And with the last day of Jyoumi Week being “future,” I drew Jou and Mimi playing with each other’s cute kids from the epilogue. I think what draws me to this ship is that even if a romantic relationship between them may not have happened, their friendship is certainly genuine.
Thank you for hosting such a fun week @jyoumifeels! And thank you to all the cool people who shared their amazing work! It was a blast and I hope to participate again next year (and hopefully in more ship weeks!). Keep shipping!
This is the last prompt of Jyoumi Week 2018. I wish I'd worked on this prompt a bit longer but it still gets most of what I was trying to get across which was a bittersweet taste that life doesn't always go the way you wanted it to. It's a bit of a crossover with Orange as well (in terms of the letters to your past self).
Title: Letters To My Past Self
Words: 1,903
Summary:
Mimi's been through a tough time since her husband cheated on her and she carted herself and her son back to Japan but Joe and his wife have been there to help every step of the way. Mimi just wishes she could get rid of her unwelcome feelings for her old friend.
Ao3 Link
I've had a blast writing all these prompts and I hope people have enjoyed reading them. If nothing else it means there's just a bit more content out there for anyone else who like this pairing as I do. Thank you so much to @jyoumifeels for arranging the whole week on Tumblr as without that, none of this would have been written. And thank you to all the others who've participated as well; this pairing is a favourite of mine and it's fun to get to see how others portray the pairing. I look forward to participating again next year, but this time preparing more beforehand!
[ my super late art for Jyoumi week! ♡♡♡. I drew med student-era Jou because I love it when characters are closer in age to me hahaha. Even though I’m a few days late, thank you @jyoumifeels for putting it together! ]
Jyou had been living in the United States for a couple of months and Mimi had been pressuring him to do something couples did all the time there.
“B-But people are going to see us! It’s embarrassing!” Jyou used to protest.
“We’re just going to hold hands in public! It’s no big deal!” Mimi used to say back to him, with no effect. Jyou was very strict when it came to public demonstrations of affection. Mimi tried not to pressure him but she couldn’t avoid feeling sad over it. Since she was a teenager, she had dreamed about holding hands in the street with the love of her life. Maybe it was a silly dream. But it was so dear to her heart.
However, if that had been her only problem, things would have been so much easier for her.
Mimi had an internship in a local television network that she loved. But the network was having financial problems and had to let people go. Mimi was notified that she was going to be one of those people one week before her last day.
When she told Jyou, he tried to cheer her up the best he could. He reminded her that there were other networks, that he believed in her competence and that he would continue to support her forever. Mimi simply nodded, incapable to even force a smile.
Her last day in the network came and was over in the blink of an eye. The sun was already down when she left the building to walk to the subway station alone, like she had always done.
However, she soon found out that would not be the case.
“Jyou?” She let out when she saw her boyfriend waiting for her on the sidewalk. “What are you doing here? You should be in class!”
“I skipped today.”
“You never do that!”
“I thought that you wouldn’t want to be alone today... nor should you.”
Seeing his eyebrows furrowed in concern for her brought tears to her eyes. Nevertheless, she smiled.
“I love you so much, Kido Jyou!”
His cheeks turned scarlet as they always did when she told him that.
“I love you too! Above everything in the world!” He spoke in the overtly serious tone of voice he always used to demonstrate how much he meant his words.
“I believe you.” Mimi assured him. “Do you want to come to my apartment? We could cook together. It’ll cheer me up!”
“Ehrr, Mimi…” Jyou murmured, shyly. He lifted his left hand and sustained it in the air.
“Do you want to shake my hand?” She asked, confused.
“N-No!” Jyou stuttered, blushing. “I just… I mean… I thought that you would like it if we… held hands, you know?”
Mimi raised her eyebrows in surprise.
“You don’t have to force yourself to do that. I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.” She told him.
“I want to do that!” Jyou affirmed, grabbing both of the woman’s hands. “I want to! I want to be a good boyfriend and support you the best I can! If I keep on refusing to hold your hand in public when I know that would make you happy, then I wouldn’t be doing my best!”
Mimi gently put his right hand down but kept on holding his left one.
“Please let me know if it’s too much for you.” She asked.
“When have I ever lied to you?” He asked in response, smiling largely.
That night, Mimi and Jyou held hands in public for the first time. It surpassed everything she had ever dreamed about.
