Countdown To Chaos

by The Digital Typhoon

Takato's new year's resolution was to kiss the girl of his dreams. A year later he still hasn't made good on his promise, can he get Rika before the clock strikes 12? New Year's Rukato.

Countdown to Chaos

--December 31, 2007

"3!"

"2!"

"1!"

"Happy new years!"

The radio scratched out the New Year's countdown with the Digimon Tamers listening as they sat in the park. When the countdown ended everyone shouted "Happy New Year" and pulled the string on their Party Popper. Henry, Takato, and Rika stayed by the radio as Kazu chased Kenta with the last popper and Jeri played with Guilmon.

"Happy New Year's guys, it sure has been a wild one." Henry said

"Please Henry don't say "Wild one" right now." Takato joked.

Henry laughed and said "Time for New Year's Resolutions."

Terriermon was the first to speak "I swear I won't be sarcastic at all this year!"

Henry laughed and said "I don't think you could keep that promise for an hour, let alone a year."

"I'm going to try harder to get along with my mom." Rika said. She paused for a moment then added "So long as she doesn't try and make me model."

Takato stood up and said "Sometime this year, I'm going to kiss the girl of my dreams."

--Present day

"Man, that was a stupid thing to say" Takato groaned and he remembered his New Year's Resolution "There's no way I'll get kiss her before the year ends."

"Who are you talking about Takato?" A voice said from behind him.

Takato turned around and saw the source of the voice "Oh, hello Jeri."

"Well, who is it?" She asked again

"Err…" Takato thought about if he should tell her, 'Jeri can help me… but I can't risk Renamon overhearing, she could be anywhere and I'd never know…' "Here, let me whisper it to you"

Takato cupped his hand around Jeri's ear and whispered something that not even the spying Kitsune could hear.

Jeri's eyes grew wide when he spoke "Oh my god! I can believe you like-"

Luckily Takato had been expecting her outburst and was able to cover her mouth in time to stop her from shouting out his secret. "Please don't yell Jeri."

"Oh, yeah. But still I can't believe it!" Jeri said, positively giddy.

"Well, now maybe you could help me, I've got to kiss her before the end of the year." Takato said.

"Why?" Jeri asked

"Last year, my New Year's resolution was to kiss the girl of my dreams, and it's her, no matter how you look at it." Takato said

Jeri giggled and said "I guess you're right."

"So do you think you can help?" Takato asked

"Well you have known each other for a while, and getting through her tough shell will be hard, but we can do it!" Jeri cheered

"So do you have a plan?" Takato asked

"I do." Said a voice from behind Takato

"Renamon!" shouted Jeri

"Err… I don't know how much you can do Renamon… because you don't… uh… know the girl we're talking about…" Takato lied

"You've said enough for me to know exactly who you're talking about, the dream girl line was enough, but when Jeri mentioned her "tough shell"…" Renamon said

Takato sighed and said "OK, you've got me, so go on and tell Rika so she can kill me…"

"Wait, you said you had a plan?" Jeri said

"Yes, I do. I've spent enough time with humans, and observed how you interact with members of the opposite gender when you are "In love". So I think I can help Takato win Rika's heart."

"But why would you do that? Rika hates love, and you're her partner, so isn't this like betraying her?" Takato asked.

"That's not how I see it." Renamon said "Rika may hate the way love makes others act, but she loves her family, and has mentioned a family like bond between her and I. Though she may never admit it, she loves her friends. Besides that, I get the feeling that if she were to think about this with a clear head she would be open to the idea."

Takato didn't understand most of what the Kitsune meant. "Err… ok, so what's your plan."

"When I watched the other humans, they would scamper around trying to make everything perfect and "Romantic" then they would dance around their feelings being too scared to say anything and most eventually are unable to express themselves and the other continues on, oblivious to the prior's desires." Renamon said "Rika has, in the past, mentioned how ridiculous that is, and that if you want something known, you should just say it. That's what you have to do, Takato."

"Just say it? No meeting spot, no special dinner? Nothing?" Takato asked

"Yes, then you have the rest of the day to work up to performing the "kiss"." Renamon said

"That sounds crazy." Takato said

"Well, Rika is kind of crazy" Jeri said

Takato thought for a long time before saying "Ok, I'll do it."

Renamon nodded and said "I will go tell her that you wish to speak with her."

Renamon jumped off and Jeri said "Renamon may know what you need to say, but I know how you need to say it!"
"What do you mean?" Takato asked

"Come on Takato, let's face it, you have trouble talking to girls." Jeri said

"I can talk to you alright." Takato said

"Yeah, but that took you several years, and even now you sometimes get shy." Jeri said "When you talk to Rika, you can't be shy or anything, you need to look her right in the eye and have courage!"

Takato nodded and said "Courage… just like Tai!"

Ten minutes later Rika walked into the park and, upon finding Takato and Jeri, said "So what's up Goggle head? Renamon said you had something to tell me."

Takato nodded and said "Well… the thing is…" Takato, remembering what Jeri had told him cleared his throat and continued "I really, really like you Rika, like more than a friend, and I was wondering if you'd like to go to the fireworks with me tonight."

Rika was stunned here was the goggle head, asking her out, and just the way she wanted too; straight to the point with none of that annoying romantic crap she hated. It didn't take much thought to decide on an answer "Sure Takato, just don't try and hold my hand or anything stupid."

Takato nodded and said "Oh, yeah, I'll see you tonight."

Takato stood awe struck as Rika and Renamon walked away, well Rika walked anyway. Jeri squealed and hugged Takato then said "Congratulations! You did great!"

Takato laughed slightly and said "Thanks Jeri"

"So what's going on over here?" a voice from behind them said

Takato turned around and saw his good friend Henry standing with his partner Terriermon sitting on his head "Yeah Takato I thought Rika was going to kill her when you asked her out, I guess I owe Impmon a few Digidollars."

"You bet?" Henry asked

Takato laughed and said "Impmon must not have thought about it too much, I mean, I wouldn't have taken that bet."

Everyone laughed even more and Henry said "Well don't forget, you still need to make good on your resolution."

Takato's good mood failed and he said "Yeah, I know. She will kill me when I try… Man, I wish I had never said that…"

"Don't worry Takato, if she leaves some pieces we'll put you back together, and you'll be as good as new" Terriermon said

"For some reason, that doesn't make me feel a whole lot better" Takato said

"Aww, Momentai. If she kills you then whatever, at least you got to kiss a girl before you kicked the bucket." Terriermon replied

Takato sighed and Jeri said "I can look after Guilmon tonight if you need me to."

"Thanks Jeri." Takato said "Well I'd better go get ready, if I'm going to die, I might as well look good…"

When Takato found himself home, he looked through his clothes and eventually decided on formal jeans a button up shirt and a nice jacket. It wasn't too showy or too casual, for the occasion, it was just right. Takato then took an extra shower and spent the rest of the day practicing what to say in front of the mirror. Meanwhile Rika was tearing through her drawers and closet searching for something to wear. Nothing seemed right, and for reasons unknown to her she wanted to impress Takato.

Renamon simply chuckled at her tamer as she threw shirt after shirt in an ever growing pile, growing more distressed with each discarded peace of clothing. Renamon walked into her room and looked in her closet for a moment before taking out a shirt and saying "How about this one?"

Rika looked at the shirt Renamon had picked, it was the whole heart shirt that her mother had bought her about a year ago "I don't know Renamon, I wear it a lot. This is supposed to be special."

"I thought you disliked putting on a show for others." Renamon said

Rika scowled at Renamon and grabbed the shirt then picked out a brand new pair of jeans and a more formal jacket. Rika went into her bathroom and looked in the mirror. She had just taken a shower and hadn't yet fixed her hair into its normal position. She took her hair tie from the counter and wrapped it around her hair so it sat in a pony tail.

Rika was about to make the necessary adjustments to make her hair spike like it normally did, when her mother walked by and said "Wow, you should leave it like that, you look really pretty."

On any other day Rika would have slammed the door in her mother's face and finished spiking her hair. However, she still had some unknown force driving her to somehow impress Takato.

"Thanks Mom, I think I will" was all she said before walking back into her room.

Rika was about to grab her belt that had her D-arc and deck on it, but stopped and walked over to her closet and pulled out a box labeled "Junk". She searched through it and eventually took out a small hand bag her mother had bought her years ago. She placed her D-arc inside and put her cards in a deck case, then into the bag as well. She put in a few more items that she normally didn't carry because of a lack of space.

A few hours later she and Renamon left for the park. When she got outside she found Takato there waiting for her.

"Hey Goggle head. What made you come all the way here?" Rika asked

"I wanted to walk to the park with you, and you can't call me goggle head tonight, I left the goggles at home." Takato said jokingly

"I can call you whatever I want, but tonight, your Takato" Rika said

Takato laughed then he realized something "Hey Rika, you're wearing your hair different"

Rika blushed slightly and looked away only mumbling something inaudible, however she was truly shocked when she heard Takato say, "I like it, it looks really nice."

"Umm… thanks…"

When they got to the park Takato checked his D-arc's clock. It read 11:48 'only 12 minutes to kiss Rika. Well I've lived a good life.'

The pair sat and talked for a while and Rika eventually said "Thanks for asking me here, Takato. It's weird, but I'm really having fun."

"Um… Well thanks for saying yes; I'm having a good time too."

"10!"

"The count down's started!" Rika said

"9!"

'now or never' Takato thought

"8!"

"Hey Rika?" Takato said

"7!"

"yeah Takato?" Rika answered

"6!"

"Do you remember our new year's resolutions last year?" Takato asked

"5!"

"Kind of. I remember I said I'd try and get along better with my mom." She said

"4!"

"Do you remember what mine was?" Takato laughed

"3!"

"All I remember is it was something corny" Rika laughed back

"2!"

'No time left!' Takato thought. Without warning Takato grabbed Rika and kissed her dead on the lips.

"1! Happy New years!"

Fireworks went off in the sky above Takato and Rika. Rika was shocked when Takato kissed her, but that same force that had been pushing her this whole time was back and stronger than ever. She kissed him back, as the fireworks went off not only above their heads, but in them as well.

They slowly parted and Takato let go of Rika and looked into her eyes. Then in a flash he was on the ground clutching his gut and coughing. Rika had socked him, hard. Rika then gently lifted Takato's head and kissed him again lightly.

"Don't you ever try something like that again." Rika said in a gentle voice

Now Takato was very confused, was she pissed? Well she did hit him and tell him off, but then again she had kissed him back and kissed him a second time.

"You want to kiss me, you've got to make me your girlfriend first." She said

Now the gears began to turn in Takato's head. Rika had kissed him back because she had enjoyed it, and again for that reason; she had hit him for being too bold.

Takato sat up but kept a hand on his stomach and said "Well I thought you'd like it more if I wasn't as generic."

"Shut up and ask me out already." She said

Takato laughed as much as he could without it hurting too bad and said "Alright. So Rika, will you be my girlfriend?"

"No," Rika said as Takato's confusion returned like a tidal wave, only to wash away when she continued with, "But I'll let you be my boyfriend"

With those words uttered she wrapped her arms around Takato's neck and pulled him into another passionate kiss, just as the fireworks reached their finale and lit up the sky in front of the two tamers.

DT- Whew. This took a lot longer than I thought it would, I mean for the longest time I'd just look at the file and think "I'll work on it tomorrow" then the next day I'd do the same, and again the next day. I don't know why, I guess I was just so focused on getting "Love Under the Mistletoe" done in time for Christmas, that I forgot that I had to get this done in time for New Years. So this story marks the end of The Digital Typhoon's Very Merry Holiday Specials. I hit all the big ones, Halloween, Thanksgiving, ChristmaHanukwanzica, and finally New Year's. I'll hit a couple more Holidays as they come around, but so far, the only one I can imagine writing for is Valentine's Day. I really think I should start working on "The Goggles and the Hat… Again?" and "Winter Days: Snowy Day Surprise" more now, I kind of put them on Hiatus so I could get these out in time. Oh, by the way, I'm making a third chapter for Winter Days, so good news for everyone who liked the first two. This end note is getting a little long so I'll just wrap it up with the disclaimer and shut up. The Digital Typhoon does not own Digimon or any other character contained within this story.