Just The Girl
By Fantasya
Summary: Well, there isn't one because I haven't completely worked the plot out yet. Ryo X Rika.
Chapter One: She's Cold And She's Cruel
O
Whack
Ryo Akiyama was a guy that was not used to hearing the word "no".
Whack
"Can I borrow a pencil?"
"Here take everything!"
"Cool!"
Whack
"Can I get a new car?"
"What's wrong with the old one?"
"It's dirty."
"It's your money - go for it!"
Whack
"Was it good for you too?"
"Did my screams of YES and MORE confuse you somehow?"
"Don't try to be cute. You still have to leave now."
"Yes, sir."
Whack
So when new girl, Rika Nonaka, turned him down, he was, needless to say, devastated. In his aching head, he went over the checklist he always used before he asked a girl out.
1.) Did she have a boyfriend?
No.
Whack
2.) Was she a lesbian?
No.
Whack
3.) Was she -
a. Blind? b. Deaf? c. Mute?
No, no, and not by a long shot.
Whack, whack, whack...
With these three not being factors to his rejection, Ryo wasn't sure what could have possibly made her turn him down.
"Cheer up, Ryo-man. Everyone says that she's a bitch with a capital B I T C H." His best friend, and long time supporter, Kazu informed him as he threw an arm over his shoulder. Ryo pulled away from him and dropped his had back to the hard tabletop with a resounding WHACK. He then raised his head and repeated. WHACK.
"Ooh, poor baby." Alice McCoy, his other best friend, said as she slid into the seat beside him. She waited for him to sit up and began massaging his flaming red forehead with the pads of her fingers. "Do you want me to get you some ice?"
"That's going to bruise." Henry said as he sat beside her. Before he knew it, or was able to know it seeing as he'd just given himself partial brain damage, everyone in their little gang was present.
"Maybe it's the concussion talking, but I thought that you two were supposed to be in ISS for PDA. What happened?" Ryo asked the two somewhat blurry figures across from him.
"I told Mr. Yamaki that Jeri was giving me CPR." Takato said with a grin.
"Yes, she was giving him CPR in the third floor supply closet, unaware that his hand was up her blouse." Alice commented dryly as she began munching on a fry from Henry's tray. "I'm sure that went over well."
"It did, surprisingly." Jeri relented. "He and his high school sweetheart couldn't keep their hands off each other either."
"Well, at least we know who to talk to the next time they try to put us in ISS." Alice teased as she nudged Henry in the ribs.
"There she goes." Ryo said wistfully. Four heads snapped around to follow his gaze.
"Who? The fat one?"
"No, no, the blonde."
"Guys, it's Rika." Three heads snapped around to look at Kazu who nodded his head sadly. "Yup, he's finally lost it."
"Ryo, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no." Alice said. "You can't have asked her out."
"I was on an ego trip." Ryo replied in a woe-is-me voice. "I don't know what happened."
"I do." Kazu leaned forward. "I saw the whole thing: So, Rika was out for soccer try-outs after school on Friday. Me and Ryo were watching from the bleachers, and let me tell you - I'm glad that this wasn't a real game..."
FLASHBACK TO THE PREVIOUS FRIDAY
Rika and the rest of the team went through a grueling practice session. Up on the bleachers nearby, Kazu winced as the goalie goes down hard via crotch-ball.
"UGH!" He exclaimed dramatically. "Good god, she's going to kill someone! She's already killed, like, two million mini-Scurvy's! When will the madness end?!"
Next, some brave soul tried to get the ball back for her team. She too, went down but didn't bother to get back up.
"So that's the new girl?" Ryo asked, somewhat bored. "She's good."
"Good?" Kazu echoed. "She just castrated Scurvy and took down Jessie Bowels! Both of which are third years."
"Both of which are third years, I know." Ryo conceded. "But it's probably just PMS."
A perfectly aimed ball rocketed across the field and hit the volunteer goalie, Scurvy, in the groin and knocked him on his back. The ball rolled smoothly and unopposed into the net.
Mr. Chapin, the coach, blew his whistle before calling proudly. "Good run, Nonaka. You're looking at a starting position on this team."
Rika nodded in response as she and the rest of the girls leave the field. Scurvy lay curled up in the fetal position on the ground.
"Hey, Ryo-man, where're you going?" Kazu called as he hopped down to follow them.
"To welcome her to the school."
"Hey, girlie." Rika stopped and slowly turned to look at him. "I mean, wo-man. How are you?"
"Sweating like a pig, actually." Rika replied, smiling brightly. "And yourself?"
"Wow." Ryo blinked. "There's a way to get a guy's attention."
"My mission in life." She countered easily as she stood there undaunted, hand on hip. "Obviously, I've struck your fancy. So, you see, it worked. The world makes sense again."
END FLASHBACK
RETURN TO MONDAY MORNING
"...And then she just walked off." Kazu finished. "It was sad - "
Whack
Ryo smacked his head against the table again.
"Ooh, poor baby," Alice cooed, petting the back of his head, "come on, it's not like you really even asked her out..."
"But that's not the point Alice." Ryo replied, his words muffled under the weight of his face. "I was going to and she shot me down before I could even get the words out of my mouth."
"Well, maybe she's just really dumb and didn't know you wanted to ask her out." Jeri offered, giving Takato a pointed a look. A pointed look that he missed.
"Or she's too busy admiring your handsome best friend to even realize you exist." Kazu threw in. Everyone else laughed, but they stopped when a look of absolute horror appeared on Ryo's face before he resumed his head whacking.
Whack, whack, whack
Alice kicked him in the shin under the table.
"Ow! Hey!" Kazu cowered under her fierce stare and turned towards his friend. "Listen, Ryo-man, maybe she's just one of those girls that's going to grow up and be found dead a week after she died, alone in her home surrounded by cats."
"Or she could be sitting at a table across the cafeteria with Henry." Jeri added.
"Or she could - what?"
Sure enough, the two of them were sitting together across the room. Alice looked across the room, to the seat where she could have sworn Henry was at, and then back across the room just as the two of them laughed at something that was obviously too funny for her liking.
Alice narrowed her eyes. "Oh, she's going down."
Henry stood up and made a motion in their direction. After a moment, they watched Rika shrug and gather her stuff. In another moment, the pair was standing in front of their table.
"Hey guys, meet Rika Nonaka. She just moved here, and she's already made track and Varsity soccer." Henry introduced.
"I thought that you couldn't make Varsity unless you went through conditioning." Alice said sweetly. "Oh, I'm Alice."
"Rika, as your boy toy pointed out." Rika replied without anything in her tone to suggest that she knew what Alice was thinking. It was her clenched fists that gave her away. "Obviously, the coach thought I was good enough."
"I hear that you killed over two million of Scurvy's best soldiers."
"I hear you've got two boat loads of crazy that you tried to sink a year ago."
Instantly, Alice froze, her hands going unconsciously to the bracelets on either of her wrists. "What are you talking about?" She whispered.
"Nonaka!" A voice boomed from the doorway of the cafeteria. The gang turned and saw Coach Chapin standing in the doorway. "Get out here! The whole team's gathering for a meeting!"
Rika turned cool eyes back on the group, her face the very definition of "Cruel Indifference" as she locked eyes with Alice. With one hand she pulled her headphones from around her neck and over her ears, while she pressed the play button her CD player with the other.
"It's just past eight and I'm feeling young and reckless.
The ribbon on my wrist says do not open before Christmas.
We're only liars, but we're the best..." Rika sang quietly under her breath as she headed towards the door.
Henry immediately turned towards his girlfriend, her eyes brimmed with tears.
"Alice..."
She shot up out of her seat when he reached out to her, and darted out of the lunchroom through the opposite door. Henry stared helplessly after her.
Ryo watched her leave, before he turned back to watch Rika leave. He wanted to direct every ounce of anger he felt at her into that one glance but there was something that made him stop short. For half a second, he could have sworn that her mask of apathy had slipped. In that time, her steel eyes had turned lavender and back to steel. In that moment, he saw someone else underneath. He saw someone that smiled and desperately wished she could take back everything her counterpart had ever said.
And then Rika shrugged and the apathy was back. And that someone was buried even deeper inside.
The little Ryo inside his head pulled out a little cartoon shovel and gave chase. Until he reached the door and realized that its counterpart wasn't following. It waved its little cartoon arms and gave a fierce battle cry, but when Ryo didn't move, it sadly trudged back into the recess of his mind. And it fell silent.
O
Author Notes: Well, I'm not actually sure I'll continue this story since I only wrote this today (yes, really) and it took me about four hours. I'm writing in WordPad, because even though it doesn't have a spellchecker, right now I find it easier than Microsoft Word. I was working on the seventh chapter of One Girl Revolution and just got the writing bug. If I continue it, it won't be until I get more inspiration.
It feels kind of funky. The story, I mean. I'm not sure where I'm going with this, but I'm hoping it's somewhere nice.