Ruki ran through the dark alley, her long black coat fluttering out behind her. All she could think about was getting away, far away. She was not usually one to run away from problems and situations, but this time, she just couldn't deal. Her grandmother had just passed away the day before and now she found herself in an alley, being chased by two scary looking men. All she had wanted was to get away from her mother and her constant crying. She knew that if she had stayed she would have cried herself, and Ruki wouldn't let herself fall apart. She had to stay strong. Ruki hadn't thought of the danger she had put herself in as she had left the house late at night. A fifteen-year-old girl alone in the dark was never a good combination. She reached the end of the alley, and saw that she was trapped. There was no escape. The two men closed in on her. One of them, the one with the long hair grinned maliciously.
"Well, well, girlie, there is no where else to run, is there?"
Ruki glared at him, but her gaze faltered. Her anger was replaced with fear. She backed up against the damp brick wall. "Please, don't hurt me." She did not recognize her own voice.
The two men laughed. The longhaired man pulled a switchblade from his jacket pocket and advanced towards Ruki. She shut her eyes. Ruki awaited the pain, but none arrived. She heard a shout and opened her eyes. There was a tall boy in front of her, fending off the longhaired man. His back was to her, but he looked quite familiar.
The boy was losing the fight, Ruki could tell. Just as the longhaired man was about to strike the boy down, another figure leaped into the fray. Ruki gasped.
"Cyberdramon!" The boy exclaimed. Ruki knew immediately who her savior was. He was Akiyama Ryo. The boy's digimon growled menacingly at the older men and they fled from the alley, scared of the digimon. Ryo patted Cyberdramon on the head.
"Thanks, pal." He told his digimon partner. He then turned to Ruki who was staring in his direction in shock.
"Are you all right, Ruki? They didn't hurt you, did they?" He asked her, concerned.
Ruki didn't reply. She couldn't believe that Ryo had just put his own life in danger to save hers. She had thought that he detested the very sight of her. Emotions ran through her body, and she wasn't sure how to react. Her knees that had been shaking finally gave way and she slid to the ground.
Ryo knelt beside her on the hard pavement. He put a hand on her shoulder. His serene blue eyes met hers.
"Hey." He said softly. "Are you okay?"
Ruki nodded slowly. "Thank you." She whispered. "Thank you, Ryo. You saved my life."
Ryo smiled at her. "No problem. Besides I couldn't let the Digimon Queen get hurt, whom would I battle with?" He laughed.
Ruki regained her composure. "I think you mean, who would you have to beat you!" She smiled back at him, feeling like herself once more.
Ryo laughed again. "Come on, I think it's late and I think it's going to rain." He stood up and extended a hand to Ruki to help her stand. She pushed his hand aside and stood on her own. "I think I know how to stand up, Ryo!"
He smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, princess."
Ruki began to walk out of the alley. She turned. "That's 'Queen' to you." She grinned and continued walking. Ryo hurried to catch up to the girl. He fell into step with her as they exited the dark alley. They walked in silence, until it began to rain heavily.
"Yow! Where did that come from?" Ryo cried, as they were soaked in minutes. They began to run, looking for some shelter from the rain. A crack of lightening lit up the sky and booming thunder soon followed. The two ran to the old park. Ruki and Ryo found shelter underneath a hollowed out dinosaur that sat underneath the slide. Ruki sat against one of the walls and drew her knees up. She wouldn't admit it to anyone, but thunder and lightening storms frightened her. Her grandmother was the only one that knew. She would come in and comfort Ruki whenever one came along. But now she wasn't here to comfort her. Tears formed in her eyes as she was once again reminded of her grandmother's all too near death. She didn't notice Ryo looking at her, as she fought back tears that threatened to flood out of her eyes. Ryo stood up from his seat across from Ruki and sat down beside her.
"It's okay to cry, you know. You don't always have to be strong." He told her. He knew she was trying not to cry, even though he didn't know what it was about. He did not know of her grandmother's death. He put his arm around her shoulders.
That was all Ruki needed. The floodgates opened and tears streamed down her cheeks. Ryo didn't ask her questions he merely let her cry. Ruki cried for a long time, until her sobs were reduced to small sniffles. She suddenly felt very embarrassed, at crying like such a child, and in front of Ryo no less. She quickly pulled herself out of his comforting embrace and stood up, wiping her eyes.
"I should get home. " She told Ryo, eager to leave, so she wouldn't have to face up to her emotions once more. She began to head out of the cement dinosaur but was halted by another crack of lightening and loud thunder. It was raining harder. Ruki quickly retreated back inside. "Or maybe I'll stay a bit longer." She mumbled.
Ryo had the urge to laugh, but held it back, fearing it would make her angry with him. And that was the last thing he wanted. Ruki sat back down beside him, but did not look at Ryo. He could see in the dim light provided by the park lights that her cheeks were flushed with embarrassment. They were also tear-streaked.
"Ruki," He began. "I know you probably don't want to talk about what is bothering you, and especially not to me, but I want you to know that I'll listen."
She turned her head towards him. "Ryo, I can't." She told him, her voice quavering, she looked into his eyes, and wanted to tell him everything. "My grandmother passed away a few days ago! I miss her so much!" She burst out, breaking into tears once more.
"Ruki, I'm so sorry," He told her sincerely, and drew her into a hesitant hug. He knew that she might be angry with him later for hugging her, but it was what Ruki needed at that moment. She sobbed against him, and threw her arms around him, completing the embrace.
Moments passed without any words exchanged. Then Ruki broke the silence that hung thickly.
"Ryo?" She said softly. "Why are you doing this for me?"
"Well, I.." Ryo faltered. He was usually a smooth talker, except when it came to talking about his feelings.
"You what?" Ruki asked, prompting him.
"I..Hey, look. The storm is letting up. Awhile longer and it should be finished." Ryo tried to change the subject, looking outside.
Ruki pulled away from him, a little hurt that he wouldn't tell her why he had comforted her so. "Yeah, I guess it will be." She looked outside as well.
The two sat in silence for a while, waiting out the storm. A half an hour later, the storm had ended completely. Ryo checked his watch and saw that it was one in the morning. He winced. His father would not be pleased when he returned home. He stood up.
"Ruki, I'll walk you home. It's one in the morning, I
think you're mom will be worried about you." He told her. "I know my
father will be pretty angry at me when I get home."
Ruki stood as well. "My mother probably doesn't even notice that I'm not at home. She is too preoccupied with crying all day and night. Oh yeah, and she probably has one of her boyfriends there to comfort her."
Ryo looked at her forlornly, not sure how to respond. "Well, I'm sure she is worried about you, Ruki. My father isn't usually all that happy with me, but I know that he does care that I am not at home and one in the morning. I bet your mother is the same."
Ruki shrugged. "Let's go. I've had enough of you're company." She immediately regretted her words, but did not say anything more. She hated the way she said the wrong things when she was upset.
Ryo accompanied the girl to her house, glancing at her every so often. He hadn't admitted it to anyone, but he felt very strongly for Ruki. He would even go so far as to say that he loved her. He didn't dare tell her. That was the last thing that she needed at that time. He doubted she would want to hear those words from someone she didn't care to be around.
Soon Ruki stood at the pathway that went up to her front door. "Well, 'Bye, Ryo." Ruki began to walk up the pathway.
"Wait." Ryo called after her.
Ruki walked back to him. "Yeah?"
"Ruki, I have to tell you something. You may not like it, but you have to know," He started.
"And it is.."
"I..nevermind. Sorry. Goodnight, Ruki," Ryo chickened out. He didn't want to see the crestfallen look on her face when he told her his true feelings.
"You're a weird one, Akiyama," Ruki called over her shoulder as she walked up the pathway to her front door. Ryo stood at the end, and watched her disappear inside her home before hurrying away to his own house.
"Ruki!" Her mother cried as she walked in the front door. "Where have you been? I was so worried!" She enveloped her daughter into a hug. Tears were glistening in her eyes. "I thought I'd lost you as well."
Ruki surprisingly felt her own tears trickle down her cheeks for the third time that night. "Momma, I won't leave you, I promise." Ruki's mother let her out of the hug and gave her a short lecture about not leaving the house so late without telling her, before sending her off to bed. Ruki felt relieved to be home. What a night she had had. She hoped that Ryo wouldn't go blabbing to the others about her breakdown. It was not in her nature to do so. But, I guess, death changes people, She thought to herself. Ruki flopped down in her room and fell into a deep sleep.
Ryo arrived home around one thirty. He tried to open the front door quietly, but his father still heard him. He sat in the front room, a stern look on his face. Ryo gulped and prepared to have his father yell. But he was surprised, as no yelling arrived.
"Ryo, where were you?" His father asked. "You know you aren't supposed to be out so late."
"Sorry, father." Ryo replied. "I had some things that needed tending to. Next time if I'm out that late, I will call you."
His father accepted the apology and reason, knowing that his son did not want to explain the 'things that needed tending to.' He knew that sometimes it was best not to ask and leave things as they are.
"Go on up to bed. It's late." His father told him. He then turned stern. "And I don't want this to happen again, are we clear?"
"Clear." Ryo replied, and made his way into his bedroom where he was instantly asleep.
Hours later, Ruki awoke to the bright sun shining upon her face. She groaned groggily as she tried to block the sun from her face, but it did not work, so she was forced to leave her warm bed. She dressed quickly in jeans and a blue short-sleeved shirt. She wandered into the main room and found a note from her mother. She read it quickly and learned that her mother had gone in for a photo shoot. She sighed. That wasn't something new. Her mother was always going in for photo shoots. She glanced at the answering machine and saw the there was a bright red one blinking on the screen. She pressed the 'play' button and listened to the message.
"Hello, this is a message for Ruki. It's Akiyama Ryo, I was wondering if you could meet me in the park today at eleven o'clock? Thank you. Um, Bye." The machine beeped indicating the end of the message.
Ruki stared at the machine. Why would Ryo want to meet with her again? She didn't know, but decided to comply and go to the park. She glanced at the clock beside the machine and saw that it was ten thirty-five. She grabbed her coat and walked quickly over to the park. Ryo was nowhere in sight, so Ruki sat down on one of the swings and swayed back and forth, waiting for the blue-eyed boy to arrive. Around five minutes later, Ryo rushed into the park, looking around. He spotted Ruki on the swings and a smile lit up his face. He seemed happy, and almost nervous as he trotted over to her.
"Hey, Ruki." He greeted her, sitting on the swing next to her. "How are you?"
"I'm fine, Ryo." Ruki told him. "What about you? Did your father explode at you when you got home last night?"
Ryo laughed. "Surprisingly, no. He was pretty calm about the whole thing. Maybe he was drunk."
Ruki shook her head. "My mother was actually happy to see me."
"See? I told you she cares." Ryo smiled. "And so do I."
Ruki froze. "What did you say?"
Ryo ran a hand through his thick brown hair and took a deep breath. "Ruki, I care about you. A lot. In fact, I think I'm in love with you."
"Ryo?" Ruki said, her voice small. "Did you really just say that?"
Ryo's smile faded. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have told you that. I know you hate the very sight of me. I'm so stupid to even think that you could return even a fraction of my feelings." He stood up to leave.
"Ryo, wait." Ruki put a hand on his arm. "That's not what I meant."
"Then what did you mean?" Ryo sat back down and faced her.
"I mean that, I couldn't believe that you felt the same way that I do."
"What?" It was Ryo's turn to be in disbelief. "I thought you hated me, Ruki."
Ruki sighed. "I know I come off as hostile and not very friendly, but that's just because. I don't know why I act that way with you. I guess it is just the way I concealed my feelings for you. I'm sorry."
Ryo stood up and pulled Ruki with him. "You don't have to be sorry." He leaned in and kissed her softly. Ruki returned his kiss, and hugged him.
"You know, you aren't so bad after all, Akiyama." She told him with a smile, before running off around the park, Ryo chasing after her.
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By: Sari