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Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon-although a girl can dream!

Becoming Tai: Mimi

Taichi watched as the clear liquid dripped into a small container half filled with the liquid before it travelled down the clear plastic tubing right into his arm.

He guessed it was water. Or at least he hoped it was and not some crazy medication.

After a good nights rest and a clear liquid diet since his concussion yesterday, Taichi felt pretty good. Except for the slight bit of residual nausea.

Oh and the fact that he was crazy.

His mother confirmed that Taichi did not in fact attend summer camp that year and that he was brought home the first day due to the snowstorm.

Hikari also denied knowing anything about a Gatomon or the Digital World. Although it would explain why Hikari had such an affinity for cats.

There's no way I could have made it all up now, is there?

The brunette sat up in bed, in a mortifyingly embarrassing hospital gown-those didn't close properly in the back so getting to the bathroom was an ordeal even with his boxers on- while early awaiting Hikari's visit.

Taichi, I'll be back tomorrow. Sleep well, Hikari had said as she leaned over to kiss his forehead.

Hikari, when you come tomorrow bring TK. I'd like to see him, he'd replied.

Taichi remembered the shock in his sister's pretty mahogany eyes as his words registered.

Why? You don't like TK, it wouldn't do you any good to get stressed out while you're trying to recover from a concussion.

Relax, Kari. I just want to ask him a few questions is all.

No. You're just going to argue with him again. And make him feel bad and unworthy. Honestly Tai, why don't you like him?

I like him, he's a great kid! You guys were destined to be together, for fucks' sake, your Digimon are Angemon and Angewoman-

What? Taichi, what are you talking about?

Never mind. Just bring TK tomorrow, ok? It'll help me feel better.

In the end, Hikari had assented and now Taichi couldn't wait for that Takeru to get here.

He turned on his phone to check the time. It was eleven in the morning and it would be another hour and a half before the couple came by to see him.

Taichi leaned back on his pillow before getting out of the bed.

"Fuck it, I'm going to take a walk." The brunette fiddled with the IV tubing for a few seconds before managing to untangle the tubing and grasping the IV stand gingerly, Taichi shuffled out into the hallway.

Nurses, aides, residents and housekeepers milled about in the hallway. Holding his head high, Tai began to walk confidently towards the elevators.

He was going to sit outside. Get some sun. Like some elderly person.

On his way down, he saw the familiar form of Jyou walking with a group of other medical students.

"Jyou! Hey Jyou!" Taichi watched as the navy haired man froze in surprise before turning to face him. Tai grinned wildly as Jyou frowned and crouched down into his shoulders, trying to blend in with his shorter colleagues.

He then started to walk at a rapid pace, pushing his fellow medical students along with the clipboard in his hand.

Taichi frowned. It was pretty evident that the neurotic student did not want to speak with him and for some reason, that ticked off the already annoyed Taichi.

The brunette drew in a deep breath before yelling, quite loudly, into the hallway.

"HEY, JYOU KIDO WAIT FOR ME!" It seemed the entire hospital stopped what it was doing momentarily just to stare at Taichi and he scowled as he pulled his IV stand quickly behind him.

As he closed the distance between the two, Jyou turned to his colleagues and urged them to carry on before facing the bushy haired patient with an amused expression on his face.

"It certainly looks like you're feeling better, er," Jyou looked down at this notes and Taichi raised an eyebrow, "Yagami-san."

"Yeah well. I would feel better if you didn't try to ignore me. I thought you were my doctor, what happened to being reliable for your patients, huh?" Taichi peered into the navy haired man as he stressed the word reliable.

Hmph. No reaction. Well, no visible reaction anyway. Maybe Jyou got really good at hiding his feelings?

The taller man rolled his eyes as he pushed his glasses up yet again.

"Well, I'm not a doctor yet, Yagami-san-"

"Call me Tai. You used to call me Tai before, why go all formal now, Jyou?"

"Will you stop calling me that?! I'm not your friend, please refrain from being overly friendly, it's giving me anxiety!"

"Fine, fine! Kido-san, let me just ask one question, ok? Do you remember anything about the Digital World? Does the name Gomamon mean anything to you? Remember fighting Malomyotismon? Or-"

Jyou placed a firm hand on Taichi's shoulder, momentarily stopping the barrage of questions.

"Er, let me walk you back to your room and maybe we can talk in private?" A surge of hope went through Taichi as he looked up at Jyou's dark round eyes with happiness.

So he does remember! Thank god, I really thought I was losing it for a while there!

"Oh wow, yeah. I knew you'd remember, Jyou, I mean you having the crest of reliability and everything. If I can't count on you then who else could I rely on? Thank god I'm not crazy, I'm not crazy, am I?"

Hikari wrung her hands nervously as she paced the floor outside a nondescript steel door. Takeru sighed as he reached for her hands.

"Don't worry, babe. People get admitted to the psych ward all the time, it doesn't mean they're crazy."

Hikari whipped her head around to glare at her tall, blonde haired blue eyed boyfriend, effectively smacking him across the mouth with her hair.

"Tai's not crazy! It's the concussion. I can't believe they admitted him to the psych ward for being a little confused and agitated."

The corners of Takeru's mouth tugged at a smile as he rubbed a hand against his mouth and chin where his girlfriend's hair hit him moments ago. She was so cute when she got mad, her warm chocolatey eyes flashing and her cheeks flushed a bright pink.

"I know, babe. But the doctors in these floors are more trained to deal with confusion and agitation so it might be better for him." And who knows? Maybe they'll fix his issues so that the guy will actually like me for once.

Well, to be fair, Taichi and Takeru were actually friends once.

Until Tai discovered Takeru and Hikari sneaking in a kiss while cuddling together in her room.

Let's just say shit hit the fan that day and ever since then, Taichi's brow would furrow whenever he saw the blonde.

Not that Takeru and Taichi hated each other now. Taichi was just...protective.

Super protective.

And no guy would ever be good enough for Yagami Hikari in Tai's eyes.

Which was not very good for one Takaishi Takeru. Who happened to be in love with Hikari.

Sigh. Why the hell did he want to see me now?

Oh god, I hope he doesn't try to beat me up again.

Takeru could almost feel the side of his jaw throbbing again. During a little argument while they were out having drinks (over something so trivial that Takeru had forgotten the cause already), Taichi had dealt him an uppercut that took weeks to recover.

Literally weeks.

Takeru had a bump the size of an egg for the first week and a nasty green-purple bruise for the next 4 weeks.

At least he became a master at applying foundation and concealer.

Har. Har.

Sighing, the blonde checked the time on his watch. It was five minutes to 7PM which was when psych patients were able to have visitors for 1 hour.

They had been planning on visiting Tai earlier on in the day but that plan fell through when Hikari's older brother managed to get himself admitted to the psychiatric floor.

Apparently, he was aggressive, agitated, confused and wandering through the hospital corridors when he confronted a bunch of medical students and held one hostage for close to an hour.

Honestly, Takeru wasn't too surprised.

The blonde pursed his lips as he absentmindedly rubbed at his jaw. It was now a habit, formed after that infamous fight and TK swore the spot was still sore.

"Babe, it's time!" Hikari pulled at TK's hand as he grimaced.

After signing in at the nurses' station, the pair found themselves standing at the door of a stark white room.

It was a stark contrast from the warm shades of beige and gold in the regular hospital rooms and Takeru noticed there wasn't even any furniture-probably to prevent the patients from trying to kill themselves.

After all, this is a psych ward.

From beside him Hikari gasped, bringing her free hand to her mouth as her large eyes, glimmering with tears, took in the spartan furnishings.

"T-Tai?" She whispered, her voice strained with emotion.

The mass in bed topped with a shock of wild chestnut hair shifted and Takeru could just barely make out the face of his girlfriend's older brother.

"Hey Kari. Hello to you, TK." Wow. He sounded so...defeated?

"How are you feeling?" They entered the room, Kari taking a seat at the edge of his bed and Takeru sitting across from her in a padded chair.

"Eh." He stared up at the ceiling and the three sat in silence for a moment before Taichi turned to look at TK.

"Hey, TK. How's your brother doing?" Takeru was taken aback. What the fuck? Taichi never asked about Yamato before.

The blonde shifted in his chair, looking to Hikari first before answering.

"He's doing well. He's on tour with his band now but they'll be back in Tokyo at the end of the month."

Tai nodded before staring back up at the ceiling. Takeru craned his neck upwards to see if there was anything interesting there that kept the older male staring.

Nope. Not even a cobweb. Jesus, he's really acting weird.

"Tai? What did you want to ask TK? Remember? You wanted to ask him something." Hikari reached for Taichi's hand but he pulled away.

"Ah, forget it. Apparently I'm crazy so you're just wasting your time. Thanks for coming by, I guess I'll see you aro-"

"NO, Tai. You are NOT crazy. Just a little confused, come on, just ask TK."

Taichi hesitated before he suddenly sat up, his brown eyes intense as he studied the blonde.

"Takeru. Do you remember summer camp when you were eight? It was that year you went with Yamato and it snowed."

Sky blue eyes narrowed as Takeru brought a hand to his chin in thought. From across him, HIkari sighed exasperatedly as she stood up and began to pace the small room.

"Yeah. It was cancelled, wasn't it?"

Taichi nodded, encouraging the younger male to continue.

"But...we went to some place with monsters, right?" Taichi's eyes widened in surprise and Hikari actually stopped her pacing as she eyed her boyfriend suspiciously.

"Yeah, bro, you remember the Digital World too?"

Takeru pressed his lips into a thin line before nodding his head gravely, "Yeah, and I remember er, Angelmon and Angelwoman-"

"Angemon and Angewomon but close, go on," Taichi urged and Takeru fought to keep his composure. I knew it was something to do with angels. Jesus, that was a close one.

Actually, he was going from what Hikari had told him yesterday and from what he overhead when the nurse was speaking with Hikari earlier.

But hey! Taichi's actually really nice to me!

"I thought it was a dream but then when I met Hikari in school, I felt a connection with her. It was almost like me and Hikari were meant to be, right?"

Taichi grinned widely before jumping out of bed and he grabbed the blonde in a playful headlock, mussing up his golden hair.

"Aw, you little shit, I always knew I liked you! No wonder you and Hikari started dating!" Takeru laughed loudly, mostly out of relief and the petite brunette stared as her boyfriend and brother- previously not on speaking terms- joked around with each other.

She bit her lip, upset that Takeru had manipulated Taichi like so when he was just recovering from a traumatic head injury.

"Takeru. Can I speak to you for a moment?" Her quiet voice silenced the two and they stared at her blankly.

She motioned for him to follow her outside and Takeru shrugged as he followed.

"I can't believe you said all those things, you're clearly making it up!" A cute brunette girl was arguing loudly with a tall boy right outside of the psych ward.

"Yeah well, you saw how happy he got-"

"THAT'S BESIDES THE POINT. The point is, you manipulated my brother when he's clearly not well!"

Mimi grimaced as she managed to maneuver her many bags around them in the narrow corridor leading to the psych ward.

There was something very familiar about the pair and Mimi wished she could have seen the boy's face but the tone of the couple's conversation prevented any interaction with the two.

Her grandfather had been admitted to the psych ward for signs and symptoms of severe depression, anxiety and dementia and Mimi had taken it upon herself to visit him daily.

Or while I'm in Japan, obviously, I can't visit him from America, now can I? That would be absurd, the plane ride from JFK alone would be 16 hours! GOSH that's a long flight even when flying business!

The petite brunette knew she should sign in with the nurses before setting her bags down in her grandfather's room but his room was on the way and there were so many bags she had to carry and they were so heavy…

Eh, if they say anything about not signing in, I'll bat my eyelashes and buy them donuts or something. Everyone loves food, especially nurses.

"Grandpa, I'm just going to leave these-oh!" Instead of her grandfather, there was a tall, dark stranger dressed smartly in a suit and tie, his broad shoulders and unkempt hair silhouetted beautifully against the backdrop of the setting sun.

"Sorry, wrong room!" She giggled nervously as she backed out of the room. The stranger came over to her in a few large strides and she felt her pulse quicken.

Good lord. He was beautiful up close as well. A beautiful golden bronze with kind brown eyes, thick brown hair and just the barest hint of scruff covering his jaw.

"Mimi?" He whispered. Oh. My. God. He knows my name?!

"I'm sorry and you are?"

"Tachikawa Mimi, right?" What in the world? I'm sure I wouldn't have forgotten someone like him.

Come on, girl. Think, where do you know him from?

Maybe he's a friend of Yamato's? Mimi narrowed her eyes as she tilted her head, trying to think if she met this beautiful boy through her roommate.

After all, beautiful people were friends with beautiful people.

"Are you a friend of Yamato?"

His face suddenly lit up in a wonderful smile and suddenly she found herself enveloped within his arms.

There was something familiar about his scent and his hug and his hair-what was it about him?

"Yeah, I'm old friends with Yamato. And you too, Meems. Good to see you, it's been a while."

They separated after a brief moment and Mimi still couldn't quite place his name.

"Well it was nice to see you, too, er-"

"Taichi. Yagami Taichi, but you can call me Tai." Hmph. Still didn't really ring a bell. She was starting to get a little suspicious and took a tiny step back.

Mimi Tachikawa has had one too many stalkers in her life, and to so conveniently meet someone again in a psych ward of all places claiming to be a long lost friend just seemed too opportune to have been chance.

"Remember summer camp that one year that-you know what? Never mind. It was good to see you again, Meems."

Summer camp? Summer camp, summer camp, summer camp-suddenly she remembered!

"Yes! Goggles! And those horrid socks that came all the way up to the knees! Wow, look at you! Don't you clean up nice!"

He grinned that wonderful grin and hugged her again, this time lifting her up from the floor and swinging her around in a circle.

She laughed loudly as he nuzzled his stubble-rough chin against her forehead. She hadn't thought he'd remember her after all these years, after all she couldn't even recognize his name.

Oh but I do leave an impression. He must have been in love with me this whole time!

"Yeah goggles! At least I wasn't wearing that god-awful pink dress." Mimi playfully swatted at Tai's arm as she pouted.

"I loved that pink dress. Don't know what ever happened to it though, only ever got to wear it that one day."

"One day, huh? Ever wonder what you did in that one day to destroy that dress?" His eyes twinkled in the dying rays of the sun and she shook her head slowly.

Come to think of it, what happened that day? We went to summer camp, it snowed, we went back home…

"How'd you know it was destroyed?" He shrugged and rubbed at the back of his neck, staring down at her. They were silent for a moment, quietly basking in each other's gazes.

"Well, let me help you with these. Here to visit someone?" Taichi bent down and easily grabbed the bags she'd been carrying.

"Yeah, actually I'm here to see my grandfather. He's a long term inpatient here."

Taichi made a sympathetic face and led her gently out of the room with his hand on the small of her back.

"Sorry to hear that. Why I don't I go with you to see your grandfather and then maybe we can catch up over coffee?"

Taichi was actually glad Mimi's grandfather had been fast asleep when they stopped into his room.

Turns out her grandfather was the yeller of the floor and god forbid he have a panic attack- that old man could yell for hours. Cute as he was, Taichi wanted to stuff an old gym sock in his mouth.

Where the fuck was that old guy getting all the energy to scream like that anyways?

He shrugged, starting to sweat profusely as he and Mimi approached the locked double doors.

Taichi had gotten dressed on a whim, tired of wearing that fucking hospital gown like a little old lady and was just going to wait for his sister and Takeru to come back when Mimi happened to wander into his room.

What the actual fuck? Like how the hell did this girl, who he hasn't seen in a decade by the way, just happen to come into the wrong fucking room?

I mean her grandfather's been here for the last year, if I'm hearing correctly.

Fate. It was cheesy but there was no other explanation.

How else could he explain getting into that accident, getting his memories back, having Jyou of all the medical students in the emergency room tend to him, having Mimi just walk back into his life (literally, she just waltzed right back in), Hikari and Takeru dating.

There's no fucking way that's all just coincidence.

Even if that little shit just made that shit up to please me. Wait, unless he's not making it up? Or-

Tai! Goddamn it, focus!

Most pressing at the moment (or more so than that Takeru, the little shit, at the very least), how am I going to get out of this prison?

There were two sets of doors that were locked and unless the nurse buzzed you out or you knew the code, no one was getting out.

Maybe I should just go back to my room. It'll be so embarrassing if I get caught trying to escape especially with Mimi here.

But he so did not want the pretty girl beside him to know he had been admitted for schizophrenia, of all things.

And she was goddamn beautiful. Sure, she was a pretty cute albeit annoying kid in the Digital World but grown up? HOT DAMN.

"Er, Meems? I think I'm just going to go ba-," he watched her warily as she confidently strode up to the small black box next to the door and punched in a set of numbers.

To his utter amazement, a small green light indicating the doors have been unlocked flicked on.

A wide grin spread across Taichi's face as he followed her closely through the two sets of doors lest they close and lock him back inside, and he found himself praying the rest of his escape would go off without a hitch.

"Huh? Tai, did you say something?" Mimi turned to face him, her pretty round forehead just a hair's breadth away from his lips, her thin bony shoulder pressing into his chest and the swell of her bottom against his upper thigh.

The sudden closeness surprised them both and Mimi flinched away, blushing, resuming a normal, socially acceptable personal bubble of space between the two. Taichi had to admit her response was a tad disappointing.

If I hadn't been so concentrated on getting out of there, I could have probably kissed her.

Although if it's the same Mimi Tachikawa as the 10 year old one, it's a most probably a blessing I didn't. God knows what would have happened to me.

Tai shuddered at the thought before shaking his head, smiling. "No, I just said I might have to use the bathroom."

Mimi nodded, "yeah, there's a bathroom in the lobby. We can probably use that one, it's a lot nicer than any of the guest bathrooms on the floors, believe me.

"So anyways, I've been back in Japan for about 3 years and I'm going to school here in Tokyo. I have a year left before I graduate but I have no idea what I want to do, my parents want me to come back to America and give up my modelling career but-" Jesus, but this girl talks a lot.

Taichi nodded and uh-huh'd the chattery girl as he ushered her out of the revolving glass doors of the hospital.

They were just clearing the doors when-

OH SHIT.

"Mimi! RUN!"

Hehehe So Taichi breaks out from the Psych Ward! Apparently, according to my coworker who was the unit manager of such a ward, patients break out all the time and apparently, they usually only ever get to the elevators. So go Taichi!

*ALSO the experiences that Taichi goes through is based off of my own grandfather's experience in the Psych Ward lock down unit. It's not a pleasant place and I feel terrible for the patients there (and GOD knows how terrible we felt for my grandpa!) but the people who do become admitted in such a unit really do need the help and I feel it helps them. It's helped my grandfather, that's for sure! So please don't take offense!

And I'm having a little too much fun writing this, this is crack, unrealistic but whatever. For fiction's sake, in this Digi-universe of mine, hospitals and law enforcement will be much different :)

AND Yoshi's Kun- thank you for your insightful comment! I had forgotten about Hikari's remembering everything and of her breakdown in the novels so what a nice catch! You've a keen eye! Hikari will be quite involved because I love her and she and Tai have such cute interactions! As to your question regarding why Taichi gave up soccer? Well since this is supposed to about young adults trying to find footing after school, Taichi did the same as most all the young adults in my area: give up their dreams for more realistic ambitions that will (hopefully) land a job.

(Although even with good professions and a degree, jobs are hard to come by in the tri-state area :T But yeah, there can only be so many soccer players in the world)

Thanks for reading! Please read and review! :)