato so I gave you your space too. It's alright if you were never there; Hikari was and I have my parents too. Unlike you, Mimi, just because I had my heart broken, I don't shut myself from the world. Instead, I open myself up because I know that while someone broke my heart and watched me fall, there are others that are willing to give me a helping hand to stand back up my two feet."
Taichi stepped on the gas the moment the traffic light turned green. As he drove, Mimi was still seated quietly. She was listening to Taichi's every word because she wanted to know what Taichi was truly feeling and it's a rare occasion that Taichi opens up to talk about his feelings.
For the umpteenth time that day, Taichi sighed and took Mimi's hand and planted a gentle kiss on it. "Meems, don't take what I said to heart. Forget I said anything. Let's just go over to your place and have dinner with my future parents-in-law. Your mom's a great cook, by the way."
"Wait, what did you say? Future parents-in-law?" Mimi was confused. She was unsure if Taichi meant that ironically or otherwise.
Taichi grinned widely. "I was just kidding, Meems."
"Yeah, you better be."
"So, sweetheart, how was work?" Keisuke took a seat at the dining table, and Taichi followed suit.
"Well..." Mimi placed the plates on to the dining table, and then took her seat. "My day went perfectly fine. It was better than I expected since, because Yamato was the star today."
Keisuke froze at the mention of Yamato's name. "Yamato? Ishida, Yamato?"
Mimi nodded. "Mhm. Ishida Yamato, dad."
Satoe walked into the dining room with her hands full. "Honey, he came back after he broke your heart?"
"Mom, it's not like that. I am the personal secretary of the big boss there and I wasn't aware Yamato was the celebrity of the week until yesterday."
Keisuke raised an eyebrow. "You found that out yesterday? Well, princess, why didn't you tell us? I want to meet up with that Yamato."
"No, Dad, please?"
Taichi sat there awkwardly. His gaze was shifting from one Tachikawa to another.
Satoe sighed and placed a bowl of curry onto the dining table. "Keisuke, I think we should just let Yamato and Mimi be. I mean, Yamato and Mimi would make very beautiful children." Mrs. Tachikawa shrugged.
"Mom!" Mimi slapped her mother's hip slightly before her mother walked off into the kitchen. Just as she turned to look at Taichi, Taichi already had the long face on. Mimi sighed. "Listen, Dad, you don't have to go and talk to Yamato. He has a busy schedule."
"Why?" Keisuke crossed his arms and rested them on the table. "Why won't you allow me to speak to that boy? He broke your heart, made my daughter cry for almost a month, causing her to flunk almost every subject but thank you God, eventually you passed with flying colours and you graduated. Mimi, darling, I don't want you to see that boy again unless work-related. Do you understand me?"
Taichi's ears perked up. The boy was sure thankful Tachikawa Keisuke said that, at least Taichi didn't have to worry about Yamato being around Mimi as often as he normally did before.
On the other hand, Mimi was upset. She loved the blonde dearly and now she wasn't allowed to see him anymore unless work-related? How unfair was this to her? They were practically like husband and wife, just going through a really rough time together.
"But Dad—"
Keisuke took his fork and pointed it at Mimi, "and if you disobey me, I will disown you. I don't think you're willing to lose your parents over a boy, are you, Mimi? Hm?"
"Dad, I am eighteen years old."
"And you're still living in my house, Miss Tachikawa. Another thing, you're not twenty-one yet. If I found out you're seeing him behind my back and if it doesn't involve work, you know what happens to you, young lady."
Satoe stepped into the dining room and sat at her seat. "Darling, you're being too controlling. Mimi is a big girl; she is capable of taking care of herself."
"You're saying that because you love that Yamato boy, Satoe."
Taichi felt out of place throughout this whole conversation, thus he decided to eat his food.
"Of course I love that Yamato. He's like a son I never had, Keisuke."
"But why does it have to be Yamato, Satoe? We can always adopt Taichi."
Taichi choked on his food and quickly grabbed his glass to drink his water.
"Aw man, are you alright, Taichi?" Keisuke asked, patting Taichi's back to make the boy feel slightly better.
Taichi nodded frantically and coughed. "Yeah, I'm fine." He coughed again. "I just... Choked on my food."
Mimi narrowed her eyes at Taichi before glancing over to both her parents.
"Okay, mom, dad, let's not talk about Yamato, okay? I'm only telling you what happened at work today and suddenly you get all worked up. Let's just talk about something else," Mimi said before scooping a spoonful of rice to eat.
Suddenly, Mimi zoned out for a little bit.
"Good morning, beautiful."
"Hm?" Mimi woke up in a blur as she felt someone caressed the side of her face. The moment her eyes opened up wide, Yamato kissed her on the lips. She sat up and cupped Yamato's beautiful face and pulled him into another long, passionate kiss.
"Do you know you look so beautiful when you wake up?" Yamato questioned Mimi, giving her a small peck on the lips before she answered.
"I do?" The girl blushed and hugged herself. She pulled up the sheets to cover her bare chest.
Yes, she was naked under the sheets, but so was Yamato.
The pair sat cross-legged on Mimi's queen-sized bed and continued to kiss.
That was the week when Mimi's parents were away and Mimi had the whole house to herself. The entire week, Yamato had spent the night at the girl's house to keep her company and every night, they'd sleep together side by side, in each other's arms and neither of them got bored of it.
"Meems..."
"Hm?"
"I could kiss you forever."
"I could kiss you forever, too."
"Promise me one thing?"
"What is it?" Mimi intertwined her fingers of both hands with Yamato's.
As Mimi had her fingers intertwined with his, he gave her tiny hands a gentle squeeze.
"Promise me, no matter how wrong things turn out between us, hold on to our friendship and never let go." Yamato moved his face closer to Mimi's so that their noses touched.
"I promise," Mimi whispered her answer.
Their lips met again and as they pulled away from the kiss, Yamato's sapphire blue eyes appeared obviously sad.
Mimi noticed.
"Mato, what's wrong?"
Yamato sighed. "I just... Have a feeling I'm going to lose you sometime in the future. I'm just not sure when."
"Mato..." Mimi pulled the boy yet into another kiss. "You're not going to lose me. No matter what happens, you have my heart. I just want you to be honest with me at all times."
"Sincerity in friendship," said Yamato with a weak smile.
Mimi returned the weak smile. "Sincerity in friendship."
Yamato was alone at his Odaiba apartment; the one he was living in with his father, Hiroaki. The moon was shining brightly and Yamato felt lonelier than ever before. Since Mimi left with Taichi for the day, all Yamato had in his mind was Mimi, and how happy she was with Taichi.
The blonde paced back and forth in his living room before deciding to settle down on the couch. After seeing Mimi for the first time in almost a year the day before made him rethink the moves he made before he left. Mimi's words earlier kept replaying in his head constantly and nothing was enough to distract him from those thoughts.
If Yamato thought he had been through worst pains, he could've been wrong. This, by far, was the worse heartache he had ever gotten. It's funny how someone you care for deeply would be the one to hurt you the most.
Taichi had gone home and her parents were already asleep. It was five minutes after one in the morning and Mimi was going through her photo albums of her and Yamato growing up; from birthdays, to Christmas, to Valentine's Day to every other occasion and whatnots.
Earlier she had said out loud that she didn't miss Yamato but as of right now, she had to take back her words. When Keisuke told her she couldn't see Yamato anymore, unless work-related, it made her rethink about the words that left her lips earlier in the day.
And then she thought about Taichi.
If she were to accept Yamato back, she knew she'd lose Taichi and her parents. If she were to accept Yamato back, it'd be a foolish decision for her to make. She didn't know what else to do. Without her knowing, a single tear rolled down her cheek.
She couldn't fight it anymore, so she took her phone which was next to her on the floor and dialled Yamato's number.
Yamato was completely lost in his thoughts and for once, he thought nothing could distract him but the phone call from Mimi did. He snapped back into reality and leaned forward to grab his phone. He stared at the caller: Mimi.
Confusion.
What did Mimi want?
- End of Chapter Seven -