Hello reader! I know I said I'd get working on 'Once Upon an Autumn Equinox' soon but I got this idea about series of vignettes focusing on Ryo and his first car that just wouldn't leave me around. I'm planning on writing three or four chapters of varying length which will be related to each other in a loose continuity. In this fic, Rika and the other Tamers will be 16 and Ryo will be 19. For me, music and cars go together, and so I will frequently refer to songs in the title of the chapters and in the chapters themselves. It goes without saying that I do not own those songs.
Disclaimer: Just as I do not own Digimon, I do not own Depeche Mode's song 'Behind the Wheel', Wilson Pickett's 'Mustang Sally' or Charles Aznavour's 'Et Pourtant'.
About a dozen uniform-clad teenage girls had gathered near the school gates to peer at the young man who was parked right in front of the gates. Dressed in faded blue jeans, a white t-shirt, a dark brown leather jacket and sunglasses, the mysterious brown-haired stranger looked like a movie star. But what really had the schoolgirls almost hyperventilate from excitation was the fact that the stranger was casually leaning against a white car that had been polished until it glittered in the sunlight, and which seemed both antique and foreign.
It wasn't just any sort of car, either. It was a convertible. With its top off. And it had the girls' imagination running wild.
"Maybe his girlfriend goes to our school and he came to pick her up!"
"I wish I was his girlfriend."
"Nah, I mean, a hot guy like that? We would know if one of us was dating a guy like him. I know I would brag about it. More likely, he's a nice older brother who came to pick up his sister."
"I swear it, if your brother is this hot and you never introduced him to me, I'm so kicking you off my friends' list."
"He's sooo handsome!"
"Doesn't he look familiar to you guys? I feel like I've seen his face somewhere before. Like on a magazine or something."
"Maybe he's a model!"
"Oh, maybe he's hunting for new talent! I've got to look my best!"
"Models don't do that, you idiot. If that's the case he'd be either a photograph or a head hunter."
"And it's not like he would pick you either way!"
"Yes he would!"
"No he wouldn't!"
Hearing part of the girls' argument, the mystery boy allowed himself a small smile. These girls would learn who he was and why he was there soon enough.
"Akiyama? What the hell are you doing here!"
The spiky-haired boy grinned at the newcomer as he removed his sunglasses, revealing the blue eyes underneath. "Happy to see you too, Rika! By the way, you look great. You should wear skirts more often."
Rika Nonaka was fuming. Red with anger and embarrassment, she stormed towards him. "Just because I'm okay with seeing you from time to time, it doesn't mean you can just show up whenever you feel like it! This is my school! This is my turf! I have a reputation!" she yelled, while poking him hard in the chest.
Ryo just laughed. "Chill out. From what I've heard while I was waiting for you, I'll only make your precious reputation better."
"But that's exactly my point!" Rika exclaimed while putting her hands on her hips in exasperation. "And for god's sake, my eyes are up here; stop staring at my legs!"
Ryo quickly lifted his eyes back up. "Sorry," he said, sheepish. "I'm not used to seeing you dressed like this. It's sort of distracting."
The red-headed girl scoffed. "Come on, you've seen me in less than that" pointed out Rika, by which she, of course, referred to that one time the Tamers had gone to the water slides last summer, and which only a very sick mind indeed would have mistaken for anything else, because, after all, they are so not a couple.
"Well, yeah," Ryo conceded, "but just once, and it's been a long time!"
"You still haven't answered my question. What *poke* are you *poke* doing *poke* here!"
"Now now, Wildcat, no need to get so physical" he said, grinning. "I just came to show you my new baby. Sorry, but you're number two in my heart now," he added while demonstrating the white car behind him, his grin growing larger as he did so.
Noticing the car for the first time, Rika took a step back in surprise. "You bought a car?" she said, her eyes wide. She stared at the vehicle. "Wow... I mean, that's... That's pretty cool, I guess." She frowned at the little figure on the car's hood. "What brand is it? I don't recognize the label. Is it foreign?"
Ryo smirked as he examined his nails in a casual fashion. "It's a Mustang."
"What!" she cried out in astonishment. "You bought yourself a convertible Mustang? With what money?"
"Well, I've been saving up money for a while, and I had a really good deal. So, tell me Rika" he said as he casually flung his arm around her shoulders, "would you like a ride home?"
Still destabilized by Ryo's sudden announcement, Rika didn't initially process his offer – or his arm around her for that matter. "Well, I-I... I-I don't..." she stuttered. Somehow hearing her own voice seemed to take her back to reality; Rika shook her head and quickly shrugged off Ryo's arm. "Well, why not?" she finally said. "I've got nothing better to do. Come on hotshot, take me on a spin." She smirked. "Impress me."
"I'd be delighted to. Now, if her highness would take place inside the carriage..." Ryo said as he held out the passenger door for her.
"Why thank you kind sir," played along Rika as she sat down.
Ryo closed the door behind her and made his way around the car in order to take his own place inside. With a turn of the key the motor roared to life, and they rolled away...
...leaving behind a dozen teenage girls frozen numb with shock by the school gates. Finally one managed to get back enough control over her vocal chords to utter a high pitched shriek: "Rika 'the Ice Queen' Nonaka... has scored this guy?"
-*-*-*-In the car-*-*-*-
"Your ride is pretty sweet..." said Rika, looking around as they drove along towards her home, the wind tugging at her ponytail and blowing her bangs out of her face.
"Thanks!" Ryo said, beaming with pride.
"...On the outside. The inside is pretty busted up" she finished, looking at the worn leather benches, from which some stuffing was escaping. Some of the glass on the dashboard was cracked. Although the car was very clean, there was a faint remaining odour of cigarette in the air.
Ryo gave her a sheepish sideway-smile. "Well, there had to a reason I could afford a car like this. It was pretty old and it wasn't exactly in prime condition. I'm probably going to have a few repairs to do, too."
"Wouldn't it have been cheaper in the long run pick one with less wear?" asked Rika, raising an eyebrow.
"Well, maybe a little," admitted Ryo, "but not by that much. I really had a good price. True, it would have been less trouble to get one that needed fewer repairs, but I don't mind. I'm going to make this little darling my very own Greased Lightning." He grinned. "Do you think it would be corny if I called her Sally?"
"Heh, Mustang Sally? Like the song?" asked Rika, amused.
"Yup! Mustang Sally..." he began to sing.
"Guess you better slow your Mustang down."
"Mustang Sally now baby..." continued Ryo, still singing and drumming on the wheel.
"No, Ryo, I mean there's a stop sign – stop!" shouted Rika as she motioned forward wildly. Yelping, Ryo broke abruptly. As they jolted forward from the impact of their sudden stop, a pair of grade-schoolers skipped across the street in front of them.
Both Tamers were breathing heavily from the catastrophe they had avoided in extremis. His heart thumping wildly in his chest, Ryo turned towards a very livid Rika.
"Sorry about that" he smiled nervously.
Struggling to steady her breathing, Rika managed an answer: "If you're done trying to impress me, I'd like to home in one piece, please."
They waited until the kids had fully crossed before resuming their journey. After a moment, Rika broke the silence. "So, you were saying you had a lot of repairs to do on this car. What exactly needs repairing?"
Grateful for the new subject, Ryo was more than happy to answer. "Well, first of all I'm going to change the radio."
Eyeing said radio, the red-head raised an eyebrow. "A cassette player? That is so last century. I can see why you would want to change that, but isn't it sort of superficial? I mean, if it can still catch radio signal..."
"But that's exactly the thing. It doesn't get signal, for some crazy reason. So, the only music this radio plays is this weird cassette that is stuck inside, which is, I will add, in some sort of foreign language I don't understand."
"Really? Can I listen to your mystery cassette?" asked Rika with curiosity.
"Sure, be my guest" replied Ryo as he turned the radio on. Immediately violins began to fill the car as a man's voice sang.
« Et pourtant, pourtant, je n'aime que toi
Et pourtant, pourtant, je n'aime que toi
Et pourtant… »
"That's Aznavour" declared Rika.
"What sort of language is Aznavour?" asked Ryo, frowning.
"Not a language, you moron. It's a person. Charles Aznavour. That song is in French."
"Since when do you know French?"
"I don't, but my mother travels a lot for her job as a model. She's into a lot of foreign music because of that. She got into Charles Aznavour after a trip to Paris. This song actually plays often at my place."
"Really?" said Ryo, surprised. "That's funny. Do you know what it means?"
"Not entirely. Well, I do know the refrain translates as 'And yet, and yet, I love only you.' Basically the song is about a guy who is in love with a girl even though she's cold and treats him like crap, but he just can't bring himself to give up on her because she's the only one he loves. Sort of sappy, if you ask me," she said, shrugging.
Ryo gave his radio a quick surprised-yet-pleased glance before turning his eyes back on the road. "Well well, will you look at that," he whispered to himself, smiling.
"I couldn't translate the whole song, but my mother probably could" continued Rika, oblivious to Ryo's comment.
"Maybe I'll ask her about it some time, then" said Ryo as he turned on Rika's street.
"She'd probably be really happy about it, too. You wouldn't know it just by looking at her, but my mother is very passionate about music. There we are, that's the wooden gate over there" said Rika while pointing her finger towards said gate.
Ryo rolled his eyes. "I know which one is your house, Rika" pointed out the blue-eyed boy as he came to a stop in front of her house. "There we are" he announced, turning towards her with a small smile.
"Thanks for the ride, Ryo. It was fun, even though you almost ran over some kids. I suppose you're planning on showing off your car to the others during the rest of the week?" asked Rika as she combed her bangs back into place with her fingers.
Ryo smirked. "Now, why do you assume you're the first to see my car? You are so self-centered. My life doesn't revolve around you, you know," he teased.
She blushed. "I didn't assume..."
"Admit it. You take my interest in you for granted."
"N-no I don't!" vehemently denied Rika, pink tinting her cheeks. "I-I just thought that if you had popped up with a convertible Mustang at Shinjuku High Jeri or Henry would have told me about it."
He laughed as he gave her shoulder a gentle shove. "I'm just messing with you, Pumpkin. Yes, you're the first of the Tamers to see Sally. Yes, I'm going to show her off to the others later this week, although if I want to give each of them a ride I'll have to do it in two parts. I only have space for four passengers, so I wouldn't be able to fit Takato, Henry, Jeri, Kazu and Kenta at the same time in my car."
Clearly unhappy to have been made the butt of the joke, Rika sulked as she unclasped her security belt. "You're such an idiot Akiyama."
"You're very special to me too, Wildcat. Now you run along, I'm sure you have plenty of fun high school homework to do."
"Gee, thanks mister big-shot university student" sarcastically said Rika. She opened the car door. "See you around Ryo. Thanks again for the ride."
"My pleasure. Bye Rika" he waved.
He watched her as she opened the gate to her house and waited until she was inside before driving away. A small smiled played on his lips as he drove towards his own home. He raised the volume of the radio and began singing along.
« Et pourtant, pourtant, je n'aime que toi
Et pourtant, pourtant, je n'aime que toi
Et pourtant… »
There you go! I hoped you liked this little story. Of course, comments and reviews will be greatly appreciated. Stay tuned for the next chapter, which is already written and will most probably go up next week!