Author's Note: I'm glad there are people who like the premise of this story so far. I'm really going to try my best to make the most out of this. It's been a while since I've written anything fiction. I don't have much to say for this chapter, but I do hope you will all like it. I suck at giving titles, but oh well.I hope to frequently update this fan fiction as much as I've been doing. Enjoy reading! :-)
Salad Days
Chapter Three
Small Talks, Long Conversations
Koushiro already called in his favorite ramen stall – which was just a few blocks away – to deliver some food. The pile of snow was already three-feet deep. Weather reports from the TV predicted that the storm will last 'til four in the morning. In the same room, Taichi, Yamato, Takeru, and Hikari were dusting the ceiling and floor. I smell war. Koushiro wished Sora or Mimi was here, at least. With a broom on hand, he went to the unoccupied old reading room.
"I disagree, I think it tried too hard on being badass," replied Hikari as she swept the floor. Takeru, who was also sweeping the other side of the room, stopped and walked towards Hikari.
"I can't believe you're telling this to me now, a week ago you said you liked it," said Takeru.
"I only said it because you kept talking while I was watching it," he definitely ruined the film for her, with his excessive fawning and what-not.
"How can you think it's trying too hard? It was amazing!"
"I don't know, I didn't understand anything about it. And most of the stuff you made me watch were hard to understand," frowned Hikari. Well, she did understand, but it would have been difficult if she didn't pay a huge amount of attention.
"They're foreign films, it's always open to interpretation," argued Takeru. Yamato, while dusting the ceiling, overheard their conversation. No.. Takeru, you won't win her like this, snickered Yamato. His little brother was a smart kid. He likes to read and watch a lot. From anime, manga, and Western superheroes, he had grown to read Japanese classics and English literary canon, and now watches fancy films from obscure Europe. He's quite mature for his age too. Their time together at the DigiWorld made him believe that. He gave a lot of good advice several times. Yamato reckoned it was the effect of divorce. Unlike him, Takeru didn't turn out to be angsty. He was always looking forward for everything.
"Kari-chan, I was reading this book about a little orphaned girl in Nazi Germany.."
Anyway, it was obvious he was making Hikari like the same things he does.
Yamato looked over at the other end of the room. His best friend Taichi had his headphones on as he dusted the ceiling. He made his best attempt to ignore this weird predicament in his head.
"Takeru, come over here," called out Yamato. Takeru did as he was told.
"What is it?"
The older brother's voice lowered to a whisper. "Do you think I should talk to Mimi about Sora?"
The younger brother was much more confused. "Why on earth will you do that? That's like trespassing enemy territory,"
"I hell know she's Sora's best friend and probably the one to assassinate me if she ever finds out I make Sora cry," mocked Yamato, but still in a hush. "I just don't know how I could ever understand Sora and Taichi's relationship at this point right now,"
"You're really behaving out of character, aniki,"
"Just because I'm the Crest bearer of Friendship doesn't mean I have to be everyone's best friend,"
"Well, you and Mimi aren't close enough for solicited advice,"
"I know we aren't,"
Takeru suspiciously eyed him. "I wonder.. if you still ever.."
"No, I don't,"
"Yeah, right, but I had a little crush on her too when I was a kid," explained Takeru. "In fact, I still do, but just in a really platonic way, and I don't ever want anyone else to find that out," he warned, hinting on Hikari.
"I think it's safe to assume every guy in this house right now did," grunted Yamato.
Takeru smiled, smitten. It was true all of them actually fancied Mimi when they were children. The fact that he and Mimi were already close then was good enough for him. With due respect to Sora, he did think Mimi was the prospective girlfriend for his dear brother if only she didn't move away. He also used to think Sora and Taichi were deeply in love until Sora became his brother's girlfriend. Alas, everyone else's fantasies' shattered, thought Takeru.
He was the reason everyone back then paired Yamato and Mimi up.
"Mimi-chan is so nice," said seven-year-old Takeru as he held the sweet drops Mimi gave him. His other hand was clasped on to Yamato's. "Here you go, Patamon," said Takeru as he reached on to his head. Patamon ate the drop. "Yeah, this is so tasty, Takeru!"
"Look onii-chan, Mimi-chan gave this to me," he said proudly, showing off his newly acquired box of sweet drops. "That's great, Takeru," replied Yamato. He looked up at his older brother's handsome, young face, and then turned his head around to look at Mimi's.
"Onii-chan, I think you and Mimi-chan look good together." He said out loud.
"What are you talking about, Takeru?" asked an expressionless Yamato as they walked into the woods.
"I think both of you look good together," said Takeru. Gabumon, also beside Yamato, thought for it in a while. "I think so too, Yamato,"
"Hnn. I don't think so, Gabumon."
"Why? You don't like Mimi-chan?"
A pause. "No It's not like that. I like her."
"So why don't you think you two will look good together?"
"What kind of question is that now, Takeru?"
"You said you like her,"
"Yeah Yamato, you said you did," assured Gabumon. Yamato frustratingly scratched his head, worried someone else might hear. The subject of the conversation was also just behind them. "That's enough,"
"But I want you and Mimi-chan together," Takeru exclaimed, enough for Taichi to hear. The young Yagami, who was leading the group, turned around to look at Yamato.
"Yamato-kun," called out Taichi playfully. This will be fun, he thought.
And now things are starting to worry Yamato. "Taichi-kun," he replied, trying to keep his cool.
"Mimi-chan," called out Taichi. Mimi, who was mentally singing a song, bobbed her head. "Ne, Tai-kun?"
"Yamato-kun has something to tell you," the brunette teased.
"Ooohh! What is it, Yamato-kun?"
"No I don't," said Yamato sharply, not liking where this is going.
"Don't deny it Yamato, I know you do!" said Gabumon. The fact that Gabumon was taking it seriously worried him.
Taichi laughed. "Everyone! Yamato-kun has a crush on Mimi-chan!"
His brother ended up fuming and blushing in red; Mimi, on the other hand, clueless and curious. Takeru giggled. It was a very fond memory of his.
"You did like her, though," whispered Takeru. Yamato just shrugged. He did, and he remembered planning to be close friends with her, to be a part of her seemingly perfect life and that maybe she could share some of that perfection with him, even if he doesn't end up becoming her lover. Oh yes, he was planning to – but all of those had stopped when she broke the news of her departure.
"Koushiro-kun, I think the delivery guy's here already," that was the only thing Taichi said in that room. Yamato looked out at the window and saw a familiar face from his neighborhood. Koushiro came out of the reading room and ruffled his bag for money.
"Hmm.. I wonder... what if she stayed.." muttered Takeru inaudibly, but Yamato caught him. He said no more about it.
"Anyway, I'm still going to try whatever there is," said Yamato. He has Sora now, and he would do anything for her. Heaven or hell he'd be with her – he just has to keep them from falling apart. They just had to stay together, and wish Sora could keep on believing in that.
Takeru smiled, satisfied. "Okay, aniki," He walked back to Hikari, leaving Yamato lingering on that 'what if' for a moment.
Three hours passed when they finished cleaning most of the Tachikawa residence, dusk had already fallen, and the temperature had dropped several degrees. The ramen had already gone lukewarm. They decided to 'remedy' the 'tasteless' ramen (as Taichi had said, much to Koushiro's dismay) as Takeru, Jyou, and Hikari went out to the nearest konbini for some ingredients. They arrived shortly, freezing and possibly suffering from mild frostbite (proceeded with immediate warming), as the rest of the group had decided who will do the 'remedy' after several series of high-pitched squabbles and swearing.
Awkward was the perfect word to describe Yamato and Mimi right now.
Mimi kept asking herself why Yamato volunteered to cook with her. They weren't close, Yamato always seemed apathetic with her – it didn't make sense. What made it more awkward was that she knew a lot of stuff about him, thanks to Sora. She tried to concentrate on the soup and be natural with him. She glanced to his side.
"Yamato-kun, I think you shouldn't do that,"
"I know what I'm doing."
The other felt much weirder. Takeru was right, this was odd of him. His relationship with Mimi was complicated – to him, at least. He breathed in and out. "Mi-"
"Yamato-kun," Mimi had cut him off. Brilliant. Now he won't have to initiate the conversation, thought Yamato. "Did you like my gift?"
Oh, yeah.. he thought. "No,"
The brunette was appalled. How could he even say that so bluntly! She really had a hard time finding a gift for him and now he says he didn't like it – so much for appreciation. "Ishida how can you even not—"
"I haven't opened it yet," added the boy.
She only managed to say, "Oh,"
Yamato smirked. "What is it anyway?"
Mimi stared at him with enthusiasm. "Oh Yamato-kun, I'm so positive you'd like it!"
"How sure are you that I will?"
"A hundred and one percent. I know because I just know it!"
"I'm guessing it's something related to my music," he teased.
"Oh, you got that right, but I won't tell anymore. And don't try to spoil it!" exclaimed Mimi, as she stirred the soup. This was perhaps one of the rarest (if not the first) moments she smiled at him. She was pretty to look at.
"That band earlier, what were they called again?" asked Yamato, trying to keep up a conversation with her as he prepare for the stuff to put in the ramen.
"The 1975," answered Mimi. "they're one of the hottest bands right now in America," The blonde could already tell she was fangirling.
"Hmm. They sound... unique,"
Mimi giggled. "They do.. but so do most musicians right now,"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, the music trend in the West right now is to sound unique," explained Mimi. " but all are trying so hard to sound unique, some of them come to sound the same,"
Yamato cocked his brow. "Which artists do you think I'd like?" he asked.
Mimi paused for a bit as she sipped the soup.
"Hmm. Let me see.." Mimi looked up to recall. She remembered going to a lot of concerts and underground bars. Her friend Cat Deneauve always brought her stacks of vinyl records to listen to. "What genre do you listen to?"
"All of them, Tachikawa."
"Hmm. I always thought you only listen to punk rock.. you know.. high pitched voices and simpler guitar notes, lots of rebellious song lyrics, 'I-don't-give-a-fuck' kind-of-music,"
Yamato cringed when he heard her curse. It just didn't suit her – but he remained quiet about it. "I don't just listen to those. I'm a music lover. Now, what do you have for me?"
"Well, I think of you listening to Arctic Monkeys.. Kasabian.. Interpol.. stuff like that," said Mimi.
"I have already listened to those," answered Yamato. He gave her credit for judging him right with his music taste. "Takeru listens to a lot of foreign bands,"
Mimi wondered if Takeru got off his music taste from hers, since they spent a lot of time chatting over Western music, movies, and what-not. "Oh, is that so? I have a friend and her name is Cat Deneauve, she's French but she moved in. I think she and Takeru-kun already met along with Tai-kun – but anyway, she's one of my best friends back at New York and she always took me to local music bars. I didn't have any interest with such musicians unless they're Madonna or Gaga, but I like them now," chattered Mimi. "How's the Teenage Wolves by the way? I check out your Bandcamp page every now and then. Michael says you guys are good, though he doesn't understand Japanese,"
"We're good. I haven't written any new material yet though. There are the big record labels already harassing us to sign with them, but I prefer our current one," answered Yamato. His band is currently signed in Hydeout Productions, an independent label.
Mimi nodded. She's still surprised that they're talking, getting excited. This is a freaking record breaker, she thought. But despite the overwhelming feeling, she felt more comfortable with Yamato right now.
"Anyway, I know some places around here where you can listen to underground Japanese music. I took Sora and Takeru once, but Sora didn't like it. Nowadays I only bring Takeru and sometimes my band, we could hang out.. if you want," said Yamato. "Also, you really need to Japan-ize yourself back," he playfully added.
"You really think I drastically changed?" asked Mimi in remorse.
"Well.." he looked at her head to toe. Radical. "Yeah."
"Okay, now I'm depressed."
"Why?"
"I've been feeling everyone has changed, and I feel left out and alienated, it's a weird feeling because I don't know – I never felt this way before,"
"You changed a lot," affirmed Yamato. "But that doesn't mean it's a bad thing,"
"How can that even be?"
Yamato didn't know if he should say it, but oh fuck it, here're the beans: "I mean, I think you look really cool right now,"
"What cool? Don't do all Japanese people think of that towards foreigners and Japanese who lived in America?" laughed out Mimi.
"Well, you do have a better sense of style now, growing up from all that pink. And you're pretty right—" the thought had been running all day long in his mind, trying not to let it slip, especially to her, but alas, he had.
Mimi heard and she knew what exactly followed.
"What do you mean right now? Wasn't I that pretty back then?" she playfully pouted.
"I mean – you were – before – I just mean.." flushed in red, he felt so embarrassed he wanted to slice his fingers instead. Oh God I fucking stammered. I just stammered. He suddenly remembered why he chose to be particularly detached from her. She was such a tease. Still is, he thought.
Teary-eyed Mimi blushed and smiled at him. This could have been the best thing she got from coming back – Yamato's care. "Ahhh. Okay. I was being emotional I guess. I missed everyone else so much and I didn't know what's been going on with your lives, I feel so much like a stranger," Yamato couldn't believe she was actually wiping away her tears. "But thank you, Yamato-kun. Sora-chan is really lucky to have you."
Yamato's heart started to skip upon the mention of his lover's name. Anxiety was again kicking in. He wanted to ask Mimi so badly.
"Tachikawa," he said. Mimi turned to look at him, as if she already knew.
Yamato sighed as he put down the kitchen knife and ran his hand through his messy hair. "I don't know if Sora told you, but we're not really in a good –"
"I know." She cut him off. Yamato wasn't surprised she did. There was a long silence until Mimi broke in with a sympathetic smile.
"Oh dear Yamato-kun," she placed her hand on his shoulder. "I know you really love Sora-chan, and that she loves you too, and I think that's what matters," she assured.
"I really do," he said softly as trouble painted his face. "I just can't understand at all. Her and Taichi. I don't. I used to, but now that Sora and I are together, I don't know. And I feel so bad for even feeling this way because they're both important to me,"
Mimi tried to shake away her feeling of surprise. She couldn't believe that here was Yamato, opening up to her. It's been years and this was what all it took. Mimi shook her head. But that's unimportant right now, thought Mimi.
"Sora-chan and Tai-kun had always been best of friends, even before we went to the DigiWorld. I think they're both really important to each other, too. One of them just happened to feel something more," said Mimi. "But Yamato-kun, that's no longer Sora-chan's or your concern. That's Tai-kun's problem. He needs to be at peace with you guys being together and with his feelings. And hopefully, he'd move on." She felt sorry for Taichi, but everything just felt inevitable and unaccounted. "It's no one's fault.." she added in a whisper.
That's what I've been trying to tell myself too, thought Yamato. "I just feel that Taichi hates me now," confessed Yamato. "I don't know what he's thinking at all. We tried to be normal, even hanging out together with just the three of us. You know, like we used to. But it's just obvious he doesn't feel good about it, and he doesn't even say it to me. So whenever he's with Sora alone, I feel guarded."
Mimi bit her lip. "I think you should just – you just have to accept that they're both important to each other. I don't think you can blame Tai-kun for having feelings for her. As long as he's not trying to ruin your relationship, then all is fine," she assured. "Because if Tai-kun does, I'll beat him to a pulp," she added in a jokingly manner.
Yamato faintly chuckled. He felt a bit shy after the sudden vent, his cheeks turning warmer. "Ahhh.. Thanks for that." But that was what he had needed, and he finally let it out. "I do hope things work out the way you say,"
The brunette smiled. This was definitely a good sign. She winked at him. "Now aren't you just glad I'm conveniently here?" She opened the cupboard for soup bowls. Yamato, being taller, took them out before she did.
"Yeah right," he replied, trying to scoff her. But today felt suddenly a good day for Yamato, with this newly-found amity with Mimi. "Welcome home, Tachikawa."
Not for long they served dinner and returned to the group afterwards. They talked about their lives, and Mimi talked about hers more. Taichi, Yamato, and Sora sat apart from each other, obviously trying to avoid one another. Naught was mentioned about the three of them, hoping not to stimulate anger. It wasn't until three in the morning they all decided to sleep, going upstairs to Mr. and Mrs. Tachikawa's, and Mimi's bedrooms. Everyone but Yamato slept in. And when they did, he decided to open Mimi's little gift.
It was a personalized metal guitar pick, with the crest of Friendship engraved on it. On the other side, it said, in imperfectly stroked Japanese letters: ヤマト、へ親友になりたい –ミミから. His thoughts started to run like an English train, monotonous and repetitive; long and slow:
'I wish to become close friends,' she said.