Chapter Text
“I told you, distribute the 3.” Koushiro grumbled around his fork, mouth full of food as he side eyed his phone. Mimi on video glaring daggers at a paper not in the frame.
“I did that! It doesn’t work!” Mimi pouted, sinking into her chair more. The brunette puffed out some air to blow the stray lock out of her face. She had hoped to get her hair redyed finally but she had forgotten to mention it at her hair appointment a week ago. And sadly the curtain bangs she had wanted and had gotten were infuriating as a few clumped together strands refused to stay in place. Oh and her algebra homework was due and she had just started on the packet. So you could say she wasn’t having a good day.
“Mimi,” Koushiro stated calmly, leaning back against the steps behind him. So maybe sitting on the stairwell wasn’t the best place to be, but it was much more peaceful than literally everywhere else.
“What?! It doesn’t.” Mimi huffed in response, dropping her pencil and placing her head on her desk.
“It does. You’re just doing it wrong.” Koushiro grumbled in response.
Mimi smirked at the wood of her desk at the hint of venom in the redhead’s voice. Getting a rise out of Koushiro would forever be fun to her. “I wouldn’t be doing it wrong if someone explained things in a way people could actually understand.” Mimi huffed playfully.
There was a pause before Koushiro spoke again, “Mimi.”
“I’m just saying.” Mimi hummed, pushing off her desk and spinning in her chair. “You could be more descriptive when— Izzy?” Mimi blinked at the screen of her computer, the discord call only containing her now.
MM/DD/2019
PlantMom: 1:46am
Izzy?
Did your connection cut out?
Mimi frowned at the chat, Koushiro’s tag not even coming up to display three dots. “Oh…” Mimi sighed, closing the discord tab. Maybe “forever be fun” was a bit of an exaggeration. She stared at the screensaver on her computer before pulling up discord once more, switching over to her chat with Takeru.
MM/DD/2019
PlantMom: 1:46am
Psss, lil man, how’s lunch going?
Mimi stared at the chat before giving up, receiving no answer from the younger kid. Mimi looked down at the packet in front of her. “Leave it to me to say just the wrong thing.” Mimi whispered, pulling up Youtube and searching for tutorials there.
2019/MM/DD(D)
PlantMom: 12:46pm
Izzy?
Did your connection cut out?
Koushiro stared at the messages for a minute before turning off his phone. It was petty. He was being petty. Mimi didn’t mean anything by it.
Koushiro sighed and placed his phone down next to him. He looked at the half eaten food in front of him but decided that he was full. The red head stood from his spot and grabbed his ear buds from his pocket, opening his phone and closing discord in order to turn on his music instead. He got up, tray in hand, and disposed of the half eaten waste, moving through the hallways to get to the roof. Once arriving he turned the corner to the sight of Taichi and Yamato having a sword fight with their food. Sora spectating with a disappointed expression.
Sora, as usual, was the first to notice the younger. “Ah! Izzy, how’s Mimi doing? You two usually take much longer.”
Koushiro fought the frown at the question, he really didn’t know why the remark Mimi had made as a joke hurt so much, he knew it was a joke. “She’s fine, just focusing on finishing her math work.” He answered instead, Sora giving him a frown at the short answer but leaving him be about it.
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2019/MM/DD(D)
PlantMom: 12:46pm
Izzy?
Did your connection cut out?
2019/MM/DD(D)
PlantMom: 12:03pm
Call me once you get on lunch break, yeah?
Koushiro hadn’t called her, he stared at the message, thumb hovering over the button but the conversation from the previous day kept relaying in his head. Koushiro sighed, turning off his phone. He continued out of his class and was heading to the cafeteria cart outside when it rang.
He stopped in his tracks, his phone wasn’t on ringer, it's not like anyone knew. He could ignore it, part of him wanted to.
“Hey.” He greeted once pressing the answer call button, feet caring him away from the crowding middle schoolers and to his usual empty stairwell.
“Hey…” Mimi greeted back. She propped her phone up on the counter of the sink, taking out a toothbrush to begin heading to bed. “Sorry.”
Koushiro blinked, steps pausing, already in a secluded part of the building. “For?” Koushiro asked hesitantly.
Mimi swallowed, “For yesterday.” She wanted to leave it there, she could leave it there, but she had alway been a blabber mouth. “I watched a couple youtube tutorials, you were completely right in how to do it, I shouldn’t have gotten upset at you just because I couldn’t understand.” Mimi twirled the toothbrush around in her hand awaiting a response.
Kourshiro sucked in a breath, “You’re okay. I… I don’t even know what about it bothered me so, you’re fine, there’s nothing to really apologize for. What you said wasn’t exactly inaccurate either.”
Mimi stopped twirling the toothbrush and set it down. She grabbed her phone and sat down on the rim of the tub. The stubborn strand of hair that refused to stay in place taunted her as she glared at it. She sighed and closed her eyes, the conversation replaying in her head.
“I wouldn’t be doing it wrong if someone explained things in a way people could actually understand.”
Mimi blinked, “Izzy…?” The red head hummed in response, walking to the stairwell once more. “Turn on your camera.” She demanded as she did the same, holding her phone directly in front of her to show her level on the screen. After a moment Kourshiro did the same, a slight hesitation to show his background. There were a few trees and a white wall littered with windows. Mimi smiled at the clear display of him being outside of the school. “People are stupid.”
“Huh?” Koushiro tilted his head at the smiling girl.
Mimi giggled, her eyebrows crowding into each other as her expression softened further. “I was trying to get a rise out of you, but I didn’t mean to hurt you. Anyone that can’t understand you and what you’re saying is on them, not you. I mean you use big words sometimes but you at least put an effort to explain those big words and—”
“Mimi.” Koushiro stopped the rambling girl, a smile of his own present.
Mimi looked back at the screen about to question the interruption when she saw the look on the red head’s face. A blush crept up Mimi’s cheeks as she swallowed. “I mean it.”
Koushiro sighed, “Thank you.” A blush of his own creeping up his cheeks.
A long pause of silence filled the air, Mimi just silently watching as Koushiro walked to his usual spot.
“So…” Mimi began as she watched Koushiro sit down. “Can I rant about my day and then you tell me about yours so I fall asleep like normal again?”
Koushiro tilted his head but nodded, turning off his camera, “I’m listening.”
They sat on call with each other for longer than intended. Koushiro was so absorbed into Mimi’s ranting of cheer practice and drama that he ignored the bell to return to class. By the time he realised he’d already skipped one and a half classes so he stuck it out on the phone with Mimi for the rest of the day.
“AND OH MY GOD! This girl in the squad totally stole my look, down to the curled frizzy hair and everything. Like girl, be original. I was planning to go back to that look, I had my mom make an appointment already!” The brunette huffed.
Koushiro yawned, “Then just do something different.” The red head popped his back and stretched his legs out, the stairs were unfriendly. “It’s not like you have the same hairstyle as last year anyway.”
“Yeah, but what? I don’t know what will look good versus what won’t.” Mimi whined, turning in her blankets and swaddling herself.
Koushiro dead panned, “Really… that’s your problem?”
“Don’t say it like that!” Mimi pouted, “It’s a very important problem.”
“Sure,” Koushrio hummed, “but I highly doubt it's a relevant problem, considering whatever you try will likely be easy for you to modify to work for you and your standards.”
Mimi blinked, “You know…” she started with a smirk, “If I knew any better I’d say you just complimented me.”
Koushiro shrugged, “Take it however.” The bell rang out, signalling cleaning time. “I have to go, Sora might kill me.”
“Hmm?”
“I skipped the last few periods.” Koushiro admitted.
There was an audible gasp on the other side of the phone. “Izumi Koushiro skipping?! My oh my, what a rebel I’ve been made an accomplice to!” Mimi giggled slightly.
“It’s your fault.” Koushiro blushed, “And I’m gonna make sure that Sora knows that if she gets mad at me.”
“Don’t you dare!” Mimi shot up.
“Bye” Koushiro dismissed.
“Wait! Izzy, don’t you dare get me killed with you! Izzy? Izzy?” Mimi whined as she looked at the phone screen, seeing Koushiro had definitely hung up.
Mimi pouted for a while as she discarded her phone on her side table. A moment stretched on and she thought over the advice the other had somewhat given her. “You know what. Let’s try something new.” Mimi smirked.
Come day of her hair appointment she didn’t get the stubborn strands of hair in her face chopped off, but gave them and the chunk they were supposed to stay with a bleach dye treatment.