Author's Notes: Apart from life demanding my maximum effort and full attention, creatively speaking it was a tough one with this chapter, I did my best to come full circle and I hope this explains some things. A forewarning, you may have to forgive me with the weight this chapter might bring, so please bear with me.
Salad Days
Chapter Thirty-One
True Romance
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The buildings and towers stood with formidable height, the sky not so blue as clouds hovered over her. She's been here before, not too long ago.
Her eyes tore away from the sky as she felt a violent bump against her shoulder.
"Watch where you're going!" a cloaked man said in accented English as he kept walking, and only now did she notice she was in the middle of a crowd, with everyone heading in different directions.
"Excuse me!" another voice came, this time from behind as she hurried towards somewhere.
She, in turn, started to walk at the same pace, but her feet were taking her nowhere as she remained at the very same spot. With no clue why she wasn't moving forward, she started to run as fast as she could, desperately trying to escape the sea of strangers.
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Mimi woke up panting in relief that it was just a dream, followed by a terrible headache. However, her mind was strong enough to recall everything about yesterday:
By the time Yamato left her room she spent the rest of the day replaying the scene all over – for it felt really, really, really good– and it didn't take her that long to talk about it with Michael and Cat, who were both unsurprisingly shocked. When nighttime came, she had fallen asleep while imagining the warmth of her pillow to be her blond friend. Completely guiltless. It was now morning, and a dream had just passed her by to make her remember.
Mimi had almost forgotten that Taichi was coming over today (Mama Satoe insisted her to bring over the boyfriend, and Mimi thought it was about time anyway). Since yesterday she could only think about that intimate moment - the kiss, his hands, her hands - and how a guitar lesson just destroyed her morals without leaving her a stench of guilt: which was the very thing that became problematic for her.
How was it that she could still sleep at night, without feeling guilty whenever she thought of Taichi?
Mimi groaned out loud as she got up from her bed, messaging her boyfriend that she'll be taking a shower. Admittedly, this wasn't the first time such a thing happened. While dragging her feet to the bathroom, she remembered that she did earn herself quite a history of mischief. After all, no normal teenager can leave Big Apple without a bit of attitude.
And most importantly, it was just Yamato. It was just Yamato, she reminded herself. Yamato, who happened to look extra good in a white shirt; who happened to be a victim of her teenage hormones.
"Of course!" snorted Mimi in her shower thoughts, remembering the very reason why she had come back to Japan in the first place.
It was just hormones, and there was no other explanation – or so she thought. By the time she left the bathroom, Mimi had forgotten everything, the memories pushed back to the forbidden vault of her mind. It was a problem no more, with a convincing – 'all is well'. She repeated the thought over and over until her feelings finally agreed to it.
Taichi had arrived just in time, right after she had slipped in her chiffon spring dress. She came running down the stairs, jumping on her lover with a kiss, as if all is well.
"Ha! You missed me, didn't you?" he teased as he stuck his tongue out.
Blushing, she returned the gesture. "No I didn't!" she looked behind Taichi, and noticed that Hikari was there as well, looking absolutely out of place. Mimi wondered why she was here, but nonetheless welcomed her.
She bobbed her head and waved at the smaller brunette. "Oh, Hikari-chan,"
"Mimi-chan," greeted the brunette as she peeped over Taichi's shoulder. "oni-san forced me to come with him."
Mimi wrinkled her nose. "Eh?"
"He's scared of your otou –"
"Shut up, Hikari!"
Much to Taichi's worry though, he had already earned a strike from Keisuke. Pulling away from Mimi, he scratched his head, nervously laughing as he handed Keisuke and Satoe some homemade onigiri. Mimi instantly knew it was Hikari who made them.
"Taichi-kun, you are too adorable! Yamato-kun came in yesterday too!" admired the ever optimistic Satoe as she held Taichi by the shoulders. Behind Satoe's cheerful disposition, she had come to believe that her daughter has better company back here than in America.
Taichi turned to Mimi with a raised brow. "Yamato?"
"I asked him to teach me to play the ukulele you gave me," she answered abruptly, her words coming out as soon as she thought of them.
"Huh.. You didn't tell me he came yesterday," he whispered to her, still worrying about Keisuke Tachikawa. "he could have come with me today instead."
Mimi casually shrugged it off, as well as the memory that was so persistent to reappear.
"Yagami-kun, is it?" spoke Keisuke, who was sneakily observing Taichi while reading the Asahi Shimbun. He was sitting on his thinking chair.
"T-Tachikawa-san!" Like every boy encountering the father of his girlfriend, he almost went jelly-boned as he bowed to Keisuke. Taichi even reached out for a handshake, which Keisuke, of course, reluctantly took.
"It's been a long time since I've seen you," he remarked with a pre-plastered smile. "You were so much shorter than my daughter back then,"
Keisuke's interrogation lasted for a good solid of twenty minutes, almost to the point of stalling, for he didn't want Taichi to go to his daughter's room like Yamato did. Taichi could only be a yes-man in this situation. Mimi, on the other hand, was at the kitchen with Satoe.
"Well this is a surprise," spoke Satoe as she prepared raw fish. "I never pegged you to like someone like Yagami-kun."
Mimi, who was standing on a stool to get some condiments from the cupboard, almost lost balance. "Mama! What does that mean?!"
"You and Taichi-kun," answered a blushing Satoe as she held her own cheek. She remembered Taichi as Mimi's risk-taking, laidback leader, a sometimes charming, sometimes clueless boy who embraced fun and adrenaline.
But that Taichi she remembered seemed like a shadow of the past now. "He's so manly now that I can't believe it!"
Mimi giggled and blushed as well, landed on her feet as she went down from the stool. "He's working part-time right now as a paperboy."
"Where?"
"Yomiuri Shimbun."
Satoe crinkled her nose. The idea of a working student irked her. "Does he get enough there though?"
"I guess so?" answered Mimi reluctantly. "The bills are so high, mama,"
"I mean, I can't imagine. He's studying too.. Doesn't he ever burn out?" And there was just no way would Mama Satoe allow her dear Mimi to go through the same hardships she did.
"Not that I know of," she answered unsurely. "He never tells me… Which worries me."
"Well, at least he doesn't make you cry," Satoe said with a smile. Her daughter grinned. "Are you happy, at least?"
Happy? Mimi could only stare at the ceramic she took out, hypnotized by the swirls and ornamental decoration as her mind followed its intricate design. She didn't know if she could say she was 'happy', but she is very sure she's far from being 'sad' with Taichi.
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The first thing Mimi noticed was that the classroom was small, and the room emitted both auras of chaos and freedom.
"We've got a new student today and she came all the way from Japan. She'll be joining this class. Miss, please introduce yourself."
She quickly overcame her hesitation as she attempted to bring a positive reaction from the listless faces of her new classmates. "My name is Tachikawa Mi—I mean, Mimi Tachikawa – I've come all the way from Tokyo and I'm a really good singer! I hope I can all be friends with you, please take care of me!"
She bowed – in the truest Japanese fashion – and the rest could only giggle and snicker at her gesture. She raised her head, her smile replaced with confusion. Was there something wrong, or funny with what she just did? Mimi wouldn't know until tomorrow's lunchbreak.
"Please take a seat next to Mr. Cooper," said the teacher. "Mr. Cooper, please raise your hand,"
As if swimming against a sea of judging eyes, Mimi passed each gander with her leftover confidence, and sat next to whom would be the first friend she ever made in the grit of New York. He was great, but nothing seemed to compare to her friends back home. For several weeks, she only thought of Sora, Koushiro, Takeru, Jyou, Hikari, Taichi, and even Yamato.
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Mimi snickered at the memory, remembering it took three cases of bullying and a broken locker before she truly considered Michael as a friend. Defending Mimi, of course, earned Michael several slaps from insecure girls and threats from their boyfriends. She realized then, that was the first time she felt happy since moving in the foreign land.
Michael remained her only friend until Catherine came during her second year in middle school. After all, for gai-jins in New York, the same rules and welcoming committees applied. Catherine, despite her golden locks and ocean eyes, behaved way too differently to those whom shared her Caucasian features and skin color.
Still.. I had it way worse than Cat, thought Mimi, recalling how her family was looked down on by most of her non-foreign peers, as well as their families whom have served at the Second World War. It took Mimi quite a while to understand, and when the time came she did, she could only copy her parents' resilience.
The 'melting pot of the world' my ass…
"Mimi?"
She immediately shot her head up. "Yes, mama?"
Satoe frowned, not liking the motherly hunch she was getting from her daughter. "I was asking you if you're happy with Yagami-kun,"
"Of course I am!" replied Mimi hastily.
"You spaced out," noted Satoe, knowing fully well that her daughter wasn't one to get lost in thought very often. "just hand me over the plates, will you?"
Mimi had almost forgotten the fragile object she was holding. She did as she was told, climbing down from the stool. She felt her mama pull her in to a quick hug and a peck on her forehead, along with a whisper of "I love you". Mimi would have asked if there's something wrong, but she was too busy inside her own head.
Memory after memory played out as if watching old silent films; her capability of understanding just could not match to the ambiguity.
"I like Taichi-kun," quipped Satoe out of the blue as she started to prepare lunch. "Far better than the last one you've dated,"
The younger brunette was taken aback. "What do you mean?"
"You seem… less troubled."
Mimi could only look away, her thoughts going back to Yamato, to Koushiro, to Taichi – finally to Aoyami Yoshio.
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The City of New York is deemed as a melting pot for a reason – and not everyone gets along, especially not Tachikawa Keisuke and the people from downtown. Keisuke and his family left Japan for the lingering danger of the Digital World, and he had high hopes for safety and security by going somewhere far away from the mainland. How wrong he was.
Local news and rumors coming from Hell's Kitchen and East Village that reached Keisuke (thanks to his friends from the NYPD) had made him completely paranoid, banning his wife and daughter to go to such places: "You can go anywhere, shop and stay anywhere you like, just promise me you be loitering around downtown… okay, darling?"
How this registered to a rather homesick and resentful Mimi only provoked the rebel in her… a not-so unique feat among teens.
"Are you sure?" asked Michael again as they finally reached Bowery Street. He looked towards his two companions, whose faces were caked with make-up; though Mimi looked older with her thick eyeliner, she was still pretty. "Your dad's pretty uptight with anything that's downtown."
"He's become paranoid," spat Mimi as she looked around to confirm her stance that her father is just overreacting. "It's not even a skid row anymore,"
"Sure, of course it isn't…" agreed Michael, scratching his head. "But you know.. it's still stereotyped as such. Not to mention, there are still some impoverished areas."
"Take it from me, Mike. It's not that dangerous at all," assured Catherine, who was an independent yet privileged explorer. "I've been to several music and poetry clubs here. Everyone's really nice and cool,"
The blond only frowned. "I have a bad feeling about this."
"There's this Japanese guy I met, and he plays the guitar. He's really cool and he writes English poetry, too," giggled Catherine. "I think you'll like him, Mi,"
Only one detail registered in Mimi's mind. "He's Japanese?"
"Yeah. His family's been here for ten years now," Catherine replied, grabbing the brunette by the arm as they headed towards a music bar named The Tavern. Michael was very much obliged to follow them.
To Mimi's surprise, there were no bouncers or security guards to welcome them, nothing but a logbook which enlisted the names of the attendees. While reading the list, she noticed that most people didn't use their names but their monikers or creative aliases instead. For some reason, she remembered a certain blond-haired, harmonica-playing friend all the way back in her homeland.
"Mimi and the Moon" – she wrote in the logbook.
The bar was far from what Mimi expected. She ought it'd have a nicely-lit high-platform stage, air conditioning, and Warholian art hanging across the walls; there was a rather small and narrow performing space, a large electric fan, and graffiti art instead. For such a small bar, Mimi was rather surprised at the volume of people – as if everyone's meant to grind on each other. The performers don't get much space, too, and the music was so loud it bounced back within the four walls.
It was the first time she felt discomforted since her adventure at the Digital World, and she wondered if she was a claustrophobic after all. 'At least it's bearable,' she thought to herself.
"Where on earth did you find this place?" Michael asked out loud to Catherine, whom was leading them to somewhere. "It's so dodgy,"
"I just found it," Catherine replied simply. "You've been a New Yorker all your life and you've never seen this place?"
"I hate people,"
Catherine chuckled. "Oh, the irony,"
"Where are we going?" asked Mimi, noticing they've already passed the seats and tables.
"At the back."
When Catherine said 'at the back', she really did mean at the 'back': the place was too small to afford its own backstage; the performers readied at a dead-end back alley instead – which was another one of the things Mimi did not expect.
As Catherine opened the backdoor, Mimi could immediately smell the scent of nicotine, mint, and then some other things she could not identify. There wasn't much noise, but Mimi noticed that the people there had a thing for everything leather.
Minors the three of them were, none of the people there paid attention to them, except for this blond guy whom was friends with Catherine.
"Aoyami!"
The man in all-leather turned around, and greeted the French with a toothy smile. "Neko-chan!" he greeted, then immediately noticing the two other minors – Mimi, especially. "I see you brought your friends,"
"This is Michael and Mimi," introduced Catherine, before turning to her friends. "Guys, this is Yoshio Aoyami, his band's the headliner tonight!"
Aoyami Yoshio waved at the two. "Michael and Mimi, is it," he greeted, before turning to the brunette, bowing at her before lending her his hand for a shake. "Kawaii na… anata wa."
Cliché as it was, Mimi felt her cheeks warm, knowing it was the first time in a long time did she hear someone say those familiar yet also foreign words.
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She went back to the living room to see how Taichi and Hikari are doing under her father's attention.
She slyly grinned, finding it amusing how Hikari and her dad were getting along while Taichi sweated like he just ran across a football field. It reminded her how she introduced Michael and Catherine to her family. Her father obviously never changed his scare-tactics when it came to the guys.
"That's it papa, I'm going to take them away from you now," Mimi took them by their arms, dragging them upstairs.
"You know I never agreed with this," Keisuke said out loud as he directed to Taichi. "Except for you, Hikari-san,"
Mimi snickered. "You never liked any of my guy friends."
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"No."
"What do you mean, 'no'?!"
"I said no, Mimi."
"You can't be serious," she said in disbelief, immediately reaching the hand of the guy next to her. "Mama, you have to change his mind,"
"You are not dating this guy," insisted Keisuke.
"He's Japanese," retorted his daughter.
"So?"
"You said you'd agree if I find someone who is Japanese,"
"I did," agreed Keisuke. He did, and he remembers it very well. He did tell her he'd be fine if she would find a partner who is of the same ethnicity. But this boy, this boy on front of him, in his ripped jeans, weeded gums and tobacco-yellowed eyes – he was reminded of his former, troubled, less respectable self. "But not of his sort."
"Papa!"
"Anata! That's too much!"
"I'm sorry Aoyami-kun, but I believe you should stop seeing my daughter,"
"Tachikawa-san, I think that is a bit unf—"
"Please get out of my house."
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"Mimi,"
Taichi had pulled her back from her thoughts, noticing that they've finally reached her bedroom. Mimi didn't notice it at all. "Hmm?"
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"I am,"
"You were a bit out of it," said Hikari, whom Mimi had forgotten she was here at the first place. "And you seem awfully quiet,"
"No," Mimi shook her head, sitting on her bed. "I think I'm just tired… you know. Yamato's lessons."
How those words came out of her mouth almost made her want to swallow them back.
"Why was he here again?"
"He taught me how to play the ukulele. And guitar."
"He had the time to visit you here instead of helping me with my workload?!" exclaimed Taichi in disbelief. "I can't believe that guy."
"Why? Are you jealous, onii-chan?"
"I am."
"Yeah. I am jealous. He's not even replying to my messages nowadays,"
Mimi and Hikari looked at each other in confusion. "Are you saying you're jealous because Yamato spends more time with Mimi-chan than with you?"
"You can put it that way."
Hikari looked at him disapprovingly. "I can't believe you."
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"Your dad will flip the whole town if he finds out about this," said Yoshio as he held Mimi against her, protecting her from the winter air.
"It's okay," she assured, taking the cigarette from his mouth to put it on hers. "He doesn't care about what I want,"
"You are stubborn."
"You love that about me," she said, before pecking his lips. The nicotine between his and hers created a bitter yet comforting aftertaste. "Can I crash in with you, then?"
He instantly pushed her away. "What are you going to do? You know my family won't take you in, you know I can't take you in and provide for you,"
"Why not?" she asked demandingly while tugging his coat, reaching for his pockets. She could not believe someone like him, some from downtown, would even refuse to take her in. I
He chuckled at her obliviousness. "You're barely fifteen, and besides – hey!"
Mimi had lifted a packet of white crystals from his coat, teasingly shaking it. "Well, I'm sure they don't know about this."
He froze for a moment, recalling these past months with Mimi. He was sure he didn't tell her anything about it. "How did you know?"
"It wasn't that hard to find out," she answered simply. "You're a mess all the time,"
He bit his lip, unsure if she was seducing or threatening him. "Just give it back, Mi,"
"No," she said, moving away from him, going near the alley exit. "Not until you agree to take me in. I can tell this to papa's friends, you know."
It confused him so, how she could still sweetly smile at him upon those words; but even so, he was yet to realize that he had underestimated her this whole time.
He weakly smiled back.
"That's not how a girlfriend should treat her lover," he said, trying to appease to her. "Come on Mi, that's the source of my income," he hope she would give in, especially when she had the knowledge on his little brother's cancer.
Mimi's cunning expression immediately switched to her usual adorable, baby-like attitude. "You know how terrible my parents are, Yoshi-kun! I promise, it'll be like I don't even exist!"
And like always, he instantly fell for it. How could he not, when she was so damn fresh and pretty?
"Fine, fine," he agreed in defeat, taking her knapsack as well as his packet from hers. "You come with me."
Mimi smiled in victory.
"Are you going to teach me how to use this, then?" she said, lifting another packet of coke. This time, it came from her pocket.
She was just full of surprises.
"Do you want to?" he hesitantly asked.
"It'll be an experience," she chirped.
He convinced himself that this was out of his hands, and that she was acting on her own free will. And after all, hitting on the only daughter of the highest-paid banker of Wall Street is a story to tell.
"Mimi, light of my life, fire of my loins."
She didn't understand what he meant but she giggled, yet to find out in the coming days it wasn't just his kisses and his attention that she needed.
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Taichi did not know what to say, nor did Hikari, when Mimi suddenly tackled him into an embrace, eventually crying to tears.
It had been a long time since she remembered – truly remembered – how it all went out from her recent flashback: to be the lover of just Aoyami Yoshio was still not enough to fill in her void. Longing for the connection she once had with her childhood friends, her shortlist of ideal boyfriends turned into a long scroll of forgotten names of musicians and artists.
And now there was only Yagami Taichi in her now clean slate, with the fear of Yamato's name inking in. Fear was creeping in, warning her that she may not have changed after all this time.
How could I, how could I, she guiltily reprimanded herself in midst of her tears.
By instinct Taichi tightened his hold on to her, soothing her. The Yagami siblings looked at each other, seeking each other for answers only Mimi could provide.
Hikari could only watch Mimi cry while trying to figure out a reason. Eventually learning that her brother would not speak as he did not know the right words to say, she collected all her strength to ask. She was about to, until her phone rang. She stood from Mimi's bed to go near the window, hence immediately passing the responsibility to Taichi.
He gulped, tried his best to be gentle as he stroked her hair. "Mimi?"
She replied nothing and continued to cry.
"Ahh.." this was more difficult than he imagined. "We can talk, you know.. you can tell me if there's something wrong."
She said nothing, but it did stop her from heaving. It went for a few moments like that, until she slowly lifted her head up, gave a weak smile. Her grin and pair of sad eyes shocked him how it almost broke his heart to see her face. "I'm sorry. I just remembered some things,"
"What things?"
"Sad things,"
"Well, I can't help much with so little information,"
"New York, and you know.."
He wasn't one to instantly pick up from hints, but with this one, he immediately knew. "Ahh.."
"I'm sorry.."
She was about to sulk again and he wasn't going to allow it.
"You don't have to, silly. It's okay. I'm here!" he grinned and pulled her closer to him, showering her head with kisses. He didn't have the right words, but this was the comfort he knew best.
Deeply moved and comforted with his affection, she smiled and hugged him tightly, already forgetting the reasons why she wept.
The relief didn't last very long, not when they saw tears streaming down on his sister's face.
Mimi immediately felt a kick on her stomach, a hunch she refuses to believe in. "Hikari-chan?"
She turned around, her hold on her phone very loose. "Onii-chan.. oka-san called.."
"What did she say?" he asked, but she didn't reply, too caught up with her hiccups and tears.
Taichi could not understand why she was now crying as well, and it frustrated him how two women important to him had cried on front of him today. He tried to sound calm and collected, but his frustration was louder: "What's wrong, Hikari?"
"Otou-san.. just passed away."