Author's Note: I deeply apologize for the messages I haven't replied. I'm truly sorry for that, I know I've promised last chapter that I would, but it just had been so busy. Setting that aside, I enjoyed writing this chapter, and I think the next ones will be more interesting, too. I can only say that things are going to start getting intimate and more focused on our beloved Chosen Children. Anyway, here's chapter twenty, enjoy!

Salad Days
Chapter Twenty
Coming of Age

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It wasn't that she was going to ditch Taichi. And that's why she's here with him at the nearest ramen stall outside Todai. Though, she wished Taichi afforded more than ramen…

Yamato took me for yakiniku, she bitterly thought.

He looked surprisingly amazing in a suit, noted Mimi. She couldn't help but try to guess the designer brands from Taichi's oxfords to his dark blue suit and semi-silky black tie. He had his hair swept back, almost making him unrecognizable, and she felt absolutely estranged. He looked mature, adult – in a good way – like those teen, set-in-New York dramas she used to watch back in America.

At least he looks handsome, she thought.

"Quit gawking, Mimi," he laughed in between his chewing; almost spitting on her face. She immediately turned her head away, her illusion of Taichi being a gentleman, shattering.

"Must you know, Yagami, you look terrible. It's not you." She went back to her ramen, played the egg around the soup.

"Oh, you're mean. Hikari thought I looked cool."

"It's probably because your hair didn't look like a mop,"

She earned a glare. "Why are you being really extra mean today?"

Mimi whiffed her hair, let out a playful, "hmp."

He watched her eat her ramen in amusement as he slyly grinned. He no longer resented having to wear the suit despite his sweating – the suit was working its magic, and all was well.

Taichi cleared his throat, "So, how was your day?"

"It's all fine.." To Mimi, today was nothing more than boring. "I'm finishing English early this term."

Taichi smiled. "You can do that in high school?"

"Apparently I've been acing all the tests,"

"Overqualified for the standards of public school, I see,"

He gulped from his sake before he could add, "You don't have the perfect diction anymore though,"

"Yeah, Michael and Cat tease me about this Engrish I have,"

"Are Japanese people really that bad in English?"

"Umm.. most of them, I'm afraid."

He bit his lip, looked far off at the end of the street. He didn't know what to say. What followed next were another few minutes of silence. Taichi had noticed that this was how their conversation flowed. Why someone so loud such as Mimi could be just as quiet as Yamato or Koushiro was beyond him. If anything, he expected he and Mimi would be the loudest couple ever. Am I doing a bad job?

"Do you have plans tomorrow?"

"Well..." She does have one, although it was yet to be confirmed. "I was hoping Sora and I would go out tomorrow,"

"Oh, awesome," replied Taichi, his smile gone wider. "I'm gonna meet up with her this Sunday."

"Why?"

"I think she wants to catch up. Also, I need to return her knapsack,"

"I see…"

Just as I thought, she told herself. If there was anything holding her back, it was this. It had already been two months, and apart from the growing intimacy between them, some cuddling then kisses, there was nothing much to expect. Slurping her last strands of noodles, she closed her eyes, silently hoping he'd reassure her – finally say those three words. He didn't.

"Done eating? Let's get you home now," he said. She responded with a quick nod.

Oh, well. Maybe next time, she thought to herself.

Mimi could not remember what happened next – only that she and Taichi parted with a kiss at the train station, his figure disappearing as he entered the infrastructure. Turning her back, she cozied herself with her coat, lit a stick of Bat.

Her sigh came out with smoke that was surprisingly almost scentless. She took another whiff, and another, and another – eventually realizing that the taste came off uneven.

No wonder dad likes this, she thought. She buried her other hand deep in her trench coat's pocket, walked through the autumn night with her mind somewhere else.

Mimi ended up where she exactly she wished to be, and with a bottle of vodka in between her fingers. Her face, now pancaked with makeup, turned around to see anyone familiar. The moment she saw a speck of blond hair made her heart skip, so she tugged her coat, went to the farthest, darkest corner in the room.

It had been this way most Fridays; since she and Taichi started seeing each other, she had increasingly felt happier, and at the same time guiltier for Koushiro and her own best friend. They were kind enough to give their blessing, and had been supportive of them – repeatedly telling her that they only want dear Mimi-chan's happiness.

But it echoed to her every time.

She wasn't stupid; she knew what they were truly feeling, and irritated her that they were so goddamn selfless, and she wished she could do the same. She didn't deserve what they're giving to her – this shot of a happy romance. And only recently had the reality been sinking, despite her belief that she didn't deserve Taichi at all. Though she couldn't deny that she loved his attention and adoration, she wanted him to love her; more importantly, she was heavily counting on him to save her.

But he wasn't her hero, and she wished she realized it sooner.

"Oh-hey-yo!"

Her head sharply turned to the stage, saw a man with electric green hair about to sing a song she was very familiar with. The man was skinny and pale, but he had a very smooth tenor voice that attracted the crowd. And she wanted to stand up as well, but she found her feet immobile.

Mimi could only judge from the back of the room, waiting for any confirmation it was actually him. And the confirmation did not take too long, when he started to sing in perfect English, covering a British band that only she and him were familiar with. In his performance, he kept switching between perfect English and Engrish; ridiculing the usual Japanese pronunciations for fun. He tried very hard to be cool, but it paid off, seeing how the crowd went along with him.

Flashbacks during their time together at Brooklyn and Hell's Kitchen came into mind; those times when she finally got so fed up, when mom and dad – dear Satoe and Keisuke – had already planned to leave New York for Boston in six months.

It wasn't that much of a big move, but she never had the chance to resent them for having to leave Tokyo in the first place –

And so, everything else that time came like a dream, an exploration of what mom and dad would hate. Her memories were plagued with a dark, familiar alley, where they spent so much time opening small packets of white powder; then a shady, dimly-lit garage where they'd consume it. Afterwards he'd play music or she'd give in to her own craving, and he'd welcome it with pleasure. It went on routinely, and it definitely made mom and dad go nuts when they could not find her in her bed; and it was just enough to delay their departure, until her sanity and her conscience could no longer keep up.

Mimi poured herself some vodka, remembered her seventeenth birthday with everyone during the last summer, which reminded her she was still barely legal for any of this.

She noticed how his music never changed. And although she was quite sure she had moved on from him, she could not help but feel her heart ache, that he happened to be beside her at one of the worst and trying times of her life. She wondered if he had changed as well.

"I'm Yoshioka Aoiyami, and this is my band," It was indeed him, and it had been more than two years since she got picked up by the NYPD and been put to rehab.

"Y-Yoshi --" she turned around to see whom had just placed their hand on her shoulder.

"Mimi-chan?" Takeru's smiling face instantly turned into a frown, upon seeing Mimi's pale, startled face. "You look like you've seen a ghost,"

"I think I may have," She took a huge gulp from her drink, still unsettled. It took her a while look straight at the boy. "What brings you here? I didn't bring Hikari-chan, if you're worried about that,"

The boy awkwardly smiled. There was some truth in Mimi's supposition, but it wasn't the entirety of why he's here.

"Aniki's backstage," he answered, trying to find Mimi's line of vision earlier. "…is something wrong?"

"We're sort of new here, so please treat us nicely, Tokyo!" said Yoshio from the microphone. Mimi took another gulp from her drink, before replying.

"No."

But Takeru had already found the subject of Mimi's eyes. Him? He had met the vocalist of 'what's-that-gross-band-name' earlier, and had heard of his brother obsessing over the dude during band practice just this afternoon. Based on his subtle observations backstage, the green-haired man seemed like someone who spent an awful time overseas, and he was very cheerful and friendly.

"Do you know him?"

"He's my ex,"

He couldn't buy it. He gave a stern look. "For real?"

"Yeah.." Embarrassed, she lowered her head, her form shrinking. "New York."

"I see.. You left this story out from me, Mimi-chan."

"Sorry, Takeru-kun."

It wasn't that he was judgmental (although more often he considered himself to be so), but Takeru could not help but take note of the age gap. "He looks –"

"— old. He should be twenty-one now, I think," she said, smiling unusually. "Say, you want to go out somewhere?"

He wasn't interested in getting wasted, and he had already heard of his brother's songs. So Takeru immediately agreed, seeing there was nothing much to do. "Just wait a bit,"

Mimi nodded, now emptying her bottle. "Don't tell your brother I'm here."

Takeru went off for a bit to meet his brother backstage. Does this make me nosy? He wondered. If it did, he couldn't help it, he was absolutely curious, and he was dying to know if this was the pathetically covered-up story that his brother kept talking about.

After a few minutes, Takeru came back, already wearing his coat. He urged Mimi to go out before his brother's band might go on stage. With one last look at the musician, her former lover, Mimi turned around, as both she and Takeru hurried out of the bar. They both spent idling outside, wondering if they should go get coffee or pizza.

"I haven't eaten yet," he said. Mimi checked her wallet out, if she'd still be able to afford pizza.

"Pizza it is."

"So.."

"Hmm?"

"That guy.. your ex, huh?"

"We met through Mike and Cat."

Mimi spent the whole time re-telling the tale to Takeru while they took the long stroll to the pizza parlor. Takeru had been silent most of the time, yet amused with Mimi and her secret rebellious side. He eventually found out details that made would have made his jaw drop to the floor, but held back as it would have been rude.

"I see. That's was wild," he said, chuckling. It wasn't until now he realized that there were more stories Mimi can to tell, and to his opinion, they were the good ones.

Mimi was caught off guard, surprised that he wasn't shocked, and that he didn't give her any hugs. He didn't sympathize with her, either. She took another cigarette, lit it, and put it in between her lips.

The fact that Takeru also didn't react to her smoking made her wonder.

"Golden Bat," noted Takeru.

"It's my dad's."

"Since when did you smoke?"

"Since when did you drink? Aren't you.. what, fourteen?"

"I don't, and I was with aniki, Mimi-chan. Also, you forgot that I just had my birthday two weeks ago," Although aniki's not past the drinking age yet..

She looked down from his shoes up to his hair, noticed how grown-up he looked. This actually annoyed her a bit, since not only he looked more mature than her – he acted that way too, and she wished she had the same sensibility as his when she was fourteen-or-fifteen.

"Did you know that those are favorites of famous old men, like Dazai and Akutagawa?" said Takeru in amusement.

"Hmmm."

"They're writers,"

"I know who they are, Takeru-kun."

"They also say that people who smoke the Bat are yearning for something,"

"Excuse me?"

Where on earth did that came from?! She was aware of Takeru's advanced mind but damn, that was so on point. "I only took these from my dad's drawer,"

"Just saying." The blond smiled. It was definitely a side of her that he didn't know – and he knew very well it wasn't the smoking part. Mimi had feelings that no one knew until now – and they begged to come out, be accepted, and be exhausted, just so they can be renewed – and he wished he could do the same with his own. "I'm here for you, Mimi-chan."

Her lips pursed into a smile. "You are so much like your brother,"

"And you're pretty much not the same Mimi I knew thirty minutes ago,"

"So… do you hate it?"

"No.. I liked you even more."

"Takaishi.."

"Oh, you know what I mean, not that way,"

She giggled, and said, before taking another drag from her cigarette, "Hikari'd lose a limb to hear that from you,"

What an exaggeration, he thought. Hearing her name felt weird, a stinging feeling crept on his chest. He wished he could say it to her, too, and mean it that way. He thought of it for a while, maybe he needed to talk it all out to someone. Maybe just be like every teenager, complain about his love life and get cozied with a friend's comforting words.

It seemed like a good idea.

The blond looked at her, took the cigarette box and the lighter from her palms. He popped one stick out, lit the cigarette, put it on his mouth. Just for tonight.

Taking of what would be his first and last cigarette, he looked at Mimi with a melancholic smile, "Heh, I don't think she's that in to me."