Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Matter of Perspective ❯ Taichi ( Chapter 7 )

DISCLAIMER: See previous parts.

A/N: This is for Neko-chan, who wished I could update every day. (How much do you love me now? ^_~) Ah...sometimes I feel like I wouldn't need PG-13 ratings if it weren't for Taichi and the way he thinks. Anyway, according to an article in the March issue of The New Yorker (I wanted something more recent, but I had no idea where to find articles on Japanese fashion), the main choice for Japanese girls is between being kawaii [cute] and being bodikon [body-conscious]. Both are understood as an expression of independence, although neither reflects Western ideas. Remember that women there only got equal rights in the workplace sixteen years ago. Feminism is still a new idea in Japan!

Excluding math class and Koushirou's complicated spur of the moment Digital World lectures, Taichi didn't think he had ever been so bored in his entire life. Shopping could be cool enough once in a while -- in guys' stores, for guys' clothes, and to keep his mom from picking out things she thought would make her eighteen-year-old son look 'so handsome and grownup'. But Mimi obviously had a different definition of shopping, and that definition seemed to involve a lot of pain. He may have looked like a boy now, but he still thought like a girl and that meant that none of the unchanged Chosen had been permitted to see Mimi's creations until he was good and ready. After hours of sitting in a salon blindfolded only to be led onto a train and then into a store which reeked of scented candles so that he could have the privilege of waiting even longer, Taichi had started to think he would never see the light of day again.

With a soft whoosh of billowing curtain, Mimi finally emerged from the last changing cubicle and approached him. He almost didn't dare to hope they were actually finished -- maybe Mimi still wanted to get everyone's ears pierced -- but then he felt the other boy's hands on his blindfold, swiftly untying it. "We're done," said the cheerful alto voice he had almost gotten used to. "You can look now, and then we'll go get a bite to eat."

"At the Crimson Dragon," Taichi reminded him, and Mimi nodded distractedly while he helped first Hikari then Jyou and Sora. "You promised me that's where we'd eat, and your offer to pay for it is the only reason I've put up with all this nonsense."

Mimi just smiled. "Don't worry, Taichi-san. I remember."

However, before he could get on with the unveiling, Sora raised her hand sharply as if they were in school and -- eyeing her best friend's new haircut uncertainly -- asked whether he had done anything drastic. "To Yamato-kun and the others. I mean...this is only temporary, so..." She trailed off at the indignant look on Mimi's face.

"Sora-san," he said patiently. "You can't be fashionable if you aren't willing to take risks -- I mean, whoever heard of a timid model? Besides, some things are unavoidable. Miyako-kun's hair was simply too long for a boy, to say nothing of mine! Honestly, what do you call this if not drastic?" And he pointed to the way his stylist had shaved most of his hair down to about a centimeter, leaving only an angled bowl on the crown of his head to remind them of what Mimi's hair had once been. It didn't look bad, actually, but 'drastic' was definitely the word. "Does anyone else have any objections?"

No one did, although Jyou wore an expression that suggested he would have really rather been somewhere else. Even the digimon seemed tense, and they obviously didn't care about the gender-bending. Taichi would never forget the way Gabumon had calmly reacted to his human partner's hysteria -- "What are you talking about? You're not a girl, you're Yamato." Easy as you please, without so much as a pause for thought. Apparently, living in a world where your next evolution might well be female gave you a very relaxed attitude towards this stuff. Personally, Taichi couldn't relate. He felt much more than tense when Mimi went to the first changing cubicle and started to pull back its curtain.

At first, he thought the blonde girl with her hair teased into loose wavy spikes was Yamato. Then she smiled nervously, and he saw the difference right away. She had round blue eyes and looked much younger -- innocent instead of sexy. Taking in the whole picture, Taichi realized that Mimi had capitalized on this with a pair of overall shorts done entirely in soothing pastels. Little pink hearts covered the pockets and trim. Understandably embarrassed, Takeru shifted her weight from one foot to the other while her friends all stared.

"The Cute Look," Mimi was saying proudly. "Because let's face it, Takeru-chan: Body-Conscious is not for you -- at least not yet. Hikari-chan, do you like her hair? Very Meg Ryan, and the gel will wash right out when things get back to normal." He shot a look at Sora, visibly daring her to ask about drastic changes again.

When Taichi checked his little sister's reaction, she appeared to have forgotten how her mouth worked. He had the feeling that Takeru would be dressing very differently tomorrow, if Hikari had any say in the matter. "Who's Meg Ryan?" was what she managed eventually.

Because he wouldn't have been Mimi otherwise, the Keeper of Purity rolled his eyes in good-natured tolerance of their ignorance. "She's an American actress. She does a lot of shoujo movies -- live-action, of course, since they hardly use animation over there. Anyway, she has this one haircut that I thought would look adorable on Takeru-chan."

"I wish you hadn't," mumbled the girl in question, hastily flashing a cheerful smile when Mimi glared at her.

"Takeru-chan, you have hair like straw. You're lucky I could do anything with it at all!"

"Excuse me," Jyou broke in hesitantly, "but couldn't we get on with this?"

As much as he wanted to say "Hear, hear!", Taichi kept his mouth shut. He knew where Mimi's line was, and just at the moment didn't feel like crossing it. Not when he could still get free sesame chicken for everything he had already put up with. Nothing could make him lose his temper now, not even the heavy misunderstood-artist sigh that Mimi now affected as if actually doing what he had dragged them all here to see was so much to ask.

Still reluctantly dragging his feet, Mimi drew back the second curtain like he was struggling against a gale-force wind. Miyako bounced forward and gave the victory sign; he seemed to have a lot more confidence in his big brother's talent. Surprisingly, though, Mimi hadn't decked him out in more of his own slouchy skater gear. With his bright purple hair in a very short ponytail and a deeply retro Unico sweatshirt (Taichi had only vague memories of the movie -- it was probably something Hikari or Yamato had forced him to watch), Miyako was a meeting of the pretty boy and the geek. It suited him, and he looked comfortable except for the way he stood with his legs wide apart. Actually, Mimi was doing the same thing, too -- maybe they were trying to get used to having a dick, he thought blandly. They probably didn't realize how stupid they looked.

"Okay, now that's just not fair," Takeru said in petulant tones. For the first time, he could really hear her voice: high-pitched and kinda squeaky, like one of those talking baby dolls. "Miyako-san gets a Unico sweatshirt, and I have to wear pink hearts."

"You look cute in pink hearts." But she didn't have Mimi's full attention. He was too busy watching Taichi in a cautious expectant way that made him wonder if there was a bomb under his chair that he hadn't noticed. Sure, Yamato's turn had finally come, but his anxiousness couldn't have been that blatant. Both eyes still fixed on his face, Mimi walked over to the third cubicle and yanked its curtain out of the way all at once.

"Holy shit," someone said; it might have actually been Hikari. He was supposed to tell her off because their mom didn't want her swearing and he sort of agreed since she was still so young. Too bad thinking felt an awful lot like swimming through warm molasses.

Smoky black eyeshadow. Dark red lips. And a dress so tight that he could see the edges of her underwear through the material. Of course, Yamato wrapped her arms protectively around her breasts the minute she recovered, but even that couldn't spoil the view. Taichi knew he was staring and for once he did it unabashedly, drinking her slowly from head to toe and memorizing everything in-between. Black lace-up boots with spike heels; a long expanse of naked leg; the dress itself, also black but with bold, green athletic stripes down either side; and Mimi had done something to her pretty blonde hair -- the ends curled away from her neck and then back into her face haphazardly, lending just a trace of incorruptibility. Probably a perm, which would piss off Sora.

There was silence at first, but then he thought he heard Takeru admitting from very far away that she didn't mind not wearing that. The others came slowly, and with difficulty.

Jyou's voice: "Err...aren't those fuck-me boots?"

Sora, definitely pissed: "Jyou-senpai!"

Mimi: "This is Body-Conscious. What's the big deal? With the way Yamato-san dressed before, I didn't think it would make any difference. Besides, she could never pull off Cute..."

Sora again: "Why does she -- he have to do either? Lots of girls don't bother."

Mimi, pityingly: "Sora-san. You know I love you, but your idea of fashion isn't exactly...up to the minute. Just because the girls you go to school with have to wear uniforms doesn't mean they look like that all the time. Why don't we ask Taichi-san what he thinks? I bet he appreciates her outfit. Don't you?"

Okay, that had been directed at him. He needed a response, which meant picking his tongue up off the floor. As much as Taichi tried to remind himself that Yamato was not and never would be his, drooling over the blonde's occasional state of near-nakedness was a tough habit to break. He cleared his throat. "Sure, looks fine to me."

Was Mimi disappointed? No, his eyes had to be playing tricks on him.

"Only fine?"

Then again, maybe not. He knows. Great, just what I needed. Please don't let him tell Sora -- I'm a harmless stalker, really. Just because I sometimes undress your boyfriend with my eyes doesn't mean I'd ever rape him or anything. Honest!

Even in his head, it didn't sound convincing. But then, Sora might not be mad now: Yamato's transformation had opened a whole other fun possibility. Now, the Keeper of Love might just feel sorry for him. Without a normal girlfriend, he had obviously latched onto the next best thing. Poor Taichi. He snorted irritably. If she even thought about saying that, he would probably have to throw up. Not that vomit could ever so much as give Sora pause once she'd decided to comfort someone -- oh, no: she was too busy playing Florence Nightingale gone to Hell. Briefly, Taichi allowed himself to picture the sweet-natured redhead as an extra crispy nun and suddenly felt much better. Anything to do with Sora and fire always helped.

Although, while he was indulging himself, there were definitely other things to fantasize about...

Before her imaginary counterpart could take out the glace cherries, Yamato sat down next to him heavily and launched into an unprovoked rant. What with where he'd been about to eat them from, switching gears right away was difficult. Especially when you took into account the way her breasts had jiggled when she hit the chair. The blonde didn't seem to notice, which made Taichi wonder absently whether shopping with Mimi was even more exhausting than it looked.

"...And can you believe he actually wants me to spend the night so we can buy more clothes tomorrow? I never thought I'd be glad about seeing Sora's parents, but all I had to do was bring that up and Mimi said we could shop some other time." Yamato sighed mournfully and stretched in a way that really should have been illegal. "My feet are killing me."

"You're going to see Sora's parents tomorrow?" he repeated, feeling stupid but determined to at least pretend he was listening. Just because Taichi wanted to pay attention to more than her perfect breasts shifting while she talked didn't mean he found them easy to ignore.

"Yeah. We've met them all before of course, but this'll be the first time our parents have ever seen each other." The blonde shuddered violently. "God, just yesterday all I had to panic about was my dad embarrassing the hell out of me, and now I get to explain this problem. 'Oh, hi, Mrs. Takenouchi. Don't mind the cleavage, it's only homework from my human sexuality class. Our teacher has a very hands-on approach to lessons.' Yeah, that'll be smooth."

Given that Taichi's first thought about the phrase 'hands-on' required censoring, he didn't immediately respond. "Well, if you're that worried about it, why not cancel? Pretend you're sick or something -- I bet your dad'll cover for your once he understands what's going on. This isn't exactly something that happens every day."

"Yeah, maybe..." But then she deflated. "Except that it took months to get on all their calendars. All of our parents work, Taichi. I've got no idea when they'll be available again."

"Would that be so bad? Hey, I'm serious. Yama..." He hesitated. The unhappy look on her face was an instant cold shower, but even now that he could think clearly...he still didn't know how to put this. Yamato needed the reminder, no matter how much it was going to hurt her. "...Koushirou might not get things straightened out right away."

She bit her lip, chewed on it for a while. The lipstick got on her teeth.

"I'm sorry," he wanted to say, but Yamato was already shaking her head. She didn't care about his apologies.

Completely out of nowhere, Sora descended on them cheerfully. "Hey, I finally got Mimi-chan to listen to reason. He says we can go shopping tomorrow, just the three of us, and get you some more suitable clothes. How does that sound?" After a minute, something about her girlfriend's total lack of enthusiasm must have clued her in. "What's the matter, Yamato-kun? Did I say something wrong?"

He almost expected Yamato laugh -- after all, hadn't she just worked so hard to get out of more shopping tomorrow? -- but the blonde forced a smile that looked slightly painful. "No, it's nothing," she murmured reassuringly. "I'm fine, Sora. Just a little hungry is all. I hope the Crimson Dragon isn't too crowded at this hour."

End Part Seven