Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Koushirou's Search! ❯ The Two Invitations and Mimi�s Decision! ( Chapter 7 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Hi again everyone. Mimi for this chapter will be receiving two invitations, as the title suggests. Which will she accept? What exactly are the invitations for? Anyway, enjoy all. Oh, and, once again, this chapter may seem long, but it really isn't. It's the author's notes at the end of it that's making it seem longer than what it is.

Now, as always, I do not own anything dealing with the Digimon series or franchise. Bandai and Toei have that honor, and as a reminder, here are the ages of the characters once again:

Jou: 16-17 (Year 10-11; First/second year of High School)

Taichi/Sora/Yamato: 15-16 (Year 09-10; Last year of Junior High School/First year of high school)

Koushirou/Mimi: 14-15 (Year 08-09; Second/Last year of Junior High School)

Miyako: 13-14 (Year 07-08; First/second year of Junior High School)

Takeru/Hikari/Daisuke/Ken: 12 (Year 06; Final year of Elementary/First year of Junior High School)

Iori: 10-11 (Year 04-05)

Chapter 07: The Two Invitations and Mimi's Decision!

Morning had finally arrived, and people all over the city were preparing for work or school, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. In the Izumi home, it was a somewhat different story, as everyone was tired or sleepy that morning…

“Today is definitely going to be tiring for the both of us,” Mrs. Izumi said while pouring out a cup of coffee for her husband and putting down a plate which consisted of toast. “This coffee should help.”

“Thank you.”

“We sure did act like a couple of teenagers last night,” she winked to him as she put down a plate of toast for herself. “I was even more energetic,” she teased, putting a jar of marmalade on the table.

“Yeah, but it was really fun, and you really were,” the man said with a small chuckle while reading through the morning paper.

She took a seat at the table. “Do you think we should have brought something back for Koushirou? I didn't even think about it.”

“Nah. He likes too many strange combinations for ice cream toppings, like avocado, chocolate, jelly bean candies, and who knows what else. Besides, it would've melted before coming home.”

“That's definitely a strange combination. He would have had to have come with us for all of those toppings.”

“I can't help but wonder where he could have gotten that from…” The man stopped short, realizing what he'd said.

The woman frowned. “Yeah…I wonder…”

The man coughed. “W-wow, seems that most of the stocks are down today,” he said as he shuffled through the newspaper, stopping at the business section.

“Yeah…”

The man put his paper down. “Um…shouldn't Koushirou be up by now?”

“Wow, you're right,” she said while looking at the clock. The woman got up from her seat, and shouted down the hall, “Koushirou! It's time for breakfast and you need to hurry up and get to school!”

“I'm surprised he isn't up yet. He must've come in later than we thought.”

“I don't remember hearing him come in…”

“That wouldn't be a surprise, `Miss Energetic',” Mr. Izumi sniggered.

“Oh stop! Maybe he didn't hear me. I'm going to get him.”

****

Koushirou was sleeping soundly. His laptop's alarm went off, but he was in such a deep sleep, he didn't even hear it. His mother heard the alarm from the other side, and rapped lightly on the door.

“Koushirou! Koushirou! Is everything all right in there?”

Hearing the knocking and the alarm, the boy finally managed to sit up and rub his eyes. It then hit him that his alarm was blaring, and that the knocking sound, was coming from his door. “Hi mother,” he yawned and stretched. He then looked up at his wall clock and literally screamed, “OH NO, I'M LATE!!”

The boy gathered a few things and rushed out of the room. All Mrs. Izumi saw was a redheaded blur open the door and zoom right past her to the washroom. She couldn't help but smile at the scene.

****

“Well?” the man asked, the woman retaking her seat.

“Seems he overslept.” Mrs. Izumi grew a bit worried, her smile fading. “That is very unlike him. He's always been quite punctual. What if something's wrong? What if it is the pregnancy? What if he really disapproves of or our having a child? What if---”

“Yoshie, you worry too much. I'm sure it's nothing. Are you feeling guilty again?”

“Very guilty,” she sighed. “A part of me wants to tell him about his adoption, but---”

“If we told him about his adoption, we would probably lose him.”

“What do you mean?”

“Like I said, we would probably end up losing him. Knowing him, he'd probably go off in search of his real family, especially his biological mother's.”

“But they're dead!” the woman hissed.

“He would still probably go out looking regardless. He may even feel unwanted by us, especially with this child coming along. This is Koushirou we're talking about here, who has the tendency of wanting to know everything. He's always been the highly curious type, and knowing his luck, he just may find some other blood relative that was somehow overlooked when they were trying to place him. That boy was a blessing to us, and I love that boy like he was my very own son. I don't want to lose him!”

“But…”

Mr. Izumi grabbed Mrs. Izumi's hand from across the table. “Let's wait a while longer before we tell him. At least let's wait until after he's gotten used to the idea of having a younger sibling. Let's wait until he graduates from high school in a few years. I personally would feel more comfortable waiting a little while longer before revealing that to him.”

Mrs. Izumi wasn't all that thrilled of the idea, but she did agree with him and how Koushirou was a blessing to them. Once again, she complied with her husband's request and nodded slowly. “I guess you're right. We should wait.” She sighed, while nibbling on her toast. `I know this is wrong. We really ought to tell him about his adoption. The longer we wait, the more difficult it'll be when the time does come for us to tell him.

`What if he ends up hating us for not telling him sooner? What if we do lose him?' She shook off the thought. `No, I can't think that way. I'll just do as Masami-san says. If he feels we should wait, then I will have to go along with it, no matter how much I may disagree with him.'

Right at that moment, Koushirou walked in dressed in his uniform and holding his book bag, oblivious to the conversation that had just taken place between his parents. Seeing the boy, she went off to the kitchen, and came back, setting a plate down in Koushirou's usual spot.

“Good morning, mother, father. I'm sorry, but I can't eat breakfast right now.”

“But I made your favorite, eggs topped with ponzu.”

“I'm really sorry,” he apologized again while giving his mother a small hug, which she didn't return, “but I'm really sorry.”

“Sit down now!” Mrs. Izumi ordered sternly.

Mr. Izumi looked up from his paper, his mouth hanging while Koushirou sat down almost instantly. The tone his mother used was downright scary.

“Eat something! It's not good to go to school with an empty stomach!”

“But I could pick up something along the way or-or something,” he told her timidly.

“I guess…” she murmured, while sitting down herself.

Noticing how upset she was getting, he decided to eat. He didn't want to hurt her feelings, even though, honestly, he was planning on eating Mimi's ohagi due to how late he was. He was hesitant on eating them due to the way he had left Mimi the previous night.

“Son,” Mr. Izumi coughed, still surprised over how irritable his wife had gotten, “how come you're so sleepy this morning? What time did you get in last night?”

Koushirou thought for a moment. He had spent the entire night trying to hack his way into the adoption agency's database, but was still unable to get through. Not wanting to tell them that, he came up with something else. “I'm not sure what time I got in, but you two were already asleep when I did. If it helps, the trains were still running. Anyway, I spent my time last night researching. I stayed up later than I anticipated.”

“Hm, well your school projects are important. Now, go on to school.”

“But he didn't finish his breakfast!” In reality, Koushirou hadn't even started it.

“He'll be late for school.” The middle-aged man pulled out his wallet. He went through it, and pulled out a Â¥2000 note and handed it to the boy, who was very surprised, especially since snacks were about Â¥50 or Â¥100, and that a Â¥2000 note was rare, but figured he didn't have anything smaller than that. “Here, take this and keep the change. Pick up a snack for breakfast today and if you want, you can buy something for lunch instead of carrying. You could call this an early allowance for you.”

“W-well, um…th-thank you.” He pocketed the bill.

“But I like to prepare his lunches!”

`She's going through those crazy mood swings already? I thought it would have been too early for that. If she's like this and it's just her first month, what in the world is she going to be like weeks from now?!' He didn't want to think about it and shuddered at the thought. During the first pregnancy, she wasn't as irritable or touchy. Her mood changes weren't all that bad either. The only thing that had been consistent from the first pregnancy was her bouts of fatigue and slight forgetfulness. He wondered if it had anything to do with her being older this time around. “Don't worry about it. Let him buy today. It's not often he buys lunch.”

“Okay, fine, if you say so. I'm a bit tired.” She stood. “I think I'll go back to bed for a while.” She then put on a smile, which looked a bit forced. “Have a nice day at school, Koushirou.”

The teen didn't know what to think, but he looked to his mother apologetically, and just nodded to her. He then stepped into his shoes, and rushed out of the front door to avoid being later than what he already was.

“Yoshie, what's the matter?”

“I-I don't know. When you gave him that money, I felt as if he…he…”

“He what?”

“That he didn't like my cooking!”

`Oh brother,' the man thought dubiously. “Koushirou does appreciate you and your cooking! He was willing to sit down here and eat just to show how much he cares about you.”

“I didn't mean to get upset,” she sniffled. “I just don't know what's wrong with me! Sometimes I'm really happy, and then there are other times where I want things done my way or just don't want to be bothered.”

“Well, I could take some of my vacation time from work to stay here with you.”

“No, you go ahead. I already had plans for today, like the budgeting and I have to prepare a special dinner tonight for both you and Koushirou.”

“That's nice of you, and I'm going to buy lunch today since I have a lunch meeting.” He hugged the woman. “I'll see you tonight at dinner.” He grabbed his briefcase and headed out the door, leaving the woman alone...

****

Koushirou made it to school just in time. Picking up a snack was definitely not on the agenda. He had run pretty much the entire way. By the time he arrived, the gates were closing. He slipped in just barely. Ignoring his growling stomach, he took his seat. Since arriving at school, he had been fighting sleep the entire time.

At the moment, he was sitting through his math class with Ms. Konishi. Having to sit in the same classroom all day, despite the breaks in between, was boring, so that wasn't helping Koushirou much. He only had a few more minutes until their lunch break, but his eyelids were closed, his book was propped up, and his head was resting comfortably on his desk. Sleeping in class was something he definitely didn't do. Taichi, sure. Daisuke, definitely. For him, no. Luckily, for the boy, they were on a little break since everyone had finished up early. Ms. Konishi told the students to keep busy, the class rep in charge, while she ran off to get something. That pretty much meant that the classroom was without a teacher as of the moment and the students were up and about socializing.

“Yo, Izumi, wake up!”

“I really enjoyed the snacks you prepared for me, Mimi-san,” the boy muttered incoherently. “Thank you very much.”

“Izumi!” The person shook him awake.

“Huh, what!” the boy snorted, awaking from his slumber. He looked up to see who had addressed him. “Oh, Ueda-san,” he yawned sleepily, while Yuuji took a seat at the vacant desk beside Koushirou.

“What'd you just say about Mimi-san and snacks?” he asked him suspiciously.

He shrugged, his eyes still slightly droopy. “I don't know.” He tried to remember his dream, but couldn't due to how he was startled awake. The only thing he could remember was that he was eating for it due to his growling stomach.

“You nodded off, and I couldn't hear anything that Konishi-sensei was saying over your snoring,” the boy joked.

“Yeah, whatever,” the boy grumbled, not really paying attention.

“Seriously, though, what's wrong with you? I've never seen you sleep in class before.”

“Oh, no need to worry.” He thought for a second, as he wanted to get Yuuji off of his case. He wasn't in the best of moods, and his stomach was empty. He hated the fact that their school's lunch hour was late compared to the other schools. Their school's lunch hour was from 13:30 ~ 14:30 (1:30 - 2:30). Forty-five minutes for lunch and fifteen for cleaning time. “I suppose I'm a bit tired from hanging out in Palette Town last night for karaoke and missed breakfast, and wasn't able to eat my snack that was made for me.”

“You went to a karaoke box?” the boy asked in shock. “Really?!”

“It wasn't my idea to go.”

He, once again, gave Koushirou another suspicious look. “Then whose idea was it to go and who made you the snack?”

“Mimi-san.”

“Mimi-chan!?! What about me!?! Why didn't she invite me! Why did she make you a snack?!” the boy wailed, tears streaming down his face.

While Yuuji was busy wallowing in self-pity, which was Koushirou's main objective, even though mentioning the snacks was more of a sub-conscious remark, his mind wandered again. `So, I was born in America. Did the Izumis know this prior to adopting me? Why was I never told that I was born in New York? I don't understand why they wouldn't tell me that at least…then again, I never questioned it, so maybe that's why. Either way, I still can't help but wonder why they're keeping all this away from me. It just doesn't compute…'

“Izumi!”

“Oh, I'm sorry.”

“What's the deal?”

“The deal with what?”

“With you and Mimi-chan?!”

“The deal with Mimi-san?” he asked in confusion. “What are you talking about?”

“Don't play dumb with me,” the boy told him harshly. “What's going on with you two?”

“Going on with us? I still don't understand...”

“How long have you and Mimi-chan been a couple?!”

“A-a what?!” the boy loudly shouted. All the students of the class looked back in Koushirou's direction, which caused the computer whiz's face to turn red from the unwanted attention he was now receiving. He lowered his voice some, and said, in surprise, “A couple?! You are joking, right?”

`I wasn't expecting him to react like that,' the boy silently noted. “What are you talking about?”

“I do not like Mimi-san in that way. We are friends, and nothing more,” he managed to get out. Once again, it somewhat bothered him to have to say something like that, but he still couldn't help but give off an exasperated sigh over the accusation. “Why do people keep making that assumption anyway?”

“Well, you just said that Mimi-san invited you out for karaoke and she made you homemade treats!”

“It was a group activity,” Koushirou informed him irritably, but racked his brain trying to recall when he had actually mentioned the ohagi Mimi had given him.

“W-well, people probably still think something's going on because you do spend time together a lot!”

“We're friends, that's all,” he stated firmly. “Anyone else who thinks otherwise is obviously blind.”

With that, the boy grabbed his book bag, which still held the snack Mimi had given him, stood up, and left the room. It was almost time for lunch anyway. When Koushirou was walking out of the room, his math teacher was entering it.

“Izumi-kun?”

“I need to be excused to the toilet, Konishi-sensei. I just can't wait any longer,” the boy lied. With that, he left the petite-sized teacher, who looked after Koushirou confusedly. “Um, well, I know the clock hasn't chimed for lunch yet, but you all may go. It's only five minutes anyway, so enjoy your lunches everyone.”

All of the students rushed out of the classroom to the lunchroom or some other part of the school, as it was allowed. Some students would eat out on the school grounds while some chose to eat on the school's rooftop. Koushirou headed to the lunchroom, just as most of his class did.

Odaiba Junior High was one of the few schools in the area that actually had a lunch room. The norm for most of the elementary and junior high schools without them was for two students of the classroom to head down to the cooking area, pick up the lunch contents, and serve it to their class, and the students just eat lunch in the classroom with their homeroom teachers.

Mimi sat down to lunch with her usual group of friends, but was unusually quiet. She kept staring over at a certain redheaded computer nerd, whose lunch seemed to consist of snack foods, still puzzled over the way he had acted the previous night. She didn't notice that he'd been slumbering for most of their math class, as she was trying to grasp the material herself, but the other reason was that her seat wasn't close to his. Koushirou was by the window in the last seat of the fifth row. Her seat was in the second row towards the other side of the classroom, as she was closer to the door. `Koushirou, what's wrong with you? Why won't you confide in me or the others?'

“Mimi-chan, Mimi-chan!” called a girl seated across from her with shoulder-lengthened copper hair, with some of it pulled back into a ponytail while the rest hung loosely down on either side of her face.

“Huh, what?” She shook her head. “Oh, I'm sorry, Ayame-chan. I didn't mean to space out like that.”

This girl, who of which Mimi was good friends with, was Shinohara Ayame. She, along with their other friends, Sasaki Yuuko, and Fujiwara Chinatsu, who were also in the Volleyball Club, were all eating lunch together.

Eating the rice of her bento meal prepared by her mother, a skinny girl with freckles, with the long, straight dark hair looked to the left of her curiously at Mimi. “Is there something wrong?”

“I'm fine, Chinatsu-chan,” she replied distantly, as she stared down at the lunch she'd prepared earlier that morning. She was sleepy and tired as well, but due to here natural ability to be energetic, it had gone unnoticed by those around her. She came across as her usual self.

“Or should we say someone,” teased Mimi's curvy, auburn-haired friend, who was seated next to Ayame, Yuuko.

“Wh-what do you mean?”

“I saw you,” the girl continued on, slyly smirking. “You were staring.”

“I was not staring at anyone!”

“Yes you were,” Ayame vouched. “You were staring over in the direction of Koushirou-kun.”

Koushirou was sitting a few tables away, eating lunch by himself today, by the looks of it. He didn't always eat by himself, but at times, he seemed to enjoy the time alone. Mimi had offered for him to sit with her and her friends many times, but he would seldom take her up on the offer, or anyone else, unless they were computer club members, but if someone offered to sit with him, he never refused them, in fear of being rude.

“Mi-chan likes Izumi-kun, Mi-chan likes Izumi-kun,” Yuuko sang.

“Be quiet!!” Mimi hissed, her face going pink. “I do not like him! He's just a friend!”

“Why were you staring over at him just now?” Chinatsu sensibly asked. Compared to Ayame and Yuuko, Chinatsu was definitely the most serious, and levelheaded of the three.

Putting her mocking nature aside, which was a rarity with the girl, Yuuko asked, “Is there anything wrong with him?”

“To be honest, I don't know. He's been acting strange lately.”

“No offense, but I've always found him a little weird.”

“Ayame-chan, how could you say that? He's not weird,” Mimi said in defense of her childhood friend. “He's just quiet, and at times, he does come across as not being social, but that's not fully true. I think that in his case, it's just hard for him to get close to anyone,” she finished up sadly.

Before either of the girls could respond, the four of them heard someone call out, “Hey, Mimi-chan!”

Ayame laughed. “Oh no, here comes Mimi's Fan Club.”

“Seki-kun and his cousin, Yuuji-kun,” Yuuko identified.

“Yes, and of course her biggest admirers, Takamatsu-kun of 2-C, my class, and Hashimoto-kun of 2-A,” Chinatsu added on. “Takamatsu-kun is in the Drama Club, and Hashimoto-kun is in the Shougi Club and even more surprisingly the Judo Club. It's almost hard to believe that he takes Judo since he's so small, short, and timid-looking. He's even won Judo tournaments.”

“Lucky,” Yuuko cried in jealousy. “I wish I had a fan club dedicated to me and every boy in school enamored with my charm and beauty!”

“Charm?” laughed Chinatsu.

“Hello Seki-kun, Yuuji-kun, Misao-kun, Ukyo-kun,” Mimi greeted politely.

“Why not join us,” Ayame sarcastically offered.

All four boys sat down at the table, trying to get close to Mimi. Seki managed to sit next to her. The other boys, dejectedly, sat across the table beside Yuuko and Chinatsu. The four of them talked over one another to try and get the girl's attention, but she ignored them while glancing over at Koushirou still. She was still anxious to find out what was bothering him, and helping in anyway possible, but how could she help him if he wouldn't allow himself to be helped…

`He's leaving. I wonder where he's going.'

The tall, round-faced Misao called to Mimi. By looking at him, people would've mistaken him for a bully, due to his size, but he was generally pretty nice. “Mimi-chan?”

“Huh? Oh, I'm sorry,” she replied quickly. “I think I'm going to cut my lunch hour short. I'll see you all back in class.” Mimi turned her attention to the shiny, jet-black-haired boy. “Yuuji-kun, do you have any idea what was wrong with Koushirou right before lunch?”

“No, he just slept through most of it.”

“Wow, Izumi-kun was asleep?” Chinatsu asked in surprise.

“Yeah. He said it was because he was out late for karaoke!” Yuuji cut Mimi a look. She didn't say anything.

“Wow, I didn't know Koushirou-kun liked karaoke,” said Ayame. `I didn't think he'd actually go.'

“To think you know a guy,” Yuuko laughed.

`Strange, that does not sound like Koushirou, unless he got home later than I realized, and he didn't get much sleep because of me! Oh…but he's still not the type to sleep during classes either. He even stays awake during the boring ones, like history.' She returned the lid to her lunch container, with her half-eaten lunch, and tied her pink, flowery bento cover around it. “Well, everyone, I'm going to go now. I'll see you later.” Mimi rose from her seat, and rushed off, hoping to catch up with Koushirou.

The shougi-loving boy with the straight shoulder-lengthened light-brown hair stared after Mimi, and then asked the others, “What's wrong with Mimi-san?” Ukyo was one of the few “Mimi Fanboys”, as Yuuko called them, who didn't seem as overbearing, or as annoying, as the other three dominant members of the Mimi Fanclub. There were more, but they were the main ones who didn't mind publicly displaying their affections for the girl. The others were much too shy, and were the ones to leave love-letters in her locker constantly.

“Something about Izumi-kun is bothering her,” Yuuko told him simply, returning to her meal. She, just like Ayame, bought lunch today, and she wanted to hurry and eat her soba before it got cold.

“Eh? Izumi?”

“Izumi Koushirou-kun, who is in class 2-B and also head of the Computer Club,” Chinatsu informed him.

“Wait, you mean that really quiet guy?” asked Misao in surprise.

Ayame nodded. “Yeah, she's concerned about him.”

Unable to remain quiet any longer, Yuuji started to cry again. “She's always hanging around Izumi! How can one of the most popular girls in school spend time with someone like him? There really isn't anything wrong with Izumi,” Yuuji added in, even though he didn't want to admit it, “but seems like they'd be from two separate worlds! Mimi-chan is outgoing and social, and Izumi is, well, not!” He stood up and spoke louder. “She even went out with him for karaoke last night and she made him homemade snacks!!”

“It's not like it was just Mimi-chan and Koushirou-kun,” Ayame muttered in embarrassment. “Now sit down and be quiet!”

“Yeah, and Mimi-chan makes snacks for people all the time, even us,” Chinatsu added in, while Yuuji sat down.

“She keeps turning down dates with me!” cried Seki.

Yuuko crossed her arms. “I wonder why,” she responded in sarcasm.

“Oh shut up!” Seki glared at Yuuko.

Yuuko sighed. “You guys are just too persistent.”

“Persistent?” asked Misao.

“Or maybe neither of you is her type.”

“Fujiwara-san,” began Ukyo, “how would you all know?”

“We are her best friends you know,” Yuuko told them smugly. “Of course we'd know of these things.”

Seki's look grew to that of a worried one. “Are you saying that Izumi is her type/”

“We didn't say that,” Yuuko smirked.

“Tell us!” Yuuji demanded. “Tell us what she likes in a boy!!”

“Hmm, I don't know if we should…” Ayame began cruelly.

All four boys rose from their seats and bowed deeply. “Onegai shimasu!”

Everyone in the lunchroom looked at the four, curious as to why they were bowing. “Um...let me discuss this over with my friends here,” Ayame told the four. She motioned for Chinatsu to join their side of the table. “Huddle!” Chinatsu kneeled in front of the two girls, while Yuuko and Ayame remained seated.

“So, what do you guys say?” Yuuko asked in a whisper. “Should we have fun with these four dopes?”

“Exactly what I was thinking!” Ayame giggled.

“Sure, why not. It's not like we can tell them the truth anyway,” Chinatsu pointed out. “Even we don't know what Mimi-chan truly likes in a guy. She's never really shown interest in any particular one openly.”

“Okay, let's make stuff up to make them all look silly. Since they're head members of the Mimi Fan Club, making them look stupid will be a blast!” Yuuko said.

“But what should we say?” asked Chinatsu.

“We should make up stuff based on her `Summer Camp Friends', or whatever it was she called them,” Ayame suggested.

“One time I think I overheard her say something about them being the Chosen Children Club,” Yuuko said. “You know, I think she said Digidestined one time too.”

“Why does she call it that anyway?” asked Chinatsu.

Both girls shrugged. “I don't know.”

“Well, she never did say. Koushirou-kun just happens to be one of them, which is probably why he went along with her last night for karaoke. It was a get together for her and her `Summer Camp Friends',” Ayame explained.

“I can't believe Mi-chan is friends with Ishida-senpai of the Teenage Wolves! She is so lucky, and he is so hot!!”

“Yuuko-chan, we'll continue are daily conversation about cute boys later. Now, we're all set, right?” asked Ayame. The other two nodded. “Okay! Break everyone!”

“Well?” Seki eagerly asked.

“Sit down first,” Chinatsu told them.

The four boys sat across from the three girls. “Okay, now we will tell you what Mimi-chan likes, but don't let on that you guys know,” Ayame told them discreetly.

“And if you choose to do this, you have to do it at the upcoming party,” Yuuko added.

“We promise!” Misao said. “Just tell us!!”

“Well, first, you have to be able to play the…um…autoharp!” Chinatsu told them, while trying not to laugh.

“I can play the violin,” Ukyo said. “I'm sure the autoharp won't be that much of the challenge. I'm sure I can learn at least one song by then.”

“While standing on your head!” Chinatsu added on quickly.

“Eh!?!” all four boys exclaimed over the outrageous act.

“And you have to wear blue goggles as an accessory, and they have to be the round kind, not the boring square kind. You must also have big hair!” Yuuko smiled evilly. “Mi-chan loves that.”

“And she likes boys who wear glasses who look very intellectual and carry around laptop computers constantly,” Ayame continued. The four gave them looks of skepticism. “Hey, you asked and that's what she likes. She likes the unique types.”

“I bet I'll get Mimi-chan to like me before any of you guys!” Yuuji challenged.

“As leader, she'll definitely like me best!” Misao told the shorter boy.

“You're both delusional, she'll definitely fall for me,” Seki insisted smugly.

“Girls, I think our work here is done,” Chinatsu told her companions. “Let's go find someplace quieter to eat our lunch.”

“Sure thing,” Ayame said, picking up her tray.

“They are so pathetic,” Chinatsu said while shaking her head.

“But fun,” Ayame pointed out.

“True.”

Yuuko giggled. “I can't wait to see them at the party. This is going to be hilarious!”

The three girls stood, leaving the four bickering boys behind, who had been completely oblivious to the girls' conversation…

****

Mimi wandered around the hallway, passing by many students (some of which were admirers of her) in search of Koushirou. He was faster than even she realized. She thought for a moment, and figured that if Koushirou was anyplace, aside from a place like the toilet, it would either be their classroom or either the computer lab. She went with the latter, and headed there. Once arriving, she peaked through the door. The room was, surprisingly, empty, `cept for Koushirou, who was sitting at one of the computers, his back to the door. She couldn't fully tell what he was doing, but to her, it almost looked as if he could have been in deep concentration over something. Seeing him like that, she wasn't sure if she should approach him or not, and was actually starting to wonder if she was becoming a burden to him, always pestering him for information that he wasn't fully comfortable giving…information about himself.

For as long as she had actually been friends with him, Koushirou wasn't known to show emotion much aside from the obvious ones, like annoyance, amuse, and happiness, but he usually didn't seem to show or share what he was truly feeling if something was bothering him. Figuring him out was a great mystery to her and she figured that even a great detective like Sherlock Holmes would probably have had a difficult time getting Koushirou to fully open up. It had been only recently, since she returned to Odaiba, that she had become determined to get him to open up more. At times, she still felt that she didn't truly know Koushirou like she did her other friends and it bothered her.

`Do I approach him or do I just stand out here looking silly?' She shook her head, a look of determination on her young face. `Come on Mimi! Fight! You have to face him!'

****

`Wow, Mimi-san is a great cook! I must definitely thank her for these.' the boy thought, downing the last of the ohagi. He did want to leave the lunch room to think, but he mainly wanted to eat Mimi's treats without any questions being asked of him. He stared at the computer screen, as he'd been surfing the net. He then gave off a heavy sigh as he looked at the web page he'd stopped on. `What should I do? I know what I have to do, and what I am going to do, but what about Mimi-san? She's probably going to want to know what's going on. I'm definitely going to Hikarigaoka tomorrow! It's the only way I can find out more about my biological parents as well as myself.'

It took Mimi a little while longer, but she finally got the nerve to enter the room. She opened the sliding door and slowly walked in. Hearing the faint footsteps, Koushirou asked in alarm, “Who's there?” He definitely didn't want to get in trouble for eating in the computer lab, which had just recently become strictly forbidden.

“H-hey there, Koushirou,” the girl greeted nervously with a warm smile. He glanced back. “It's just me.”

`I've never seen a girl who can always manage to smile. It's almost like she doesn't have a care in the world sometimes, but I guess it's just in her nature.' He turned his chair around to face her. “Hi there Mimi-san. You startled me.” In some ways, Koushirou had been inadvertently avoiding the girl. He still felt badly over causing her distress from the previous night and wasn't fully ready to face her yet.

“I'm sorry. I saw you in the lunchroom, and then you just suddenly l-left, and I was wondering what was wrong, since it kind of looked like something was bothering you. Is it about our project?”

The main bother was that he was anxious to eat that ohagi since he'd only had a can of juice and a couple of snacks from the vending machine for his “lunch”, which is why he rushed off. He had a little bit of spare change in his pocket, and didn't want to take out the money his father had given him. He stood up and walked over to her. “Um…Mimi-san…”

“Y-yes?” She was exuberant, like a child about to open up a Christmas gift, but was still inexplicably nervous and her current, speedy rhythmic heartbeat confirmed it. `Could he finally be confiding in me? Is he finally going to tell me what's bothering him?'

“Well, first and foremost, I must get this out to you.” The boy bowed deeply to her. She stared down at him in pure bewilderment.

“K-Koushirou?”

“Mimi-san, I want to apologize for my appalling behavior last night. I probably came across as very rude, and because of that, I caused you a lot of anguish.” He stood upright again. Mimi was too stunned to reply at how formal the boy was being with her still after all these years. “Please forgive me.”

“Erm…y-yeah, you're forgiven. You were in a hurry. No hard feelings.” That's what she had to keep telling herself after he'd left. `Darn you! I want to know a real secret about you!'

He gave her a half smile. Even though she didn't hear what she wanted to, seeing his smile made her happy for some reason. “Also, Mimi-san, I really appreciate the ohagi you prepared.” He walked back over to the computer he had been sitting at, and picked up the empty tin. “This is another reason why I came in here. I wanted to eat in peace. It was very good, as always. Thank you very much for preparing these for me.”

`Is he trying to butter me up?' He handed her the tin. “Thank you…”

“Now, there's also something else I must share with you, as I promised you I would yesterday.”

`YES!!' the girl screamed in her head.

“We have been paired up for this assignment, but I, unfortunately, have to do a little bit of research first.”

“Um, okay, but what kind of research do you have to do? It's just a project about your family. What else is there to research that you haven't already?”

“You'll see. As I said, I already promised you that I would share everything with you, but not right now.”

“Yeah…I…see…”

He turned his back to her and retook his seat while closing out the browser window, which had the adoption agency's webpage up. Even though he'd apologized, which seemed to let everything else come out a bit easier and naturally, he felt the need to hesitate again. “If-if you really want to know what's going on then you can come along to help me with my research tomorrow.”

“Wait, go with you tomorrow? Go with you where?”

In a voice barely above that of a whisper, Koushirou murmured, “Hikarigaoka.”

“Hikarigaoka?! Why do we have to go there?!”

“You'll see…I promised to tell you everything…,” he repeated somberly as he stood up, heading towards the door, “…since, for the most part, I don't have much of a choice.” He stopped in front of the lab's door and stared upwards. “It's been bothering me for a while, and it would make me feel better to tell this…to get this information about myself off of my chest and to test a theory, in a way...” He grabbed the door's handle. `It's a bit embarrassing, but would Mimi-san think of me as strange or unworthy to be her friend because of it? Would anyone?'

Still confused, the girl raised an eyebrow up at him. “Okay, whatever you say, but why do we have to go all the way to Nerima?”

“Because the answers I'm seeking can only be found there…about who I really am…” Mimi was more lost than ever now. All she could do was nod. “Our break is almost over, so we should probably head back before we're considered late. We wouldn't want to burden our classmates, and then we only have one more class to go.”

“Um...yeah…r-right,” she managed to get out. She felt a headache coming on.

Mimi wasn't sure if she'd made any progress with Koushirou or not. It seemed that he was starting to open up, but then quickly withdrew, as he was still acting mysterious about what was wrong with him or why such a simple assignment was causing his edginess. The two walked back to class for history, but were late. The clock chimed right when they reached the door. Mr. Ishidzuka let them slide since it was their first time ever being late from something like lunch, and Koushirou used the excuse that the both of them had been brainstorming on how to present their project. Mr. Ishidzuka was really glad that Koushirou was getting into his work. Mimi just smiled weakly and went along with everything Koushirou had said.

After being dismissed, the students prepared for the mandatory school cleaning. Part of their class was assigned the teacher's room for that week, while the rest were responsible for their classroom and other parts of the school. Once done, everyone went back to their assigned areas, which included Mimi and Koushirou heading back to their seats, Koushirou back to his seat near the back row, and Mimi's seat a bit in the middle row. Her seat was right in between Yuuko and Ayame.

When Ishidzuka started lecturing, the two girls started drilling Mimi, since they didn't have much of an opportunity during their cleaning time and due to the fact that the three girls were assigned different cleaning groups.

“Mi-chan,” whispered Yuuko, “what happened?”

“What do you mean?” asked Mimi.

“What happened with Koushirou-kun,” Ayame asked from her left.

“Did you say that you're madly in love with him?” Yuuko teased.

“Wh-what!” Mimi's face turned a slight shade of red due to the accusation. “That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard! Why on earth would you think something like that?”

“Mi-chan, you're blushing, besides, you worry about him way too much, so you must be in love with him!”

Mimi found herself smiling. She knew how Yuuko had this tendency of blowing things out of proportion as well as exaggerating things. “Well, I guess I can't hide anything from the two of you.”

“What do you mean?” asked Ayame.

“I do love Koushirou. I love him a lot!”

The two girls' jaws dropped. “What!?!”

“I love him just like I love you two.”

“Wh-what?” asked Yuuko, eyeing the girl suspiciously. `Is she really into that type of thing?'

“I don't understand.”

“I love him just like I love you two,” she smiled sweetly. “He's my good friend; I love all of my friends.”

The two nearly fell from their seats from the response, but it was enough of a distraction to garner the attention of the young man currently giving a lecture on the Feudal Era of Japan. “Shinohara-san, Sasaki-san!”

The two stood up quickly. “Yes sir?”

“Is there anything wrong?”

“No sir,” the two responded.

“Good, now pay attention. This material is going to be on your upcoming test.”

“Yes Ishidzuka-sensei.”

Mimi lightly laughed as the two returned to their seats. Yuuko gave Mimi a disapproving look. “That was a mean trick!”

“But it's the truth; I do love all of my friends.”

The day continued to drag on. Mimi, and most of the other students, wished that their school didn't meet on Saturdays for a full day, like other schools in the area, but since it was the last day of the week, and no club meetings, most were glad to head home to relax. While at her shoe-sized locker, Mimi ran into both Sora and Miyako.

“Mimi-chan, I'm so glad we bumped into you!”

“How come?” the girl asked while changing out of her school shoes.

“Sora-san is having a party tomorrow and she's invited everyone! Since you missed your club meet earlier this week, we weren't sure if you had gotten the invite or not and it just hit the both of us that you never did mention anything about it when we went out for karaoke.”

She slipped her school shoes into her locker, ignoring the many love-letters sitting within it. “Is it a celebration just for us, or is it one for everyone?”

“It's a combination of the both,” Sora explained. “I guess you could call it an end of year celebration. I know it's not the norm, but I figured, why not! I've invited everyone, and that involves the younger ones too: Iori-kun, Ichijouji-kun, Hikari-chan, Takeru-kun, and Daisuke. Taichi was supposed to pass it on to Hikari-chan and she was supposed to pass it on to the rest. Miyako-chan informed both Iori-kun and Takeru-kun since they all live in the same building. I also mentioned that they could invite anyone they wanted from their class or their clubs.”

“So, what are you going to wear and when are you going to be there?”

“Miyako-chan, why do you want to know what I'll be wearing?”

“So I can try to find something that's nearly as nice as your outfit of course!”

Mimi laughed. 'Same old Miyako,' she thought.

“The party will start tomorrow at 13:00 (1:00) and will end at 19:00 (7:00)!”

“Wait, how long have you had this planned out? Where will it be?”

“I've been planning it for about a month now, with some help from Taichi, but things weren't finalized until last week. My father rented out the *Ageha Dance Club! He made very good sales with his latest book, and asked if I wanted anything special. Since I'm heading off to high school soon, I asked for a party where I could invite many people. Since the Ageha Dance Club is closed during the day, we can have it for the entire afternoon, and of course, you know that the bar will be closed to us,” she laughed. “I know that the location is kind of out there, but at least we'll still be in Tokyo and it's fast to get there if on the Rinkai line. You'd just have to transfer one time and get off at Shin-Kiba Station and the ride, in all, is only about 15 minutes.”

“Wow! I've heard about that place from Yuuko-chan! She always talks about her older cousin hanging out there almost every weekend, especially in the summer. The place is still pretty new. Wait, does Koushirou-kun know about the party?”

“Yeah, Taichi said he mentioned it to him and according to him, Koushirou-kun seemed really interested in going.”

“So, are you going to get there early?”

“Well, I'm not too sure if I'll be able to go…”

“What do you mean you might not be able to go!?” Miyako asked in shock. “A party isn't a party without you!”

She fidgeted a little as the three exited the school. “I-I can't.”

“But why?” asked Sora. “I can't have a party without one of my best friends there.”

“It's because I have to go to Hikarigaoka tomorrow,” she sighed.

“You have to go all the way out to Nerima!” Mimi nodded. “Oneesama…what's happening there? Why do you have to go there?”

“I…promised to go there with Koushirou-kun tomorrow.”

“That doesn't make any sense, though! Why does Izumi-senpai have to go there? Why do you feel obligated to go with him?”

“It's for our assignment,” she answered shortly.

“You mean the history project that Koushirou-kun lied about?”

She nodded. “He also told me, `the answers I'm seeking can only be found there…about who I really am', when I asked him why he had to go there.”

“That doesn't make any sense. What kind of a project are you and Koushirou-kun working on again?”

“We have to do pretty much a family history project. I was excused from the assignment since my parents aren't here, even though I could've just gotten information from my aunt and work with that. Anyway, as a way to make up for it, Ishidzuka-sensei asked if I could work with him. I agreed to it.”

“I don't know Mimi-chan. Going all the way to the Nerima ward to find answers seems a bit extreme. Why doesn't he just talk with Mr. and Mrs. Izumi to get the bit of extra information he needs, instead of making a day-trip out of it? It'll save up on time.”

“I don't know, but I'm still a bit worried about him, or probably just curious. He did promise to tell me everything if I went along.”

“Ahh,” Miyako gave Mimi a coy smile, “so that's why you're going, to figure out his secret!”

“I wonder what type of a secret Koushirou-kun is keeping.”

“You know, maybe you could talk Izumi-senpai out of going to Hikarigaoka tomorrow and then that way, both of you can come to the party. Maybe you guys can postpone your trip.”

“I don't think he'd go for something like that, especially since this assignment is due this upcoming Friday. Tomorrow would be our last full free day to work on it or to do any out of town traveling.”

“Well, I guess it just can't be helped. It's a shame that neither one of you will be coming to my party, though. We'll miss you.”

Miyako frowned, which Mimi noticed. “Miyako-chan, what's wrong?”

“I guess I'm feeling a bit left out. I'm just wondering why he isn't really saying anything to me. I always felt that I was a good friend too.”

“It could be due to the fact that Koushirou-kun talks and sees Mimi-chan more now compared to you. Both share all of the same classes. You two only have the Computer Club.”

“That is a good point, but it still wouldn't hurt for him to open up his mobile phone and send me a text or just call me or even send an e-mail. He does have a D-Terminal.”

“He's probably only doing this anyway since we're paired up for this assignment.” The three girls came to an intersection. “Well, this is where we split up. I'll see you guys later, and don't worry; I'll try to find a way for us to come to your party.”

“That'd be great, Mimi-chan! I hope both you and Koushirou-kun can make it.”

“See, told you she'd try to go,” Miyako laughed.

With that, the girls split ways, and Mimi continued her walk home. She had quite a few things to get together if she wanted to go to Sora's party…

Author's Note

Note 1: Ms. Konishi. This isn't original. Konishi Hiroko just happens to be Adventure Takeru's seiyuu (voice actress). His seiyuu (voice actor) for Adventure 02 was Yamamoto Taisuke, since he was older and all. Also, in Japan, the students don't change classes, the teachers do. Also, it's true that most elementary and junior high schools in Japan don't have cafeterias or lunch rooms. It'd probably be more commonly seen in high schools. Anyway, the students eat their lunches in the classroom. After the meal, the students then clean up the classroom...maybe. As pointed out earlier, when the school has cleaning times vary from school to school. Sometimes they do it after lunch, sometimes after school is over, maybe right before their final class, etc.

Also, a “bento” is a traditional Japanese lunch box. Traditionally, a bento is supposed to be packed by following that 4-3-2-1 pattern. Four parts rice, three parts meat or fish, two parts vegetable, and one part dessert or something pickled. Since Mimi's character is into cooking and preparing meals, I figured having her character putting together her own bento would suit the character.

Fic Chapter Changes

I didn't specify the amount of money Mr. Izumi gave to Koushirou originally. I let him give Koushirou such a large amount because of something that happens a few chapters from now.

I added in Koushirou dreaming of food, and mumbling about it in his sleep.

I pretty much specified how the girls were seated at the lunch table. With the way it was written originally, one probably would've gotten the impression that Mimi was on one side of the table by herself while her three friends were on the other side.

The personalities of Mimi and Koushirou's classmates are also a bit more distinguished and fleshed out compared to how they were originally. The boys have better physical descriptions and better background information. Ukyo is the level-headed one of the four and a bit more polite compared to Misao, Seki, and Yuuji, and hope that you noticed that I am trying to separate him from the other three in this regard. Yes he's a Mimi fan, but not on the level as the others. I also gave some of the somewhat aggressive lines that Ukyo originally had, to either Misao or Yuuji.

As for the girls…I just came up with a full name for Chinatsu this time. Originally, I didn't have one since I wrote that she was in a different class from Yuuko, Ayame, and Mimi, and never had a teacher address her. I also changed Yuko to Yuuko.

The dialogue between Mimi and Koushirou in the computer lab was changed a bit, as I tossed in all the stuff where Koushirou was apologizing.

The set up in the classroom is a bit different than what's probably usually used.

Usually it's pretty much set up in the following fashion, for example, and of course T = Teacher, G = Girl, and B = Boy…

G B G B

I have it set up like this…

G G G G G

B B B B B

G G G G G

B B B B B

And this is where all the characters [Yuuji, Seki, Koushirou, Yuuko, Ayame, and Mimi] would've been sitting for my scenario….

B B B Y B K

G G G G G G

B B B B S B

Y M A G G G

B B B B B B

I only set it up this way so that Yuuko and Ayame wouldn't be stuck seated in front of Mimi as it would've been difficult to talk to her if seated in front of her. I also have Yuuji where he is as a reason to have him notice Koushirou's being asleep. If not in the same row, I doubt he would've even noticed.

I went into the Saturday school thing slightly. Depending on the school, it may have students attend Monday - Saturday. School on Saturdays usually consists of just a half day or just the morning. Not sure if it's true or not, but I heard that more schools are opting out of having Saturday schools, but there are a good amount of them that probably still do. Anyway, just showing another difference OJH has from other schools for the sake of this fic. lol

I added more information on the party Sora was throwing and changed its starting time from 2:00 to 1:00 and also gave it an “end-time”, so to speak. I didn't originally. Anywho, no matter how you look at it though, realistically, I just couldn't see this happening, a party at a dance club of all places. For the record, though, the Ageha Dance Club is a real place. It's known for being one of the best places to go and the place is really big and has great entertainment which includes performers from all over (in other words, not just those from Japan). It opened in 2002. Originally for this, I had that it was held at the club that Raremon pretty much destroyed when Koushirou was attacked by PicoDevimon (DemiDevimon) in Adventure when his Digivice picked up a signal and went in search of the 8th Child. If I'm not mistaken, for the dub, they sorta cut the attack when PicoDevimon threw those syringes at him. I think they painted over them for the dub.