"Stop stealing my toast!" Rika snarled.
"Who, me?" Ryo took a bite of the evidence, unashamed.
"Who else?" Rika's fist clenched around her fork tightly and she posed it over the remaining three on her plate as if she was going to eat it or stab the next person who got in an arm's length radius.
Ryo pulled out a chair and propped his feet on the table, still munching away without a care in the world. "Well, how else am I supposed to eat?"
"How do you eat at home?" Rika risked it and grabbed the jam jar before he could.
Ryo shrugged. "There's always a plate of food on the table when I wake up."
"You must have a magic plate," Rika commented sarcastically, lathering jam on a piece of toast with her fork.
"Naw," Ryo disagreed. He smiled. "We have FIVE magic plates. A blue one, a yellow, one, a red one, a green one and one with a purple flower on it. The purple one's my favorite. Can you guess why?"
Rika was sick of Ryo. That annoying pest. His house was being fumed bug free. That meant his house had too much bugs around so they had to hire an exterminator to set up a tent over the house and stick in chemicals. Her mom had the brilliant idea that he could stay with them for the week. Personally, Rika thought he should stay in his house because after all, his dad was trying to kill all the pests in the house. But since she can't officially announce he was better off dead, she instead made repeated jokes about how dirty his house must be to be in need of an exterminator since he came over two days ago.
"Nope. I don't want to." Rika tore off the crust on the second one and dropped it on the ground. Immediately, a flash of tawny fur streaked past and the crust was gone as Rika's bakery loving cat snatched the morsel.
Ryo's hand flashed forward in the half second that she was distracted and the toast thief struck again. Rika tried to stab him with her fork but her fork thunk-ed on the table harmlessly. Well, not so harmlessly. There were now four little marks on the table.
"Gotta be faster, Wildcat," Ryo teased, waggling his prize at her.
Rika scowled. "You are more annoying than the bugs in your house, Akiyama."
"Keep on telling yourself that." Ryo grinned. "Pass me the jam, Wildcat."
"It's bad enough that you mooch off my toast. Now my grandma's homemade jam? Nu-uh. Go get your own from the store."
"Hey, your grandma would want you to share the deliciousness. I could go ask her right now," he whined.
Rika only narrowed her eyes even more at him.
"Waiting, Wildcat." He drummed his fingers on the table.
"My name's not 'wildcat', stupid. And I have to go to work." Rika stood up, the jar still in her hands. "I'd say 'have a nice day' but I don't really want you to have a nice day."
Ryo sighed and ate his jam-less toast.
The next morning, Rika woke up extra early. She snuck into the kitchen and quickly warmed up a breakfast of frozen pancakes. She shoved them into a Ziploc bag and went back into her room. She slid open the window and found out that smearing vegetable oil on the sides worked as she had planned. It moved smoothly and quietly. Good. Rika stuck the bag in her mouth and climbed out carefully onto the windowsill. It held her weight. She grabbed onto the drainage pipe and pulled herself up.
It was summer and warm outside. She wasn't freezing. Rika opened her bag and began enjoying her meal. It may be a bit bland and syrup less and smushed but it was Ryo-less. Rika waved to the bathrobe-d men walking their wives' poodles. She was that gleeful. They stared at her before walking away quickly.
As she was eating the second one, she heard Ryo get up. Her house was old and creaky but sturdy. He walked around his borrowed room, and then went into the bathroom. The water ran on. Oh, finally, he was taking a shower! After five minutes, the water turned off and he stepped out. It was quiet for a minute when he was probably putting on yesterday's clothes, and then the door opened.
Rika had to strain her ears but she heard him go downstairs. Ha-ha, sucker. There was no magic plates in this house, buddy. He paced around a bit then went upstairs.
"Rika?"
Rika didn't answer and continued eating. Let his figure it out.
Her bedroom door opened-she knew it was hers because she added a bell to the doorknob so whenever anyone went to her room, she knew it. Rika wanted to peek and see his face but didn't want to risk it.
"Rika?" He repeated cautiously, as if testing if she was still asleep. He walked in over to her bed area. What a pervert, sneaking in into a girl's bedroom. She was going to beat him up (again) when she was done eating.
"Rika? Where are you?" Ryo called as he walked around. "Are you in the closet, trying to scare me?" He opened it and, after a few seconds, she heard him sigh as if he was disappointed in her sense of clothes. Or lack of undergarments. Too bad. She kept all of her undergarments in her mom's room. Sucka.
"Hmm. Where could she be?" He mused out loud. He went over to the window. "Why is this window open?"
Rika froze. Aw, dang, he was figuring it out. In a few seconds, he was going to look up and see her.
"It's cold and flies are coming in," Ryo muttered and there was the sound of the window closing and the click of the safety snap.
Well, at least he knew how to close windows. What a wuss. His dad must keep the house at a 75-degree temperature if he was that much of a wimp.
Rika laughed quietly, then stopped. Oh snap. Ryo had closed and locked the window. The window that Rika had climbed out of. Which meant that Rika couldn't go back that way. Rika got up and walked around the roof, looking around. Her grandma's window had a screen over it and her mom's window had flowers on the windowsill as well as being closed. Ryo's window, obviously since he had closed hers, was locked. Damn. She was stuck up on the roof.
Rika sat back down in front of her window, with her legs crossed, thinking over the problem. It's not so bad. Maybe she could slide down the drainage pipe…down to her grandma's thorny rose bushes. Or make a ladder out of the greasy vines that was rotting away despite the warm weather. There was the obvious solution of shouting for help or waiting for her mom to come home but Rika hated asking for help.
The front door opened and Rika remembered Ryo was still here. Too late to scurry back and hide now. Rika held still as he wandered around.
"Rika? Did you go to your work yet? No, your skateboard is still under the porch. Hmm. Where did she go?" He walked around, looking at the ground as if for clues. Good. Stare at the ground. Rika's cat came out of the house. Not good.
"Meeoow," the cat called, looking up at Rika. Rika had forgotten to feed the fatty.
Ryo spun around and looked at the cat then followed the cat's stare. He blinked at Rika then rubbed his eyes and shaking his head before checking if she was still up there. Yeah, she was.
"Tell, me. Am I dreaming or are you stuck up there, Wildcat?" Ryo called.
Rika stuck her tongue at him. "I'm not stuck. I can get down if I wanted to."
"Get down here then."
"I'm going to emphasize the 'if I wanted to' part."
Ryo rolled his eyes. "Okay, you're stuck. Tell me why you're up there in the first place before I rescue yo-"
"RESCUE ME? No way, Heroboy! Nu-uh! Not in this lifetime! Keep on dreaming!"
Ryo sighed. "Fine, be that way. Now if you excuse, me, I'm going to go to McDonald and order some food since it appears you don't need me."
"I won't wait for you but I'll still be up here when you comeback!" Rika shouted as he went into the house for his wallet.
"Mmm, hmm. If you're still up there when I come back, I'll rescue you. After I eat sometime. That should give you an hour to prove that you're not stuck." Ryo jumped onto his motorcycle-yes, that dummy had a motorcycle and a good-looking one at that-and floored off.
Rika looked down at her cat. "Thanks a lot, fur face. Thanks to you, he now thinks I'm a damsel in distress."
The cat yawned and stretched out on the sidewalk.
"Hey, I'm talking to you! How do you get down? I know you come up here and back down so don't pretend you don't know why the heck am I up here."
The cat responded by cleaning its private area.
Rika groaned then remembered she still had a few pancakes left. She tore off a piece and dropped it on the ground.
The cat immediately pounced on it and made it disappear.
"Got more up here, buddy, so come up here!" Rika waved the rest at it.
The cat's eyes were transfixed on it then it jumped on a first floor windowsill. From there it jumped to the porch roof, to Rika's windowsill and then up to the roof.
"That's how you do it." Rika eyed the three platforms. The windowsills could hold her weight but the porch roof was a tiny ledge that barely held the cat's weight and was molding and rotting badly. If Rika was to set a foot on it…Rika did not want to imagine her on it. Maybe Ryo, but he wasn't stuck up here.
Rika sighed and backed away from the edge.
Sure enough, a few minutes later, the sound of Ryo's motorcycle reached Rika's ears, signaling his return. Rika didn't feel like hiding but she sat down and examined the drainage pipe, thinking of taking her chances with the thorns. The rusty, loose drainage pipe.
"Hi, Rika," Ryo greeted and he couldn't help but smirk at her since she was the stuck mouse and he was the awesome cat. He killed the engine but sat there, unwrapping his Egg McMuffin and taking a slow and deliberate bite. He chewed slowly and looked up at her. "Are you still stuck?"
"I was never stuck in the first place so I have no idea what you're talking about." Rika crossed her arms and looked around the roof for things to chuck at him. Wherever she went, there was always ammo to throw at annoying buggers and her roof was no acceptation. There were some pebbles the ravens and crows like picking up then dropping off. It wasn't as great as the rocks and stones that break bones but it was something.
"Meow, meow." The cat moved back then ran forward, jumping. It landed on a tree's outstretched branch and streaked to the trunk then down to the base. Then it stepped up to Ryo and meowed again, eyes on the food.
"Poor cat. Sorry, Rika can't feed you because she's stuck up there but don't worry. Here." Ryo tore off a piece for the cat.
Rika looked at the tree and found out that wasn't the best way to get down while maintaining her dignity. First of all, even with a running stare, she couldn't jump that far. Seconds, even if she did, the branch will never hold her weight long enough for her to crawl over to the trunk. And thirds, Rika had trouble climbing up that tree as a kid. And if she had trouble climbing up, she would definitely have more trouble climbing down.
Ryo finished his breakfast after a long hour, enjoying the way Rika paced around, seem to lunge towards a possible escape route but then stop and walk the other way. Wow. All those years he had been trying to make her stuck long enough to have a decent conversation with her and now she got herself stuck all by herself. "So, willing to accept defeat now or should I just leave you here?"
"Defeat? Are we at war or something? Because you know I will win a fight." Rika stepped cautiously on the edge and found out it wouldn't hold her weight. It sagged and creaked.
"Oh well. I'll get my camera then. The others will never believe me if I told them you got stuck." Ryo skipped into the house.
Oh snap. Rika was not anticipating that. She looked around for a better route off. Aw, dang. No such luck. Only thing to do was jump off and die. Well, at least death was the better option than humiliation. Or maybe not…
Rika took off her socks and stuck her left hand through both to protect it. (Her left hand bled like heck if she wasn't careful) and leaned over and grabbed the rotting vines then began jerking them up so she pull them up. Why didn't she think of this before? Rika yanked up as much as she could then began combing through them, pulling them into individual strands. She selected the shortest one and lowered it over the roof. It reached the first floor windowsill.
"Rika, where does your mom keep her camera?" Ryo asked from inside.
"We don't have one, dummy. I broke all of them." Rika pulled it up and began working faster then paused as she heard him walking out again. She clumped the vines together and sat on it.
"Well, I'll be going to the store to buy one of those throw away ones. Stay right there…oh, did I forget? You can't go anywhere!" Ryo chuckled and got on his bike and was gone again.
Rika quickly jumped off and worked at the vines with fierce determination. She pulled the clump away and managed to get out nine individual. With those, she French braided together into three sort of strong vines. The vines had sharp thorns that cut her hands but she didn't care. With those three, she tied the ends together and smiled at her creation. A vine braided rope.
Rika looked around for something to tie it too. There was nothing. Dang! And her plan was so fool hardy…or maybe not. Rika reached down and looped the vine around her window frame planes. She yanked on it and was pleased to find that it held. Good. Now for the hard part. Rika grabbed the vine and edged off the roof, keeping a hand on the drainage pipe. Nothing happened. Rika edged down, like an assassin on a skyscraper. The vine strained, her frame groaned, but her weight was held up. Rika scurried down and found her next problem.
Braiding and tying the vine to the frame took up a lot of the original vines so the thick vine only reached to the porch. Which was at least six feet above the ground. Rika groaned. Only one thing to do now. Jump down. Rika checked and saw that under her was the sidewalk. The cemented, hard, grey sidewalk. Rika swallowed and let go.
There was barely enough time for Rika to gasp as she fell, but it was over before anything happened. No pain shot up her arm or leg or anything. Watching her cat jump around had paid off. Rika had twisted around and landed on her hands and the pads on the sole of her feet. She wasn't wearing any shoes or sock though so when the momentum carried her forward a bit, her feet got scraped up a bit, but Rika didn't mind. She was down!
Then the pain actually came. The vines had thorns on them and yanking them apart and braiding them and tying them AND crawling down had scratched her hands into a bloody mess. Then landing on the sidewalk like that had shoved a handful of pebbles up the deep scratches. Rika didn't notice before because she was too intent on escaping, but now, when the danger of a ruined reputation is over, Rika had to deal with it. Cursing like a sailor, Rika stumbled into her house and up to her room, where she had her first aid kit. No, her hands were bleeding too much. Rika just untied the vine (the green of the plant and the red of her blood on it was very festive and she made a note to take it out for Christmas before remember that by then, it would rot and stink like nothing) and tossed it in her trash bag and piled on the crumpled up papers she had been meaning to throw away. There. No evidence around. Now to go to the doctors…
She had to get a few stitches on her right hand, her better hand, but her left hand was okay aside from being rubbed raw, thanks to her socks. The doctor was curious about what happened but after Rika refused to talk, he let it go and bandaged it up, nice and tight.
"Now, you leave that right hand alone and come back after four weeks so I can check it," He ordered sternly but smiled at her. He had been her family's doctor for as long as she could remember and was(still is actually) a good friend of her mom's.
"Are you going to tell Mom?" Rika asked, checking her numb hand. She had been watching him stitch and was fascinated. Normally, people were frightened and thought it was the most gruelly thing ever. Not Rika.
"Well, sure, how else and I going to get paid?" He joked. "Naw, you go run along, Rika. This one's on me. But mainly because I feel sorry for you because your mom's going to make it one heck of a night, lecturing you about fighting."
"The hundred eighty third lecture about fighting," Rika sighed gloomily. Let them think what they can. Good, if everyone thought she got hurt because of a brawl, then that would be perfect. No one needs to know about that. "Thanks, doc."
"AGAIN!" was the first thing Rumiko yelled when Rika came home.
Rika half listened to her mom ranting but was actually staring at Ryo with narrowed eyes. He had been sprawled out on her favorite armchair, watching TV while hugging her favorite stuff animal when she came back from the fifteen-minute walk from her house to the doctor's. He knew perfectly well that she did not allow anyone to sit in her chair and definitely going into her room to get her fox toy was an even bigger death hazard. But Rika had shoved him off and was about to rant on him when Rumiko entered and saw Rika's hand. When Rika had tried to slink off, much like how her cat would slink off after being caught in the kitchen with a smashed cake, Ryo got up and sat down on her chair, resuming watching and cuddling the fox as if nothing happened. He was as good as dead.
Ryo turned his head and looked at Rika curiously before burying his face into her fox's fur. Rika was all set to attack him but he opened his mouth to interrupt her mom.
Rika's eyes flashed at him warningly but he ignored her.
"Um, Mrs. Nonaka, Rika wasn't fighting."
Her mom stopped and turned to look at him. "What?"
DON'T YOU DARE! Rika mouthed angrily.
He blinked to acknowledge her attempt to silence him. "Well, I was with her the whole day and we were working on a complex scratching post for her cat when the mechanical drill when crazy. She tried to grab it to stop it but it sliced her hand. I accompanied her to the doctor immediately but there was a long line and she insisted that I go back home and cleaned up. We didn't want you to worry. We're sorry."
Rumiko stared at him, then looked at Rika for confirmation.
"Yu huh, that's what happened. I told him to throw away the scratching post because it was all bloodied up," Rika added. "We'll make another one later, when Henry and Takato's here to help us."
Rumiko hesisted. "Well…alright. But do be careful next time."
As soon as she left, Rika turned to Ryo and demanded, " Why didn't you tell the truth and get it over with already?"
Ryo grinned. "Well, you were right. You got down somehow so you weren't stuck. Besides, I had no proof that you were up there and no one would believe me otherwise. And it feels great knowing Rika Nonaka owes me one, BIG TIME!" Then laughing like the fool he is, Ryo ran off while Rika tore after him, ranting.