Title: Always Follow the Rabbit
Author: Mrpointyhorns aka Blemery
Rating: R
Status: In Progress
Part: 3
Pairings: Taichi/Koushiro, Augmon, Tentomon, Kei, Mimi/Michael, Michelle
Warnings: Slash
Spoilers: Season 1 and 2, plus some of the movies (nothing blatantly but there)
Summary: Taichi's has started to settle in his life, and while that can be quite nice, he and Koushiro have never been better, it can also be a bit disappointing, especially his dead-end job. The only thing interesting that ever happens is when he has to babysit his nephew. Until Koushiro detects a disturbance that is about to give Taichi the adventure he craves.
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by someone else. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
A/N: Just so you know, no bashing is intended! I love all the characters, just sometimes you need a character that has run amok. Also the character's crests were based on the children's emotions when they were very young, and just because they have a handle on the emotion at one point doesn't mean they are always great when it comes to that crest. Hikari has said in the past that even though she is the light she always fights the darkness. So I think that could apply to all of them. Even though Taichi is supposed to be the courageous one that means he's always fighting being cowardly! Etc.
The next day, Koushiro's computer was still running test, but he did get one or two back that showed little results at least nothing without the other tests. So Taichi insisted that he leave the apartment because Koushiro was starting to look like a trapped animal and so they'd all come to pick out a new toilet, mirror fixture and possibly a new sink. The sink wasn't broken, but the faucet was closed up tight and they'd have to replace that so might as well replace the entire sink. Normally this would be a landlord's job, but they weren't sure how to explain the damages to him.
Koushiro steered the cart in the warehouse store. Kei was sitting in the basket seat with Koromon on his lap and Mochimon in the cart. Taichi was leading the way. Augmon and Tentomon de-evolved so that they could join them at the store without drawing attention. For whatever reason people didn't seem to associate Koromon or Mochimon with digital creatures. They looked right over them like they were stuff animals. When Taichi had been a kid he assumed this was because no one knew about digimon, but enough large scaled attacks had happened since the first encounter that Taichi didn't understand why Koromon and Mochimon didn't attract more attention. Whatever the reason, however, they did go unnoticed and were able to accompany them without a scene to most places.
The only people that would notice Koromon and Mochimon were other people with digital partners. People that had digimon didn't cause a scene, because they knew that digimon partners were harmless.
"Wow cool, digimon!" A young girl blonde girl yelled. She jumped up onto the side of the cart and reached in to touch Mochimon. Taichi stopped a few shelves down from his family. He looked around carefully, the warehouse was very large and there were people there, but they were busy with their own shopping. Taichi turned around to look at his family. The girl had long blonde hair and she wore a pink skirt with a purple top. She had boots that went to her knees and a big hat that covered her face from Taichi's view.
He saw Koushiro's eyes widened with reorganization before he said, "Michelle?" Taichi felt surprised too. Michelle was Mimi and Michael's daughter. She and her parents lived in New York. Taichi didn't know that they were in town. That was strange, because Tai and Koushiro got along with Mimi and Michelle really well. They never missed an opportunity to visit even though they lived in another country. "Is Mimi with you?" Koushiro asked. He looked concerned.
Michelle looked up at Koushiro. "Um…"
"Michelle!" Michael called turning the corner. He spotted Michelle and rushed forward. "Michelle, what are you doing? You know better then to run off like that."
"I saw some digimon. I wanted to pet them." Michelle said. She was obviously very well aquatinted with digimon. She showed no fear of digimon or the people with them. Taichi had to admit all the people he met with digimon were awesome. So Michelle probably had nothing to worry about. Still Taichi knew what it felt like when a child went missing. It was one of the worst feelings ever. Poor Michael.
Michael paused looked at Mochimon and then up at Koushiro and Taichi. He smiled at both of them. "Hey guys! I wasn't expecting to see you here."
"I think we're a little bit more surprised." Taichi replied. He and Michael hugged. It had been months since he had seen Michael. He was a great guy and Taichi was always sorry that they couldn't hang out more as friends or as couples. He wasn't one of the original digidestined. However, he had been with Mimi for so long he was as close to them as though he had been. Michael looked around Taichi and waved at Koushiro, the shopping cart between them made it awkward to hug.
"You know them, Dad?" Michelle looked up at them. She had bright green eyes and although she seemed too young she wore some makeup. She was really turning into the girl that Taichi had met at summer camp so long ago.
"Michelle. This is Tai and Izzy. They're friends of your Mom's, and mine. You met them a few times when you were a younger. You might be too young to remember. These are their partners Koromon and Mochimon. This is Kari's son…"
"Kei, Hikari's son," Koushiro supplied. Taichi was pretty sure that Michael and Mimi had met Kei before, but had probably been a few years.
"Just out with your uncles?" Michael asked Kei smiling at him. Kei was shy. Blushing, he buried his face in Koushiro's chest peaking out just barely. Koushiro rubbed his back encouragingly.
"Augmon set fire to the bathroom." Taichi answered for his nephew. As out going and excitable as Kei, he was always shy around unfamiliar adults.
"It was an accident!" Koromon defended squirming out of Kei's lap, but staying in the seat.
"Can I hold Mochimon?" Michelle asked. Taichi looked at the little digimon who agreed. He lifted him out of the cart and handed him to Michelle. Michelle moved aside to talk to and play with Mochimon while the adults talked.
"We're in town for a while. Mimi insists that we look into getting Michelle into Japanese schools. She may have the chance at running the Japan's branch of the firm," Michael explained.
"How long are you in town?" Taichi asked. He didn't want get his hopes up, but it sounded like Mimi and Michael were thinking about moving to Japan.
"A few weeks this time, but maybe more permanently. Mimi didn't want to say anything, in case it didn't work out, but since we ran into you…well, I don't think she'll mind." Michael smiled a knowing look in his face.
Taichi smiled brilliantly. "Mimi thinks she's really sly does she! Ha! Nothing escapes us."
"Tai, invite them over for dinner," Koushiro suggested. He wasn't trying to make Taichi feel bad. He was letting Taichi know that he was okay with them coming for dinner.
"Oh right!" Taichi exclaimed. He should have done that first of all. "You three should come over for dinner."
Michael looked around Taichi smiling at Koushiro, who nodded in agreement. Then, Michael turned back to Taichi. "That sounds good. It will be just the two of you, right?"
"Of course. You didn't want anyone to know you that you are here. It's not our place to out you," Koushiro explained. "Since we found out…well I don't think Mimi will mind."
"Yay! Meems is the best! And you're great too," Taichi exclaimed.
Michael laughed brightly. "Mimi will love to. And I want to come to. Maybe you can seal the deal on us moving out here."
"We are a good sell." Taichi smiled giving Michael an exaggerated wink.
"Great. If you're free you can come over tonight. You'll just have to use the master bathroom. We are also free tomorrow," Koushiro suggested.
"I'll talk to Mimi. We'll let you know what works. If Kari's there too, that's okay." Michael nodded to Kei who was still peaking at him.
"She's out of town," Taichi bitterly spoke. Michael looked at him curiously, but didn't say anything. "Well those sinks don't pick themselves out."
Michael laughed again. "Michelle, bring Mochimon back here." Michelle pouted, but came over handing Mochimon back to Taichi. "See you guys soon."
"Count on it," Taichi said settling Mochimon back in the basket of the cart and grabbed the end. He pulled gently leading the way to the bathroom section. Koushiro barely steered from his end.
They had just made it to the bathroom section when Koushiro's phone started to ring. He answered it quickly. "Hello? Izumi speaking."
"Izzy put me on speaker!" Mimi sang so loudly that Taichi heard her. It was typical for Mimi to be loud and over the top. Although, she was a very sincere genuine person many people didn't realize it when they first met her. She was too bubbly and happy that people thought that she was always being fake, but the truth was Mimi loved life and she wasn't afraid to show it.
"Mimi?" Koushiro asked. He was looking down at the handle of the cart in front of him. Probably concentrating more on the conversation than where he was looking. "We just talked to Michael."
Mimi said something. but Taichi couldn't quite hear her. Koushiro seemed satisfied held out the phone towards Taichi, Kei and the digimon and put it on speaker. "You're on speaker now," he said to Mimi, then to Taichi he explained, "Mimi's calling to confirm dinner."
"And to say, that I am so glad you bumped into Michael! Do you know how difficult it is for me to be in Japan and not see my best friends! I was going crazy!" Mimi interrupted. She squealed loudly.
Taichi moved around the cart to stand next to Kei and Koushiro. He could hear Mimi just fine, but he didn't want to yell to answer her. People were already starting to look at them. "Hi Mimi! We cannot wait to see you either. Although, you're going to have to grovel a little bit since you weren't planning on telling us that you were here."
"Taichi! Ah, don't be mean. I am not in town for very long. I can't see everyone so I didn't tell anyone," Mimi's explained she sounded guilty about the whole thing. "Can you forgive me?"
"I don't know…" Taichi replied rubbing his chin for good measure even though Mimi couldn't see him.
"I'll work with him Meems. However, we're shopping for bathroom fixtures and we need to get going if we're going to be at home when you arrive," Koushiro explained.
It was still early in the day, but now that they had dinner plans they couldn't waste time. They would want to tidy-up, shop for groceries and start preparing dinner. That was on top of watching Kei and keeping and eye on the Dark Ocean. They'd already been at the store for the better part of an hour and they hadn't made a dent in their shopping.
"You're shopping for bathroom fixtures. You mean to tell me at this very moment you are decorating?"
"Augmon and Tentomon blew up the bathroom and we need to replace the mirror and toilet. We're probably going to replace the sink and cabinet while we're at it," Taichi explained. Koromon pouted and repeated that he was sorry.
"Stop it!" Mimi ordered in a no-arguing way. "I'm the home decorator of the group. If you're going to be making changes, then I'm here to help!"
"Uh…okay." Taichi blinked. He wasn't sure if he wanted to be subjected to Mimi's decorating. He believed that she would be good at it, but Mimi was a bit over the top about these things. Taichi went clothes shopping a few times with Mimi and it had been a huge ordeal. Taichi was sure it left lasting scars.
"That sounds great Mimi. You know, Tai and I aren't the type to decorate," Koushiro spoke up. He didn't seem afraid at all. Taichi knew that Koushiro didn't mind crazy-shopping-Mimi, because Koushiro was much better at handling things rationally. So when Mimi was excited to the point of crazy Koushiro handled it by being rational. Taichi couldn't help getting emotional with his friends so when Mimi became excited Taichi became excited, but when Mimi got a little crazy Taichi got a little anxious.
"I know! This is going to be awesome! I'm so excited. I can add this to my resume. Home decorating for my best gays!" Mimi cheered. "All my friends in New York don't think I can do it. I went to school for six years got two degrees. Is it my fault that the fashion industry needed me? I had to put interior design on hold!"
"Mimi we would love for your help. If you're awesome I'll let you take a crack at Koushiro's office." Taichi smiled Mimi's excitement was infectious. Even if he was nervous about this turning out to be like shopping, he couldn't help but become excited as Mimi became excited. Koushiro glared at him for offering up 'his' office though.
"Yes! This is so great! This day keeps getting better!" Mimi cheered. "I'm leaving the office now and going shopping for the wine! I'll be over in a few hours. I'll take a look at your bathroom and see what I can do." They heard some shuffling on the other side of the line. "Hey, but Tai will you make your tofu?"
"Of course, I will." Taichi couldn't help blushing at the request. He hadn't realized his tofu was that much of a hit.
"Great. Can't hardly wait! Well see you soon. Ciao!" Mimi hung up as soon as she said ciao, not waiting for a reply.
Koushiro smiled at Taichi. He put his phone away in his pocket. "She's fabulous as always."
"Fabulous really? You're a super genius and that's the word you use?" Taichi teased. Koushiro responded with only a shrug. Tai grabbed the cart turning it around and pushing it back outside. Koushiro followed behind picking up some pamphlets so that Mimi had something to work with.
"Uncle Tai, who's Mimi?" Kei looked a little shocked at the conversation he had listened to.
"You'll see," Taichi promised.
Mimi, Michael and Michelle arrived a few hours later. Taichi had dinner prepped for when they were ready to eat, but he hadn't cooked anything yet. That way it wouldn't get cold. Plus, it would give them time to chat as a group before dinner was ready. Taichi had learned after many years that this was the best way to do things. He did have some snacks ready though so that the kids and digimon didn't get too hungry. They were simple chips with guacamole dip. The guacamole was made with green onions, cottage cheese, avocado and lots of lime. He really liked it and he hoped that Mimi and Michael liked it too. He thought they would be familiar with it, being from the States, but he didn't know. The other thing he had out was more for the kids. It was little rainbow jell-o squares. It was just harder enough to cut up and put on a platter when their guests arrived.
Koromon and Mochimon had helped by testing all of Taichi's food. They had gained enough energy to digivolved and were wrestling with Kei in the living room. Augmon was being gentle with Kei and even letting him win. Kei gloated it was starting to frustrate Augmon. However, Augmon knew that Kei was too little to really wrestle.
Tentomon had helped Koushiro dust most of the high up places that were hard to reach. Tentomon didn't mind helping Koushiro, as long as Koushiro was around to talk to. Koushiro had only stopped to check his computer twice. There was still minimal results. Koushiro suspected it was one of those things where the biggest test was keeping the smaller ones from finishing. He would probably get most of the results at the same time.
When the doorbell rang, Taichi wiped his hands off on a kitchen towel. He wasn't wearing an apron so he checked to make sure that he hadn't spilled anything on himself. He was wearing jeans and a dark collar shirt. Taichi thought it was a dark blue, but it could have been gray. Once he was sure he was clean, Taichi went to answered the door.
"Tai!" Mimi cried as soon as the door was cracked open. She flung her arms around his neck.
"Mimi!" Laughing loudly, Taichi picked her up and swung around with her. He knew that Mimi always loved those parts in movies, so he always made it a point to do so. She laughed joyously causing Taichi to smile so big that it hurt his cheeks. He set her down after three twirls. He pressed his cheek against her and kissed the air near her ear. Mimi looked exactly, her hair was a mixture of blonde and brown with deep violet highlights through it. She wore a white and red candy striper dress that went to her knees and tied with a red belt. She had white ankle high boots on her feet.
"My turn, Tai!" Michelle said reaching out to be twirled around. Taichi wasn't surprised that she wasn't shy or scared like Kei tended to be around strangers. Michelle was older than Kei. Plus, her mom was Mimi. Of course her daughter was going to be friendly. Taichi also suspect that Mimi's greeting of him was enough for Michelle to trust him.
Taichi didn't hesitate picking her up and twirling her around as well. He even gave her some extra twirls since she wasn't nearly as heavy as Mimi. He noticed Koushiro shaking Michael's hand in the doorway to the kitchen and put Michelle down. "I think that's enough for now."
"Okay." Michelle didn't seem upset at all smiling brightly. "Is it okay if I play with the digimon?"
"Sure. Augmon is already in the living room with Kei, wrestling."
"Wrestling?" Michelle wrinkled her nose.
"Well Tentomon isn't as rowdy as Augmon. He'll play with you." Taichi looked over at Tentomon who was near Koushiro, but heard him and came over. "Is it okay, Tentomon?"
"Okay. I've been meaning to try something called a tea party, which Palmon told me about. She said only girls know how to play. Do you know how to play?" Tentomon looked over at Michelle with his big beetle eyes.
"I can show you." Michelle said following Tentomon to the living room.
Mimi smiled when Taichi turned back to her. "Thank you, Taichi. That was very sweet of you."
Koushiro cleared his throat. He was wearing the same jeans from the store, but he was wearing a nice shirt. Taichi loved that shirt on him and Koushiro often wore it when they had dinner with company, because he knew Taichi would be insatiable later. It wasn't really anything special, but it did show off his good qualities. It always gained Koushiro attention when they were out. Taichi couldn't help but relish in the fact that people were looking at his boyfriend. Koushiro said, "Mimi, it's good to see you."
"Good to see me? Izzy!" Mimi glared at Koushiro. She put her hands on her hips. "How long have you known me? Do you think you can get away that easily?"
Taichi couldn't help, but laugh again when Koushiro nodded in understanding. Then, he held out his arms and cried, "Mimi!"
"Izzy!" Mimi squealed. She danced into Koushiro's arms and hugged him tight around the neck. The two of them starting jumping up and down, getting increasingly louder.
Taichi shook his head at the two of them. He carefully shut the apartment door and slipped around them. "Hi, Michael." He shook Michael's hand and gave him a one armed hug.
"Thanks for having us Tai. I know it was last minute and everything." Michael was dressed pretty normally as far as Taichi knew. Michael always wore the same type of clothes. Just a simple jeans and button up shirt. Taichi didn't think much of it, but he knew that whatever he was wearing probably cost more than most of Tai's clothes put together. Of course, Mimi got most of these clothes for free since she worked in the field.
"Mimi! You changed your hair." Koushiro touched the long locks. Taichi couldn't remember what Mimi's hair looked like the last time he had seen her either on skype or in person. He assumed it was different, but Koushiro said it like he remembered what her hair was like. He probably did, Koushiro tended to notice details and he remembered almost everything he noticed.
"Oh, it's been like this for months." Mimi said pulling away.
"Well, then I think we don't nearly see each other enough. Let's open the wine we have a lot to catch up on." Koushiro put his arm through hers and start leading the way to the kitchen.
"Let's do it! You think with how busy I am I'd never even think about it, but I miss you two terribly," Mimi agreed. She leaned into Koushiro. Taichi and Michael followed them into the kitchen. It would have been cramped if they were trying to cook. However, it was perfect for standing around drinking wine and talking.
Taichi opened a bottle of red wine for them and a bottle of white because Michael preferred it. He poured generous glasses into wine glasses without the stems. He had bought them for Koushiro after they had been living together for three years. Even though they were not married Taichi wanted to follow the tradition of giving glass or crystal on their third anniversary. They had started dating after High School, but they had taken time off when they were in college because they had been living in separate countries. Also, because Koushiro wanted to make sure that Taichi was sure about their relationship before fully committing. So Taichi liked to believe that when they moved in together it was like they had gone from dating to married.
After talking for a little while in the kitchen, Koushiro turned to their guests. "Now that you've been introduced to the kitchen and the wine how about I give you two a tour?"
Mimi had not been over to their apartment since they moved into the three-bedroom. The last time she had visited they had lived in a smaller apartment with only two bedrooms. When they upgraded to the bigger apartment they didn't go too overboard even though Koushiro's job paid them really well. They wanted to save up to get a condo or small house. They both wanted to have a family someday and it would be nice to have a house when they did.
"Great and you can show me that bathroom." Mimi took Michael by the hand as she followed Koushiro out of the kitchen.
Taichi trailed along after them. Koushiro showed them all the rooms pointing out some interesting fixtures and pieces that decorated the place. They weren't the most glamorous decorations, but they were much better than when Taichi was a university student.
"Don't mind the charred wall. As soon as we get it checked for internal damages will have it redone." Koushiro tapped the wall outside the bathroom. Then, he opened the door to the guest bathroom and stepped aside for Mimi and Michael to see inside. Taichi stepped closer to him so he could see Mimi and Michael's reaction. He put an arm around Koushiro's shoulder and squeezed gently. Koushiro tilted his head glancing at Tai. Koushiro wasn't much for being affectionate in front of other people, but he didn't move or complain. He just smiled softly.
"Wow! Augmon really did a number on this." Mimi looked around the bathroom and the hall. She had big bright eyes. Like she forgot what sort of damage a digimon could do. Of course, Palmon was like Mimi in a many ways and did not like to fight.
"Tentomon didn't help either," Koushiro replied pointed out some of the places that Tentomon's attack had hit.
"What happened?" Mimi asked curiously. She looked concerned. The digimon didn't just accidentally do something like this.
"He saw Cherubimon in the mirror, so he says. Then, Kei started to encourage him so that he could see more of the attacks." Taichi couldn't help, but laugh a little bit. He was still annoyed at the damage, but he really wasn't mad at Augmon or Kei anymore. He actually thought the look on Augmon's face when Taichi yelled at him was too funny. Plus, Kei's child-like excitement had been super cute. "I guess if we hadn't been running for our lives at the time we would have been really awed at how cool our monsters' attacks were too."
"Weird Cherubimon?" Michael frowned. "Like Wallace's partner?"
"I don't know. Didn't see him." Taichi shrugged. He hoped that Mimi and Michael weren't too suspicious by that.
Mimi and Michael looked at Koushiro. Koushiro shrugged as well. "I don't think they saw Wallace's partner." Koushiro vaguely lied. They didn't believe that Augmon claimed to see Wallace's partner, just a similar digimon, however he and Koushiro have believed Augmon's story.
"Come on I'll show you the balcony. We don't use it much, but we thought it would be a good idea especially with Tentomon." Taichi led the way. Koushiro stayed in the hall in front of the bathroom staring into the room. Taichi saw that he was deep in thought when he turned back to see if he was going to join them. He decided to let him be for a minute. He led Mimi and Michael into their room and out onto the balcony. It wasn't much so there was nothing really out there, but he really enjoyed having it and not just because of Tentomon.
"Oh it's beautiful!" Mimi looked around studying the small area. "Mind if I decorate this too? It needs a table and chairs. Different lighting."
"Not at all." Taichi smiled. He didn't think Mimi could do any harm to the balcony. Although he was still a little worried about the bathroom, would Mimi drag them around to different stores to look at stuff, for weeks?
Koushiro joined them on the balcony bring the bottles of wine with him to refill everyone's glass. They stay on the balcony as the sun set. Mimi hugged onto Michael's arm, resting her head on Michael's shoulder, looking at the little view that they had. Taichi put his arm around Koushiro again. Koushiro touched Taichi's hand briefly, but then took a sip of the wine he had in that hand. They talked lightly about old things again. Like silly things they had done in college. Some of the stories they told were stories that everyone already knew. Some were stories that were newly remembered. Some were stories that had changed over time and weren't quite true.
After the sunset, Taichi said he was going to start dinner. Michael came with him inside to check on the kids. It was just in time because Mimi decided it was the time to fill Koushiro in on what she had planned for the bathroom, which was probably one of the few times that someone talked over his head.
When dinner was ready, Michael went to 'save Koushiro from Mimi' while Taichi dished the meal to the children and digimon. Then, he set the rest of the food in the middle of the table for them to take as they wanted to.
"…and Michael will help take down the wall and we'll put a brick feature. That wall is shared with the living room and it will look fantastic on both sides." Mimi finished as they came into the room.
"When am I doing all of this?" Michael asked although he didn't seem upset about being volunteered.
"Maybe you can start tomorrow," Mimi said as a joke. Michael laughed at that.
Since they had more guest than normal Taichi had put a leaf in the table so that it was longer. There was another leaf for the table, but it made the table too big for the room. The children and digimon sat on the side closest to the bathroom and main part of the house. Koushiro sat at the end of the table and Taichi sat beside him with Kei sitting next to him. Mimi and Michael sat across from Taichi. Michelle sat on the other side of her father with Tentomon at the other end next to her.
During the meal they spoke mostly about work and updating on family. It was comfortable. Michelle told Taichi about living in New York and her friends. Kei was quiet during the meal because he was still shy around the new adults, but after dinner he seemed to warm up and wanted to tell Mimi everything cool about his Uncles' apartment, since she was still talking about plans. She carefully listened to everything he liked about it. The digimon went into the guestroom when they finished eating to play video games. Michelle and Kei followed them after a while.
Taichi opened another bottle of wine and the adults went into the living room. They talked late into the night sharing stories of their adventures. A few times the kids and digimon would join them, only to go back into the spare bedroom to play more games. Eventually, though the kids fell asleep Michelle lying on one end of the couch and Kei at the other end. Tentomon and Augmon were watching a movie in their room. Mimi was sharing an armchair with Michael. She was sort of sitting next to him with her legs across his and her feet on the foot stool. Taichi was stretched out on the two-seater. He had an arm around Koushiro's shoulder again. Koushiro didn't mind at all anymore and even had a hand on Tai's thigh.
"It's great seeing you two." Mimi smiled brightly. "I know Michael told you that we didn't want people knowing we were in town just in case, but I doubt I could have gone three weeks without seeing you. Oh and Jyou. I'll probably have to see him too."
"Jyou's great." Koushiro agreed. "He and Jun just had their first daughter. First, girl in his family. She's adorable."
"His brothers have kids though?"
"All sons. This was even their last try." Koushiro pulled up a picture on his phone to show Mimi. It was a picture of Jyou, Jun their three sons and their new daughter.
"Oh my look how gorgeous. Who would have thought Jyou would make such pretty children." Mimi joked of course because Jyou had grown into his looks. "Michael look."
"Looks like we'll be taking a trip to see them as well." Michael reassured. "So his brothers all have four kids?"
"Shin has six and Shuu has three all boys." Koushiro replied.
"Michael you don't understand. When I first went to summer camp I wouldn't dream of talking to guys like Izzy, Jyou or even Tai, I didn't understand those jock types. But after being in the digital world, I don't know what I would have done without them. I thought Matt was cool, but he would have just blown me off if it wasn't for the rest of the guys."
"Matt had issues then," Taichi agreed. "Plus, his little brother was there and that was his main concern."
"But he even abandoned Takeru after a while." Mimi reminded.
Taichi shrugged. "We were all just kids though so we didn't know what we were doing."
"Well you pretended like you did and Izzy figured it out eventually." Mimi handed the phone back to Taichi. "I love all you guys, but I think we all had different people that we were close to."
"That's for sure. I talk to you, Jyou and Iori regularly. Ken, Miyaoi and I talk sometimes, but I don't know when the last time I talked to Takeru or Matt," Koushiro agreed.
"You still talk to Daisuke and Matt, right?" Mimi looked at Taichi.
"I still talk to those two and Sora," Taichi replied. He didn't mention Hikari because she was his sister and it was obvious that they still talked. Also, he didn't want to talk about Hikari because he knew he wouldn't be able to hide his disappointment.
"I can't believe you still talk to Sora." Mimi sounded surprise. "She got to be such a bitch."
"Oh, she's not that bad. She was moody when she was younger," Taichi responded. It was no secret that Mimi and Sora weren't as close as they were in High School and never as close as most of the others.
"Oh stop defending her. She was especially cruel to you guys." Mimi's voice was hard and tough which Taichi thought she probably used when she worked.
"I guess," Taichi shrugged. "But we're over it." Taichi looked over at Koushiro. Koushiro was looking away from them at least somewhat uncomfortable if not completely. Taichi wrapped his free arm around his waist pulling him slightly closer hoping that it would help.
"Um…" Mimi looked guilty. "How's Iori?"
"Oh he's terrific. He took over the kendo academy," Taichi supplied nudging Koushiro. "I'm trying to get Hikari to sign off on the forms so Kei can join. He needs it with all that energy."
Koushiro voice sounded forced when he added to the conversation. "He's newly engaged. You'll probably miss the announcements."
"He is!?" Taichi looked at Koushiro. "You're serious."
"Yes. He proposed to Noriko last weekend." Koushiro looked a little more relaxed now. "He said it was their anniversary and he took her out to where they went on their first date. He proposed on the ferries wheel."
"Ahh! He's so sweet." Mimi blushed. "I met her before right?"
"Probably, they've been dating for a while." Koushiro couldn't remember if Mimi met her, at least as Iori's girlfriend.
"When are you two going to get married?" Mimi asked.
"Um, Mimi that's a little personal," Michael reminded she gave him a nonsense look.
"Well, I already think we are." Koushiro looked at Taichi. He nodded his agreement. "But you'll be invited if we ever exchange vows."
"Vows! I just want to go to the party!" Mimi laughed.
Taichi nodded. "We never thought about that, we should exchange vows Kou' just so we can party."
"I'll take you up on that, but only if that means we get a bunch of wedding gifts." Koushiro looked at Taichi his demeanor much better then a few minutes ago.
"Presents? We get presents?" Taichi looked up at Mimi. "I think you might have us."
"Oh stop it guys." Mimi sighed. She knew when she pushed too much.
"If it makes you feel better I'll let you go through my closet and throw out old stuff and create a whole new wardrobe for me." Taichi offered, although it was probably the wine talking.
"Don't tempt me Taichi," Mimi warned.
Koushiro laughed at Mimi and Taichi. "We promise to tell you when we decide to exchange vows." Taichi didn't think it would be soon anytime because they couldn't get married in Japan.
"All I ask." Mimi smiled sipping on her wine.
A/N: Thanks for reading!