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Salad Days
Chapter Thirty-Three
Rain: At the Same Time

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Yamato ran a cautious hand across his hair, still quite unsure of how to make out of this rather unexpected event he was now facing. It all happened by sheer coincidence inside the often-visited coffee shop near Todai; with the determination to look for better things to do than to think about a certain brunette, Yamato chose to spend his Sunday doing his coursework, and Sora just happened to be there, waiting for her new lover's shift at the clinic to be over.

Both had thought it would have been rude to simply dismiss each other's presence, and though they won't admit it, they were very curious of each other's personal lives. After all, a long time has passed since their parting; so now, they were sitting across each other, sharing a single coffee table, with Sora peeking through her book, and Yamato glancing to and fro his notebook.

"I heard you quit the band," started Sora, trying to sound nonchalant as she continued to read. "What happened?"

"They kicked me out." replied Yamato hesitantly, leaning back at his chair. He was about to leave it at that, when her red eyes shot at him, silently demanding reason. Of course. Takenouchi Sora never gets satisfied with one-liners. "…they said I no longer had the time for practice."

Sora frowned, sipped from her matcha. "I'm sorry about that.. I told you they weren't on your best interests."

Yamato smiled; sort of glad she remembers some little bits of their relationship.

"It's cool," he replied, trying to read the title of her book. He mentally chuckled when he found out it was No Longer Human – Jyou's favorite book. He looked to her side, noticed her huge backpack being there. Camping?

"Mimi told me you're yet to attend college," he started.

Sora raised a brow upon hearing her best friend's name. She had never heard him address Mimi by her first name.. until now. Curiouser and curiouser. "Yeah. I do have plans already though. This coming spring."

"Which is?"

She gave him a lopsided grin. "I'll keep it a secret for now. Haha."

He returned the sarcastic smile as both of them returned to their books.

"So.. you and senpai, huh?" he implied as he worked on his math drills.

She raised a brow, then laughed. Well, that was little early, she thought, not expecting him to actually be upfront about it.

"You speak too soon. We haven't talked for almost a year, Ishida," she teased. "Does it bother you?"

He shrugged out of nonchalance.

"Be honest, I don't mind,"

"I wasn't just expecting you'd be with Jyou, that's all," he spoke bluntly. "I thought you'd go for Taichi,"

Sora scrunched her brows. "That again, Yamato?" she smirked. "That ship has long sailed.. and sunk."

"That's incredibly cold. He'd hate it if he hears that,"

"What. I don't think you'd have liked it anyway if it was him."

He snickered. Touché.

Silence once again enveloped the two of them, but it was no longer as uncomfortable as it was earlier. It was then Yamato realized how easy it was for him to talk to Sora without caution and pretension this time, something he found really hard around Mimi since the thing – but maybe that was just it. Maybe he always felt that way.

He wondered what could have happened if they've continued remained friends from the start instead. Would he and Sora be happier if they initially pursued different people? He realized how much he truly missed her, and how he really loved her as he recalled their past. He would not trade the memory for something else.

It was a good run.

"I've been meaning to ask you about something.." said Yamato sheepishly. "When we broke up, you know.. I think I know what I did that led us to falling out, but, I'm not sure. I just.. I want to know what you think. Can you tell me what your 'why' is?"

"I didn't quite expect that," laughed Sora. "Well.. I thought you already knew this, but okay… You were insanely jealous of Taichi, who's also your friend."

"I don't think you can blame me for that, Sora." replied Yamato, taking a break from his coursework as he placed his book and mechanical pencil on the table. "Even after all this time, you still entrust your life with him."

In turn, Sora closed her book. "I don't blame you for feeling that way, truthfully. When Taichi and Mimi started dating, I came to understand how you felt."

"So.. you are admitting you're still in love with him. Why are you with Jyou then?"

"No.. it's not like that. Taichi and I are best friends. And I'm happy if he is. That's enough."

Yamato grinned. He'd let her win for the time being. "I guess so."

"Now that you're on it though, how are you?" asked Sora, picking up her book once again.

"I'm fine."

"I mean, how are you with.. your love life?"

Yamato looked away as he watched the rain, his fist clenched just on front of his mouth. Sora did not like the heavy sigh he let out.

"That doesn't sound good," she pointed out.

Yamato rolled his eyes and bit his lip. "No.. no it doesn't."

"Can you give me a hint?"

"You can take a guess, I'll answer you honestly." He said as he reached out for his drink.

"Well, I've always been suspicious of your relationship with Mimi.. at least the one you have with her after we broke up."

"Oh.." Taken quite aback, he sipped from his coffee to collect his words. There was no point in lying to Sora. "Let's not go there. And besides, Mimi's with Taichi."

The ginger was quite surprised with his non-defiance. He would usually get worked up when he's being seen right through him. "You're not denying it though,"

"It doesn't matter if I do, to be honest," replied Yamato matter-of-factly. "You know I won't do that to Taichi."

"I know you won't," agreed Sora. "But aren't you worried how this would affect you so?"

"It's just a feeling," he assured her, although he couldn't convince himself. "And wouldn't you have liked that?"

"It's a shame though.." Sora flipped the pages of her book, recalling every observation she made of him after their fallout. She smiled. "I like how Mimi tamed you."

"Now what could you mean by that?"

She looked up from her book to see his face.

"I've never seen as happier than you do now." She half-wished he smiled so often around her back then, like the way she saw him with their friend.

It was as if Sora had said the magic words, and Yamato didn't like any of it. Sora's approval or non-defiance of his fucked up relationship with Mimi was the least he needed to recollect himself. The very thought that his ex-girlfriend Takenouchi Sora was all right of him having feelings with her best friend, who is dating her other best friend, was utter-fuckingly-terrible.

"Why are you saying this?" he asked, confused and frustrated. "I mean, shouldn't you be rooting for them?"

She laughed. "Don't get me wrong, Yamato. Of course I do. I was just pointing out the truth… besides. Wouldn't it be ironic if Taichi finds out you have feelings for Mimi? Turned tables, my friend."

The blond went silent for a while, unsure what to reply. Turned tables indeed, he thought. What would Taichi say if he does find out?

He can't find out.

"Do you think Taichi is really in love with Mimi in the first place?" he asked.

"Of course. What's there for me to doubt?"

"You know how pathetic he is with his feelings." he answered, remembering Taichi's problems with opening up, and then there's Mimi, whom he personally diagnosed to be too unhealthy to be in a romantic relationship. "And you know Mimi's going to get hurt."

Sora bobbed her head to the side, trying to see the expression Yamato was making. He seemed really bothered that she sort of wished she didn't ask in the first place. "You should give him a little credit…" she replied. "And besides.. he's happy. And Mimi is."

What Sora just said had hurt him more than he expected. It was hard to understand – the pang of hurt; was he hurt because Taichi has truly found happiness with Mimi? Is he hurt because he is happy? Or that they do love each other after all, leaving no room in Mimi's heart for him? In any of those cases, Yamato was sure he would loathe himself ten times more.

"Are you okay?" Sora brought him back from his self-deprecating dwelling.

He looked up from his long gaze, ran a hand through his hair. "I don't like that I have feelings for her."

Sora did not reply.

"I mean.." he didn't know how to pick the right words, he didn't want to offend Sora, or Mimi for whatever he was about to say. "I could have chosen to love anyone else. Someone who didn't belong to someone else.. someone who wasn't your friend.. wasn't my friend.. someone.. anyone else.." he drifted away.

It struck her a cord, but not the sort that hurt her – just the kind that shocked her. The expression on his face had given it all away.

"But that's just it, Yamato," replied Sora as she looked on to her book, avoiding his gaze. "We don't get to choose who we love."

He didn't say anymore, and allowed the jazz music playing in the café to fill in the void. Yamato resumed to his coursework; Sora returned to her book – surprisingly finding that the protagonist of the novel she was reading reminded him more of Yamato than Jyou. Jyou, no matter how paranoid he could be, was far from becoming obsessed with harmful thoughts and vices.

"But Yamato. What do you plan to do with Mimi?" asked Sora out of the blue. She was concerned how this would affect Yamato's emotional health. A pent-up Yamato was an emotional monster with almost little to no control. "You should tell her how you feel, at least."

And when he heard those words, he almost choked from his drink. He furiously glared at her. "Are you insa—" he was cut off when he saw Jyou entering the café and approaching the redhead.

"Hey Sora. Have you been waiting too long? I was just about to—" the sight of Yamato caught Jyou off guard. The surprised expression turned into a warm greeting as he adjusted his glasses. "Well you're here!"

"Jyou," greeted Yamato back. "I ran onto her."

"It's a good thing," said Jyou, sitting next to Sora. "It was about time you two reconciled,"

The two looked at each other, surprised with Jyou's sudden remark. It confused them both a bit. Any normal man or woman would have gone out of their wits to see their lovers hanging out with their former paramours. What could he be thinking? they both thought.

"What's with the looks of you two?" Jyou noticed the two of them giving him a weird stare, although he sort of understood why. It was a non-issue for him. Knowing both of them very well, he voluntarily clarified. "You were friends since childhood, right? We all are. To be honest, the last get-together with everyone was so strange," he added, drinking from his coffee.

Jyou always knew better. The two smiled, relieved and content.

"It wasn't actually that hard to be friends with him again," replied Sora, who was grinning mischievously. "He's having problems."

The doctor-to-be looked up from his cup. "Which is..?"

"The one we were both talking about the other day," shared Sora, which caught Yamato off guard at how candid she spilt their 'couple habits'.

"Are you two talking behind my back?" he asked warily.

Sora rolled her eyes and looked at Jyou, who tried to look as innocent as he could while he drank more of his coffee. "Don't be offended, Yamato. You know everyone talks about everyone,"

"I know that," defended the blond. Still.. "I'm intrigued though. What are you two talking about me when I'm not around either of you?"

"We just talked about it though," replied Sora with a snicker.

Yamato grunted. Of course, it was Mimi. "You meant her?"

"Ohh!" Jyou blinked a few times, then looked to his partner. "So he already knows? He's aware?"

"Apparently he is and it is confirmed he has feelings for her,"

Jyou clicked his tongue as he swept the dirt on Sora's hair. "That's bad. Mimi's the worst person to fall in love with right now. That girl has no clue what she's doing,"

"You know I think otherwise, but I think it's still best we're all looking after her,"

"I haven't been able to meet with her in a while. She doesn't reply to me sometimes."

"She's dating Taichi, but you know Taichi's unreliable with feelings, and he's got bigger problems at the house. At least Yamato's often available for her," Sora thought out loud. "I wish I could find out what's going on in her head. Maybe Yamato knows."

"Of course he knows," agreed Jyou, who was also lost in loud thought. "But I think it makes it even more difficult for him to help her now that he's aware of his feelings.. and knowing that she's already in a relationship with someone else, who happens to be his best friend must…"

"Suck." finished Sora.

The blond across them let out a loud cough, catching both their attention. "You do know I can hear you two talking, right?"

The exchange between the new couple was something really radical for Yamato. It was almost refreshing to see that sort of mutual understanding. Good for you, Sora.

"Sorry," Jyou apologized sheepishly. "We're just really worried, you know?"

Sora let out a loud sigh and looked out the window. She could only make several guesses as to why the distance between her and Mimi was growing. If there's one thing Sora was sure though, she won't ever hold it against her.

Mimi had left very little information about her past; but she did catch some news about Mimi's relapses. She doesn't even return my calls. "Can't rely on Taichi, not even Koushiro right now to take care of her," she said, before looking up to Yamato. "So.. it was nice to know you were at least by her side whenever you could."

Yamato rested his eyes on the table, watching the light dance around his drink. He understood Sora and Jyou's concern. It was something he was worried of too. Ten-year-old Mimi, the Bearer of Purity; seventeen-year-old Mimi, the Bearer of Many Secrets and Lies. "The Mimi I knew – the Mimi we knew when we were children.. feels so out of reach now."

Jyou pushed himself back to the chair, letting out a deep sigh as well. "Man. So much has changed since college."

"Much?" echoed Yamato, whom was interested to know these 'changes'.

"I don't know," replied Jyou, cleaning up his glasses. "Group dynamics, I suppose. Would be nice if Koushiro comes around someday."

"To be honest, I'm very annoyed with Kou-kun on that," Sora turned her head to Jyou, whom agreed with her. They, especially Sora, thought it was very immature of Koushiro to suddenly cut ties with Mimi and Taichi.

The redhead turned to Yamato. "How is everyone else nowadays?"

"Takeru and Hikari are not talking."

"Why?"

Yamato hesitated for a bit, unsure if he should share the information. But thought anyway maybe Sora could do something about it. "Hikari confessed."

There was a pause before Sora spoke of what registered to her. "Don't tell me… he.."

"Yeah. The little coward." Yamato snorted.

Jyou scratched his head. "I really don't get the drama."

"We don't either."

The heavy conversation ended when Sora talked about her trip to Toyama this late afternoon. They left the coffee shop and roamed Todai campus, re-touring Sora around. She asked where Taichi's and Yamato's buildings are located, and they walked some more.

As she marveled around the school, Sora wondered for a while, lingered on her wishful thinking, if things went as smoothly as she and Taichi had planned since they were ten. Would they have continued to play football together? Would she and Taichi be more than friends? Then again, there was the alternative that she used to have; her and Yamato, meeting up at that cornered bench just below that tree, bringing him handmade bento boxes like she used to. She felt wistful, despite all of these were now merely 'what-if's, and she knew that's all that were going to be now.

By two in the afternoon they already headed to the bus station as they accompanied Sora for her ride. She was going for a three-day hike at the glacial trail before submitting her requirements for fashion school – which Yamato just learned from Jyou.

Sora had already boarded her ride by three o'clock. From her seat she waved at Jyou and Yamato. They waved back.

"She's changed a lot," said Yamato, as he dug his hands inside his pockets.

Jyou shrugged. "Was it weird when you found out?"

"Yeah," he answered. It was then when Yamato understood how this felt for Taichi back then. It will hurt a bit, and it will always be weird. And he also thought, maybe this was how Sora felt earlier too; when she found out he is in love with Mimi.

"It's weird, but I'm glad it's you." he gave Jyou a rare, calm smile when he said those words. Jyou returned the expression.

"I'll take care of her."

"I know." The blond snickered. You don't have to tell me that, he thought with every confidence he had on Jyou. "Do you want to go for a drink?"

"Sure. Let me just check my mail. Haven't opened it since this morning," Jyou took his phone from his bag. Once the screen was illuminated, he was greeted with several missed calls and messages from Mimi and his brother Shin. He scrolled past through, until reaching the first messages Mimi and Shin sent. He froze for a while, then looked at Sora, who already had a worried expression on her face. "What's wrong?" she mouthed to him.

Jyou could only lift his phone, and point it out to her. Sora did as she was told, and checked hers. The bus was about to leave as it closed its doors.

"Yamato," Jyou began very hesitantly. "did you know?"

"Know what?"

"Ahh.." So he didn't know. Jyou wasn't sure how to break the news. "Yagami-san.. his program failed. He's gone."

Yamato's mouth parted, but no words came out of him. He checked his phone, and saw Mimi's calls and messages to him. He shouldn't have set his phone on to silent mode; else he wouldn't be cursing himself for not knowing this any sooner.

The two men looked at each other, then to the bus window where Sora was visible; her expression of worry and shock remained plastered on her face as she and her vehicle were already heading for the distance.

Jyou let out a sigh. He could already foresee the chaos that was about to ensue as he watched the bus go farther and farther until it disappeared from their sight. With Sora gone, there was just no assurance that handling Taichi would go well. "This is such bad timing."

Yamato thought so too. He ran through his hair out of frustration, trying to come up with a plan and multiple back-up plans. "Jyou. Do you have any idea where Taichi could be?"

Author's Note: The next is chapter is a reunion with our full cast – at the funeral.