A weekend (April 11 - April 13) dedicated to the relationship between Jou Kido and Mimi Tachikawa. Run by reliablejoukido and sloanerisette.
#jyoumiweekend2025
Or, that time Mimi stumbles upon the world's most open secret about one Kido Jou.
@jyoumiweekend
“Babe—who’s your hot friend?”
“Me, babe.”
Rosa laughs, pulls Mimi into a hug. In her ear, whining, “Well, duh—but that guy you came with?”
And Mimi, perched up at the bar to give her dancing heels a little break, seeing everything with martini eyes, doesn’t bother to look. She’d arrived with nearly all her old friends, for starters, but there’s also only one person this question is ever about anyway.
“Ken—,” she says, definitively, the end of all possible conversations on hotness in their clique. Apart from herself, of course. Pauses to suck down another sip of her third martini of the night, hold the lip of the glass to her cheek. The ice isn’t cold enough to help with the flush over every inch of her skin, so she fans herself with her hand. Searches the crowded counter for the least dirty napkin to press to her forehead, remembering, “—and he’s about to get married, by the way, so let’s make better decisions.”
Rosa’s eyes are very shiny. She’s wearing purple lipstick, blue glitter smeared over her eyelids, a silver mini dress that makes her look like a disco ball. It’s a lot, but it's also her fuck-it-I’m-single look for her fuck-it-I’m-free breakup party, so she gets a pass. Mimi, loyal to the bone, had spent over an hour on her younger colleague’s hair alone. It’s already spilled from the immaculate braided updo, because there’s never been a song Rosa hasn’t found worth whipping her head to all night, and definitely not when the terrible twosome of Daisuke and Takeru are there to goad her on. “Not that one. The one with the hair.”
Mimi shakes her head again, though secretly is happy to be the wise one for once. “That’s Taichi—but don’t even go there, ‘hun. Have some self respect.”
“Ugh, no, the other one with the hair.” Rosa sweeps the room with a wild hand.
Could be pointing to anyone, so Mimi still won’t bother to look. Knows better than to take her tequila vision seriously, this deep into the night. For all Rosa knows, she could be pointing to a coat rack.
Mimi catalogues the list of their friends in her head, separating out the ones who had already left by then. Spoilsports. Oh! Speaking of—“Yamato!” Mimi hesitates, trying to remember, “But I think he and—,”
“No! Not blond! Opposite, opposite!” Rosa is gesturing with both arms now.
Mimi actually thinks about it that time. This is difficult, as she’s already getting bored of this little guessing game, and now her glass is empty. “Koushiro?” Honestly, she could see it.
Rosa drops her arms. “Forget it. I’ll find out myself.”
“Make me proud.” Laughs with her, too, swiveling around on the stool to watch Rosa slink past her, then through the crowd, and then right up to Jou at the far end of the bar.
Huh, thinks Mimi.
Well, to each their own, she supposes. Who is she to judge?
In the latest chapter of Puits d’Amour, Jyou meets Mimi. He was… not ready. I’m genuinely annoyed that this two minute sketch of Jyou is my favorite recent drawing… I dunno, I feel like I captured him xD
Again, the primary couple of this fic is Sorato, but there is a lot of Jyoumi. This is my depiction of Jyou and Mimi meeting for the first time. It’s so cute, just like them <33333
I am so thrilled to share this update with you! HOLY HECKIN YOU GUYS, I have been working on this drawing for MONTHS! If I ever mention drawing a car again, kindly boop me on the head with a rolled newspaper. I'm proud of how it turned out, though. That sure is a car!
The Jyoumi date is here at last!!! Hooray! Jyou has some heavy stuff on his mind about his life, his worldview, and his future. Luckily, Mimi is here to Keep it Real!
The primary ship for this fic is Sorato, but A Casual Date stars Jyou and Mimi going on a delightful, old-timey driving date. They talk about a lot of the points that I think make them so wonderful together, so I hope you'll consider checking out that chapter if you love Jyoumi <3
Here's my oneshot for @jyoumiweekend for the "First Date" prompt! I decided to do a fun little twist on the idea of a first date, with an older Mimi and Joe pretending to be on their first date for fun and to see reactions. I had to write this real quick to make sure I could get it out in time, but I hope you all enjoy it nonetheless because I had a lot of fun with it!
Dedicating this one to @reliablejoukido for running this event with me because I had such a blast with it! Thank you for all the work you helped do for this event because I wouldn't have been able to even attempt this without you!
I'll have the whole thing posted in a read more below, but you can also find it on AO3 here!
Outline: Joe and Mimi, who are now in their seventies, decide to go on a “first date” at Mimi’s idea: they take off their rings (with them kept safely in Mimi’s purse, of course), dress up nice, and go to a nice restaurant in New York. They pretend to be on their first date (yes, at their age) and have fun with it to see what people think
Joe ran curled his left hand into a loose fist, tracing his thumb along the side of his ring finger. It was always strange— unnerving, really— to not feel the smooth, cool, gold band that rested there for so many years. The only thing that soothed this was the fact that his wife was right next to him, body close for warmth in the cold New York winter. He looked at her from his peripheral vision, seeing the smile on her face as they approached the restaurant. Despite lacking the spring in his step he had in his younger years, he took an extra step forward to pull the door open for her, gesturing for her to go ahead.
Joe had a smile on her face as he followed behind Mimi, glad to be in the warmth. If getting older cemented one thought in his mind, it was that there were few things better than being in a nice, warm building.
Of course, the definitive best thing that had never changed throughout the years was his wife, Mimi, standing right ahead of her. She had opted to wear a simple navy blue dress with a nice coat. Even though Joe was dressed in a suit, he couldn’t help but feel underdressed compared to her, but that wasn’t a new phenomenon. Even at her age, she was stunning and stylish. As he stepped forward to catch up with her, he couldn’t hide the smile on his face.
Like with everything else, Mimi handled aging with effortless grace and ease. She took to her graying hair with no issue, loving the “fashion possibilities” it brought, as she called it, and even the laugh lines and wrinkles she had made her look more elegant and beautiful— if that was even possible. Then again, with how much he let her know that fact, she would say it was. Joe felt he had become far more plain than before in his old age, but Mimi loved to coo about how he looked “distinguished,” a reaction that never failed to make him blush.
“Hello,” she greeted the maître d in her best English with a bright smile, “We have reservations under Kido.”
The woman, blonde and in her twenties, smiled back and looked down at the hefty book at the stand, “Yes, welcome!” she chirped, “They’re just getting your table ready, it’ll only be a moment.” Joe finally walked up to Mimi and stood at her side.
“She said it’ll be a minute to get the table ready,” she said to him, and he nodded in response. The maître d looked at Joe, then at Mimi again.
“Are you two celebrating anything in particular? A birthday, an anniversary…?” she asked. Mimi shook her head.
“Oh no, it’s our first date!”
The maître d’ blinked in surprise, but smiled, “I hope you both have a nice time.”
The first time Mimi brought up the idea of going to a restaurant without their rings to fake going on their first date, he gawped at her.
“But why would we do that?”
“It’ll be fun! Just think of the reactions we’d get to people hearing we’re on our first date at our age!”
So they’d gone on their “first date” months back, well in their seventies, to the surprise of the people working at the sushi restaurant they went to. Mimi had a ton of fun, and frankly, Joe enjoyed seeing Mimi smiling wide, making up little stories about how they met and what got them to go on a date. It wasn’t that Mimi was unhappy with their marriage either (considering they’d been married for over fifty years), but the idea seemed fun to her, and Joe had to admit it was fun. It was fun seeing waiters and waitresses react with surprise at Mimi exclaiming how she was so excited to go on a date with him for the first time.
It reminded him so much of their very first date, both of them so young, Joe at his most awkward, as Mimi talked him up to everyone at the restaurant who would listen. And Joe, with his limited knowledge and comfort with English back then, simply smiled and nodded the entire time. A dopey smile settled on his face, Joe comfortably in his thoughts until Mimi nudged him gently.
“Table’s ready,” she said quietly and sweetly. Joe gestured for her to go ahead and followed after her as the maître d’ led them to their table, a quiet little booth that left them just about shoulder to shoulder.
“Your waitress will be right with you, enjoy,” she said before she walked away.
“Everyone always seems so surprised when we say it’s our first date,” Joe mumbled as he looked down at the menu.
“Well not many people our age are going out on their first date. But it’s fun, right? You enjoy it?” she asked. Joe jerked his head up to look at her.
“Of course! First date, fifth date, one hundredth date, I love every single one of them,” he said, voice soft, just for her, but also genuine and serious. Mimi felt heat rise on her neck and her cheeks and swallowed hard. She mouthed an “I love you” to Joe as the waitress walked over.
“Good evening, I’ll be your waitress for the evening,” the woman smiled, “I heard you two are on your first date?”
Mimi lit up in an instant, the waitress matching his wife’s smile as Mimi had to hold back from squealing. “Yes! We are. I’m very excited,” she said, taking a moment to meet Joe’s gaze, “We both are.”
“Well I hope you both enjoy it. I’ll give you two a few minutes to look at the menu.”
The rest of their “date” went amazingly. Wine, incredible meals, and even a small dessert that their waitress had treated them to.
“It’s so sweet seeing you two going on your first date! I hope you don’t mind, but I had a little something whipped up. On the house.”
A little creme brulee with some strawberries on top, and it was delectable. Even despite how full they were, they couldn’t stop themselves from digging in.
“I’ll definitely give her a nice tip for that, that was really nice,” Joe said as Mimi took one last sip of wine.
“It was! Oh, they were so great,” Mimi said with a wistful sigh.
“It’s too bad we can’t come here again,” Joe said wryly, looking almost longingly at the now finished dessert. Mimi tilted her head in confusion as she slowly set her glass down. The answer dawned on her in an instant, though, “Oh… That’s right.”
After a minute of silence, she had a sly grin on her face, “Welllll…” she started, “I’m sure if we ever get married one day, we can come for an anniversary?” she asked with a wink. Joe let out a hearty laugh.
“I suppose we can, yes,” he nodded. “Are you ready to go?”
“Mhm.”
Joe took Mimi’s hand and helped her out of the booth. They intended on taking a small walk, but they both immediately balked at the weather, and instead opted to get to a Digital Gate to go home.
“Did you have a good time?” Mimi asked as they slowly approached their home, fingers still laced together as the two strolled at a leisurely pace.
“Of course. I’ve never not had a great time with you,” he told her, using his free hand to adjust his glasses.
“I told you,” she teased him with a wrinkle of her nose, “It’s a fun idea! Everyone always enjoys seeing two oldies like us go on a date for the first time.”
Joe chuckled, “You’re as young as ever, at least in spirit,” he told her, “I’m surprised I can even keep up with you.”
Mimi stopped them, pushing herself up on the balls of her feet (a feat that impressed Joe considering her heels) to place a chaste kiss to his jaw, reveling in the blush that burned on his face. “You can keep up with me no problem. You have all this time already, haven’t you?”
“I suppose so…” he said.
“And you’re a great first date,” she winked.
Joe stammered and sputtered out attempts at words, thrown off completely for the rest of the rather short walk home. As they approached their little home, flowers in the front yard garden in full bloom, Joe was happy to be coming home. It was always nice to have a night out with his wife, but traveling across the world in one day and going from day to night and back wasn’t easy. They approached the front door, and when they stopped there, Mimi turned to look at Joe, looking up at him as she faced him fully, taking both of his hands in hers.
“Thank you for letting me take you on a date,” Joe said with full seriousness, though the way he could barely hold back the smile clued Mimi in that he was still happy to play along.
“Thank you for taking me. I had a great time, but I guess it’s time to go,” she said with an exaggerated sigh.
“May I kiss you good night? Or, ah… good morning…?”
“You may,” Mimi snickered. Joe leaned down, aiming to kiss her on the cheek, though she intercepted him and placed a long, lingering kiss on his lips. He kissed her back, both of them closing their eyes as the kiss deepened, though Joe’s eyes shot wide open when she cheekily shot her tongue into his mouth. When they finally pulled apart, Joe gasped for air, and Mimi seemed so clearly amused by her antics.
Mimi opened the door and stepped into the doorway. “I suppose it would be a bit scandalous to invite you inside after the first date…” she mused, tapping her cheek thoughtfully. Joe couldn’t hold back anymore, and let out a loud, deep laugh. He was about to tease her over how old-fashioned she sounded when she continued. “But I don’t care about that, so come on.”
She yanked his arm, causing him to nearly trip on the doorway as he stumbled forward, and Mimi slammed the door shut behind him.
“Can I put my ring back on before we do anything, ah… scandalous…?” he asked.
I posted the second and final Jyoumi drabble to See You Soon! It’s a collection of two Jyoumi long distance drabbles that I rescued from the depths of my blog, back when I sometimes took requests. The two drabbles combined are a little under 4K in length, so it’s a quick read. It’s soft/light/fluffy romance, general audiences. Enjoy :D
When I think of Jyou, Mimi and their relationship, I cannot help but feel like... No matter what kind of obstacles they may face, if anyone can overcome them, it's these two. Through all the hardships they already had to face, finding their own support roles as Chosen Children, dealing with the right balance of selfishness and selflessness as they grew up and had to pick a path for themselves... Both their similarities and differences are the reason why they'll come out on top. Jyou may have made up his mind early on, committing to the daunting and time-consuming goal of becoming a doctor, whereas Mimi's free spirit made her experiment and be creative... But that's exactly the contrast they both need. As I had put it in my analysis post already: Where Mimi can be brash, Jyou can act as the reliable voice of reason that gets her back to earth - where Jyou gets doubtful and anxious, Mimi is a ray of sincere positivity and forwardness. They've grown communicative and understanding of each other - and, most importantly, comfortable and patient. And they may have to be just that - because, regardless of which Digimon Adventure continuity you'd like to follow, they may have to deal with the circumstances of a long-distance-relationship for huge chunks of their twenties. Jyou's career path in particular may require them to make the best of the little time they have - but if gate-hopping is (becoming) a thing, Mimi will make sure to take care of that. She's an initiator - and Jyou is the one who has it all planned in the back. And thus, I think they will always be capable of surprising each other positively.
(I swear, I wanted to do so much for them this weekend, the prompts were all so tempting and inspiring and I really hope I'll be able to work on a few more of them in the future! These designs I chose were inspired by both their 02 and Beyond designs btw!)
Jyoumi Weekend Free Day: You Need A Promotion, I Want A Shake Up, So Let's Get Married! Chapter 5
Happy @jyoumiweekend everyone! I've had a lot I've wanted to do for this and I don't know how much I'll accomplish but I did get this chapter done for the Free Day! A new chapter of my jdrama-inspired fic! I'll have this posted under the read more, too!
Chapter Summary: Jou still tries to grapple with the idea of being married, especially once people know. From wedding bands to filling in friends and family, Jou's anxiety is higher than ever before. Thankfully, though, he has an opportunity to move forward in his career like he wanted, and he's going to try and grab it no matter what.
You can find the chapter on AO3 here!
A calm Sunday was a good Sunday. For many people, it was a day off: to spend time with family, to relax after a long week of school, to get chores done when they couldn’t during the week, but for Jou, Sunday was… another day at work. He didn’t mind it by any means— he had gone into medicine in order to help people, after all— but to have a day that was calm was always appreciated. No emergencies were good, really good, and it meant that hopefully he could get through the rest of the day without much trouble.
He’d need it, frankly, because his mind was… still a bit out of control after the past few days. Getting “married” to Tachikawa Mimi was unexpected, and now that he was moved into her apartment, he was doing his best to get used to life as a “married man”. Jou tapped the back of his clipboard anxiously, a habit he’d started to pick up even more ever since he and Mimi-kun agreed on this strange deal, as he tried to gain sense of his thoughts while going over a patient’s documents. Jou knew he still had to tell his family, but he wasn’t really sure how. After his father berated him a few days ago, how was he supposed to walk up to him and tell him he got married!?
He groaned quietly, how were they supposed to approach this? He closed his eyes, pushed his glasses up, and pinched the bridge of his nose for a moment as he felt the beginning of a headache start to come on. He was happy to help Mimi-kun, but each time his racing mind dwelled on this topic, he wondered just how he got roped into this. Even if it was for his benefit…
He pulled his glasses back down and straightened up, before heading to the nurse’s station on his floor. If he just occupied himself with work, then he wouldn’t have to think about how to navigate this maelstrom. He couldn’t let the nurses and other doctors flounder or fall behind just because he had trouble grappling with the fact that he was married now.
“I can’t believe it!”
“Right?”
Jou slowly raised an eyebrow as his stride slowed.
“She really got married?”
Jou’s eyes went wide. No. He was just being paranoid. Anxiety ridden as usual.
“I wonder who her husband is…”
He swallowed hard, stopping at the corner. He swallowed hard, taking a moment to gather himself, before he rounded the corner as confidently as he could. As he approached the nurse’s station, he saw Harada-kun’s eyes shoot towards him for just a moment. She tapped the other nurse on the arm, and she quickly straightened up.
“Good afternoon, Kido-sensei!” she said, offering him a cheery smile, “We were just— we were—” she started, but Jou held up a hand and shook his head.
“Please don’t worry about it. As long as you’re both getting duties done, a few minutes here won’t hurt anyone,” he said. He wondered what his father would think of that— would he admonish him and the nurses? Would he admonish him in front of the nurses? He tried to push the thought from his mind; he knew he had to be more serious if he wanted to reach his father’s position one day, but he also didn’t want to be like his father.
“Would that be a necessity? Would that help him take me seriously?” he couldn’t help but think to himself as he pulled the files from the clipboard and set them down on the counter.
“Here are those files you needed. Please let me know if you need anything else,” he said with a nod.
“Sorry again, Kido-sensei,” the other nurse said sheepishly.
“It’s alright. I need to go visit a few patients now, but I’ll make sure to check in with you both later,” he said, before walking off. He made it halfway down the hall before the two started talking again.
“Do you think she’ll ever tell who he is?”
“I don’t know… but Tachikawa-chan is a pretty public person. We’ll probably find out sooner or later!”
Jou skidded to a stop as soon as he heard Mimi-kun’s name. The clipboard flew from his hands, clattering against the floor and sliding a few feet. His face turned bright red at his clumsiness, and he refused to look behind him to see if Harada-kun and the other nurse were staring at him.
“How do they know Mimi-kun got married!? How did they find out from HER and not ME!?”
He scurried over to the clipboard and picked it up, doing his best to remain composed while also refusing to look behind him, then sped off into another corner.
How did people find out… He felt his heart begin to race, and he wondered how long he could keep it together before he’d need to go back to his office and spiral for a bit.
***
Somehow, Kido Jou had gone through the rest of the day without having a very public freak out. He was still baffled over how the nurses knew about his marriage. The marriage he was very much not public about and had only been in for a few days.
The marriage that wasn’t even real!
He walked through the apartment hallway as fast as he could short of breaking out into a run, making as long of strides as possible as sweat pricked at his temples. Once he reached the door, he practically slammed the key in the lock and threw it open. But right after, he remembered the fact that he still had to be polite. Even if it was technically his home now, it was Mimi’s first and foremost, and the last thing he wanted to do was be rude. He swallowed hard in an attempt to calm down while he toed out of his shoes. With one last deep breath, he made his way in, seeing Mimi sitting on the couch with her laptop on her lap.
“Uh…” he mumbled, adjusting his glasses as he felt his stomach tighten up in knots, “I’m home!”
Mimi jumped in her seat, and though he couldn’t see it, her eyes were wide with surprise. She set her laptop on the coffee table and turned her body to look at him, letting her arms rest on the back of the couch, “Welcome home!” she chirped happily. As Mimi watched Jou for a few moments, though, she tilted her head. He was quiet, much more than normal, standing there like he didn’t know what to do.
“You know, you don’t have to ask permission to come in here anymore,” she teased as a grin started to overtake her face.
He showed up with his suitcases, ready to move in, and had stood at the entryway waiting for her permission to actually go to his new room. It was incredibly funny, but she also wanted to make sure that he would at least remain comfortable enough to not feel too stressed over walking inside each day.
“Oh, uh, right. Yes. Sorry,” he mumbled, “I was just… thinking.” After a moment, he finally made his way into the living room and sat down in a plush, baby blue armchair near the couch. Mimi continued to watch him for a few more moments, lips pursed, trying to judge how he was just from his body language. It was clear something had him on edge, but she wasn’t sure what.
She could at least try and keep the mood light and airy in the meantime. She plucked her laptop up, placed it in her lap, and began typing away with her perfectly manicured fingers.
“I was thinking of making dinner soon, after I finished a few things— anything you want?” she asked, not looking up from her screen. Right now she was busy queueing up a few social media posts for the next few days: various ad partnerships she was doing, fun pictures she had taken, and right now she was working on a caption for a post featuring a picture from her interview today. Even if social media was already flooded with posts about her marriage announcement, she figured something official would help, too. At the very least, it would make it nigh impossible for Yukimura-san to change her mind and try and put a stop to this relationship.
“Oh, um, whatever you’re planning on making is fine with me,” he said. Mimi hit the enter key with a dramatic flourish before looking at Jou.
“Really? Nothing in particular you’re craving?” she asked. Jou quickly shook his head.
“No, not really. You can make anything and I’ll eat it,” he told her. Mimi was tempted to push further, but there was something about Jou, both with how he entered the apartment and how stiff (stiffer than normal) he seemed now, that had her figure it would be better to just let it be. He was probably tired from work and still feeling awkward about the new living arrangements. Honestly, she was feeling a bit tired after today, too. After the interview and Yukimura-san grilling her, she had been tempted to take a nap, but there were too many emails to go through about various gigs that she had spent most of the rest of the day dealing with.
Frankly, getting up and doing a little cooking would be therapeutic. With one last post queued up for later in the week, she closed her laptop, then popped up from the couch, stretching her arms above her head. She rolled up the sleeves to the baggy, green sweater she had on, and traipsed to the kitchen, “Feel free to turn the TV to whatever you want!”
“Oh, this is fine!” Jou said, before finally turning his attention to the television and actually focusing on it; spending a few moments paying attention to whatever situational comedy Mimi had on. He furrowed his brow as the two leads talked in a bar, trying to piece together whatever they were talking about. Something about a job, it seemed.
Jou couldn’t help but roll his eyes, a low sigh falling from his lips, “Well, I can relate to that…” he thought bleakly.
“I’m…” he started, his fingers digging into the soft fabric of the chair’s arms, at which he immediately released his grip, “I’m going to clean up before dinner!”
“Ok!” Mimi called back cheerily. As Jou pushed himself up, he glanced over to the kitchen to see Mimi working on chopping something. He ducked his head and quickly retreated to his room, hoping that splashing a little cold water on his face would help ease the knot in his stomach as he considered how to bring up what he heard earlier at dinner.
It didn’t help.
Instead, wiped off his face with a small, pink hand towel (Mimi told him they could get new ones, but he assured her it was fine), and then looked at his reflection, truly noticing his weary expression. Another sigh fell from his lips, this one fuller than when the television seemed to get its own little jab in at him. The two of them were friends, so bringing up something shouldn’t have felt so tough.
He leaned back down to splash some more water in his face, then sat on the edge of his bed until she called to let him know about dinner. He swallowed thickly, his footsteps plodding down the hall, body heavy, the weight of his nerves fully pushing down on him, waiting for just the right moment to burst out in their usual anxious fashion. The smell of dinner, though, managed to set him at ease. He’d never eaten Mimi’s food, but if it tasted half as good as it smelled, it would probably be the perfect panacea after a long day.
“It’s not much,” she said as he sat down, “But I’m starting to run low on groceries, so hopefully you don’t mind.” Before he could assure her it was fine, she rounded the corner from the kitchen, carrying two plates of curry rice. As she set them down, Jou had to stop himself from drooling. “Unfortunately I didn’t have the ingredients for miso soup, or I’d make that, too. Sorry.”
She had a sheepish grin on her face as she sat down, but Jou couldn’t stop from staring at his plate incredulously. It looked like a simple plate of curry rice, but something about it smelled… better than curry rice usually did. Fuller and more bold. It was hard to tear his eyes away from it, immaculately plated as it was, with each item taking up half the plate perfectly, and no curry spilling onto the rice. However, he closed his eyes and held his hands to his chest.
“Thank you for this food,” he said, then opened his eyes and stared down at the food again. After the day he had this… was much needed. She watched with anticipation as he took his first bite. He closed his eyes and chewed, unable to help but let out a sigh of satisfaction with his mouth full. There was a warmth that filled his entire body that was unlike anything else. Jou was always the type to prioritize convenience in eating: quick meals, protein bars, things he could eat on the go or at his desk in a few minutes. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d had such a good, homemade meal like this. He finally opened his eyes after he swallowed, and Mimi was leaning forward, practically on the edge of her seat, as her eyes gleamed with anticipation.
“This is… This is incredible, Mimi-kun,” he told her, unable to hold back the smile on his face. Mimi’s smile grew even wider than before and she clapped her hands together.
“Oh, I’m so glad! It’s been a while since I’ve made this!” she told him. Now that Jou had taken his first bite, Mimi had decided now she could eat, and took her first bite, too.
“It tastes… different compared to the other curry rice I’ve had in the past,” Jou started, tapping his finger on the table as he tried to recall just what specifically it was, “Not in a bad way! There’s just something about it that tastes… different. Better. Fuller?” Jou cocked his head to the side as he looked down at the curry, with small chunks of potato and carrot.
“I’d tell you, but my recipe is a secret,” she said with a playful wink, before she dug in again. Jou blinked, then laughed gently.
“Alright, alright. That’s fair enough, I suppose,” he said with a light shrug.
“Don’t worry, this is only the tip of the iceberg with my recipes!” she chirped happily, “I’ll make sure to make you my fried rice soon enough.”
Fried rice sounded pretty good… He couldn’t remember the last time he had fried rice… good fried rice, at least. There’d been more than a few times during his university career where he bought a rather disappointing fried rice late at night while studying, so surely Mimi’s would be better. His stomach rumbled again, thankfully not loud enough for Mimi to hear, and he dug in again.
Thankfully their conversation, combined with the delicious food that was much needed after a long, stressful day, had done a lot to help him calm down. Of course, remembering that there was something he had to bring up caused that stress to rear its ugly head again. It slowly started to appear in his mannerisms as dinner went on: he nervously bounced his leg and had to outright force himself to stop, his spoon tapped the edge of the plate, and he couldn’t bring himself to look at Mimi.
“I just have to ask. It's as simple as that. It’s no big deal. I just… need to ask my wife why the nurses at work know I’m married from her and not me.”
What had his life even become now? He shoved another bite of food in his mouth at that, and as soon as he swallowed, he looked up at Mimi. He had to just say it.
“Uh, Mimi-kun?” he started, his voice shaking and hesitant. She looked up and blinked, still in the midst of chewing her food.
“Hm?”
Suddenly, Jou froze, his mind blank, and he felt small beads of sweat start to prick at his forehead and temples. Everything he wanted to say— which really was just one thing he wanted to say— suddenly flew out of his mind. He sat there, staring at her, lips slightly parted, as his mind tried to reconnect the various wires and neurons needed to actually ask his question. Mimi swallowed and blinked a few more times, waiting for Jou to say, well, anything.
“Jou?” she started, “You were… going to say something?”
Somehow her words managed to stir him just enough, where he could finally string the words in his brain together just as he planned and—
“Why do the nurses know we’re married!?” he blurted out, causing Mimi to jolt upright in surprise. His voice was raised not out of anger but out of shock, as ungraceful as he usually was in a serious situation like this. His stomach dropped and he could feel a bead of sweat along his temple slowly start to slide down, which Jou had to hold back from wiping it away. He could only hope she didn’t see.
Mimi’s shock quickly faded, though, in her usual Tachikawa Mimi manner, and put a bright smile on her face, “From the variety show interview!”
“Variety show interview…?” Jou repeatedly slowly. He furrowed his brow, tasting the words on his lips, which felt utterly foreign to him.
“Yeah! I checked my phone right after and it was trending already! People are so excited!”
“What variety show interview?” Jou asked immediately after. Mimi stopped, her spoon falling from her grasp as it clattered against the plate, the only sound within the brief, but deafening silence within the apartment. She hissed, a grimace making its way on her face.
“I forgot to tell you, didn’t I?” she asked, voice small and embarrassed. She ducked her head, and sheepish smile on her face as she glanced off to the side.
“Y-Yeah, you did…” Jou said. Mimi swallowed hard and then looked at Jou again.
“Well, my manager wanted to set up an interview segment with this variety show, so I decided to make the announcement there,” she explained. She hoped that by just laying it all out it would help out a bit— that, and the fact that she already shared it with the world.
“You just— you just told everyone that we’re married!?” he asked in shock.
“I didn’t mention your name! I specifically made sure not to say who I was married to. I just said that my husband is shy— which you are— and that I wanted to focus on your privacy. And nobody knows!”
“But why did you say that in the first place?”
“Ok, think about it like this,” she said, leaning in close, “I needed my manager to know that we’re married, right?”
Jou nodded.
“If I just told my manager one on one she might have tried to convince me to break it off. Tell me that we needed to get divorced before anyone found out,” she told him. The gears started turning in Jou’s head and he nodded along.
“So by doing it on a public interview—”
“—Everyone knows, and if we ‘got divorced’ then it would be horrible press.”
“I see, I see…” he said, “It’s… not great, but I guess there weren’t many other options.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you,” she said, “It slipped my mind, honest.”
Jou shook his head, “It’s… It’s ok, Mimi-kun. People were going to have to know eventually. I guess I’m still in a bit of shock that I’m the talk of celebrity gossip— even if people don’t realize it.”
Mimi couldn’t help but laugh, her eyes crinkling as the smile was clear in them at his comment.
“Well, here’s hoping you don’t have to get used to it,” she said, unable to help but keep tittering after, “It’s not fun.” Despite her lighthearted tone, there was a strange sense of seriousness that seemed to exude from Mimi, clear in the way that the smile on her face softened, and Jou furrowed his brow slightly. He opened his mouth, tempted to say something— anything— out of concern, but he stayed quiet. Instead, he sighed and gently tapped his spoon against the plate.
“Yeah… that doesn’t sound pleasant. Hopefully we don’t have to put up with a lot of prying eyes and people whispering…”
“Well I promise that I won’t bring up that we’re married until you’re ready,” she said, pausing for a beat, “Or at all. I mean, you’ll have to meet Yukimura-san and my parents—”
“—And my parents and various business partners of the hospital and my father,” Jou added.
“—Right. But outside of that, we don’t have to talk about it at all if you’re not comfortable with it,” she said. Jou smiled softly and nodded once.
“That works.” He was sure Mimi was able to tell just as easily as him that soon enough it would get out— if there were times they’d be seen in public together, or at some sort of event for the hospital, then people would hear. It was inevitable— a fact that had his stomach tighten itself up in knots— but it was something he’d just have to grin and bear. He would greatly relish the last weeks of invisibility he had, hold onto them as tight as possible, and figure out how to navigate the world knowing he was married to Mimi Tachikawa.
They pivoted to small talk as they finished up dinner, both glad to have the reprieve from the heavy air that lingered around them. Once they were done, Jou grabbed the plates and headed to the kitchen.
“Are you sure?” Mimi asked, turning to look at him, resting her arm on the back of the chair.
“Of course,” Jou said simply, “You made dinner, so the least I can do is clean up.”
Mimi beamed, “Well, I won’t say no! I appreciate it,” she said, “But if you do want any help, let me know.” She watched him reach for a sponge on the counter as he began washing the dishes.
“It’s fine, really.”
“Thanks,” she said, her ears perking up as her phone dinged across the apartment. She popped up from her seat with her usual energy and skipped over to the couch. She plopped herself down and swiped her phone from the coffee table, leaning back.
Another exasperated message from Miyako, filled with question marks, exclamation points, and emojis, popped up on her phone’s home screen.
Oh. Right.
Mimi hissed, gritting her teeth as she realized she had held off on telling everyone that had spammed her phone. Lots of “I’ll tell you later, lots to do!” texts fired off in response and yet she had said nothing since. She had no idea how she wanted to even broach the topic, and as she looked over at Jou again, still working dutifully at washing the dishes, she couldn’t help but wonder what he would think. He wanted to keep this secret, but these were their friends, and her family, of course.
“Hey, Jou?” she finally called out, her voice wavering slightly. She kept looking over at him, almost expectantly, but he kept at work.
“Yes?”
“What about our friends?” he asked. Jou looked up from the sink, brow furrowed in confusion. Mimi breathed out an incredulous laugh and shook her head. She wondered how, for someone so smart, he missed the little things like this so easily. It was funny, enough to leave a smile on her face.
“Are we going to tell them about the marriage?” she asked slowly, watching with amusement as realization dawned on his face.
“Oh.”
“I mean, I had Miyako and Sora ask me about it, and Taichi started freaking out about kissing a married woman,” she laughed, though the mortified look on Jou’s face simply grew. “You look like I just broke your brain. Are you ok?”
“I-I-I mean I know people know about us, it’s just… surprising that all our friends are asking,” he said. He pursed his lips, deep in thought for a moment, then shook his head, “No, not that, more just that they don’t know…”
“I didn’t tell them, I told you that I wouldn’t do that! They’re just surprised that I haven’t told them yet,” she said.
“O-Oh, well I didn’t mean to imply you would, Mimi-kun!” he insisted, “I’m sorry, it’s just, I figured you would’ve told our friends.”
“It’s ok,” she giggled, “It was hard not to tell anyone yet! I haven’t even told my parents!” she said, “I just wanted to know if you were ok with me telling them. I know we’re going to tell our parents, and it’s not like our friends will tell everyone, but I wanted to make sure.”
Jou turned off the faucet, dried off the pot Mimi used to make dinner, then walked from the kitchen to the living room, “Well…” he started, scratching his cheek, “They are our friends. And we can trust them not to tell anyone.”
He stopped behind the chair he was sitting in earlier, placed his arms against it and leaned forward, looking at Mimi with concern still on his face, “I don’t think it’s a bad idea…”
“…But…?” Mimi continued slowly, raising one eyebrow at him curiously.
He shrugged weakly, unable to stop his right leg from bouncing gently, “No but. They’re our friends. If we’re going to pretend to be married, they’ll have to know sooner or later. We should tell them,” he said. The grin that instantly appeared on Mimi’s face was bright, practically blinding, and Jou could feel a pit growing in his stomach. He rounded the chair and sat down, watching silently as Mimi started tapping away, that grin still on her face as she had to hold back from tittering to herself. He swallowed hard.
“Ok, I’m sure my phone will blow up in just a few, but they know!”
God, all their friends knew. It would help sell the illusion that they were married, but Jou really wasn’t looking forward to Taichi and Yamato blowing up his phone asking a million questions about how it happened. Frankly, the longer he could put off telling everyone about it, the better, because he was still trying to mentally prepare himself for telling his father. He lingered on it far too much at work today after Harada-kun talked with that other nurse about Mimi being married, and it just left him more panicked about the idea.
“By the way, sorry to throw another thing your way,” Mimi started, and his head whipped over to her so fast that he even surprised himself. He blinked. “But we need to buy rings.”
Jou’s jaw dropped in an instant. That hadn’t even occurred to him— well it had vaguely occurred to him— but it had left just as quickly given how many other things he had to panic about with this whole fake marriage.
“I… I guess we do, yes…” he said slowly, his gaze slowly falling to his left hand. He tried to picture a band around his ring finger, but struggled.
“They won’t have to be expensive or anything, the last thing I’d want is for us to break the bank on this,” Mimi said lightly with a wave of her hand, still smiling as if nothing was wrong, while Jou was still trying to comprehend the idea. “But I think some simple wedding bands will be nice and help sell it to everyone.”
Jou nodded slowly as she spoke, “We should, yes,” he agreed, “I do have tomorrow off, if we want to handle it then,” he suggested as he slowly looked up at her. His stomach tied itself up in knots and he almost regretted bringing it up. There was no comfort in the shock on Mimi’s face, either, though at least she managed to regain her composure quickly and easily.
“Sure!” she chirped, “We can always get lunch after?” she asked. Jou still sat with his shoulders in a hard set line and his body stiff. He knew there was no reason to be like this, but there was still the fact, to him at least, that they were so radically different. He could barely understand how she was so easygoing with this.
“Ok,” he said before inhaling deep through his nostrils. He set his hands on his knees and nodded, this time with more energy, “Ok, let’s do it.”
He was terrified, incredibly terrified, but surely ring shopping couldn’t be that bad.
***
Jou still hadn’t replied to any of his friends, who had exploded his phone with messages asking how their whirlwind romance happened, since Mimi had kept the details light in the group chat. He was grateful for Koushiro’s, Hikari’s, and Iori’s lack of prying, though, and it provided a little bit of solace. That solace was quickly washed away by a wave of stress, though, as he and Mimi approached the jewelry store.
Jou craned his neck, looking around to see if anyone had noticed the two of them walking, even with the large sunglasses Mimi put on to help obscure herself. She wore a skirt and a shirt from some sort of streetwear brand he didn’t recognize, paired with a cardigan that made her look effortlessly stylish.
“That’s not exactly difficult to do given she’s a model…” he thought as he looked down at himself, in a simple button up shirt and nice pants. Effortlessly stylish with plain and drab, it was almost humorous, and Jou was just glad they reached the store before he could circle the drain of these self-deprecating thoughts more. He opened the door and followed quietly behind her.
“Tachikawa-san, hello,” a woman greeted her kindly. Mimi waved, while Jou offered the woman a polite nod. “It’s nice to see you.”
“You too! Thanks for taking the time to see us!” Mimi said with her usual bright energy as the two stopped by one of the jewelry cases. The woman glanced between Mimi and Jou slowly, the edge of her lips ticking upwards ever so slightly.
“Of course. If you two will join me back here, I’m sure we’ll have just what you’re looking for,” the lady said as she walked towards the back, with Mimi and Jou following. As they reached a glass case filled with all sorts of extravagant wedding rings that had Jou’s eyes just about bugging out from how many diamonds were engraved in the bands.
Mimi looked down at the selection with sparkling eyes, and even Jou had to admit he was impressed with how nice these looked.
“These are beautiful,” Mimi gushed, “Oh, that one in the back with the princess cut is incredible.”
“We can get you sized for that one, if you want?” the lady asked. Mimi shook her head.
“Oh, no, as lovely as it is, we just want to go simple,” Mimi said. She reached behind her to grab Jou’s arm, and pulled him forward gently. With her other hand she patted his arm and smiled, “We just want some simple wedding bands.”
The woman raised her eyebrows slowly in surprise, “Oh,” she said, “We can do that, yes. If you’ll follow me.”
She led the two over to the next case and slowly gestured her arm across it, “I think you’ll both appreciate these. Very understated but elegant. They would be perfect for you both,” she explained.
“What do you think about these?” Mimi asked, eyes flitting up to Jou before she looked back down in the case. Jou’s brow furrowed and he swallowed hard.
“…I do like it, yes,” Jou said with a nod, “I think they’d look really nice. I’m not one for anything showy, so… If Mimi is fine with it, I think we’ll take them.”
“Yes!” Mimi cheered, clapping her hands together, “Well take two of them, please!” She turned to look at Jou, her hands clasped together, “Oh they’re going to look so nice! And they’ll match, too!”
Jou felt himself get hot under the collar as both Mimi and the employee looked his way. He offered Mimi an awkward smile, while the lady opened the case.
“Let me get both of your ring sizes, then,” she said.
It was simple, but Jou was still left completely uncomfortable. Mimi, of course, had no issue, and simply chatted up the woman while she got Mimi’s ring size. Less than ten minutes later, Jou and Mimi had their rings on. Mimi nudged Jou as she pressed against him, causing him to jump in place.
“Come on, hold your hand next to mine!” she said. Jou held his right hand next to her left, eliciting giggles from her and the worker. “No no, your left hand! I’m going to take a picture of our rings!” she insisted as Jou ducked his head sheepishly.
“Why are you going to take a picture of our rings?” he asked, going along with it anyways. Mimi held her phone back with her right hand, sticking her tongue out and closing her right eye to try and get the perfect shot. She took a few moments, then Jou heard the telltale sound of her phone’s camera going off. She took a moment to to admire it, then looked up at Jou.
“Well I’m going to post it on social media and send it to our friends and my parents!” she chirped happily. She saw the way Jou’s eyes widened with fear and his jaw dropped and held up a hand, “No one will know who you are! I just want to show all my fans my ring! It’ll be fiiiiiiiiiine,” she insisted. Jou slowly closed his mouth.
It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Mimi— the opposite, really— but even a picture of his hand on the internet for all to see left him on pins and needles. He said nothing, instead offering Mimi a smile and a node. She returned the smile for a moment before looking back down at her phone.
“And our friends will love this picture, too!”
Jou suddenly felt the weight of the phone in his pocket, filled to the brim with unanswered texts, and groaned internally.
***
[Yagami Taichi]: Congrats on the marriage! Too bad you didn’t tell us beforehand, Yamato and I would’ve thrown a killer party for you!
[Inoue Miyako]: I know you’re a great guy and I trust you but make sure you treat Mimi-neesan right!
[Izumi Koushiro]: Congratulations.
[Takenouchi Sora]: One of you needs to tell me how this happened because Mimi still hasn’t said anything!
Those messages and more remained unanswered all the way through the next day as he was back to the hospital. That, alongside the silver band on his ring finger, left him off balance and distracted. He kept his left hand in his pocket or otherwise obscured when he could, still gun shy about the idea of revealing this work that he had suddenly gotten married.
Thankfully he had been able to keep himself focused just enough to push past that fog. The morning had been busy and had left him occupied enough to the point where the near constant internal panic had just been occasional. He was nervous yesterday when he and Mimi went to get lunch after picking up their rings, worried a fan of hers would come up to her, take pictures, and figure out his identity to paste all over the internet, but nothing happened.
Despite what a big name Mimi was, no one wanted to bother her. Did they not recognize her? Or did they just want to be polite? Were people already speculating who he was? Jou’s stomach started to twist in knots as his brain once again fell into its usual panic. It didn’t help that he was on his way to his father’s office to drop off some files. He still hadn’t told his parents or his brothers yet, and while he was sure his brothers would probably be happy, there was a quiet fear about his parents’ reaction, if only because this wasn’t standard at all. He (supposedly) had a secret relationship and eloped on a whim without telling his parents— his very traditional, strait-laced parents who ingrained those same ideals and principles in him since he was a child— and he could only imagine the look of disappointment in his father’s cold eyes, or the way his mother would shake her head with her fingers on her temples.
He swallowed thickly as he approached the door to his father’s office, left hand curled up into a loose fist to knock on the solid oak, when the knob started to turn. Jou barely held back a yelp as he stumbled back a few steps, blinking in surprise as Kitamura walked out.
“Oh, Kido-sensei, good to see you,” Kitamura said with a lopsided smile, “Hope I wasn’t keeping you too long.”
Jou slowly shook his head, “Oh, not at all. Please, don’t worry,” Jou said with a nod, “I just got here.”
“I wish I could stay and chat, but I have to check up on a patient right away,” Kitamura said. Jou shook his head.
“Don’t let me stop you,” he said, and Kitamura was off in an instant. Jou looked over his shoulder with a raised eyebrow before he looked back at the now open door and sped inside.
“Hello sir,” Jou said with a bow of his head as he gently closed the door behind him. His father was focused on his computer, jaw clenched and brow furrowed in frustration. He didn’t even so much as acknowledge him, and Jou carefully stepped forward, setting the manila folder of documents on his father’s desk.
“I brought those files you needed. They’re all there,” Jou said, voice cracking, which caused him to wince immediately, “There was also something I wanted to…”
His father let out a frustrated sigh, “I don’t have the time. Kitamura has to go visit his in-laws early, so I need to figure out what to do for this business lunch.”
“I-I could do it!” Jou said, eyes shooting wide open. His father let out a huff.
“No.”
“I’ll bring my wife,” Jou said immediately after. He couldn’t let this opportunity slip out of his fingers. If he could just convince his father…
“Wife?” he asked, finally turning his attention to his son with a look of disbelief. Jou held up his left hand to reveal his wedding band, which caused his father’s expression to become severe again. “Wife?”
“I… I meant to tell you and mother, but it was sort of spur of the moment,” Jou winced.
“You eloped?” his father asked, wholly unamused as Jou nodded, “Why the hell would you do something like that?”
“I know it seems like a surprise, but we wanted to keep our relationship quiet because of her job. We decided to get married last week and we were planning on telling everyone soon.”
“Her job?” his father repeated, “Now I’m afraid of what kind of woman you’ve brought into our family.”
“She’s a great woman,” Jou insisted, “I promise, you’ll love her when you meet her.”
“I hope so,” his father said with a sigh. After a moment of thought, he closed his eyes, pulled his glasses up, and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Fine. I’ll send you the details. Make sure you don’t embarrass me, these are longtime business partners of mine, and I’m not going to risk losing their support.”
“I promise, we won’t let you down,” Jou said, unable to contain the smile on his face. Sure, his father was being unnecessarily mean to Mimi, but he would change his mind as soon as he met her— he had no idea how anyone could hate Mimi, it was practically impossible.
“Your mother, you, and I will still have to talk with you about this,” his father told him. Jou nodded.
His father shooed him out right after, but Jou still felt hopeful. This was the first step to getting his father to take him seriously. He had to tell Mimi and make sure she could make it, but everything was hopefully looking up. Maybe he could earn his father’s job and his pride one day. If he did? He’d owe Mimi for the rest of his life.
Since I'm still working on my stuff to post later this weekend, I figured for day 1 I'll do something for the reblog day prompt. I made this fanart pretty recently, but I love it dearly. I was so happy to see little hidden scenes in that 25th anniversary video last August. Jou being so caring toward Mimi was such a lovely little gem in that video, so I of course had to draw him still loving her in the same way as adults.
You absolutely bet it does, which is one of the main reasons why it baffles me they’re not more popular to begin with. One might argue that it’s because of their age difference, but we shall get to that later, let’s start at the beginning, shall we: It’s more subtle at the beginning of Adventure, but Jyou’s and Mimi’s path are crossing one another quite frequently due to various reasons. First of all, they are implied to have known each other before entering the Digital World, as Jyou calls Mimi out for carrying the food rations he was supposed to give her and the novel even makes a point about them having been assigned to the same group together, thus making him basically her superior. We do have a power dynamic at play here and for a good chunk of the anime, they’re mainly set up to be comic relief towards/with each other (sometimes with Sora or other characters added to the mix), nothing really goes too deep so far - until we get to the Dark Masters’ arc. Both of them have been confronted with their priority systems throughout the Vamdemon arc - and this set up theme will stick with them for the rest of the series, intertwining at several points.
Jyou has been struggling with his sense of responsibility (just like Sora); he’s unsure whether or not he can be the leader he expects himself to be for the others or whether he wants to become a doctor just like his father expects of him, thus questioning his purpose. Mimi on the other hand goes through an arc of self discovery that begins with her refusing to fight and see more loved ones die - and Jyou decides to stay behind with her, joining her on that journey that makes both of them come to the conclusion that there are things they may not like or may not be good at, but that they have to find a solution for themselves. For Jyou, that’s committing to his own path, choosing it for himself, accepting that leadership and fighting may not be his primary way to support - for Mimi, it’s finding a middle ground, because sacrifices may be necessary sometimes, but that doesn’t mean that she can’t figure out her own way to support.
It’s a subtle, but amazing set-up, that displays them getting closer to and more familiar with one another, understanding and supporting each other’s choices and ways of being, figuring out their “purposes” outside of being “main fighters” - with tiny hints of growing affection in between as well. That is why their scenes in the second Tri movie actually work, even if they admit that they have already been there before - they are able to open up to each other, because they’ve BEEN through so much (together) already.
Mimi admires Jyou for prioritizing what he does (= staying away from the group to be a responsible adult) and Jyou admires Mimi for being straightforward with what she wants (= being enthusiastic and trying to convinve others that what she’s considering to be “good” is a good choice for them as well). Even if neither of them are happy with themselves at that point in time, struggling with their own ideas of “selfishness”. But they actually do take each other for what they are. Surely Mimi had her own moments of doubting Jyou’s capabilities here and there at the VERY beginning, but that shifted completely by the end of 01; neither of them has to change for the sake of the other or play a role - and they are aware of that, hence why I chose the screenshot above. Their arcs, while more in the back, are intertwined to some degree and their resolutions are, in my humble opinion, also the reason why they’re among those that do NOT struggle with their career choices in the end and are not threatened by the fate of losing their partners by the time of Kizuna.
Long story short - there is A LOT of setup for them. And I’ve only talked about their story related purposes so far…
Whether I think why and how they’d work:
In case my little love letter about their relationship hasn’t convinced you yet - I am very much convinced that they’re working out wonderfully as an established couple. While their dynamic, as fun and humourous as it is often portrayed to be, works very well on a platonic level in my book, there are several aspects that make me adore them even more on a romantic level.
As mentioned above, throughout 01 and 02, the sense of familiarity and openness between these two grows significantly - even if the age gap exists and even if Jyou tries very hard to maintain his senpai-ish attitude towards Mimi to stay composed, she’s not really fazed by that. On the contrary, Jyou is among the few characters she’s being most physical and affectionate with, only topped by Sora, Miyako and Meiko at best and those are all girls thus supporting my headcanon that Mimi is a raging bisexual with a preference for women, but Jyou is the non-plus-ultra main exception. Canon even supports that by constantly making her display her love language - “giving gifts” - towards Jyou, whether it’s nuts or candies or even very loving hugs… Jyou easily gets affected by that and blushes on several occasions, making it quite difficult to not sense mutual adoration and fondness for one another. Especially because he’s obviously very protective of her.
And since they’re both among the few characters who’re actually genuinely OPENING UP to one another about their fears and doubts in both 01 and Tri, their crests - of Sincerity and Reliability - are basically the proof for why I can see them being a wonderful romantic combination: They are there for and believe in each other, they enjoy being in each other’s company, they’re communicative and can even call one another out on what bothers them, they don’t shy away from physical touch - and they complement each other. Where Mimi can be brash, Jyou can act as the voice of reason that gets her back on earth - where Jyou gets doubtful and anxious, Mimi is a ray of positivity and forwardness. (They may butt heads because of their differences too, but as mentioned above, I consider them to be communicative enough to be able to deal with that and get over their differences. I don’t see the same level of readiness and patience in Mimi when it comes to other characters, except maybe Sora.)
They can both be incredibly judgemental together as well, thus calling out the rest of the group for being too adventurous/engaging in dangerous activities, thus making them quite a power couple - even if they’re literally more at the back than others. As adults, they’re more grounded in reality, their priorities and passions - and thus they can only make each other better through that, even if they may have to deal with some long distance shenanigans for a while. Their hobbies might actually also be quite different, but in the end, they could still come together for late night calls, with Jyou falling asleep while Mimi would soothe him after a long, stressful day at work.
Tl;dr: I love them and kinda wish Tri didn’t go so hard on ship teasing in different directions, trying very hard to keep these two apart in text, while the subtext basically told us that they’re amazing for each other.
Whether I’d prefer them as platonic or romantic ship:
I quite obviously prefer them romantically, but if canon were to go into different directions, I could still live with that as long as they maintained the bond that had so lovingly bloomed between them throughout all this time.
Unfortunately, I couldn't create as much as I would have liked for this occasion, but... I need you to understand just how much this relationship means to me. It's easily one of my top 10 ships in Digimon Adventure, both from a platonic and romantic angle - not only do they have incredible chemistry, but their arcs are also continuously intertwined with one another. There is just... A sense of mutual support and understanding between them that makes them endlessly special to me.
So while I still plan on creating something original for them this weekend, I at least wanted to shed some light on what I already have done for them, even if it doesn't fit the prompts!
From doll pics, edits and picrews...
... To written works:
Meta: How I feel about them as a ship, why and how I ship them
Fanfiction: Why I think that they're an amazing duo in the Digimon Adventure Reboot (also in regards to their careers)
Please support the event, it's truly wonderful to have ship events like these!
Hey Digimon fandom! We’re thrilled to announce that @reliablejoukido and @sloanerisette are hosting Jyoumi Weekend 2025! That's right, a weekend dedicated to Jou Kido and Mimi Tachikawa! Let's give one of our favorite duos in Digimon some love!
Jyoumi Weekend will take place Friday April 11 through Sunday April 13, so we wanted to let you all know ahead of time. We’ll be posting the rules and the prompts soon, so keep your eyes peeled for all the information you need! If you have any questions, please feel free to hit up our ask box!
We're looking forward to running this event for all of the Jyoumi fans on Tumblr, and can't wait to share more in the coming weeks!
