Author's Note: One, two or three more chapters 'til the end of this one hell of an arc. I've been taking my time perfecting the transition since it will be a big one. But fear not, I love Mimato so much and I'll definitely finish writing this story (even though it's still a long, long way to go).

Nothing much happens in this chapter, except for characters interacting with each other. As for anyone who might ask of Jyou's whereabouts, he's busy adapting to his new life in college. He'll be a more important as the story progresses. Enjoy! :)

Salad Days

Chapter Fifteen
Saturday Night

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Video game night, other than hours-long of Civilization, included a dozen cans of root beer, fish crackers, and a collection of action movies from the 80's to watch before they go to sleep. It had been a long tradition among them, and unfortunately, there weren't fish crackers – since Yamato had forgotten to buy some – and Taichi resented him over it.

"You had one job, Ishida," Taichi muffled between his munching of the alternative which Koushiro bought – potato chips. They were all gathered in the living room, and Mrs. Yagami was cooking spicy beef in the kitchen. "One job."

"I told you, I forgot. Things got.." repeated Yamato, having already told this to his best friend about seven times since Taichi noticed there weren't any fish crackers. He glanced at his brother Takeru, who seemed to be glaring at him for quite a time now. Shouldn't I be the angry one here?

"..complicated." Yamato ended.

Earlier that afternoon, after Taichi and Mimi parted, Yamato met with the brunette. Supposedly they were just going to grab some grub, but Mimi insisted to visit a quaint record shop that sells vinyl records and other music collectibles. He had to admit, it was kind of fun, especially with Mimi making up random stories of the valuable items.

Little did he know though, his younger brother (along with his sidekick, Hikari), followed them. Yamato eventually caught them, and the two brothers stealthily argued about it the whole time 'til they took Mimi home.

Yamato rubbed his forehead, thinking how out of proportion this thing with Mimi had become. But then again, apart from the band, it was thanks to this new female friend of his that he wasn't too miserable of a being, especially after the break-up.

"How is going to the convenient store too complicated for you, sir?" taunted Taichi. In respect of Koushiro, he had been trying all night not to talk about the surprisingly-wonderful date with Mimi (though dear Kou-kun already knew about it). After soccer practice, he went straight home; dumbfounded to see Hikari sitting at their couch with Takeru. He had secretly ordered his sister to remain invisible the whole night.

"Just move on, Yagami," spat Yamato as he opened his own laptop. Koushiro had already booted his own, now prepared for another game of Civilization. Yamato wasn't too fond of video games like Koushiro and Takeru are - and yes, he hated Guitar Hero and Rockband to bits. It didn't take him a month or two to become a rock star, by the way – but this certain game was definitely just his style – I mean, come on, I get to rule a country.

But of course, not all of them felt the same fancy towards the game.

"Not that again," Taichi rolled his eyes. He was in no mood to compete, as he had already lost to his friends several times. "I have a PS4 right over there and not one of you even try to play FIFA 15 with me,"

"That's because virtually ruling a country is more fulfilling than virtually kicking a ball," mocked Yamato as he grabbed his can of cold drink.

"Come on, Taichi-kun. It's boring when you don't play," insisted the very innocent Takeru. The brunet shot him a look, remembering Takeru having his arm around his sister earlier.

"You know, I think we should invite Daisuke next time," Taichi was trying to irritate him at the mention of his love-rival's name, but Takeru failed to get the hint.

Yamato grunted, now booting his laptop. "But he's worse than you,"

"That's interesting. Taichi-kun and Dai-kun, battling for fourth place – mhmm – really interesting.." wondering Koushiro.

"Izumi, did you just sass me?!"

The redhead smiled, just too innocently. "I don't know what you're talking about, Yagami-kun,"

"Can we just fucking start now," groaned the older blond.

"Taichi-kun still isn't ready though," said Takeru. He took out his laptop from his backpack.

"I told you, I'm not going to play that game! How come you guys get to pick the game when I am the host of this party?!"

"Because we're the majority. Now get your ass upstairs!" snapped Yamato as Taichi stubbornly made a face.

Their argument continued on for a while as Koushiro and Takeru enjoyed their own peace by playing a random RPG game they recently acquired. Fed up, Yamato grabbed Taichi by the collar and dragged him upstairs for the brunet to fetch his laptop.

They were eventually called by Mrs. Yagami for dinner before they could even start the game; Hikari joined them at the dinner table and sat beside the younger blond, much to Taichi's dismay.

Sora immediately looked for another distraction as soon as she got home from tennis practice. She had a new hobby now, aside from tending the flowers in their shop and playing tennis. I can't believe I'm knitting now, she thought, while weaving a ball of yarn to make an only-God-knows what she'd create from it.

She remembered Taichi come into the football field late afternoon, and he seemed happier than usual. She couldn't help but frown. Taichi having to reject her for the second time was more than just sad – it was humiliating.

She swiftly adjusted her tennis skirt and improved her backhand smash as soon as she saw Taichi coming from the distance to talk to her. He was still in his casual clothes, and he had an impossibly huge smile in his face.

"Sora-chan!" he called out, waving at her from the bench. After an intense series of passes from her opponent, they ended with Sora on advantage. Trying to look cool, she drank from her water jug and sat beside Taichi, who still had the goofiest smile she had ever seen him wear.

"Taichi-kun," she smiled. It has been days since the rejection but they already went through so much for them to become awkward around each other. This friendship sure is strange, she thought.

But Yamato being cool and chill with her wasn't helping as well – not fond of his high and mighty attitude since the breakup. It seemed as if he was absolutely bitter to her; talking to her too casually – as if nothing happened.

She paused her knitting and stood up from her bed. She looked at herself at the mirror, first noticing her thighs getting too thin. I should eat more. She then switched the sides of her hair, checking her face. She gasped at the sight of medium-sized acne on top of her head. She cursed under her breath, but thanked God that her bangs hid the little devil.

It was at that moment when Sora realized that she was so tired and fed up with her misery over Yamato and Taichi. They were exactly the ones who were making her like this, the cause of this pimple, she thinks – and she did not like it. She wasn't very conscious and didn't succumb to girlish vanities, but she rarely had pimples, and this just freaked her out.

Without much hesitation, she messaged Mimi for a trip to the mall tomorrow.

The brunette tried to control her laughter as the guy on her cellphone screen made a weird fish face. There was also a girl beside him, scolding Michael about his lame jokes. It was early morning in America, and Mimi reckoned they were probably the loudest table in the coffee shop they were in. They were studying – more like, fooling around.

Just like old times.

"But seriously, Mimi!" exclaimed a now-ash-haired Cat as she took the phone away from a chubbier Michael. "What have you been eating there? Your cheeks are fuller now!"

"I quitted smoking, and I'm having my withdrawal often so I eat huge amounts of sugar now," said Mimi in her English.

"Good for you, Mi!" supported Cat, as she gave her a thumbs up. Michael immediately took the phone to face him.

"Mi, I hate to say this, but your 'l' is sounding so much like an 'r' now," he laughed as he continued to tease her.

"You're awful!" Mimi laughed at Michael, who was trying to talk in "Engrisu". Most people get completely offended by Michael's laidback and offensive humor. Perhaps, compared to her friends back here, Michael and Cat were far more open to things, and they didn't take themselves too seriously. Of course, they weren't as perfect as she thought them to be – they did get her involved with –

"Do you guys still see Yoshio?" she asked, trying to look and sound casual.

"No," the two answered in unison.

"Since you left, we never got to see him at the bar," added Cat. "but enough about New York! How's life there?! So does Jo-Joe-it's Jyou, isn't it? – does he still have a crush on you?!"

This was what Mimi was exactly afraid of. "No.. that was like, ages ago, Cat. We were just kids back then!"

Cat only managed an "oh".

"Well, I always thought he's too shy for you," remarked Michael matter-of-factly as he munched a cookie and put a pen on behind his earlobe.

"So.. no new guys over there?" winked Cat as she took a sip from her smoothie.

Mimi scratched her head and lied down on her bed while still looking at her phone. "Well.. if you count Taichi-kun.."

"Taichi?!" the two New Yorkers exclaimed. Mimi noticed Michael spit out his coffee over his papers. He never changes.

"Well.. I don't know. He said he likes me," said Mimi, as she rolled over to the other side. Her date earlier went extremely well and beyond her expectations – but the anxiety and doubt never left her.

"Stop moving, Mimi! I'm getting dizzy when you move around too much!" complained Michael as he wiped his mouth. "Well, that's surprising. You two might click.."

"Yeah. He seems really cool and manly," prompted Cat, as she had already met Taichi. Mimi looked at her mischievously, knowing that her friend had a crush on the boy.

"I don't know guys, I'm too nervous. I mean, he and Sora.. well, they fancied each other!" She had to be honest; she didn't expect so much drama to happen among her old friends.

"But Sora has Yamato, right?!"

"They broke up, like, a month ago – I dunno, I don't really care when they did," Mimi heard them gasp together. She could feel that the subject of the conversation was going change.

Cat stared at her notes to memorize some physics equations, and then back at Mimi. "So.. Yama is single?"

"Single and not ready to mingle," answered Mimi as she played with her hair. "Which, by the way, Yamato and I are really close now," she boasted.

"Really? How?" asked Michael with an arched brow. Mimi had been talking about his new friendship with Yamato since she got back in Japan, and from bland news, it had become an intriguing story.

"Well.. he treats me nicely and we hang out together," the brunette replied as she flipped her hair behind. She met with Yamato earlier, too, and he had been nice enough to treat her for yakiniku.

"Hmm. Don't you think he fancies you?" Michael felt skeptical about Yamato. He met Mimi's Japanese blond 'friend' (oh, such a controversial word it was among them!) once, but he wasn't as welcoming as his younger look-a-like, Takeru.

"No," replied Mimi, rejecting the idea flatly. "He's still really into Sora-chan, but he's handling the break-up pretty well.." and then she had noticed she was lying at the last part of her answer.

Michael shrugged, almost agreeing with her. "Well, you're right. He could probably be making you his rebound and he doesn't notice it himself,"

Mimi looked at him in horror. "Michael! No! Nothing's going on with us. We're just friends!"

"Why not go for Yama? He's cute too," suggested Cat while she wrote her notes. Mimi stuck her tongue out to them.

"He is, but no. Just no, Cat! He's like a brother! And seriously, it's Yamato-kun we're talking about here! If he was in to me, he would have already showed it." Even when they were children, Yamato was pretty resistant to her.

Surprisingly, the two did not argue with her further. She watched Cat and Michael being studious, and when she got a bit bored, she looked at the surroundings that her friends were in. Mimi thought it wouldn't happen, but she missed New York and the whole mess that came along with it – back there, she was free to be who she was, free to speak out her mind without offending anyone, and free to make her own decisions without anyone judging her. She didn't have to worry about rejecting her male-friends-turned-suitors. All of these rights would have been great, if only freedom didn't come with a price. Mimi shook her head, clearing her mind from haunting memories.

"So.. I guess I'll just leave you guys then?" spoke Mimi up, feeling slightly hurt that her friends seemed to have forgotten she was on the camera. Cat snapped out of her focus and looked at Mimi apologetically.

"So-sorry Mi! Ahh. Yeah, I'll call you later okay?"

"Okay,"

"Take care, Mimi! We love you!" bid Michael.

"Stay nicotine-free!" grinned Cat.

"Okay guys! I love you too!" Mimi waved at them goodbye until their video call had ended.

There was nothing else but silence in her dimly-lit pink room. Mimi checked her phone for messages. A heavy sigh of relief came from her lips, when the most anticipated person to message her had finally graced her inbox. As if a huge thorn was taken out of her heart, she happily replied to Sora with her most eager "yes".