Hi, guys! This is my third Mimato fic called, Bet Gone Wrong. I hope it will become as successful as the first two stories I made, though the style in this story is different from the first two. There will be a lot of flashbacks, but I'll try my best for you to understand. The rating's a little bit higher on this one because there are a lot of intimate scenes between Matt & Mimi (I bet most of you like that, huh!). Well, I guess that's all the info you need to know. Enjoy!
"Bet Gone Wrong"
Chapter One: Home At Last
"Yes, I am still standing at the bottom of the ladder, & yes, I am looking straight up your dress."
Matt grinned & tried to avert his gaze. It wasn't easy. Mimi Tachikawa had great legs. In all his years as her nemesis, friend, & elder brother figure he had never once been blind to her good points or her bad. The moment he glanced upwards he was awarded an eyeful of those two good points…
"Ishida, the moment I get down from here, you die."
"Are you threatening to fall on me? 'Cos I should warn you, your little body won't kill me. Now, if you were to be up a few feet more you might knock me out, but from where you are the best you can do is to give me a bruise."."
Mimi laughed out loud, despite her best efforts not to. "A good bruising would do you no harm, buster!"
"That's right, treat me rough, Meems, I can take it." An obliging breeze lifted the edge of her dress & Matt was forced to swallow hard as his eyes caught a glimpse of white lace. He felt an irritating warm flush cross his cheeks. "Haven't you got that stupid creature yet?"
She stretched her fingers out an extra inch & was rewarded with the touch of soft fur. "Good kitty, come to Mimi…ha!" She pulled him towards her chest. "Gotcha! Next time you climb on the porch, Puffy, you can darn well get down on your own, & then I won't have to have that stupid jerk down there look where he shouldn't…you hear me?"
Matt held the ladder patiently as she climbed down, & then he gave a lop-sided grin at her. "I could hear that, you know."
Mimi tilted her head to look up at him. "Mmm, you were supposed to. How anyone whose six foot three can possibly have vertigo stuns me. If you were any sort of a gentleman you would have gone up there to rescue Puffy yourself instead of sending me up there!"
"I hate heights…you know I hate heights. And I still maintain if you didn't keep rescuing that stupid beast every time he gets stuck then he would soon learn how to get out of these messes on his own."
She stuck her tongue out at him, and then laughed. "You always bring out my mature side. It's one of your less endearing qualities."
Matt bent down until his nose almost touched hers, his breath fanning her face. "Mimi, all my qualities are endearing. You just haven't noticed that yet."
"You wish!"
After storing the ladder in the garage, he followed Mimi inside the house…the house they've been sharing for almost six months. As his best friend, Mimi had been Matt's sparring partner for as long as he had known her, & he had to admit it was fun spending time with her again. Almost like being kids again…well, almost.
Turning a stool around to sit beside the breakfast bar, he watched as Mimi moved around the kitchen. She was the same Mimi he'd known for nearly eighteen years, & yet since she'd come home from the States she was, somehow, different. Lately he found himself watching her, trying to see what it was.
With her back to him as she filled the kettle with water, she felt the hair prickling on the back of her neck & smiled softly. "You're staring again, Ishida."
"Who, me?"
"Yeah, you."
"You know, you've really got to stop this ego trip. Thinking I have nothing better to do with my time than stand & stare at you."
Putting the kettle on the stove, she glanced at him from the corner of her eye. "Sit & stare, you mean." She moved to lean her back against the counter top, folding her arms across her chest. "And it's not the first time this week. What's up?"
Matt placed his best innocent look & blinked at her with puppy-dog eyes. "What do you mean, what's up? There's nothing up. Am I not allowed to look at you now?"
Her eyes narrowed suspiciously as she watched his little act. "You are such a bad liar, Ishida. Come on, spill it…"
"Spill it? Ah, now that would be one of those quaint American sayings of yours, would it? You've used that fifteen times this week."
"Don't change the subject."
"I'm not, I'm just saying, that's all. How do you think it'll make you Japanese again after spending six years going all Yank on us?"
Mimi unfolded her arms & slowly moved across the room to face him over the breakfast bar. "I have always been Japanese & I will always be Japanese, you big jerk, & you know it!"
He leaned towards h. "Now, Mimi Tachikawa, did you just called me a jerk again?" His eyebrows raised in question as his eyes shone at her. "Because you know that would be the third time today that you've said that, & that would mean you owe me."
Her eyes widened & then closed as she shook her head. He'd been teasing her about her new accent & her Americanized ways ever since her return. "I don't believe you. You tricked me into losing a bet & now you're going to gloat, aren't you?"
If her eyes had opened a second sooner, she'd have seen him smile affectionately at her. As it was, he looked cool & calm when she looked into his eyes. "What's the payment, poop-head?"
"Ah now, I'll need to think about that for a while." He stood up & replaced the stool before walking towards the doorway. "There's no point in rushing these things…it just takes all the fun out of them. I'll tell you later at the dance."
"We're gonna have to pre-set these, you know."
He stopped at the door, grinning over his shoulder. "Now, where would be the sense in that? I've got to keep you on your toes somehow."
Mimi lifted a clean tea towel & threw it in his direction. "Go away & do Park Ranger things before I'm forced to do something I'll regret, Ishida."
His deep laughter made her smile. "There you go again, making promises you can't keep. One of these days I think I might just stick around & see what that thing you might regret be…"
"That'll be the day."
Matt lived to be outdoors. In all the time Mimi had known him, he'd been his happiest under an open sky. Every summer, he'd volunteer to be Head Park Ranger, & running daily operations of the community was the ideal job for him and Mimi knew it. She smiled at him across the crowd at the summer barbecue & dance held for the residents of the local village of Odaiba, wondering how the villagers managed to take him seriously.
At that precise moment, two business men stood enthralled as he spoke. He was a well respected member of the community, & yet they never seemed to see the funny side of him that Mimi knew so well. She wondered how they'd react if they knew about the wicked sense of humor he possessed, & the rare talent he had for torturing his friends.
Taking a sip of warm red wine, she smiled up at the wide darkened blue sky. She breathed deeply. It was good to be home again. No place ever filled her soul with the same peace she felt in Odaiba. Then she turned her attention back to the crowd. One of her hobbies was to watch people.
The local community had grown considerably since she had been away & there were more than a few faces she didn't know in the crowd. But the surroundings hadn't changed at all since the summers she had pent running wildly through the park's many acres & swimming in the beach.
As she turned to look across the dark waters, a voice sounded close beside her. "Hello, I don't believe we've met?"
Mimi never believed in the tingling sensation described in romance novels when a woman hears a stranger's voice for the first time. But all of a sudden, she understood it now. The man's voice was deep & undeniably sexy. Turning, she found herself looking up at the darkest of blue eyes. Though the handsome face she didn't recognize.
She smiled, unconsciously brushing her chestnut brown hair behind her ear. "No, I think we haven't."
The blue-haired man smiled. He extended a large hand towards her. "I'm Joe…Joe Kido. I just moved into the house over by Sasaka Cottages."
"Oh, then that would make you the property tycoon guy we've all heard so much gossip about for the last few months. So I guess you're running the holiday cottages, then?" She shook his hand & was embarrassed to find he held onto her smaller hand longer than he needed to. "You're the main topic of conversation in town, you know."
"I'll just bet I am." He looked down at her hand, seeming to remember he needed to let go of it. "And you would be?"
Impressed was nearly her answer. "Mimi Tachikawa. I, uh, live over at Matt Ishida's."
"Oh."
She nearly fell over herself to correct his assumption. "We're FRIENDS…I mean, I've known Matt all my life…like a brother kind of thing…I mean, we're not actually…"
Joe smiled as she blushed. "Well, that's all right, then. He'll not going to kill me if I ask you to dance, will he?"
Mimi realized she must've looked stupid & cringed inwardly. "No, no, he won't mind at all."
Matt was walking towards the refreshment table when they first caught his attention. He nearly broke his neck with the speed of his own double-take. She hadn't mentioned she met Joe Kido, let alone knew him well enough to be drooling all over the man's shoes.
Selecting a bottle of beer from the table, he moved around until he found a tree to lean on. God, could he hold onto her any tighter? How could she breathe? Matt had seen Mimi with other men before…well, maybe not that many men. It had been before she went to America. But he couldn't remember ever being irritated by it…in a gut-wrenching, testosterone-induced kind of way, anyway. What was with that?
After all she was Mimi, just Mimi…Mimi, who he tortured on a regular basis, even though he should be mature enough to know better. It wasn't his business to be irritated by who she did or didn't dance with. It was just that…
He took a long drink from his beer before deciding that it was just that he'd gotten used to having her all to himself again. At least since she'd come home. Yeah, that was it. If she started going out with Joe 'Mr. Smarmy' Kido then he wouldn't see he much, & he guessed he'd missed that. But then, he'd be seeing less of her when her house was finished & she moved out, so that was no big deal…right? Maybe it was just that massive sense of protectiveness he always felt towards her. That & the sudden dislike he had for Mr. Smarmy.
Joe said something that made Mimi laugh & Matt was slightly more irritated. He drank more beer.
"Why, Mattie? What are you doing hiding under here?"
Hiding from you? This was just great…his night was ruined now that Jun Motomiya was by his side. He wondered how someone so well known could manage to have the same effect on his nerves as fingernails down a blackboard. Somehow he managed to force a smile.
"Jun, how lovely to see you…May I say how…" His eyes glanced down over the expensive suit he thought completely over-the-top for an outdoor barbecue. "How very, uh, smart you look."
"Why, thank you. You men are always flattering with your words. Especially men like you, but I guess we women are used to it by now."
Thanks. "That's very understanding of you." He glanced across the dance floor. Were they dancing closer? How did that happen?
Jun noticed his frown & followed his gaze. She smiled silkily. "Well, I see Mimi has an eye for the money in town. I didn't realize she knew Joe."
Joe. Matt noted how Jun spoke his name as if she knew him intimately. "They're just dancing. There's no reason to get jealous," he said.
"I'm not the jealous one here, Matt." She linked her arm through his, moving closer to his side. "I think we both know where my interests lie, & at least with Mimi dancing with Joe, that rumor can probably rest about you two. And I can take a more public interest of you myself. I think it's about time you & I got to know each other better."
He coughed to clear her strong perfume from the back of his throat, gently removing her arm from his. "What rumor about us would that be, Jun?"
It was notable how he managed to evade her proposition. Jun wasn't best pleased by the snub. "Why, half the town thinks y & Mimi are sleeping together. Didn't you know?"
"What?"
"Oh, come on, Matt. It's a small community. What else d you think they were going to say about you two living together?" She smiled, seeming to forgive him from the recent snub. "But we could put paid to that rumor simply enough, you know…"
He couldn't resist baiting the stupid woman. "If it was a rumor we certainly could."
Jun ran an elegantly manicured hand across her bushy brown hair, watching Mimi & Joe dancing. "Well, if it's not a rumor then Joe will be more interested. From what I hear he's quite the ladies' man, whether they're in a relationship or not. But I'll understand if you want to pretend you & Mimi are a couple to engage his interest in her. He'd be quite a catch for her."
She turned her attention back to Matt. "And once she's out of the way I'm sure you'll realize that I'm the most suitable choice for you, Mattie. No one else has the influence I have in this community, & we both know it. We'd make a perfect couple." She sighed dramatically. "But I won't forever."
Matt watched as she strode away & then looked up to the dark sky. "I certainly hope so."
AN: Do you guys like it? Please leave your reviews! I'd really appreciate it if you give your opinions & suggestions. Thank you!
(PS: To all those who greeted me on my birthday, thank you! If you're wondering what I did on my birthday, well, we went to a theme park & I had the time of my life! And most of the presents I got are books…because they know I love to read.)