Author's Note: I have to apologize for any confusion whether Mimi's hair is pink or brown. All throughout the story she remains a brunette except for chapter five, in which I erroneously have written that she was pink-haired. Just have to clear up that she remains a brunette in the rest of the story. Hehe. I hope you all bear with my future errors. Anyway, here's chapter seven!

Salad Days

Chapter Seven
Weekend

Izumi, K.
8:05 a.m.

Izumi Koushiro woke up thanks to the sound of his phone alert. Yesterday was such a rough night for him, spending all the energy getting drunk, being sober at midnight.. it was unusual of him to even pick up a microphone. But today, he would spend the whole day alone, locked up in his room with his trusty laptop – just as he wanted. Mimi and Yamato had messaged him.

"I'm sorry I had to shoo you away last night. Yama was :("

"Sorry for the late reply, already slept in right when I got home. It's weird to say, but Mimi and I are friends now.. hehe."

Koushiro scratched his head, still in between sleep and wakefulness. Oh, right, he remembered leaving Yamato and Mimi alone. Yeah, he still hasn't figured out how the two managed to become buddies. Surprisingly he and Yamato had become really close friends, having shared personal matters, much of his family life and Yamato's teen angst. He and Mimi, however, had been close friends since their childhood. As far as history goes, Yamato having fancied Mimi was a fat. The boys found out all of them had liked Mimi during a game of truth or dare when they slept over at Taichi's in their middle school days. But if there was anything that shocked him that day, the fact that Yamato was into her meant serious business.

Good thing he has Sora now though, thought Koushiro.

"That's good, Yamato. But since when did you two become friends? Hehe."

"I don't know either. We just sort of got close now since she returned. I sort of told her about the stuff happening between me and Sora.. you know."

"Doesn't Sora feel weird about it?"

"Why would she?"

"Well.. you did like Mimi. :|"

"Yeah. I did. And Sora doesn't know that. It's best she doesn't anyway, it's all in the past. :)"

Shortly he found out from him that the couple is still suffering from their rough patch. Yamato eventually asked him to check up on Sora. He did as he was told. He also found out that Yamato and Mimi went somewhere else after the karaoke. He became more suspicious, and thought he should confirm Mimi's feelings.

"Oh. It's good you two are friends now! You two always sort of had that unexplainable tension. :o"

"Yeah, we are. It's weird isn't it? What tension are you talkin' about!"

"You two always are awkward? Hmm. I always thought you liked him. Don't worry, I won't tell Sora. :p"

"No, Kou. How could you even say such treachery!"

"I'm just teasing, Mi."

"Huhu. Well, I don't even want to think about the possibility. And if I did, I would have asked Yama-kun out myself, even before Sora-chan makes her move. Hahahaha! Don't tell anyone I said that. _"

He snickered. "Hahaha. It'll be weird if you did like him though. Don't worry, I won't."

Koushiro sighed, relieved. Because if she did, he would have already lost to Yamato.

Takaishi, T.
9:15 a.m.

"And where are you going, Take-chan?"

"To Kari's, mom.. I promised we'd go to the exhibit," answered Takeru, who recently came out of the bathroom, wearing nothing but his towel. Ms. Takaishi scrunched her brows as she chopped the meat.

"I'm getting worried. You went home so late yesterday!" she exclaimed. "And does your brother know?"

"Yes mom, I was with aniki," said Takeru, now pulling a shirt over his head. He and Hikari had planned to go to the Shinohara exhibit in Tokyo. Au contraire to Takeru's fascination for popular culture, Hikari was much more interested in art and charity. He remembered Hikari calling him through a payphone, rushing him to go to evacuation center. He immediately became a relief volunteer when the March 11 tsunami had hit Japan.

"What's going on with you and Kari? Is she your girlfriend now?"

"No, mom,"

"Not yet, you mean," she teased. The boy groaned.

"Oka-saaaaaaaaan.."

Ms. Takaishi chuckled. "I'm sorry, dear. Your brother is so good at girls, though. You should learn from him!"

Takeru rolled his eyes. Oh, if only his big brother's tricks could work on Hikari. She was exactly the no-nonsense type of girl who'd love walls more than the spotlight. Unlike the trivial things he cared about, Hikari cared for the important ones, and very humbly she showed that. Not that he disliked it – she was absolutely fitting for him – but she just didn't seem to see the same way about him. And it's this very Hikari that made him fascinated with her. And being best friends with her was already enough.

He went to the kitchen to bid goodbye to his mother. "I'm going now, mom," he said, kissing his mother on the cheek.

"You take care okay," She giggled and also planted a kiss on his cheek. "Don't forget to feed the cats outside,"

"Yes," he replied. His mother happened to have a fascination to befriend every stray cat in the neighborhood. And whenever Hikari came, she joined her to feed them – even talk to them in "meows" and "nyas". Yamato avoided them, not wanting to get scratched.

"Is Yama-kun going to come here with you later?"

"Yes. Brother and I already talked about it,"

"Okay, take care my dear!"

Takeru laughed, then kissed her cheek again. "Bye!"

Ishida, Y.
11:10 a.m.

He wasn't able to sleep all night, alright. It was already lunch time and he hadn't gotten up from his bed aside from the time he needed to pee earlier. His dad had already left early this morning, being the usual workaholic. He felt bedridden, as if a vortex had opened up and sucked up all his physical and emotional energy. His phone kept beeping and lighting up, courtesy of Sora and Taichi.

He reached over his bedside to finally reply to Sora.

"I'm sorry I just replied. I feel awful. I'm sorry I didn't get to tell you. I just bumped onto Mimi while I was on the way. I hope you're not angry. I love you."

He knew she was definitely angry, though. Oh, he could tell. Yamato sighed. He didn't know how to face Sora, much more didn't know how to work things out between them. If only he didn't get so angry that time, if only he didn't get into a brawl with Taichi three months ago, if only he kept his cool – I'm such an idiot, he thought, covering his face with a pillow. If only he wasn't such a jealous guy, maybe this rift won't last this long. In a few minutes Sora had replied.

"I'm not mad. I hope you're okay. Have a good day. I love you." She was definitely angry.

"We should talk soon."

"Sure."

And before he knew it, he was now reading Taichi's messages. The messages he didn't want to open.

"Yamato, what do you think?"
"Yama? _"
"Yama-kuuuun, don't tell me you're still asleep,"
"I think Mimi and I can make a great couple, doncha think?"
"I need your help, man! Where are you when I need you! =.="

If not the events of last night, Yamato would want to reply, "Do whatever you want," but after that quasi-date with Mimi at the bar, this was a very badly-timed idea from Taichi. He didn't really know what to answer. Much more Yamato was unsure what his own motives are, not wanting to be too territorial. Mimi wasn't his anything apart from being a friend, after all. Gah, what am I thinking, this is not the right time for this, he thought.

He knew very well Taichi was going to the rebound route from Sora, and it's not a bad thing – but why does it have to be Mimi, of all people? Yamato himself would want to quarantine her from dating (if only he had the right) 'til she's sane enough to pick the right guy, and Taichi, at this point, as much as he is a funny and attractive boy, wasn't the one she needed. And if Mimi would find out, she wouldn't like being Taichi's second.

Why am I worrying about Mimi anyway, the blond thought. It's not like she's my sister or anything. But he felt at this point he should do what he can to be a friend. He started to type rapidly on his phone.

"Good morning, Mimi. How are you? I hope you're okay."

His phone started to ring. He wondered what on earth Koushiro would want to tell him on a Saturday.

Kido, J.
12:45 p.m.

The blue-haired boy was in queue to get a handful of research papers from the collection in Todai. He didn't really have classes until spring, but he decided to get on with his research, hoping to finish it before the research conference on May.

Since he got in to college he had been more studious than before, only having to hang out with Kyoko, a friend he met at Microbiology class. He had hung out with several groups months ago, but none of which he felt akin to.

But it wasn't until early winter he had realized that he didn't have any sense of fun or excitement in him at all. This little quarter-life crisis he was having had started when he bumped on to Sora, Takeru, and Hikari on the train station last November. The meeting had made him reconnect with the group, get a bit of recklessness in him. Mimi's return had only made him feel more nostalgic. Last night, Jyou had dreamt he had met up with Gomamon and had talked to him about his problems. His companion told him to suck it up. He chuckled at the memory.

The serials section became more crowded with students from the Medicine Department, along with them reams and reams of paper, doing those assignments alone. He felt like everyone else, and unusually the idea had made him feel disgusted on himself.

Kido Jyou remembered a year ago, his brother Shuu asked him if this was what really wanted to do. He told him of course, it was. Since he was a child it was already imbued in his mind to go through this eight-year journey, here at Todai. And here I am, he thought. He knew that being a doctor would mean he'd do the same things his family does. He rubbed his temples, getting a headache from the very crowded Doctor Kidos in the family; in his extended family, there are four neurologists, three dermatologists, five cardiologists, two psychologists, two ophthalmologists, and seven surgeons. He wondered if there's still even room for him.

Yesterday he had told Mimi of his interest to attend Harvard. After his little self-evaluation last night, he was sure he was going to America to take the test. Now I just hope I'm good enough..

It was his turn to face the student-assistant. He gave the serial number as the girl went over to the shelves to look for it. After five minutes he received a hand-bound book, and then proceeded to his own study. With his own determination in keeping his promise to meet up with Sora later, he wasted no time further and did what his professor had instructed.

Yagami, H.
1:00 p.m.

The Ushio and Noriko Shinohara exhibit was as wonderful as Hikari had imagined, even talked to the artists themselves. Takeru, who only had heard of the New York-based artists from Mimi, was clueless with the whole happening. He didn't get abstract art that much, but he certainly fancied the female Shinohara's artistry.

"You look really cute here," said Takeru, showing HIkari a shot he took with his phone. They went to a burger joint nearby the gallery for lunch. Hikari peeped at it while taking a bite from her burger. It was a photo of her with Ushio and Noriko. "You're right, I do,"

"I wonder if we can get these developed," said Hikari, pointing to her roll of film. She ought to give the camera Mimi gave her a try.

"I think the shop near the bookstore is open," answered Takeru.

"Alright," she replied. She went on quietly to eat. Takeru stared at her for a moment, trying to think how to move the conversation further.

"Kari-chan, mom's asking why you're not visiting anymore,"

"She did?" she said in between munches. The first time Hikari met Takeru's mom was that she mistook her as her son's girlfriend. But Takeru had dodged the accusation, saying they're just friends from school.

"Yeah. She said she wanted someone to be with her when she played with the cats,"

"I can visit soon,"

Takeru then felt his phone vibrate. His brother had already cancelled, and instead will go to him tomorrow. "Aniki will no longer come later. Wanna go?"

"Okay,"

Before they went to the Takaishi residence, they went to a nostalgia shop to develop Hikari's photos. By the time Takeru got the photos as Hikari roamed around the store, the first photo he took out was a portrait of their friend Motomiya Daisuke.

"Oh, great! It's done!" the brunette chirped. She opened the envelope to check out the photos as the blond tried to make his way to direct the conversation to the boy in the photo. They left the shop and walked on their way to Takeru's place.

"So.. how's Daisuke-kun?" he asked.

"What do you mean by that, Takeru-kun? You're always with him in class," Hikari sensed his unusual inquisitiveness. It was a known fact among them that Daisuke has a very strong crush on her, and had professed his fancy to her several times. Often, she would just smile at him and laugh out of respect and sensitivity. But despite her lack of feelings for him other than friendship, he was a keeper.

"I mean.. he likes you, right?"

"Yeah, he does."

"Is it bothersome?"

"Kind of..? But not really." Where is this going.. she thought.

"What does that supposed to mean," he chuckled at her vague and indecisive response.

"I don't know? Does it matter?" she laughed along. Could this mean Takeru's jealous?

"I know you're confused, Kari-chan. But I think you shouldn't let it be a reason to not give him a chance, don't you think?" said Takeru. He was obviously trying to make her bite his bait, maybe he'd find out something about her not liking Daisuke, and preferring someone else. Maybe it could be me, he hoped. But he wouldn't risk getting caught.

The brunette just laughed, embarrassed. She changed the topic to her photographs. Huh.. I thought wrong.

Yagami, T.
3:02 p.m.

Every Saturdays, the Odaiba High School football team goes to campus for training. Yagami Taichi, the team captain, led the drills as the other had followed. Parallel to the field was the tennis court, where he would usually see Sora, and then they'd hang out to grab dinner. But no more, he thought.

"Okay everyone, let's take a break!" he yelled.

He sat on grass, sweaty and tired. He took his bottle of water to drink, then poured the rest of it over his head. He checked his phone for messages. Yamato still had not replied to him today, and his worry had grown. Is he sick? He thought. Maybe I should ask Koushiro too..

"Taichi-kun," a familiar female voice came. He looked up and saw Sora standing beside him, a towel over her shoulder.

"Yo, Sora," he greeted back, avoiding her eyes. She fixed her skirt to sit down beside him.

"You're gonna go out early?" she asked. They were both watching the women's football team.

"Yeah,"

"How was yesterday?"

"It was nice. You really should have come," Sora just smiled.

"Did he tell you anything?"

"Not really,"

"I see,"

Taichi enjoyed the following silence between them. Since last night he was meaning to tell her, too.

"We're okay, right?" asked Sora, who was playing with her fingers.

"We are," answered Taichi. He was looking for the right words to tell her.

"Sora,"

"Taichi,"

"What do you think of me asking Mimi out?"

She looked at him, puzzled. "Where to?"

He laughed. "On a date, silly,"

"So you like her now?" How can that be? She thought Taichi had feelings for her. It's been what she and Yamato had been fighting about all throughout winter.

"I think so?"

"Why not ask her then," she replied, now masking the tint of jealousy in her voice. She became stiff.

"Is it okay, Sora? Mi-chan's your best friend after all," he said, feeling awkward and sheepish.

Of course it's okay, she thought. Who am I to stop him anyway? What was confusing her more was that she couldn't really give Taichi her sincere blessing. Taichi and Mimi.. together.. it was possible, and it can make sense, but she found it really unlikely.

"Just don't hurt her, Taichi," she grimaced. "Else, I would disown you as my friend," she meant every word.

"I will not do anything to hurt her," he answered, unusually calm and collected. "She seems to have really changed from the Mimi I knew. It's not so hard to like her right now," it was true, Mimi wasn't really hard to be liked. He had a crush on her when they were children – but not as huge as he had liked Sora. As much as he had liked Mimi's sweet face, the rest about her wasn't as appealing. Until now.

"Okay," she said wryly, standing up. "I'm going back to practice,"

"Alright. Do we grab dinner later?"

"Ahh. No. I can't today, I'm going to meet up with Jyou-kun,"

"Ohh, okay,"

"See you,"

"See you,"

She then walked away. He watched Sora's slim figure become smaller as the distance between them grew. It felt like it was an unsaid goodbye, to whatever he and Sora were. His phone started ringing. He picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Taichi-kun," he instantly identified the caller. His expression turned annoyed.

"Ishida! Why haven't you been replying to my messages? At all?"

"Sorry, I slept the whole day." Taichi rolled his eyes. Typical.

"Well what do you think, about me and you-know-who?"

"I don't really know,"

"What do you mean you don't really know," asked Taichi, growing to become more irritated and impatient by his best friend's incompetence.

"I don't know, because Koushiro likes her, too,"

Sora, T.
5:19 p.m.

Sora and Jyou silently walked the crowded street in Ueno together, looking for somewhere to eat dinner. It was dawn and the wind had gotten cooler. They went inside a pizzeria.

"How's uni, Jyou-kun?" asked Sora. They had just finished ordering their food.

"It's fine, stressful, hehe," he replied, cleaning his glasses. "I'm trying to my finish my papers as soon as possible. I plan to study in America,"

"Woah. Really? Why? You've been doing good here so far,"

"Yeah.. well.. let's say I'm getting bored? Hehe,"

She scrunched her brows. "Kido Jyou getting bored in studying?"

"There are a lot of people at uni who is like me. Studying is the only life there," he said, looking out to the window. "I kind of want to understand more of what I want, and learn more than what most people here already know,"

"I do hope you get in the school you want, and find out what you really want to do," Sora smiled, sad that he'd have to leave, but happy that he's being opportunistic. "It's hard to find something you're going to be passionate about for the rest of your life,"

Jyou smiled, admiring her maturity.

"How about you Sora-chan? Why did you want to meet up?" He already had a guess, but he wanted to make sure.

The redhead sighed. "I kind of want to know what you think," Not many were aware of her closeness with Jyou. Unlike the rest of the guys, he was the easiest to talk to, as he was very considerate of other people. Being the most mature out of them, she thought she could help him decide on what to do with her rocky relationship with Yamato.

"I would love to share my thoughts, Sora-chan," assured Jyou. "But do take my words lightly. I don't have any experience on love, after all," Not for long they were already eating pizza and a basket of chips.

"I don't understand why he's like that to me at all," complained Sora, getting another slice. She was on the verge of her tears. "I did all I could to show I love him," she took a bite. "But then, he doesn't believe it at all!" she continued, in between munches.

"I'm really hurt, Jyou-kun," she said. "It feels like he's ignoring me, too," the unusual lack of text messages from him didn't help her anxiety.

"How can he even tell me he loves me, if he's like this?" she cried, with pizza on her mouth.

"Sora-chan, don't talk while you're eating, you're going to get too much air," the blue-haired boy tried his hardest to understand what she was saying. He understood her frustration, but he didn't know how to help. Despite his close friendship with Yamato, he often found him hard to understand.

"He always talks about how I used to love Taichi, and how Taichi loves me even now," she said, wiping her tears with a napkin.

"Well guess what, I found out Taichi's planning to go for Mimi," she said it as if the universe had played the ultimate joke on her. She couldn't really figure out why she felt that way – whether it was conceit or pity that made her feel that.

"I know I'm never going to be as pretty, or as fun as Mimi," she continued as tears fell from her eyes. "But I wished people didn't make me feel so inferior,"

"Huh?" Jyou blinked several times, disregarding Sora's insecurities, unsure if he heard her right. Taichi-kun likes Mimi-chan? It didn't make sense to him at all, since Sora's very different from Mimi. A much grim and tragic thought had occurred to his mind. Could he be using Mimi?

"Yeah, you heard me right. He's gonna go after my best friend. I don't even know if he's for real. If he's just getting revenge on me or making Mimi a fallback," she continued. "But there, Yamato can just take back what he had all said. I do hope he stops forcing me as if I am still in love with Taichi,"

Jyou didn't know what to say. All he knew was that Sora is very confused. So do Yamato and Taichi. He knew the history. He knew what happened. And he felt much sorry for the clueless Mimi getting tangled in, too.

"I don't know what to say, Sora-chan," he admitted. "I don't know what Taichi-kun is up to.. but I do think Yamato-kun is like this because he's afraid of being lonely,"

She looked up at him, paused in sobbing. "Lonely?"

"He's afraid of you leaving him, along with the love you have for him," he answered, now taking a bite from his pizza. It's been a long time since he ate something as greasy and tasty, and he loved it. "I know you love Yamato-kun, but you should love yourself too, Sora-chan,"

She didn't feel like crying anymore, but she was puzzled. "I'm not sure I follow…"

He laughed. "What I mean is, you don't live your life to love others,"

Then it started to make sense to her. That as much as she loved Yamato, she didn't have enough faith in him – just like the little faith he had on me. He was becoming bad for her. It held truth. She felt like she was already losing herself. Then I guess I have to find out if it's still worth it..

"As much as I would love to follow my family's footsteps, I feel really bored and I want to get out of the mediocrity," complained Jyou. "I mean, how many Doctor Kidos do Todai need anyway," he said, laughing it off.

Sora sighed. She faintly smiled at him.

Mimi, T.
6:00 p.m.

Tachikawa Mimi had finished talking to her parents via webcam. She found out that they will go back in Japan for good after a month or two. The rest of the day she talked to Michael and Cat, too, updating them about her life back in Japan. She also told them that Yamato already knows about her ex-boyfriend.

She also just had finished her shower, and started to dress up. She decided to wear a pink floral pullover, a pair of skinny jeans, and a black coat. She took an umbrella with her then went out of the house. She opened her phone.

Apparently she and Koushiro had been messaging each other since morning. She wondered if he was bored. Already having nothing to talk about, she replied to him.

"I'm gonna go out to meet a friend at Palette Town, I'll talk to you soon!"

Taichi had also messaged her, asked her if she was available tonight.

"I'm sorry, Tai-kun, I am already meeting someone. Monday then?"

She would have met with him tonight, if Yamato haven't asked her first.