OK, lots of people say that Matt and Mimi shouldn't go together because if they did, she'd
drive him crazy. Well, maybe she will, but would that really be so bad? Um...alright, that
might've been kind of hard to understand, but just read the fic, and you might
get it. Don't forget to review, pretty please! ^_^
DRIVE ME CRAZY
Mimi rushed into the school computer lab on Saturday afternoon of February 14th, seeing
all the other Digidestined in there. "Sorry I'm late," she gasped. "I went to the mall 'cause
there was this really big-"
"Sale," TK and Kari finished together.
Mimi went over to stand next to Sora, tucking her shopping bags behind her and avoiding
Tai's and Matt's annoyed glares.
"Where are Izzy and Joe?" she wanted to know, glancing around.
"Izzy has a computer club meeting, and Joe's at the library studying," Cody informed her.
"Okay, back on subject," ordered Tai.
"Like I was saying, there's something really wierd going on in the Digiworld," said Davis.
"Yeah, there's this woman who's going around and changing Ken's leftover control spires
into evil digimon," added Yolei.
"So what we want to figure out is who's doing it, and why," said Matt.
"But we don't even know how they're doing it, and what the point of it is," protested Kari.
"So we're going to find out today," declared Tai. "I think we should split up into 2 groups.
Me and Sora'll go together, along with Davis and Cody. Matt, you go with Kari, Mimi, TK
and Yolei."
"Amazing how it always turns out that way," muttered Matt, casting a meaningful glance
at Tai and Sora. Tai quickly looked away as Sora blushed.
"Hey, how come TK gets to go with Kari and Mimi?" complained Davis.
"Davis, we don't have time for this," Yolei told him impatiently as Tai gave him a wierd
look.
Sora turned to Mimi quickly. "Did you get that, Mimi?" she asked.
Mimi had taken out her Walkman and pulled on her headphones as she listened to it. She
held up a finger. "One sec guys, this is my favourite song, 'The Call' by the Backstreet
Boys."
Everyone sweatdropped. "Mimi!" said Tai in exasperation. "Turn it off, this is important!"
"Okay, it's done," said Mimi, pulling the earphones down.
"Did you hear a thing we all just said?" demanded Tai.
"Something about going to the digital world and finding the person who's turning control
spires into digimon?" Mimi guessed.
Gatomon rolled her eyes, but Tai shrugged. "Close enough."
Davis held up his digivice to the computer screen. "Digiport open!" he commanded.
The familiar light came, and they were all sucked into the Digiworld.
"Okay, we'll catch up with you guys in a few hours, right here," Tai decided, gesturing
around to Primary Village.
"We can't stay all that long," Matt said. "Mimi and I have a concert tonight for Valentine's
Day."
"We know," replied Sora.
"And plus," added Mimi. "I've still got a few things I have to get at the mall."
"Still looking out for the greater good, huh?" Matt said to her in sarcasm.
"Excuse me, but I'm positive I heard you complaining about getting out of here quick, too,"
Mimi retorted.
Kari pushed them both forward. "Guys, hash differences on your own time. We've got a
mission to complete," she told them.
"Good luck!" called Sora as she, Tai, Davis and Cody headed off in the opposite direction,
towards the area that Gomamon was guarding (A/N: Episode 6, the Joe one. I know they
already knocked down the control spire in that episode, but remember, Ken rebuilt a lot
of the spires pretty fast).
"Where should we go first?" asked Yolei.
"I think we should head towards the city that Andromon's guarding," TK suggested. "I
think it's pretty close to here."
Yolei pulled out her D3 and brought up a map of the Digiworld. "Actually, it's kind of far,
but it's still pretty much the closest one to here."
"Then let's go," said Matt, beginning to walk towards the city, the others following him.
The hike was mostly through forest, since it would take too long to simply go around the
forest.
"I wonder if we'll see Palmon, or one of the others," wondered Mimi aloud.
"I don't think so," TK told her. "The area Palmon's protecting is pretty far away from here."
Mimi nodded slowly, then put her Walkman back on as they continued to march through
the woods. The music distracted her for a while, but she soon became aware of the fact
that she was getting kind of tired. Her hand accidentally brushed against some type of
bush that was covered in what seemed like sap. She wiped it against her jeans. (A/N:
She's wearing the same outfit she was wearing in the Golemon ep., but minus the wierd
hair, she's still got pink hair.)
"Matt, how much longer is it?" she shouted, momentarily forgetting that the others
couldn't hear her Walkman at the same volume she was listening to it.
Matt made a face as TK and Yolei winced and held their hands over their ears.
"She's got a loud voice," said Yolei, laughing weakly.
"You should hear her scream," TK replied, sweatdropping.
Kari reached over and pulled the headphones off Mimi's head. "A little louder, Mimi, the
other side of the digital world can't hear you yet," she told her sarcastically.
Mimi blinked in surprise. "Ohhhhh," she said, finally understanding. "Sorry."
"And Mimi, we've only been walking 10 minutes," Matt told her.
"Well I'm tired, can we take a break?" she demanded.
"We used to walk a lot longer than this when we were here before," he pointed out.
"It's been 3 years since I was last here," Mimi countered.
"And apparently, you haven't changed much," he returned.
"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Mimi angrily.
"Didn't you already get over this phase?" demanded Matt. "Seriously, you're acting just as
babyish as you did before."
"And you're acting just as-" Mimi was about to retort, but then TK stepped in.
"Okay you 2, cut it out," he ordered. "Right now, you're both acting childish. We're sup-
posed to be concentrating on our mission."
Mimi bit back what she was about to say to Matt. "Fine," she snapped, glaring hot coals
at him. "If I can't express my opinion, then I won't say another word." She firmly set her
headphones back in place, and cranked up the volume on her Walkman so high that the
others could hear it.
Matt rolled his eyes. Well, if she wants to make herself go deaf, that's her problem, he
thought, turning away and continuing to walk. She's so annoying sometimes, it drives me
crazy. Can't she ever take anything seriously? Great, and the band had to ask her to
sing with us tonight. See if I ever let them come up with an idea again.
TK, Kari, and Yolei glanced at each other. Then Yolei sighed in exasperation and followed
Matt and Mimi, as TK and Kari met each other's eyes and laughed quietly. The digimon
blinked cluelessly.
As they resumed the hike, Mimi turned the volume on the Walkman down slightly, tuning
it to different channels, kind of absently. She was thinking about how ticked off she was
at Matt.
He makes me so mad sometimes, she thought, scowling. Does he always have to be such
a jerk? Argh, and I actually have to sing with him later, too! I don't believe this.
She came across one of her favourite songs, by one of her favourite artists, Pink.
"You make me sick
I want you
and I'm hating it
Got me living
like a candlestick..."
Mimi sang along to the lyrics in her mind, then for some reason, her eyes wandered to
Matt. She blinked, catching herself. What's up with that? she wondered.
"Driving me crazy
baby, don't you quit
Can't get enough of it
You got me going again
Baby you got me going again
You make me sick..."
(A/N: Sorry if I didn't get the lyrics exactly right ^^*)
Almost involuntarily, her eyes traveled back to Matt, then widened slightly as she realized
that the song described exactly what she was feeling. She didn't want to admit it, but
MAYBE there was a ring of truth to it.
He does drive me crazy..., she thought. Her frown was replaced by an uncertain look of
confused realization.
...but I don't want him to stop.
Finally, they arrived at the outskirts of the city. "This is the place," Kari confirmed.
"Okay. We can take a break before we go in," said Matt, turning to Mimi. "Is that okay
for your Highness?" he demanded sarcastically.
Mimi shot him a glance, but said nothing. She just sat down on the sand next to Yolei
and Patamon. Matt looked at her, feeling a little concerned. Sure enough, Mimi hadn't
spoken another word for the rest of the trip, but that wasn't like her. He'd kept waiting
for her to give up after about 15 minutes and start complaining again, but it had been
almost 2 hours, and she hadn't even uttered one sound.
But what am I complaining about? he asked himself. At least I didn't have to deal with her
whining. He thought for a moment, then sighed. That was the problem. A walk in the
digital world just didn't seem like one without Mimi complaining every half hour or so. He
hoped she hadn't taken that remark about her being so babyish too seriously.
At least she was talking quietly now to Yolei. Matt watched her a moment longer, then
turned to Kari and TK. "We have to let the others know where we are now," he said.
"Right," TK agreed. Kari handed Matt her d-terminal, and Matt quickly wrote an email and
sent it to Davis.
"First we've got to get through the city gate," Kari commented.
"Leave it to me," TK told her. "Patamon, let's do it the old-fashioned way." He pulled out
his digivice and held it out to Patamon, as he digivolved to Angemon.
"Whoa," Yolei gasped, staring in amazement. "Patamon's champion form is an angel?"
Kari nodded, and Matt handed back her terminal. "The others have gotten to their destin-
ation alright," he mentioned. "I think they're in some place called Little Edo." (A/N: At
least, that's what I THINK it's called.)
Mimi stood up. "Okay then, let's go," she stated, her first real words in the past 2 hours.
Matt looked at her. "Are you sure you don't want to rest anymore?" he asked her. All he
got in return was an annoyed glare. "Don't start with me, Matt," she said, with a hint of
anger. She turned around and began heading through the gates that Patamon had just
broken open. Matt turned to TK in confusion. "But I wasn't being sarcastic."
"I think there's something wrong with her," said Yolei. "But we'd better follow her before
she gets into any trouble."
Kari laughed softly. "Yeah, that'd be Mimi all over."
They tagged along behind Mimi. She seemed to slow down, as if listening to
something (not her Walkman, she took it off). Then she took off down the streets, looking
right and left, searching for something.
"Mimi, what are you looking for?" TK asked her.
"I could've sworn that..." Mimi trailed off, then she stopped in her tracks, and turned down
another street. The other 4 looked at each other with one of those 'Mimi's completely
flipped again' looks that she knew so well, then Matt quickly ran after her, with the others
following.
Mimi slowed down, then turned to the right, into an alleyway. Then her face brightened
and she gasped in happiness.
"Palmon!"
The others had heard Mimi's squeal of happiness. "Palmon?" asked Kari, quickly running
to catch up to Mimi. They all found her kneeling on the ground, already tangled in Palmon's
vines as they hugged each other, bawling in happiness. Andromon was also there, stand-
ing and watching them with a confused face.
"Andromon!" said Kari happily.
"Palmon, what are you doing here?" TK asked.
Palmon got serious and let go of Mimi. "Andromon called me here. Actually, he called all
the others too, but me and Gabumon were the closest to this area. Gabumon should be
coming any minute."
Matt smiled slightly. "You mean Gabumon'll be here too?" Palmon nodded in confirmation.
Mimi's face darkened. "It's because of those control spire digimon, isn't it?" she said ang-
rily.
Andromon nodded. "Yes," he said. "They've been appearing all around the Digiworld, and
it's becoming a very serious problem. They've started ruining villages and becoming a
threat to digimon everywhere. They must be stopped."
They stared at him in shock, except Palmon. "I didn't realize they were such a big threat,"
murmured Mimi. Yolei nodded. "We should've gotten rid of them first, before we started
our cleanup of the Digiworld," she agreed.
Just then, a blue blur came running up. They all stared at it in surprise, until it stopped
and digivolved back into...Gabumon. Matt grinned and ran over to him. "Gabumon!"
"Glad you made it," Palmon said to Gabumon with a smile. He smiled back. "It's good to
see you again," he agreed. "You too," he added, looking up at Mimi.
"Well, thanks," Mimi said, then glanced at Matt. "Though I'm sure SOME people wouldn't
say that."
Matt glared back at her. "With good reason," he responded. It was an instant reflex.
TK quickly stepped between the 2. "Guys, if you don't mind, we're trying to solve a major
problem here," he said sternly.
Mimi once again held back what she was going to say. "Okay fine," she said, still looking
angrily at Matt. "I could call you so many names right now, but one of us has to be the
mature one."
Matt snickered and rolled his eyes. "It sure isn't gonna be you."
Mimi settled for just sticking her tongue out at him. "See?" he smirked.
She clenched her fists and stalked away, Palmon running after her. TK, who'd been watch-
ing all this with a look that was a cross between annoyed and amused, turned to Matt.
"If you don't mind my saying this, you haven't exactly been acting all that mature around
her either," he defended Mimi. "I mean, you've got a concert with this girl in a few hours."
Matt sighed. "Fine, I'll keep things on track," he agreed as Gabumon watched him in con-
fusion. Andromon called them all over.
As Matt sat down in front of him along with the others, he glanced over at Mimi, who was
seated next to Kari and Palmon. She seemed to be fuming, but she also looked as if.....
Matt suddenly felt really bad. She looked like she wanted to cry, though if it was out of
frustration, sadness, or confusion, he wasn't sure.
"Andromon, we have to know," said Hawkmon. "Has one of those spire digimon gotten
loose in the city?"
Andromon nodded in confirmation. "Yes, this morning. I checked, but the control spire
that was there yesterday is gone, so I suspect it's still in the city."
The Digidestined and digimon looked at each other. "Okay, we've got no choice, we have
to hunt that thing down," Gatomon declared. Kari nodded, agreeing with her partner.
"You're right," said Mimi, standing up. "Let's find that thing."
The group traveled down the streets, searching for any signs of trouble.
"I didn't realize this place was so big," muttered Yolei.
"Yeah," Kari agreed. "It seemed so much smaller from the outside."
Mimi stopped suddenly, letting everyone get in front of her, before Palmon noticed that
she'd stopped in her tracks. "Mimi?"
The others came back over. "Um Mimi, sometime this year would be nice," Matt told her
sarcastically.
Mimi held up her hand. "Quiet," she commanded, listening. Then she turned to Yolei.
"Can these spire things change into any sort of digimon they want?" she asked.
Yolei blinked. "I guess so," she answered slowly. "Why?"
Mimi turned to the direction she'd been listening in. "I think I just heard some Machindro-
mon," she told them.
"Well, this city is a machine-digimon place," said Patamon.
Kari listened. "I hear them too," she said. "But one of them sounds, I don't know, differ-
ent."
"Let's check it out," decided Matt. Keeping quiet, they followed the sound of the Machine-
dramon's voices. They finally came across a large group of them.
"I don't see what's so special about them," said Gabumon in confusion.
Palmon suddenly gasped. "I do!" she exclaimed, in a hushed voice. They turned to her.
"What about them?" Mimi asked.
"See how they have grey, machine-type eyes? But look, that one has kind of..black eyes."
She pointed to one in the middle, and sure enough, it did have black, metallic kind of
eyes...like a control spire.
"Maybe it was just programmed wrong?" offered Yolei, sounding doubtful of her own words.
Andromon shook his head. "No, it's not that," he replied. "Notice how that one moves
differently then the others."
It was true. While the others moved with machine-like stiffness, the odd one out moved
more loosely.
"It's a control spire," said TK, absolutely sure.
"But why is it just doing what the other ones are doing?" Matt wondered.
Mimi thought about that for a moment, then her eyes widened. "Oh no, I think it's thinking
of attacking the others when they least suspect it," she moaned.
"That's awful!" cried Kari. "We have to stop it."
"First we've got to get the Machinedramon away from it," said Matt.
"I'll handle that," said Andromon. He ran down to the Machinedramon, said something (the
Digidestined couldn't hear what), and got the machindramon to follow him.
The fake Machinedramon attempted to follow the others. "Now's our cue!" cried Patamon.
"Let's do it!" declared TK and Kari in unison. "Digi Armour Energize!"
Patamon and Gatomon armour-digivolved into Pegasusmon and Nefertimon. They got in
front of the control spire digimon. "And where do you think you're going?" demanded
Nefertimon.
The kids and remaining digimon began running over. "You'd better digivolve too, Hawkmon,"
Yolei told her digimon. "Digi Armour Energize!"
Halsemon digivolved into Shurimon and ran down to join the battle. The kids stopped just
a few feet away.
"It's your turn to step in, Gabumon," said Matt, pulling out his digivice.
"You go too, Palmon," said Mimi, following suit. It was probably the first thing they'd
agreed on all day.
Gabumon and Palmon transformed into Garurumon and Togemon, then they joined in to
attack the spire, which was shooting power beams all over the place. They were knocking
down buildings, posts, even the digimon at times.
"The spire's just bent on destroying the whole place, it doesn't even care about the digi-
mon," said Mimi.
"She's right," Yolei realized. "But it's not just blowing down the place, it's trying to make
the others go down with it." She watched in horror as one of the spire's beams hit Halse-
mon.
"It's got pretty good aim," said Kari as a beam hit Nefertimon.
Togemon jumped at the control spire. "Light Speed Jabbin'!" she shouted, pummeling the
fake digimon with her fists and causing it's beams to go askew. But the spire wasn't fall-
ing back, some of those beams were hitting Togemon, and hard. Not to mention the
blasts that were still hitting the buildings and falling down all around them. It was like a
bombing during a war.
Mimi gasped. "Togemon, watch out!" she cried. Yet another blast hit Togemon, and she
ended up flying backwards, dedigivolving back to Palmon.
"Palmon!" Without really thinking, Mimi began to run over to her digimon.
"Mimi, what are you doing?" Matt demanded, grabbing her around the waist and the
shoulders. She struggled wildly. "Let me go Matt!" she cried.
He held her firmly despite her fierce attempts to escape. "It's too dangerous! You'll get
seriously hurt!" he shouted.
"Why do you even care anyway?"
Matt paused for a second. "Mimi-" he began, trying to reason with her.
The fake digimon fired a beam aimed for Palmon, since she was down for a moment.
"Howling Blaster!" declared Garurumon from behind her, blasting the beam back towards
the spire. It dodged skillfully.
"Tempest Wing!" Halsemon fired a counter attack, but it dodged that as well.
"Palmon, be careful!"
Palmon got up, noticing Matt restraining Mimi. She shot him a 'don't let go of her' look
and ran towards the other digimon.
Mimi was still trying to free herself from Matt. "Let go!" she yelled. "Palmon's going to get
shot, I have to help her!"
Matt still kept his hold on her, though she was stronger than he'd ever thought. "Mimi,
listen to yourself!" he yelled back. "Palmon's gonna be fine, but you're really going to get
hurt if you go there!"
"She's not going to be fine!" Mimi shouted back. "Can't you see that? Matt, it's a little
thing called FRIENDSHIP!"
"In case you don't remember, who's the one who had the crest of friendship when we
were here before?" demanded Matt.
"And you'd've thought it'd teach you-"
"Matt, Mimi, give it a rest and get back, before you both get hit!" called TK.
They were pretty close to the fighting digimon, and there was still that matter of all the
falling debris.
"Mimi, and you wonder why-" Matt started, but Mimi wasn't listening to him, she was look-
ing at something above them.
"Look out!" she cried suddenly, pushing them both to the side and to the ground. Before
Matt could even realize what was going on, the world was already blowing up around him.
He felt Mimi next to him, and on instinct he put his arm over her head to protect her.
The explosion finally died down, and Matt got up, trying to look through the smoke. "Mimi,
are you okay?" he asked, shaking her.
Mimi got up as well, blinking slowly. "Yeah, I'm fine," she said. Then she whirled to him.
"Saved your life!" she cried triumphantly. "You owe me big time."
Matt checked to see if he was hurt, then looked Mimi over quickly. She seemed fine. He
smirked. "Gotta hand it to you, for a spoiled brat, that was pretty good."
Mimi glowered at him. "Maybe I'd have been better off leaving you-"
TK, Kari, and Yolei ran over right then. "Are you guys okay?" cried Yolei. Mimi was still
shooting dirty looks at Matt. "Yeah, I'm fine," she replied through clenched teeth. Matt
rolled his eyes and was about to say something when he noticed something and stared
at her chest (A/N: No, not in THAT way, yeesh ^^*).
Mimi looked at him warily and a little self consciously, backing away. "Matt-"
"What's going on?" he asked in astonishment, still looking at her chest. "Huh?" Mimi glanc-
ed
down, then noticed the green light coming from her chest. It was getting brighter and
brighter. Mimi gasped. "Wha?"
TK's, Matt's and Kari's eyes widened. "Oh my gosh," gasped Kari. "Mimi...it's you crest
symbol."
Yolei turned to them all with a clueless face. "What are you talking about?" she wanted
to know. Kari quickly filled her in. Mimi's crest symbol began glowing brighter and brighter
until......
Mimi cried out and stumbled back as the green light exploded from her chest and shot up-
wards. Palmon, who was restraining the fake digmon, was suddenly drawn to it, amazed
by the familiarity.
"Palmon, digivolve to....Lillymon!"
"Lillymon," gasped Mimi. The others stared at the flower fairy.
"Mimi....that's your digimon?" asked Yolei in amazement.
"Yeah, that's Lillymon alright," Matt confirmed.
"Hey Mimi, great to see you again," called Lillymon, waving in her typical way. Mimi laugh-
ed. "Come on, let's take care of this thing!" she called back.
"Everyone, all together!" commanded Pegasusmon. "Star Shower!"
"Cat's Eye Beam!" shouted Nefertimon.
"Tempest Wing!" cried Halsemon.
The 3 attacks hit the fake Machinedramon dead-center, and it fell back. It turned black,
and cracks began appearing over it's body. Garurumon leaped forward.
"Howling Blaster!" he growled, letting out the blue beam.
"And for the finale," said Lillymon, bouncing off a tree and into the air, powering up her
cannon.
"Flower Cannon!" The green shot, along with Garurumon's blast, was enough to blow the
spire to pieces. It disintegrated right in front of them.
Lillymon went back to her rookie form and collapsed to her knees, as the others followed
suit.
"Palmon!" Mimi finally broke free of Matt's grip and raced to her friend. "Are you alright?"
she asked worriedly. Palmon smiled weakly. "Just a little tired," she told her. "I haven't
done that in 3 years."
Mimi laughed softly. "You were great," she said, hugging her.
Matt watched her with a little smile for a second before Gabumon came over. "Gabumon,
you okay?" Matt asked.
"Don't worry, I'm fine," Gabumon answered.
Kari glanced up from where she was kneeling next to Gatomon. "Hey, Andromon!" she
cried happily.
Andromon came running up. "I saw the explosions," he said. "Is everyone okay?"
"Everything's totally under control," Matt replied.
"The control spire digimon's been defeated," TK added.
"Excellent," said Andromon. "None of the machinedramon were hurt, I evacuated all of
them to the city's underground security area."
"It's great that we've defeated the spire," Hawkmon spoke up. "But that's not the
real problem. Who sent it here, and why would they do it?"
The Digidestined and digimon were quiet for a while.
"I don't think whoever it is is out for world domination," Mimi finally said slowly. "I mean,
the control spire didn't seem like it was going to take over the city, all it was doing was
tearing down the place."
"She's right," said Gabumon.
Matt looked toward the sun. "Well, we don't have time to think about it now," he said.
"It's getting kind of late." He looked at Mimi. "And we've still got that Valentine's Day con-
cert."
Mimi looked back at him, sighing. She didn't want to leave Palmon just yet. "I know, I
know," she said. "I said I'd do it, and I will."
"Don't worry Mimi," Kari assured her. "The way things are going, we'll be back here really
soon."
Later that night, Mimi was in her room, trying to decide what to wear for the big Valen-
tine's Day party that night. That's where she and Matt's band would be performing. It
was going to be held at the community center, for kids 10-16, and Matt's band had been
offered the chance to play there for a while. The band had accepted, and had been
wanting to do something different than their usual stuff at the performance. So that's
where she came in.
Mimi pulled a fuschia-pink sleeveless top which was dotted with sequins out of her closet,
stared at it critically, then flung it aside with an impatient gesture, sighing in frustration.
It flew across the room and fell to the ground, joining the growing pile of clothes that
she had carelessly tossed aside.
Why did I agree to do this? Mimi demanded in her mind, her frustration growing. What was
I on? She thought back to when the band had asked her to perform with them.
**Flashback**
Mimi walked through the door of her apartment after cheerleading practice, yet she was
barely feeling winded. It didn't seem possible, especially after the routine they'd been
doing, but she wasn't tired. Must've been something I ate in the school cafeteria, she
thought.
Right when she'd been about to sit down in the living room and watch TV, the phone rang,
so she went to the kitchen to pick it up.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Mimi?" asked the voice on the other end.
"Yeah, this is Mimi," she replied.
"Hi, this is Troy Kinoto," he said.
"Troy?" Mimi scanned her memory, trying to place a face to the name. "Oh yeah," she
said, finally remembering. "You're a member in Matt's band, right?"
"Yeah," Troy confirmed. "We've met before, I think it was a couple weeks ago."
"Yes, I remember," Mimi told him. "So what's going on?"
"Well, you know that Valentine's party that's going down on Valentine's Day, right?" he
began, suddenly sounding a bit uneasy. Just a little.
"Uh-huh," said Mimi. "Matt told me you guys are gonna be playing there." She wondered
why he was telling her all this, why he'd called her in the first place. I hope he's not just
one of the 50 different guys who've been asking me out, she thought.
"Yeah, we were asked to play, and we wanted to think up something different. So the
idea of adding another vocalist came up, and Matt told us that you're a pretty good
singer, so we decided to ask you if you'd like to perform with us."
Mimi thought it over for a minute. "Well, I've never really sang with a band before..."
"I think you'd be pretty good at it," Troy offered.
"Won't some of my friends hate me 'cause I'm singing with the most popular band in
Odaiba?" Mimi teased.
Troy laughed. "From what Matt's said, I get the feeling you don't really care what other
people think of you."
Matt talks about me? she thought briefly, before the thought evaporated from her mind.
"Okay, I'll do it," she agreed.
"Great!" said Troy happily. "Can you come to the school auditorium in half an hour? That's
where we're practicing today, and we want to see how our idea works out."
"Well..." Mimi glanced at the kitchen clock. 4:30. Her parents wouldn't be home till at least
5:30 anyway. "I guess I can make it," she told Troy.
"Perfect. See ya there," said Troy as they hung up.
The band struck it's last chord, letting it fade away. Mimi put the microphone back on its
stand as Matt pulled his hand away from his guitar.
Jaren, another band member, put down his equipment, getting ready to pack it. He looked
at Mimi. "You're a really great singer," he told her in admiration.
"Thanks," Mimi replied, blushing just the tiniest bit as Kevin, yet another band member
nodded in agreement to Jaren's statement.
Matt turned to Mimi. "Yeah, you've even gotten better than before," he stated.
"Yeah, I've been in a few plays with singing roles when I was in America," Mimi explained,
kind of embarrased. Troy stood up from where he was sitting at the drums.
"This is gonna be a great performance," he said, smiling. "You 2 sound great together.
Maybe, if you want, we can make you a band member, Mimi."
Matt and Mimi simultaneously glanced uneasily at each other for a second. "Don't think
so," Mimi finally replied slowly as Matt glared at Troy. Troy raised an eyebrow and shrug-
ged. "Something I said?"
Mimi secretly looked at her digivice. It was 6:30; she'd been there almost 2 hours.
"Oh my gosh," she gasped in alarm. "Sorry guys, I really have to go. Cya!" She left in a
hurry, which was too bad, or lucky, depending on one's POV. If she'd stayed within ear-
shot only a moment longer, she would've heard Matt's friends teasing him about her.
**End Flashback**
Now Mimi looked at herself in the mirror, holding up 2 outfits. She sighed. I still don't know
what made me decide to do this, she thought, mentally ticking off the list. I'm totally
clueless on what to wear. Matt's driving me crazy. I don't want him to stop....
Mimi frantically shook her head violently. I did NOT think that, I did NOT think that, she
chanted silently. What I was feeling in the Digiworld meant nothing whatsoever.
Mimi finally threw up her hands in annoyance, then picked up the 2 outfits, stuffed them
into a bag, and threw on the clothes she'd been wearing before. Then she bounded out of
the room and out of her apartment, locking the door behind her. There was only one way
to settle this.
Matt pulled the pan out of the oven and set it on the stove. "Where's TK?" he demanded,
turning to Kari. "I thought he just went down to the store to get Valentine cookie cut-
ters."
Kari looked up from where she was at the kitchen table. "You want me to go get him?"
she asked. Matt nodded, and Kari grabbed her jacket and headed out the door.
Matt sighed, wondering how he'd ever allowed TK and Kari to talk him into helping them
bake cookies for the Valentine's Day party. They had both volunteered to do it, and they'd
asked him and Tai to help. But TK had disappeared about 20 minutes ago, and now that
Kari had just gone to look for him, and since Tai could barely turn on an oven without set-
ting something on fire, Matt was on his own for now.
The doorbell rang. Matt glanced towards the door, wondering if the 2 younger kids had
accidentally shut themselves out. "It's open!" he called.
The door was pushed open, and then Matt turned around to face Mimi. "Huh?" He looked
at her in confusion. "Mimi, what are you doing here?"
"Matt, I need your help," she declared, holding up 2 different outfits. "This is your concert.
Tell me what I should wear."
Matt rolled his eyes in impatience. "Mimi, can't this wait? I'm a little busy, wait until Kari
comes back."
"Come on Matt, it's your choice," Mimi told him, pushing her outfits toward him. "Which
one?"
"I don't know, and right now I don't care. I have to finish what I'm doing first." Matt went
back over to the oven and put another tray of cookie dough in the oven. Mimi came up
behind him, setting the clothes on a chair. "What're you doing anyways, that's so imp-
ortant?" she wanted to know.
"I'm helping TK and Kari with the stuff they have to make for the dance tonight," Matt
explained, setting the oven to the right temperature again.
"Can I help too?" Mimi asked. Matt turned to her. "You want to help?" he asked incredul-
ously.
Mimi frowned. "Why's that so hard to believe? It seems like you need help."
Matt tried his hardest not to laugh. "Well, can you even cook?" he asked. Mimi hmphed
and turned away, heading over to the cookie batter. "I guess we'll find out, won't we?"
Matt watched her as she began putting the batter onto the trays, then shrugged and
turned back to the oven. They worked for a little while, actually carrying on somewhat of
a conversation that didn't dissolve into a fight. For a while anyways.
Mimi impatiently squeezed the icing bottle as hard as she could, but it wouldn't come out.
"Matt, this icing's stuck," she complained, still trying to get it out. Matt set another tray
of cookies on the stove and came over. "Let me try," he said, taking the bottle from her.
He began squeezing it hard too, but the icing still wasn't coming out. Getting impatient as
well, he squeezed it as hard as he could.
The icing stayed inside the bottle for an instant, then it shot out of the bottle in a long
stream. Unfortunately, Matt had been pointing the bottle toward Mimi, and so the icing
accidentally sprayed all over her striped tank top as she let out a shriek.
Matt tried as hard as he could, but he couldn't hold it back. He burst into laughter.
Mimi was staring down at her shirt in shock, then she glared furiously at him. "You jerk!"
she shouted. "You did that on purpose!" She reached for another icing bottle, and quickly
taking off the cap, she squirted him with it mercilessly. Although Matt was still doubled
over in laughter, he managed to get her back almost as good as she got him. Which
quickly led to an icing war, which then began leading to Mimi hitting Matt, with the
kitchen looking as if a tornado had hit.
"What in the world?!" Matt heard Kari exclaim in shock. The 2 of them quickly turned to
face her and TK, who'd just come in, and were looking around in surprise.
TK stared at them in amusement. "You guys take a swim in the icing? Next time, you
might want to try swimming pools," he suggested.
"He started it!" Mimi said immediately, pointing to Matt.
"Me?" demanded Matt indignantly. "It was an accident, you're the one who took a shot at
me first!"
"And I thought Davis was immature," muttered Kari to TK. Then she sighed. "Well, since
it'll take forever to clean this place, let's finish making the Valentine cookies first."
"There's not that much to finish," Matt told her. "Mimi and I did a lot of it while you were
gone."
"You 2 were working together? And you're still alive?" gasped TK. He turned to Kari in
mock amazement. "Wow, I would've given them about 5 minutes before they killed each
other."
"Quiet, TK," Matt told him in annoyance as Kari laughed. "Where were you guys anyway?"
"We ran into Yolei and Cody," Kari explained. She looked around. "Okay, you and TK finish
up the cookies, while Mimi and I clean this place up, alright?"
Everyone nodded in agreement and set to work. It actually didn't take the girls as long as
Matt thought it would to clean the kitchen, all they really had to do was wipe up a lot of
icing. They were finished before him and TK.
Kari turned to Mimi. "Mimi, will you come over to my place so you can help me with what
to wear?" she asked.
Mimi nodded. "Sure Kari, but only if you help me with what I should wear."
"Deal," Kari agreed. "Can you guys finish up here by yourselves?"
"Sure," TK told her. "We'll meet you and the others at the community center, okay?"
"Mimi, remember to be there half an hour before everything starts," Matt reminded her.
"Don't worry, I won't be late," Mimi reassured.
"That'd be a first," muttered Matt.
Mimi got that furious look again, but Kari quickly grabbed her arm. "Well, we'll cya." With a
tiny wave to TK and Matt, she pulled Mimi out of the apartment before anything could
get started.
The party was well underway, and going great. The planners had done a fantastic job,
and everyone was having the best time. The stereos were blasting, it was still about half
an hour until Matt's band were going to go onstage.
A slow song was playing now, and Mimi glanced around. She was dancing with Tai (A/N:
No, not that way, it's just a friendly thing.), TK and Yolei were talking, while Kari, who
seemed to have taken pity on Davis, was dancing with him. Sora was with Joe, Izzy,
Cody, and some other kids they all knew from school.
Tai tapped her on the shoulder. "Hey, check out Matt," he said, pointing and snickering.
"He looks like he's going to die. Or wants to anyway."
Mimi looked in the direction he was gesturing in, then giggled. Apparently, Kari wasn't the
only one who'd taken pity on a member of the Motomiya family. Jun practically had Matt
in a stranglehold, not too far off, even though he was trying his hardest to pry her off.
Valentine's Day seemed to be getting to everyone.
Tai and Mimi pulled apart, still laughing a little, then Mimi went to sit next to Sora. Sora
turned to her. "What's so funny?" she wanted to know. Mimi just pointed to Matt, who
was still stuck with Jun. Sora was soon giggling as well. "At least this'll be a Valentine's
Day she'll never forget," she laughed.
"I don't think Matt'll forget too soon either," Mimi snickered. Sora went back to talking
with Izzy and Joe, but Mimi just tuned them out. They were talking about school, one
subject she always hated hearing on Saturday nights.
Tai came up to Sora and asked her to dance, and she gladly accepted as they walked
into the crowd on the dance floor. Mimi smiled after them, lost in thought, until Izzy
asked her to dance. She accepted too, and they went on to the dance floor. It was
just a friendly thing, they were doing more talking than dancing.
Someone tapped Mimi on the shoulder, and she turned around to face Matt. "Sorry guys,
but Mimi, we've got to go. It's our turn," he told them.
"Okay," said Mimi, feeling just a little nervous for the first time that evening. Izzy let go
of her. "Alright you 2, good luck," he said with a smile.
"Thanks Izzy," replied Matt. "Come on Mimi, let's go."
Matt got ready to play the last song that he and Mimi would be singing together. As he
got his guitar in tune, he glanced at Mimi. She seemed to be a little scared and nervous,
but it was better than the way she'd been at the starting, she'd been almost terrified.
Matt met her eyes and gave her a look that read, 'it'll be okay'. She nodded briefly, then
Jaren announced the song, and Mimi began singing. She was good, really good. Despite
how nervous she was, she didn't mess up a single word or note.
"But she can't let her in,
to her world they've known together...."
There were a lot of people cheering, not surprisingly they were mostly guys. But Mimi
was still trying her hardest to concentrate and forget about the distractions. She was
even blocking out her friends, who were in the front row.
"She wants love, but her heart won't let him,
Let him in
He's walking behind.."
There! I did it! she thought in triumph. Of course, the song wasn't over, it was just Matt's
turn, but at least the hardest part was over, her major solo.
Matt's part soon finished quickly, then they began singing together, then seperately as
the song drew to a close.
"She's got love to give..."
"And he's got love to give...
But his heart won't let her in.."
"He's walking behind..."
"She's walking behind..."
As the last chord was struck, a loud uproar of approval rang out from the crowd. Mimi
placed the microphone back on its stand, mentally telling herself to breathe. It's over,
I've done my part.
She glanced at Matt. He had his eyes closed, seeming to be thinking about something.
But before she could wonder about it, Troy came up and grabbed her wrist, raising her
arm
above her head and causing another cheer to erupt from the crowd. He smiled at her.
"Give it up for our leading lady," he told the crowd, and yet another cheer came from the
ocean of people. Troy smirked at Matt and Mimi. "Aren't these 2 great together?"
Matt shot him a dirty look as Mimi sighed in exasperation, and with a last wave at the
audience, marched offstage.
After dropping their stuff off backstage during the intermission, Mimi and Matt went over
to the others. Yolei was giggling.
"You know, Troy was right," said TK with a smile. "You 2 sound perfect together."
"She had stage fright," Matt mentioned with a gesture to Mimi. She glared at him. "No I
didn't," she protested.
"Yeah right Mimi," Matt countered. "You were practically ready to pass out."
"It wasn't stage fright," Mimi argued. "I told you, I've acted in a whole bunch of plays
and stuff, why would I have stage fright?" She stopped suddenly, then deciding not to
wait for Matt's answer, she walked away.
They all looked after her in confusion. "She's been acting kind of strange lately," said
Sora worriedly. "I'd better go after her." She quickly followed Mimi.
Matt glanced at his watch. "Well, I gotta go, we're starting again in a few minutes."
"Which song are you playing?" Kari wanted to know.
"Just something for Valentine's Day," answered Matt, then turning to head backstage.
I hate this so much, Mimi thought, walking through the crowd aimlessly. I hate the way
he bugs me. I hate the way he's always making fun of me. I hate the way he drives me
crazy. I hate the way I love it all. And I hate the fact that I like him.
Mimi was so frustrated, she felt like pulling her hair out, or just bursting into tears.
"Mimi! Wait up!" called a voice. She turned to face Sora, who was running and pushing
her way through the crowd. Mimi sighed. If it had been anyone else, she probably would
have just kept walking, but she decided to wait for her best friend.
Sora finally stopped in front of her. "Mimi, what's wrong?" she asked, still panting a little.
"What do you mean?" Mimi asked.
"Well, how 'bout the way you've been acting whacked all day. It's like you're not your-
self."
Mimi should've known that it was pointless to lie to her friend, she was like a mind reader
or something. But she still wasn't about to say anything.
"It's nothing Sora," she sighed. "I just feel like going for a walk."
Sora studied her, and Mimi could tell instantly that she didn't believe it, but she didn't
push it. "Well, why don't we just finish listening to Matt, then you can go for a walk,
okay?" she suggested. Mimi shrugged. "Sure."
They got back to the auditorium, right at the same time Matt's band started.
"She rolls the window down
And she talks over the sound
Of the cars that pass us by
And I don't know why, but
She's changed my mind..."
It must be a special for Valentine's Day, Mimi thought. Matt and his band never usually
sung love songs. She wondered who it was for.
Maybe...she began thinking, but then quickly shook away the thought. Too dangerous.
"Would you look at her
She looks at me
She's got me thinking about her
constantly
But she don't know how I feel
And as she carries on
Without a doubt
I wonder if
She's figured out
I'm crazy for this girl
Yeah, I'm crazy for this girl...."
It's a great song, Mimi admitted mentally. She looked around at all the drooling girls. Jun
looked like she was on the verge of hyperventilating.
"She was the one to hold me
The night the sky fell down..."
Mimi pondered that last line. 'The one to hold me'...who was someone that had always
been there for Matt. She studied the girls that she knew from school, ticking them off
in her mind. Not Cindy, not Judith, not Holly, definetly not Jun, not...
She trailed off as she came to her best friend, who was standing next to Tai. Sora, she
thought. It'd probably be her, she's always there for everyone.
The music faded into the background as Mimi came to the revelation. It's got to be her.
It can't be anyone else in this place. That she understood perfectly. The only thing she
didn't understand was why she was feeling so rotten.
Mimi went over to Sora and tapped her on the shoulder. "Sora? I'm going to go outside
for a while, okay?"
Sora turned to her, a little concerned, seeing the look in her eyes. "Are you sure Mimi?"
she asked. "Do you want me to go with you?"
Mimi shook her head. "No it's okay, you stay here with everyone. It's just that I'm a
little tired, and I kinda want to get some fresh air. I'll be right back, kay?" Before Sora
could reply, Mimi was already off. Sora stared after her, then turned to Tai as they
looked at each other, both thinking the same thing. Mimi, tired at 9:00 on a Saturday
night? Not on this planet.
I wonder what's wrong? Sora thought.
The band finally finished their entire performance, to the loud applause and screaming of
their fans as they walked backstage.
"Well, I think that went pretty well," said Kevin in satisfaction.
"It was perfect," Troy told them. "And Mimi was good too. She looked great out there."
"I guess now you're going to try to get a date with her or something, huh?" Jaren said
with a smirk.
Troy seemed to consider it, then shook his head, coming up to Matt. "Nah," he decided.
"Besides, I think Matt would kill me if I tried to," he added with a teasing tone.
"Huh?" Matt hadn't been really listening up to this point, lost in his own thoughts. Now
he turned to Troy. "What are you talking about?" he demanded.
Kevin laughed. "Man, you're really out of it today. He means that it's totally obvious that
you and Mimi belong together."
Matt's eyes went wide. "WHAT?!" he exclaimed.
Troy was laughing now too. "Well, let's put it this way. Who were you singing that song,
'Crazy for this Girl' for?"
"No one..."
Troy sighed. "Okay, who did you have on your mind when we were singing it?"
Matt said nothing, and then Troy cracked up.
"I rest my case," Kevin concluded.
Matt just glared at them, although there was the tiniest hint of a blush on his face.
"You're all out of your minds," he declared, turning to leave. "I'm outta here." Putting his
guitar over his shoulder, he walked out of the room.
The others glanced at each other, smirking, then followed him, to the shrieks of their fans.
About 15 minutes later, when Matt had finally freed himself from all the girls, he made his
way over to the other Digidestined.
"Great performance," Kari told him.
"Yeah, you were great up there," Joe agreed. "Both you and Mimi."
Matt looked around. "Hey, where is she, by the way?" he wanted to know.
Sora got a worried look. "She went outside about half an hour ago," she told him.
"More like ran outside," Tai muttered. "Yeah, it was like she couldn't get away from us
fast enough," Davis complained. "What did we do?"
TK rolled his eyes. "It was probably just you," he replied.
Davis glared at him. "Can it, TG."
"Hey TK, want to go dance?" Kari asked, ignoring Davis, who looked ready to kill. TK
followed suit, and the 2 of them went out onto the dance floor. Davis was still watching
the 2 of them with white-hot anger. Yolei sweatdropped as she glanced at him. "Um,
maybe we should just leave him alone for a while," she suggested to Cody, backing away.
"Hey Izzy, want to dance?" Without waiting for an answer, she grabbed his arm and
dragged him out onto the floor.
Tai, Cody, Joe, and Davis began to head over to the buffet table. Matt was about to
follow them when Sora stopped him.
"That was a nice song you sang," she began. "Thanks," replied Matt.
"It was even better than the way you sang at rehearsals. So who were you singing for?"
Sora wanted to know.
Matt sighed in impatience. "Why does everyone keep asking that?" he demanded.
"'Cause we're curious," Sora told him. "So who was it for?"
Matt looked away. "Okay, if you're wondering who I had in mind when I was singing it, it
was..." he trailed off.
"Yeah?" Sora urged him.
"Mimi," he finally admitted.
"I knew it!" Sora cried triumphantly. "I just knew it!"
"Then why'd you bother asking?" Matt demanded.
"I wanted to be sure," Sora explained. Then her face took on a concerned look. "Matt,
you've got to go after her. You've got to tell her what you told me."
Matt's jaw dropped. "Not on your life," he said instantly. "No way! Me and her are like
explosives around each other. She can't stand me."
"I really don't think so," Sora told him. "She ran out about 45 minutes ago, and she
seemed pretty upset. I saw her expression...I can tell she thinks the song was for me."
Matt gaped at her. "What?" he asked. "I saw her run out, but I just assumed it was
another one of her temper tantrums or something."
"That's what I'm saying, Matt," said Sora. "You have to follow her, you have to tell her
that the song was for her, not me."
Matt sighed, knowing Sora was right. "Seriously, if it's not one thing with this girl..." he
muttered, then headed for the door.
Mimi sat on the pier of the lake, in the forest behind the community center. She stared
at her reflection as tears rolled down her cheeks.
I'm pathetic, she thought, feeling disgusted with herself. I have no self control. I do not
believe that, of all people, I fell for...him. And now she was crying because he liked her
best friend.
Mimi glared at her reflection. "I hate this," she muttered. I can't believe I actually care
about him. If anything, I should be feeling sorry for Sora. He's so rude, and mean, and
a jerk, and...he can be really nice...
She let out a cry of frustration as she tugged at her hair. "I am seriously messed up," she
muttered, wiping away her tears.
"So you finally realized that, too," said a voice from behind her. "At least I'm not the only
one who sees it now."
Mimi froze, then spun around to face Matt. "Ugh, it's you again," she said angrily. "Can't
you ever say ANTHING that doesn't come out as an insult?"
Matt walked up to her. "Sure I can," he told her. "You just have to listen."
Mimi stared at him for a second before turning away. "Okay, what do you want, Ishida?
Wait, do you want me to play matchmaker? I know you like Sora, so I can easily set you
up with her. She is my best friend, after all." It would be a little hard, getting Sora away
from Tai, but she was really good at these sort of things. Plus, it would keep her busy,
so she wouldn't think about the completely nuts idea of her and Matt together.
Matt was staring at her as she continued to talk about setting him and Sora up, as if
she were crazy. Then he just gave a small smirk and leaned in and kissed her.
Mimi was cut off in midsentence, and her eyes widened. What in the world? she screamed
in her mind. This is not happening, this is not happening. She felt as if someone had
suddenly thrown all her feelings in a blender and hit 'frappe'.
Then she finally got herself together--from her point of view anyway. She pulled away
from Matt and quickly backed away.
"Matt stop, please don't do that to me," she told him, tears beginning to stream down
again.
"Mimi-" Matt began, but Mimi cut him off. "Okay, I admit it, I have a crush on you, I like
you, but I know you like Sora. Honestly, I'll do my best to get you 2 together, I'm good
at this sort of stuff, just don't play with my feelings like that..."
Matt put his hands on her shoulders calmly, even though she was on the verge of getting
hysterical. He'd seen her act like this before, although not over something like this.
"But Mimi, Sora's not the one I want," Matt told her.
Mimi blinked at him through her tears. "What?" she asked, her voice just above a whisper.
"Yeah," continued Matt. "I'm not after Sora, she's already got Tai. The one I want...is
you." He glanced away, blushing.
Mimi stared at him in shock. "Me?" she gasped. "No way. We always fight, but the last
time you and Sora fought was..." she thought hard. "Never. And we can't stand each
other..."
Matt looked at her. "I don't know about you, but I never hated you," he told her. "Sure
it might've seemed that way, but really, it just kind of...happened. Like I didn't have any
control over what I said, it was just something about you."
Mimi blinked again, slowly. "I...don't think I understand..." she said.
Matt thought hard. "Well, it's too hard to explain," he said. "All I know is that you're....
different from other girls, it's like you've got multiple personalities or something. I'm sorry
for all the times when I made you think I couldn't stand you."
Mimi looked back at him a moment longer. "You always did drive me crazy," she murmured,
turning away. "And I hate this so much."
Matt took on a somewhat hurt, confused expression. "What did I do now? I already said
I was sorry."
Mimi suddenly gave a choked sob and flung her arms around Matt. "No," she whispered
into his shoulder. "Because I fell in love with you."
Talk about moodswings, thought Matt. Then he smiled down at the girl who was still
crying. He turned her so she was looking up at him.
"Is that really so bad?" he asked simply, a tiny hint of sarcasm in his voice. Mimi just
stared into his eyes, then shook her head softly, allowing a weak smile. "No, I guess
there are worse things," she murmured, just before they met in their second kiss.
*Sighs* Finally! It's done. It took me forever to think of this, for a Valentine's Day fic
thingy, and I don't even know if it's all that good ^^* So tell me if it is, kk? R&R, pleeze!
^_^
drive him crazy. Well, maybe she will, but would that really be so bad? Um...alright, that
might've been kind of hard to understand, but just read the fic, and you might
get it. Don't forget to review, pretty please! ^_^
DRIVE ME CRAZY
Mimi rushed into the school computer lab on Saturday afternoon of February 14th, seeing
all the other Digidestined in there. "Sorry I'm late," she gasped. "I went to the mall 'cause
there was this really big-"
"Sale," TK and Kari finished together.
Mimi went over to stand next to Sora, tucking her shopping bags behind her and avoiding
Tai's and Matt's annoyed glares.
"Where are Izzy and Joe?" she wanted to know, glancing around.
"Izzy has a computer club meeting, and Joe's at the library studying," Cody informed her.
"Okay, back on subject," ordered Tai.
"Like I was saying, there's something really wierd going on in the Digiworld," said Davis.
"Yeah, there's this woman who's going around and changing Ken's leftover control spires
into evil digimon," added Yolei.
"So what we want to figure out is who's doing it, and why," said Matt.
"But we don't even know how they're doing it, and what the point of it is," protested Kari.
"So we're going to find out today," declared Tai. "I think we should split up into 2 groups.
Me and Sora'll go together, along with Davis and Cody. Matt, you go with Kari, Mimi, TK
and Yolei."
"Amazing how it always turns out that way," muttered Matt, casting a meaningful glance
at Tai and Sora. Tai quickly looked away as Sora blushed.
"Hey, how come TK gets to go with Kari and Mimi?" complained Davis.
"Davis, we don't have time for this," Yolei told him impatiently as Tai gave him a wierd
look.
Sora turned to Mimi quickly. "Did you get that, Mimi?" she asked.
Mimi had taken out her Walkman and pulled on her headphones as she listened to it. She
held up a finger. "One sec guys, this is my favourite song, 'The Call' by the Backstreet
Boys."
Everyone sweatdropped. "Mimi!" said Tai in exasperation. "Turn it off, this is important!"
"Okay, it's done," said Mimi, pulling the earphones down.
"Did you hear a thing we all just said?" demanded Tai.
"Something about going to the digital world and finding the person who's turning control
spires into digimon?" Mimi guessed.
Gatomon rolled her eyes, but Tai shrugged. "Close enough."
Davis held up his digivice to the computer screen. "Digiport open!" he commanded.
The familiar light came, and they were all sucked into the Digiworld.
"Okay, we'll catch up with you guys in a few hours, right here," Tai decided, gesturing
around to Primary Village.
"We can't stay all that long," Matt said. "Mimi and I have a concert tonight for Valentine's
Day."
"We know," replied Sora.
"And plus," added Mimi. "I've still got a few things I have to get at the mall."
"Still looking out for the greater good, huh?" Matt said to her in sarcasm.
"Excuse me, but I'm positive I heard you complaining about getting out of here quick, too,"
Mimi retorted.
Kari pushed them both forward. "Guys, hash differences on your own time. We've got a
mission to complete," she told them.
"Good luck!" called Sora as she, Tai, Davis and Cody headed off in the opposite direction,
towards the area that Gomamon was guarding (A/N: Episode 6, the Joe one. I know they
already knocked down the control spire in that episode, but remember, Ken rebuilt a lot
of the spires pretty fast).
"Where should we go first?" asked Yolei.
"I think we should head towards the city that Andromon's guarding," TK suggested. "I
think it's pretty close to here."
Yolei pulled out her D3 and brought up a map of the Digiworld. "Actually, it's kind of far,
but it's still pretty much the closest one to here."
"Then let's go," said Matt, beginning to walk towards the city, the others following him.
The hike was mostly through forest, since it would take too long to simply go around the
forest.
"I wonder if we'll see Palmon, or one of the others," wondered Mimi aloud.
"I don't think so," TK told her. "The area Palmon's protecting is pretty far away from here."
Mimi nodded slowly, then put her Walkman back on as they continued to march through
the woods. The music distracted her for a while, but she soon became aware of the fact
that she was getting kind of tired. Her hand accidentally brushed against some type of
bush that was covered in what seemed like sap. She wiped it against her jeans. (A/N:
She's wearing the same outfit she was wearing in the Golemon ep., but minus the wierd
hair, she's still got pink hair.)
"Matt, how much longer is it?" she shouted, momentarily forgetting that the others
couldn't hear her Walkman at the same volume she was listening to it.
Matt made a face as TK and Yolei winced and held their hands over their ears.
"She's got a loud voice," said Yolei, laughing weakly.
"You should hear her scream," TK replied, sweatdropping.
Kari reached over and pulled the headphones off Mimi's head. "A little louder, Mimi, the
other side of the digital world can't hear you yet," she told her sarcastically.
Mimi blinked in surprise. "Ohhhhh," she said, finally understanding. "Sorry."
"And Mimi, we've only been walking 10 minutes," Matt told her.
"Well I'm tired, can we take a break?" she demanded.
"We used to walk a lot longer than this when we were here before," he pointed out.
"It's been 3 years since I was last here," Mimi countered.
"And apparently, you haven't changed much," he returned.
"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Mimi angrily.
"Didn't you already get over this phase?" demanded Matt. "Seriously, you're acting just as
babyish as you did before."
"And you're acting just as-" Mimi was about to retort, but then TK stepped in.
"Okay you 2, cut it out," he ordered. "Right now, you're both acting childish. We're sup-
posed to be concentrating on our mission."
Mimi bit back what she was about to say to Matt. "Fine," she snapped, glaring hot coals
at him. "If I can't express my opinion, then I won't say another word." She firmly set her
headphones back in place, and cranked up the volume on her Walkman so high that the
others could hear it.
Matt rolled his eyes. Well, if she wants to make herself go deaf, that's her problem, he
thought, turning away and continuing to walk. She's so annoying sometimes, it drives me
crazy. Can't she ever take anything seriously? Great, and the band had to ask her to
sing with us tonight. See if I ever let them come up with an idea again.
TK, Kari, and Yolei glanced at each other. Then Yolei sighed in exasperation and followed
Matt and Mimi, as TK and Kari met each other's eyes and laughed quietly. The digimon
blinked cluelessly.
As they resumed the hike, Mimi turned the volume on the Walkman down slightly, tuning
it to different channels, kind of absently. She was thinking about how ticked off she was
at Matt.
He makes me so mad sometimes, she thought, scowling. Does he always have to be such
a jerk? Argh, and I actually have to sing with him later, too! I don't believe this.
She came across one of her favourite songs, by one of her favourite artists, Pink.
"You make me sick
I want you
and I'm hating it
Got me living
like a candlestick..."
Mimi sang along to the lyrics in her mind, then for some reason, her eyes wandered to
Matt. She blinked, catching herself. What's up with that? she wondered.
"Driving me crazy
baby, don't you quit
Can't get enough of it
You got me going again
Baby you got me going again
You make me sick..."
(A/N: Sorry if I didn't get the lyrics exactly right ^^*)
Almost involuntarily, her eyes traveled back to Matt, then widened slightly as she realized
that the song described exactly what she was feeling. She didn't want to admit it, but
MAYBE there was a ring of truth to it.
He does drive me crazy..., she thought. Her frown was replaced by an uncertain look of
confused realization.
...but I don't want him to stop.
Finally, they arrived at the outskirts of the city. "This is the place," Kari confirmed.
"Okay. We can take a break before we go in," said Matt, turning to Mimi. "Is that okay
for your Highness?" he demanded sarcastically.
Mimi shot him a glance, but said nothing. She just sat down on the sand next to Yolei
and Patamon. Matt looked at her, feeling a little concerned. Sure enough, Mimi hadn't
spoken another word for the rest of the trip, but that wasn't like her. He'd kept waiting
for her to give up after about 15 minutes and start complaining again, but it had been
almost 2 hours, and she hadn't even uttered one sound.
But what am I complaining about? he asked himself. At least I didn't have to deal with her
whining. He thought for a moment, then sighed. That was the problem. A walk in the
digital world just didn't seem like one without Mimi complaining every half hour or so. He
hoped she hadn't taken that remark about her being so babyish too seriously.
At least she was talking quietly now to Yolei. Matt watched her a moment longer, then
turned to Kari and TK. "We have to let the others know where we are now," he said.
"Right," TK agreed. Kari handed Matt her d-terminal, and Matt quickly wrote an email and
sent it to Davis.
"First we've got to get through the city gate," Kari commented.
"Leave it to me," TK told her. "Patamon, let's do it the old-fashioned way." He pulled out
his digivice and held it out to Patamon, as he digivolved to Angemon.
"Whoa," Yolei gasped, staring in amazement. "Patamon's champion form is an angel?"
Kari nodded, and Matt handed back her terminal. "The others have gotten to their destin-
ation alright," he mentioned. "I think they're in some place called Little Edo." (A/N: At
least, that's what I THINK it's called.)
Mimi stood up. "Okay then, let's go," she stated, her first real words in the past 2 hours.
Matt looked at her. "Are you sure you don't want to rest anymore?" he asked her. All he
got in return was an annoyed glare. "Don't start with me, Matt," she said, with a hint of
anger. She turned around and began heading through the gates that Patamon had just
broken open. Matt turned to TK in confusion. "But I wasn't being sarcastic."
"I think there's something wrong with her," said Yolei. "But we'd better follow her before
she gets into any trouble."
Kari laughed softly. "Yeah, that'd be Mimi all over."
They tagged along behind Mimi. She seemed to slow down, as if listening to
something (not her Walkman, she took it off). Then she took off down the streets, looking
right and left, searching for something.
"Mimi, what are you looking for?" TK asked her.
"I could've sworn that..." Mimi trailed off, then she stopped in her tracks, and turned down
another street. The other 4 looked at each other with one of those 'Mimi's completely
flipped again' looks that she knew so well, then Matt quickly ran after her, with the others
following.
Mimi slowed down, then turned to the right, into an alleyway. Then her face brightened
and she gasped in happiness.
"Palmon!"
The others had heard Mimi's squeal of happiness. "Palmon?" asked Kari, quickly running
to catch up to Mimi. They all found her kneeling on the ground, already tangled in Palmon's
vines as they hugged each other, bawling in happiness. Andromon was also there, stand-
ing and watching them with a confused face.
"Andromon!" said Kari happily.
"Palmon, what are you doing here?" TK asked.
Palmon got serious and let go of Mimi. "Andromon called me here. Actually, he called all
the others too, but me and Gabumon were the closest to this area. Gabumon should be
coming any minute."
Matt smiled slightly. "You mean Gabumon'll be here too?" Palmon nodded in confirmation.
Mimi's face darkened. "It's because of those control spire digimon, isn't it?" she said ang-
rily.
Andromon nodded. "Yes," he said. "They've been appearing all around the Digiworld, and
it's becoming a very serious problem. They've started ruining villages and becoming a
threat to digimon everywhere. They must be stopped."
They stared at him in shock, except Palmon. "I didn't realize they were such a big threat,"
murmured Mimi. Yolei nodded. "We should've gotten rid of them first, before we started
our cleanup of the Digiworld," she agreed.
Just then, a blue blur came running up. They all stared at it in surprise, until it stopped
and digivolved back into...Gabumon. Matt grinned and ran over to him. "Gabumon!"
"Glad you made it," Palmon said to Gabumon with a smile. He smiled back. "It's good to
see you again," he agreed. "You too," he added, looking up at Mimi.
"Well, thanks," Mimi said, then glanced at Matt. "Though I'm sure SOME people wouldn't
say that."
Matt glared back at her. "With good reason," he responded. It was an instant reflex.
TK quickly stepped between the 2. "Guys, if you don't mind, we're trying to solve a major
problem here," he said sternly.
Mimi once again held back what she was going to say. "Okay fine," she said, still looking
angrily at Matt. "I could call you so many names right now, but one of us has to be the
mature one."
Matt snickered and rolled his eyes. "It sure isn't gonna be you."
Mimi settled for just sticking her tongue out at him. "See?" he smirked.
She clenched her fists and stalked away, Palmon running after her. TK, who'd been watch-
ing all this with a look that was a cross between annoyed and amused, turned to Matt.
"If you don't mind my saying this, you haven't exactly been acting all that mature around
her either," he defended Mimi. "I mean, you've got a concert with this girl in a few hours."
Matt sighed. "Fine, I'll keep things on track," he agreed as Gabumon watched him in con-
fusion. Andromon called them all over.
As Matt sat down in front of him along with the others, he glanced over at Mimi, who was
seated next to Kari and Palmon. She seemed to be fuming, but she also looked as if.....
Matt suddenly felt really bad. She looked like she wanted to cry, though if it was out of
frustration, sadness, or confusion, he wasn't sure.
"Andromon, we have to know," said Hawkmon. "Has one of those spire digimon gotten
loose in the city?"
Andromon nodded in confirmation. "Yes, this morning. I checked, but the control spire
that was there yesterday is gone, so I suspect it's still in the city."
The Digidestined and digimon looked at each other. "Okay, we've got no choice, we have
to hunt that thing down," Gatomon declared. Kari nodded, agreeing with her partner.
"You're right," said Mimi, standing up. "Let's find that thing."
The group traveled down the streets, searching for any signs of trouble.
"I didn't realize this place was so big," muttered Yolei.
"Yeah," Kari agreed. "It seemed so much smaller from the outside."
Mimi stopped suddenly, letting everyone get in front of her, before Palmon noticed that
she'd stopped in her tracks. "Mimi?"
The others came back over. "Um Mimi, sometime this year would be nice," Matt told her
sarcastically.
Mimi held up her hand. "Quiet," she commanded, listening. Then she turned to Yolei.
"Can these spire things change into any sort of digimon they want?" she asked.
Yolei blinked. "I guess so," she answered slowly. "Why?"
Mimi turned to the direction she'd been listening in. "I think I just heard some Machindro-
mon," she told them.
"Well, this city is a machine-digimon place," said Patamon.
Kari listened. "I hear them too," she said. "But one of them sounds, I don't know, differ-
ent."
"Let's check it out," decided Matt. Keeping quiet, they followed the sound of the Machine-
dramon's voices. They finally came across a large group of them.
"I don't see what's so special about them," said Gabumon in confusion.
Palmon suddenly gasped. "I do!" she exclaimed, in a hushed voice. They turned to her.
"What about them?" Mimi asked.
"See how they have grey, machine-type eyes? But look, that one has kind of..black eyes."
She pointed to one in the middle, and sure enough, it did have black, metallic kind of
eyes...like a control spire.
"Maybe it was just programmed wrong?" offered Yolei, sounding doubtful of her own words.
Andromon shook his head. "No, it's not that," he replied. "Notice how that one moves
differently then the others."
It was true. While the others moved with machine-like stiffness, the odd one out moved
more loosely.
"It's a control spire," said TK, absolutely sure.
"But why is it just doing what the other ones are doing?" Matt wondered.
Mimi thought about that for a moment, then her eyes widened. "Oh no, I think it's thinking
of attacking the others when they least suspect it," she moaned.
"That's awful!" cried Kari. "We have to stop it."
"First we've got to get the Machinedramon away from it," said Matt.
"I'll handle that," said Andromon. He ran down to the Machinedramon, said something (the
Digidestined couldn't hear what), and got the machindramon to follow him.
The fake Machinedramon attempted to follow the others. "Now's our cue!" cried Patamon.
"Let's do it!" declared TK and Kari in unison. "Digi Armour Energize!"
Patamon and Gatomon armour-digivolved into Pegasusmon and Nefertimon. They got in
front of the control spire digimon. "And where do you think you're going?" demanded
Nefertimon.
The kids and remaining digimon began running over. "You'd better digivolve too, Hawkmon,"
Yolei told her digimon. "Digi Armour Energize!"
Halsemon digivolved into Shurimon and ran down to join the battle. The kids stopped just
a few feet away.
"It's your turn to step in, Gabumon," said Matt, pulling out his digivice.
"You go too, Palmon," said Mimi, following suit. It was probably the first thing they'd
agreed on all day.
Gabumon and Palmon transformed into Garurumon and Togemon, then they joined in to
attack the spire, which was shooting power beams all over the place. They were knocking
down buildings, posts, even the digimon at times.
"The spire's just bent on destroying the whole place, it doesn't even care about the digi-
mon," said Mimi.
"She's right," Yolei realized. "But it's not just blowing down the place, it's trying to make
the others go down with it." She watched in horror as one of the spire's beams hit Halse-
mon.
"It's got pretty good aim," said Kari as a beam hit Nefertimon.
Togemon jumped at the control spire. "Light Speed Jabbin'!" she shouted, pummeling the
fake digimon with her fists and causing it's beams to go askew. But the spire wasn't fall-
ing back, some of those beams were hitting Togemon, and hard. Not to mention the
blasts that were still hitting the buildings and falling down all around them. It was like a
bombing during a war.
Mimi gasped. "Togemon, watch out!" she cried. Yet another blast hit Togemon, and she
ended up flying backwards, dedigivolving back to Palmon.
"Palmon!" Without really thinking, Mimi began to run over to her digimon.
"Mimi, what are you doing?" Matt demanded, grabbing her around the waist and the
shoulders. She struggled wildly. "Let me go Matt!" she cried.
He held her firmly despite her fierce attempts to escape. "It's too dangerous! You'll get
seriously hurt!" he shouted.
"Why do you even care anyway?"
Matt paused for a second. "Mimi-" he began, trying to reason with her.
The fake digimon fired a beam aimed for Palmon, since she was down for a moment.
"Howling Blaster!" declared Garurumon from behind her, blasting the beam back towards
the spire. It dodged skillfully.
"Tempest Wing!" Halsemon fired a counter attack, but it dodged that as well.
"Palmon, be careful!"
Palmon got up, noticing Matt restraining Mimi. She shot him a 'don't let go of her' look
and ran towards the other digimon.
Mimi was still trying to free herself from Matt. "Let go!" she yelled. "Palmon's going to get
shot, I have to help her!"
Matt still kept his hold on her, though she was stronger than he'd ever thought. "Mimi,
listen to yourself!" he yelled back. "Palmon's gonna be fine, but you're really going to get
hurt if you go there!"
"She's not going to be fine!" Mimi shouted back. "Can't you see that? Matt, it's a little
thing called FRIENDSHIP!"
"In case you don't remember, who's the one who had the crest of friendship when we
were here before?" demanded Matt.
"And you'd've thought it'd teach you-"
"Matt, Mimi, give it a rest and get back, before you both get hit!" called TK.
They were pretty close to the fighting digimon, and there was still that matter of all the
falling debris.
"Mimi, and you wonder why-" Matt started, but Mimi wasn't listening to him, she was look-
ing at something above them.
"Look out!" she cried suddenly, pushing them both to the side and to the ground. Before
Matt could even realize what was going on, the world was already blowing up around him.
He felt Mimi next to him, and on instinct he put his arm over her head to protect her.
The explosion finally died down, and Matt got up, trying to look through the smoke. "Mimi,
are you okay?" he asked, shaking her.
Mimi got up as well, blinking slowly. "Yeah, I'm fine," she said. Then she whirled to him.
"Saved your life!" she cried triumphantly. "You owe me big time."
Matt checked to see if he was hurt, then looked Mimi over quickly. She seemed fine. He
smirked. "Gotta hand it to you, for a spoiled brat, that was pretty good."
Mimi glowered at him. "Maybe I'd have been better off leaving you-"
TK, Kari, and Yolei ran over right then. "Are you guys okay?" cried Yolei. Mimi was still
shooting dirty looks at Matt. "Yeah, I'm fine," she replied through clenched teeth. Matt
rolled his eyes and was about to say something when he noticed something and stared
at her chest (A/N: No, not in THAT way, yeesh ^^*).
Mimi looked at him warily and a little self consciously, backing away. "Matt-"
"What's going on?" he asked in astonishment, still looking at her chest. "Huh?" Mimi glanc-
ed
down, then noticed the green light coming from her chest. It was getting brighter and
brighter. Mimi gasped. "Wha?"
TK's, Matt's and Kari's eyes widened. "Oh my gosh," gasped Kari. "Mimi...it's you crest
symbol."
Yolei turned to them all with a clueless face. "What are you talking about?" she wanted
to know. Kari quickly filled her in. Mimi's crest symbol began glowing brighter and brighter
until......
Mimi cried out and stumbled back as the green light exploded from her chest and shot up-
wards. Palmon, who was restraining the fake digmon, was suddenly drawn to it, amazed
by the familiarity.
"Palmon, digivolve to....Lillymon!"
"Lillymon," gasped Mimi. The others stared at the flower fairy.
"Mimi....that's your digimon?" asked Yolei in amazement.
"Yeah, that's Lillymon alright," Matt confirmed.
"Hey Mimi, great to see you again," called Lillymon, waving in her typical way. Mimi laugh-
ed. "Come on, let's take care of this thing!" she called back.
"Everyone, all together!" commanded Pegasusmon. "Star Shower!"
"Cat's Eye Beam!" shouted Nefertimon.
"Tempest Wing!" cried Halsemon.
The 3 attacks hit the fake Machinedramon dead-center, and it fell back. It turned black,
and cracks began appearing over it's body. Garurumon leaped forward.
"Howling Blaster!" he growled, letting out the blue beam.
"And for the finale," said Lillymon, bouncing off a tree and into the air, powering up her
cannon.
"Flower Cannon!" The green shot, along with Garurumon's blast, was enough to blow the
spire to pieces. It disintegrated right in front of them.
Lillymon went back to her rookie form and collapsed to her knees, as the others followed
suit.
"Palmon!" Mimi finally broke free of Matt's grip and raced to her friend. "Are you alright?"
she asked worriedly. Palmon smiled weakly. "Just a little tired," she told her. "I haven't
done that in 3 years."
Mimi laughed softly. "You were great," she said, hugging her.
Matt watched her with a little smile for a second before Gabumon came over. "Gabumon,
you okay?" Matt asked.
"Don't worry, I'm fine," Gabumon answered.
Kari glanced up from where she was kneeling next to Gatomon. "Hey, Andromon!" she
cried happily.
Andromon came running up. "I saw the explosions," he said. "Is everyone okay?"
"Everything's totally under control," Matt replied.
"The control spire digimon's been defeated," TK added.
"Excellent," said Andromon. "None of the machinedramon were hurt, I evacuated all of
them to the city's underground security area."
"It's great that we've defeated the spire," Hawkmon spoke up. "But that's not the
real problem. Who sent it here, and why would they do it?"
The Digidestined and digimon were quiet for a while.
"I don't think whoever it is is out for world domination," Mimi finally said slowly. "I mean,
the control spire didn't seem like it was going to take over the city, all it was doing was
tearing down the place."
"She's right," said Gabumon.
Matt looked toward the sun. "Well, we don't have time to think about it now," he said.
"It's getting kind of late." He looked at Mimi. "And we've still got that Valentine's Day con-
cert."
Mimi looked back at him, sighing. She didn't want to leave Palmon just yet. "I know, I
know," she said. "I said I'd do it, and I will."
"Don't worry Mimi," Kari assured her. "The way things are going, we'll be back here really
soon."
Later that night, Mimi was in her room, trying to decide what to wear for the big Valen-
tine's Day party that night. That's where she and Matt's band would be performing. It
was going to be held at the community center, for kids 10-16, and Matt's band had been
offered the chance to play there for a while. The band had accepted, and had been
wanting to do something different than their usual stuff at the performance. So that's
where she came in.
Mimi pulled a fuschia-pink sleeveless top which was dotted with sequins out of her closet,
stared at it critically, then flung it aside with an impatient gesture, sighing in frustration.
It flew across the room and fell to the ground, joining the growing pile of clothes that
she had carelessly tossed aside.
Why did I agree to do this? Mimi demanded in her mind, her frustration growing. What was
I on? She thought back to when the band had asked her to perform with them.
**Flashback**
Mimi walked through the door of her apartment after cheerleading practice, yet she was
barely feeling winded. It didn't seem possible, especially after the routine they'd been
doing, but she wasn't tired. Must've been something I ate in the school cafeteria, she
thought.
Right when she'd been about to sit down in the living room and watch TV, the phone rang,
so she went to the kitchen to pick it up.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Mimi?" asked the voice on the other end.
"Yeah, this is Mimi," she replied.
"Hi, this is Troy Kinoto," he said.
"Troy?" Mimi scanned her memory, trying to place a face to the name. "Oh yeah," she
said, finally remembering. "You're a member in Matt's band, right?"
"Yeah," Troy confirmed. "We've met before, I think it was a couple weeks ago."
"Yes, I remember," Mimi told him. "So what's going on?"
"Well, you know that Valentine's party that's going down on Valentine's Day, right?" he
began, suddenly sounding a bit uneasy. Just a little.
"Uh-huh," said Mimi. "Matt told me you guys are gonna be playing there." She wondered
why he was telling her all this, why he'd called her in the first place. I hope he's not just
one of the 50 different guys who've been asking me out, she thought.
"Yeah, we were asked to play, and we wanted to think up something different. So the
idea of adding another vocalist came up, and Matt told us that you're a pretty good
singer, so we decided to ask you if you'd like to perform with us."
Mimi thought it over for a minute. "Well, I've never really sang with a band before..."
"I think you'd be pretty good at it," Troy offered.
"Won't some of my friends hate me 'cause I'm singing with the most popular band in
Odaiba?" Mimi teased.
Troy laughed. "From what Matt's said, I get the feeling you don't really care what other
people think of you."
Matt talks about me? she thought briefly, before the thought evaporated from her mind.
"Okay, I'll do it," she agreed.
"Great!" said Troy happily. "Can you come to the school auditorium in half an hour? That's
where we're practicing today, and we want to see how our idea works out."
"Well..." Mimi glanced at the kitchen clock. 4:30. Her parents wouldn't be home till at least
5:30 anyway. "I guess I can make it," she told Troy.
"Perfect. See ya there," said Troy as they hung up.
The band struck it's last chord, letting it fade away. Mimi put the microphone back on its
stand as Matt pulled his hand away from his guitar.
Jaren, another band member, put down his equipment, getting ready to pack it. He looked
at Mimi. "You're a really great singer," he told her in admiration.
"Thanks," Mimi replied, blushing just the tiniest bit as Kevin, yet another band member
nodded in agreement to Jaren's statement.
Matt turned to Mimi. "Yeah, you've even gotten better than before," he stated.
"Yeah, I've been in a few plays with singing roles when I was in America," Mimi explained,
kind of embarrased. Troy stood up from where he was sitting at the drums.
"This is gonna be a great performance," he said, smiling. "You 2 sound great together.
Maybe, if you want, we can make you a band member, Mimi."
Matt and Mimi simultaneously glanced uneasily at each other for a second. "Don't think
so," Mimi finally replied slowly as Matt glared at Troy. Troy raised an eyebrow and shrug-
ged. "Something I said?"
Mimi secretly looked at her digivice. It was 6:30; she'd been there almost 2 hours.
"Oh my gosh," she gasped in alarm. "Sorry guys, I really have to go. Cya!" She left in a
hurry, which was too bad, or lucky, depending on one's POV. If she'd stayed within ear-
shot only a moment longer, she would've heard Matt's friends teasing him about her.
**End Flashback**
Now Mimi looked at herself in the mirror, holding up 2 outfits. She sighed. I still don't know
what made me decide to do this, she thought, mentally ticking off the list. I'm totally
clueless on what to wear. Matt's driving me crazy. I don't want him to stop....
Mimi frantically shook her head violently. I did NOT think that, I did NOT think that, she
chanted silently. What I was feeling in the Digiworld meant nothing whatsoever.
Mimi finally threw up her hands in annoyance, then picked up the 2 outfits, stuffed them
into a bag, and threw on the clothes she'd been wearing before. Then she bounded out of
the room and out of her apartment, locking the door behind her. There was only one way
to settle this.
Matt pulled the pan out of the oven and set it on the stove. "Where's TK?" he demanded,
turning to Kari. "I thought he just went down to the store to get Valentine cookie cut-
ters."
Kari looked up from where she was at the kitchen table. "You want me to go get him?"
she asked. Matt nodded, and Kari grabbed her jacket and headed out the door.
Matt sighed, wondering how he'd ever allowed TK and Kari to talk him into helping them
bake cookies for the Valentine's Day party. They had both volunteered to do it, and they'd
asked him and Tai to help. But TK had disappeared about 20 minutes ago, and now that
Kari had just gone to look for him, and since Tai could barely turn on an oven without set-
ting something on fire, Matt was on his own for now.
The doorbell rang. Matt glanced towards the door, wondering if the 2 younger kids had
accidentally shut themselves out. "It's open!" he called.
The door was pushed open, and then Matt turned around to face Mimi. "Huh?" He looked
at her in confusion. "Mimi, what are you doing here?"
"Matt, I need your help," she declared, holding up 2 different outfits. "This is your concert.
Tell me what I should wear."
Matt rolled his eyes in impatience. "Mimi, can't this wait? I'm a little busy, wait until Kari
comes back."
"Come on Matt, it's your choice," Mimi told him, pushing her outfits toward him. "Which
one?"
"I don't know, and right now I don't care. I have to finish what I'm doing first." Matt went
back over to the oven and put another tray of cookie dough in the oven. Mimi came up
behind him, setting the clothes on a chair. "What're you doing anyways, that's so imp-
ortant?" she wanted to know.
"I'm helping TK and Kari with the stuff they have to make for the dance tonight," Matt
explained, setting the oven to the right temperature again.
"Can I help too?" Mimi asked. Matt turned to her. "You want to help?" he asked incredul-
ously.
Mimi frowned. "Why's that so hard to believe? It seems like you need help."
Matt tried his hardest not to laugh. "Well, can you even cook?" he asked. Mimi hmphed
and turned away, heading over to the cookie batter. "I guess we'll find out, won't we?"
Matt watched her as she began putting the batter onto the trays, then shrugged and
turned back to the oven. They worked for a little while, actually carrying on somewhat of
a conversation that didn't dissolve into a fight. For a while anyways.
Mimi impatiently squeezed the icing bottle as hard as she could, but it wouldn't come out.
"Matt, this icing's stuck," she complained, still trying to get it out. Matt set another tray
of cookies on the stove and came over. "Let me try," he said, taking the bottle from her.
He began squeezing it hard too, but the icing still wasn't coming out. Getting impatient as
well, he squeezed it as hard as he could.
The icing stayed inside the bottle for an instant, then it shot out of the bottle in a long
stream. Unfortunately, Matt had been pointing the bottle toward Mimi, and so the icing
accidentally sprayed all over her striped tank top as she let out a shriek.
Matt tried as hard as he could, but he couldn't hold it back. He burst into laughter.
Mimi was staring down at her shirt in shock, then she glared furiously at him. "You jerk!"
she shouted. "You did that on purpose!" She reached for another icing bottle, and quickly
taking off the cap, she squirted him with it mercilessly. Although Matt was still doubled
over in laughter, he managed to get her back almost as good as she got him. Which
quickly led to an icing war, which then began leading to Mimi hitting Matt, with the
kitchen looking as if a tornado had hit.
"What in the world?!" Matt heard Kari exclaim in shock. The 2 of them quickly turned to
face her and TK, who'd just come in, and were looking around in surprise.
TK stared at them in amusement. "You guys take a swim in the icing? Next time, you
might want to try swimming pools," he suggested.
"He started it!" Mimi said immediately, pointing to Matt.
"Me?" demanded Matt indignantly. "It was an accident, you're the one who took a shot at
me first!"
"And I thought Davis was immature," muttered Kari to TK. Then she sighed. "Well, since
it'll take forever to clean this place, let's finish making the Valentine cookies first."
"There's not that much to finish," Matt told her. "Mimi and I did a lot of it while you were
gone."
"You 2 were working together? And you're still alive?" gasped TK. He turned to Kari in
mock amazement. "Wow, I would've given them about 5 minutes before they killed each
other."
"Quiet, TK," Matt told him in annoyance as Kari laughed. "Where were you guys anyway?"
"We ran into Yolei and Cody," Kari explained. She looked around. "Okay, you and TK finish
up the cookies, while Mimi and I clean this place up, alright?"
Everyone nodded in agreement and set to work. It actually didn't take the girls as long as
Matt thought it would to clean the kitchen, all they really had to do was wipe up a lot of
icing. They were finished before him and TK.
Kari turned to Mimi. "Mimi, will you come over to my place so you can help me with what
to wear?" she asked.
Mimi nodded. "Sure Kari, but only if you help me with what I should wear."
"Deal," Kari agreed. "Can you guys finish up here by yourselves?"
"Sure," TK told her. "We'll meet you and the others at the community center, okay?"
"Mimi, remember to be there half an hour before everything starts," Matt reminded her.
"Don't worry, I won't be late," Mimi reassured.
"That'd be a first," muttered Matt.
Mimi got that furious look again, but Kari quickly grabbed her arm. "Well, we'll cya." With a
tiny wave to TK and Matt, she pulled Mimi out of the apartment before anything could
get started.
The party was well underway, and going great. The planners had done a fantastic job,
and everyone was having the best time. The stereos were blasting, it was still about half
an hour until Matt's band were going to go onstage.
A slow song was playing now, and Mimi glanced around. She was dancing with Tai (A/N:
No, not that way, it's just a friendly thing.), TK and Yolei were talking, while Kari, who
seemed to have taken pity on Davis, was dancing with him. Sora was with Joe, Izzy,
Cody, and some other kids they all knew from school.
Tai tapped her on the shoulder. "Hey, check out Matt," he said, pointing and snickering.
"He looks like he's going to die. Or wants to anyway."
Mimi looked in the direction he was gesturing in, then giggled. Apparently, Kari wasn't the
only one who'd taken pity on a member of the Motomiya family. Jun practically had Matt
in a stranglehold, not too far off, even though he was trying his hardest to pry her off.
Valentine's Day seemed to be getting to everyone.
Tai and Mimi pulled apart, still laughing a little, then Mimi went to sit next to Sora. Sora
turned to her. "What's so funny?" she wanted to know. Mimi just pointed to Matt, who
was still stuck with Jun. Sora was soon giggling as well. "At least this'll be a Valentine's
Day she'll never forget," she laughed.
"I don't think Matt'll forget too soon either," Mimi snickered. Sora went back to talking
with Izzy and Joe, but Mimi just tuned them out. They were talking about school, one
subject she always hated hearing on Saturday nights.
Tai came up to Sora and asked her to dance, and she gladly accepted as they walked
into the crowd on the dance floor. Mimi smiled after them, lost in thought, until Izzy
asked her to dance. She accepted too, and they went on to the dance floor. It was
just a friendly thing, they were doing more talking than dancing.
Someone tapped Mimi on the shoulder, and she turned around to face Matt. "Sorry guys,
but Mimi, we've got to go. It's our turn," he told them.
"Okay," said Mimi, feeling just a little nervous for the first time that evening. Izzy let go
of her. "Alright you 2, good luck," he said with a smile.
"Thanks Izzy," replied Matt. "Come on Mimi, let's go."
Matt got ready to play the last song that he and Mimi would be singing together. As he
got his guitar in tune, he glanced at Mimi. She seemed to be a little scared and nervous,
but it was better than the way she'd been at the starting, she'd been almost terrified.
Matt met her eyes and gave her a look that read, 'it'll be okay'. She nodded briefly, then
Jaren announced the song, and Mimi began singing. She was good, really good. Despite
how nervous she was, she didn't mess up a single word or note.
"But she can't let her in,
to her world they've known together...."
There were a lot of people cheering, not surprisingly they were mostly guys. But Mimi
was still trying her hardest to concentrate and forget about the distractions. She was
even blocking out her friends, who were in the front row.
"She wants love, but her heart won't let him,
Let him in
He's walking behind.."
There! I did it! she thought in triumph. Of course, the song wasn't over, it was just Matt's
turn, but at least the hardest part was over, her major solo.
Matt's part soon finished quickly, then they began singing together, then seperately as
the song drew to a close.
"She's got love to give..."
"And he's got love to give...
But his heart won't let her in.."
"He's walking behind..."
"She's walking behind..."
As the last chord was struck, a loud uproar of approval rang out from the crowd. Mimi
placed the microphone back on its stand, mentally telling herself to breathe. It's over,
I've done my part.
She glanced at Matt. He had his eyes closed, seeming to be thinking about something.
But before she could wonder about it, Troy came up and grabbed her wrist, raising her
arm
above her head and causing another cheer to erupt from the crowd. He smiled at her.
"Give it up for our leading lady," he told the crowd, and yet another cheer came from the
ocean of people. Troy smirked at Matt and Mimi. "Aren't these 2 great together?"
Matt shot him a dirty look as Mimi sighed in exasperation, and with a last wave at the
audience, marched offstage.
After dropping their stuff off backstage during the intermission, Mimi and Matt went over
to the others. Yolei was giggling.
"You know, Troy was right," said TK with a smile. "You 2 sound perfect together."
"She had stage fright," Matt mentioned with a gesture to Mimi. She glared at him. "No I
didn't," she protested.
"Yeah right Mimi," Matt countered. "You were practically ready to pass out."
"It wasn't stage fright," Mimi argued. "I told you, I've acted in a whole bunch of plays
and stuff, why would I have stage fright?" She stopped suddenly, then deciding not to
wait for Matt's answer, she walked away.
They all looked after her in confusion. "She's been acting kind of strange lately," said
Sora worriedly. "I'd better go after her." She quickly followed Mimi.
Matt glanced at his watch. "Well, I gotta go, we're starting again in a few minutes."
"Which song are you playing?" Kari wanted to know.
"Just something for Valentine's Day," answered Matt, then turning to head backstage.
I hate this so much, Mimi thought, walking through the crowd aimlessly. I hate the way
he bugs me. I hate the way he's always making fun of me. I hate the way he drives me
crazy. I hate the way I love it all. And I hate the fact that I like him.
Mimi was so frustrated, she felt like pulling her hair out, or just bursting into tears.
"Mimi! Wait up!" called a voice. She turned to face Sora, who was running and pushing
her way through the crowd. Mimi sighed. If it had been anyone else, she probably would
have just kept walking, but she decided to wait for her best friend.
Sora finally stopped in front of her. "Mimi, what's wrong?" she asked, still panting a little.
"What do you mean?" Mimi asked.
"Well, how 'bout the way you've been acting whacked all day. It's like you're not your-
self."
Mimi should've known that it was pointless to lie to her friend, she was like a mind reader
or something. But she still wasn't about to say anything.
"It's nothing Sora," she sighed. "I just feel like going for a walk."
Sora studied her, and Mimi could tell instantly that she didn't believe it, but she didn't
push it. "Well, why don't we just finish listening to Matt, then you can go for a walk,
okay?" she suggested. Mimi shrugged. "Sure."
They got back to the auditorium, right at the same time Matt's band started.
"She rolls the window down
And she talks over the sound
Of the cars that pass us by
And I don't know why, but
She's changed my mind..."
It must be a special for Valentine's Day, Mimi thought. Matt and his band never usually
sung love songs. She wondered who it was for.
Maybe...she began thinking, but then quickly shook away the thought. Too dangerous.
"Would you look at her
She looks at me
She's got me thinking about her
constantly
But she don't know how I feel
And as she carries on
Without a doubt
I wonder if
She's figured out
I'm crazy for this girl
Yeah, I'm crazy for this girl...."
It's a great song, Mimi admitted mentally. She looked around at all the drooling girls. Jun
looked like she was on the verge of hyperventilating.
"She was the one to hold me
The night the sky fell down..."
Mimi pondered that last line. 'The one to hold me'...who was someone that had always
been there for Matt. She studied the girls that she knew from school, ticking them off
in her mind. Not Cindy, not Judith, not Holly, definetly not Jun, not...
She trailed off as she came to her best friend, who was standing next to Tai. Sora, she
thought. It'd probably be her, she's always there for everyone.
The music faded into the background as Mimi came to the revelation. It's got to be her.
It can't be anyone else in this place. That she understood perfectly. The only thing she
didn't understand was why she was feeling so rotten.
Mimi went over to Sora and tapped her on the shoulder. "Sora? I'm going to go outside
for a while, okay?"
Sora turned to her, a little concerned, seeing the look in her eyes. "Are you sure Mimi?"
she asked. "Do you want me to go with you?"
Mimi shook her head. "No it's okay, you stay here with everyone. It's just that I'm a
little tired, and I kinda want to get some fresh air. I'll be right back, kay?" Before Sora
could reply, Mimi was already off. Sora stared after her, then turned to Tai as they
looked at each other, both thinking the same thing. Mimi, tired at 9:00 on a Saturday
night? Not on this planet.
I wonder what's wrong? Sora thought.
The band finally finished their entire performance, to the loud applause and screaming of
their fans as they walked backstage.
"Well, I think that went pretty well," said Kevin in satisfaction.
"It was perfect," Troy told them. "And Mimi was good too. She looked great out there."
"I guess now you're going to try to get a date with her or something, huh?" Jaren said
with a smirk.
Troy seemed to consider it, then shook his head, coming up to Matt. "Nah," he decided.
"Besides, I think Matt would kill me if I tried to," he added with a teasing tone.
"Huh?" Matt hadn't been really listening up to this point, lost in his own thoughts. Now
he turned to Troy. "What are you talking about?" he demanded.
Kevin laughed. "Man, you're really out of it today. He means that it's totally obvious that
you and Mimi belong together."
Matt's eyes went wide. "WHAT?!" he exclaimed.
Troy was laughing now too. "Well, let's put it this way. Who were you singing that song,
'Crazy for this Girl' for?"
"No one..."
Troy sighed. "Okay, who did you have on your mind when we were singing it?"
Matt said nothing, and then Troy cracked up.
"I rest my case," Kevin concluded.
Matt just glared at them, although there was the tiniest hint of a blush on his face.
"You're all out of your minds," he declared, turning to leave. "I'm outta here." Putting his
guitar over his shoulder, he walked out of the room.
The others glanced at each other, smirking, then followed him, to the shrieks of their fans.
About 15 minutes later, when Matt had finally freed himself from all the girls, he made his
way over to the other Digidestined.
"Great performance," Kari told him.
"Yeah, you were great up there," Joe agreed. "Both you and Mimi."
Matt looked around. "Hey, where is she, by the way?" he wanted to know.
Sora got a worried look. "She went outside about half an hour ago," she told him.
"More like ran outside," Tai muttered. "Yeah, it was like she couldn't get away from us
fast enough," Davis complained. "What did we do?"
TK rolled his eyes. "It was probably just you," he replied.
Davis glared at him. "Can it, TG."
"Hey TK, want to go dance?" Kari asked, ignoring Davis, who looked ready to kill. TK
followed suit, and the 2 of them went out onto the dance floor. Davis was still watching
the 2 of them with white-hot anger. Yolei sweatdropped as she glanced at him. "Um,
maybe we should just leave him alone for a while," she suggested to Cody, backing away.
"Hey Izzy, want to dance?" Without waiting for an answer, she grabbed his arm and
dragged him out onto the floor.
Tai, Cody, Joe, and Davis began to head over to the buffet table. Matt was about to
follow them when Sora stopped him.
"That was a nice song you sang," she began. "Thanks," replied Matt.
"It was even better than the way you sang at rehearsals. So who were you singing for?"
Sora wanted to know.
Matt sighed in impatience. "Why does everyone keep asking that?" he demanded.
"'Cause we're curious," Sora told him. "So who was it for?"
Matt looked away. "Okay, if you're wondering who I had in mind when I was singing it, it
was..." he trailed off.
"Yeah?" Sora urged him.
"Mimi," he finally admitted.
"I knew it!" Sora cried triumphantly. "I just knew it!"
"Then why'd you bother asking?" Matt demanded.
"I wanted to be sure," Sora explained. Then her face took on a concerned look. "Matt,
you've got to go after her. You've got to tell her what you told me."
Matt's jaw dropped. "Not on your life," he said instantly. "No way! Me and her are like
explosives around each other. She can't stand me."
"I really don't think so," Sora told him. "She ran out about 45 minutes ago, and she
seemed pretty upset. I saw her expression...I can tell she thinks the song was for me."
Matt gaped at her. "What?" he asked. "I saw her run out, but I just assumed it was
another one of her temper tantrums or something."
"That's what I'm saying, Matt," said Sora. "You have to follow her, you have to tell her
that the song was for her, not me."
Matt sighed, knowing Sora was right. "Seriously, if it's not one thing with this girl..." he
muttered, then headed for the door.
Mimi sat on the pier of the lake, in the forest behind the community center. She stared
at her reflection as tears rolled down her cheeks.
I'm pathetic, she thought, feeling disgusted with herself. I have no self control. I do not
believe that, of all people, I fell for...him. And now she was crying because he liked her
best friend.
Mimi glared at her reflection. "I hate this," she muttered. I can't believe I actually care
about him. If anything, I should be feeling sorry for Sora. He's so rude, and mean, and
a jerk, and...he can be really nice...
She let out a cry of frustration as she tugged at her hair. "I am seriously messed up," she
muttered, wiping away her tears.
"So you finally realized that, too," said a voice from behind her. "At least I'm not the only
one who sees it now."
Mimi froze, then spun around to face Matt. "Ugh, it's you again," she said angrily. "Can't
you ever say ANTHING that doesn't come out as an insult?"
Matt walked up to her. "Sure I can," he told her. "You just have to listen."
Mimi stared at him for a second before turning away. "Okay, what do you want, Ishida?
Wait, do you want me to play matchmaker? I know you like Sora, so I can easily set you
up with her. She is my best friend, after all." It would be a little hard, getting Sora away
from Tai, but she was really good at these sort of things. Plus, it would keep her busy,
so she wouldn't think about the completely nuts idea of her and Matt together.
Matt was staring at her as she continued to talk about setting him and Sora up, as if
she were crazy. Then he just gave a small smirk and leaned in and kissed her.
Mimi was cut off in midsentence, and her eyes widened. What in the world? she screamed
in her mind. This is not happening, this is not happening. She felt as if someone had
suddenly thrown all her feelings in a blender and hit 'frappe'.
Then she finally got herself together--from her point of view anyway. She pulled away
from Matt and quickly backed away.
"Matt stop, please don't do that to me," she told him, tears beginning to stream down
again.
"Mimi-" Matt began, but Mimi cut him off. "Okay, I admit it, I have a crush on you, I like
you, but I know you like Sora. Honestly, I'll do my best to get you 2 together, I'm good
at this sort of stuff, just don't play with my feelings like that..."
Matt put his hands on her shoulders calmly, even though she was on the verge of getting
hysterical. He'd seen her act like this before, although not over something like this.
"But Mimi, Sora's not the one I want," Matt told her.
Mimi blinked at him through her tears. "What?" she asked, her voice just above a whisper.
"Yeah," continued Matt. "I'm not after Sora, she's already got Tai. The one I want...is
you." He glanced away, blushing.
Mimi stared at him in shock. "Me?" she gasped. "No way. We always fight, but the last
time you and Sora fought was..." she thought hard. "Never. And we can't stand each
other..."
Matt looked at her. "I don't know about you, but I never hated you," he told her. "Sure
it might've seemed that way, but really, it just kind of...happened. Like I didn't have any
control over what I said, it was just something about you."
Mimi blinked again, slowly. "I...don't think I understand..." she said.
Matt thought hard. "Well, it's too hard to explain," he said. "All I know is that you're....
different from other girls, it's like you've got multiple personalities or something. I'm sorry
for all the times when I made you think I couldn't stand you."
Mimi looked back at him a moment longer. "You always did drive me crazy," she murmured,
turning away. "And I hate this so much."
Matt took on a somewhat hurt, confused expression. "What did I do now? I already said
I was sorry."
Mimi suddenly gave a choked sob and flung her arms around Matt. "No," she whispered
into his shoulder. "Because I fell in love with you."
Talk about moodswings, thought Matt. Then he smiled down at the girl who was still
crying. He turned her so she was looking up at him.
"Is that really so bad?" he asked simply, a tiny hint of sarcasm in his voice. Mimi just
stared into his eyes, then shook her head softly, allowing a weak smile. "No, I guess
there are worse things," she murmured, just before they met in their second kiss.
*Sighs* Finally! It's done. It took me forever to think of this, for a Valentine's Day fic
thingy, and I don't even know if it's all that good ^^* So tell me if it is, kk? R&R, pleeze!
^_^