Summary: Rika/Ruki's mom has arranged for Ruki and Ryo to work together for a photo shoot! What's this? It's not modelling for everyday clothes!? How is Ruki going to cope? OOC-ness, rating may go up.

Blackcat314: Hello, it's Blackcat here! It's been about a year or two since I've last written a fanfic, hahaha...sweatdrop Well, this is my first Ryuki fanfic and also--

Curumon/Calumon: She doesn't own Digimon or its characters! bounce

Blackcat314: Uhh...yeah...(where did Curumon come from anyway?? ) Anyways, here's the fanfic!

"what" dialogue

'what' thoughts

Ruki Age 17

Ryo Age 21

"Ugh! For the last time, mother, I'm NOT doing it!" Ruki yelled out in anger, her arms crossed and her back to her mother. "But Ruki honey, this is an opportunity of a lifetime! Many models can only DREAM of modelling this famous brand!" Rumiko appealed to her daughter desperately.

After the D-Reaper incident, things had pretty much returned to the way they were before, except that the digimon were gone, and a few of the Tamers hooked up with each other (cough Juri&Takato cough). Hypnos had become a government-recognized organization, so they had their own building and funding. Some of the Tamers were also currently employed by Hypnos, to strengthen the portal and prevent digital disasters (haha, ref. to Savers, for those of you who've seen it).

Ruki had become warmer towards people after this ordeal, but modelling still isn't her thing. Well, not the cutesy stuff her mother chose for her anyway. And as luck would have it, this was another such case of cutesy clothes modelling.

back to the argument between Ruki and Rumiko

Without another word, Ruki stormed out of her house, turning ever so briefly just to say one thing, "Well, maybe many models, mom. But I am NOT part of that 'many models' group." With that, she walked away.

"What am I going to do..." Rumiko sighed to Seiko, Ruki's grandma, who had been observing the whole thing. "Well, even if she isn't in love with the idea of modelling, our Ruki certainly has class. 'Not the many models' category...she certainly stands apart from others, doesn't she?" Seiko commented with a good-natured smile. "Well, of course she does! She IS a Makino!" Rumiko declared with fervour, her eyes alight and her previous gloom gone.

back to Ruki

Ruki grumbled as she walked to a shop called "Project Plushie". Unlike your average toy shop with its factory mass-produced , all-from-the-same-mould dolls and toys, Project Plushie was a collective of artisan dolls. Each of them were handmade and one-of-a-kind. A type of collectable art, as opposed to just-wear-them-out-and-throw-away toys (a/n: sry to all mass-produce lovers, but I have to emphasize this, Ruki doesn't seem like the type to care about 'popular' cute toys).

The door chimed as she stepped in. "Welcome, how may I help you?" The store owner, B.Kat (a/n: Surprise, surprise! If you're interested in visiting the shop or being one of its 'employees', visit www.projectplushie.) popped up from behind the counter.

"Oh, hey, I--" Ruki started, but was interrupted by a loud bang as the door flung open violently, and a maroon and brown blur flashed by, dropping an amount of cash hastily on the counter. "I want that doll!" the stranger exclaimed, pointing to a punk-looking cat doll on the shelf behind the counter.

All was silent for a moment, save for the stranger's heavy panting. It seemed as though he had been rushing to get in. "Okay, just wait a mo—" Kat started, until Ruki had burst out, "You!" pointing to the stranger. "Pumpkin!" the stranger lit up at the sight of Ruki. Yes, folks. That stranger was none other than the Legendary Tamer, Ryo Akiyama.

"Umm...here's your doll?" Kat asked nervously as she put the doll on the counter, breaking their abrupt reunion. Ryo was about to take the doll, but Ruki interrupted, "I was about to ask for that doll!" With that, everyone in the store froze. Sale was halted.

Ryo was shocked. Ruki? Liking a doll? His expression suddenly changed to that of smug satisfaction. "So, the Ice Queen has a cute girly side after all. Well, if you like it, Sweetie, I'll buy it for you." Ryo flashed his trademark smile, confident that he had won over his Wildcat this time.

Ruki, however, fumed. "Three things you need to get straight, Akiyama! One: I don't need to buy this doll! Two: I'm not your Sweetie, and three: I'm definitely NOT taking it if it's from you!" she yelled into his ear. (Ryo: xx)

"Alright, alright, no need to get all tense, Wildcat. Just take it, I'm not going to scam you for favours or anything, it's on me." Ryo smiled again, hoping he'd win this time. Sadly, no such luck.

"Hmph, since when did oh-so-mighty hero-boy like to play with dolls?" Rika smirked, her previous anger gone and her cold demeanour regained from this nice comeback she got. "Well, I know it seems weird for a University guy like me to be playing with dolls. I usually just do Digimon cards, but this line of dolls just got to me. It's punk alright, definitely not what the average girl would go for. Somehow, there's just this air of cuteness about it that draws me to it. I don't know why. Still, if Pumpkin likes it, Pumpkin gets it." Ryo looked at Ruki with a gentle smile .

"Err...not to ruin your generous act, Ryo...but even if you weren't here to buy it, Ruki still doesn't need to buy this doll to have it." Kat told him, instantly bursting Ryo's happy bubble as Ruki smirked triumphantly. "Well, I guess you failed to impress again, Ryo."

"Hey, wait a minute...what do you mean she doesn't need to buy the doll!? She gets it for free all the time!?" Ryo asked uncertainly, either to Ruki or Kat. "Well, no. I run a collective, you know. Artists put their work here for sale, and when it gets sold, I get a percentage of that payment as a rent for using my store space. (a/n: that doesn't exist for the real Project Plushie) So you see, it's not so much that she gets free plushies, it's more like she's the one who provides the plushies." Kat explained with a sweatdrop.

"Wha?" Ryo asked, he couldn't believe it. "Uh...meet the creator of the Punkstar dolls, Ryo." Kat finally introduced while Ruki shot her a why-did-you-betray-me look. It had began shortly after the D-Reaper incident. Ruki was sewing haphazardly and randomly, not really caring what turned out. It was for Home Econ., a class Ruki deemed useless. She didn't need to learn how to be a housewife, especially not just so some guy would think she's worth marrying because of it. (Sorry to all Home Econ lovers, but Ruki doesn't strike me as the type to like Home Econ.) She had somehow ended up with a unique Renamon doll. It wasn't cute, but it wasn't ugly either. It was somehow a rebel to the classic cuteness of a doll, but definitely held its own cuteness.

Intrigued, Ruki had since sewn many more dolls, putting them for sale at the store. It was a better way to earn some cash for digimon cards, rather than modelling. Besides, keeping dolls around her room just wasn't her thing, either.

"And Ruki? Meet your biggest fan. He's the one who has purchased every single one of your dolls without fail ever since you put your first one here." Kat turned to Ruki, who turned from irritated to surprised.

"What!?" both Ruki and Ryo exclaimed at the same time. Ryo simply couldn't believe his luck. His love interest was the creator of treasured collectable dolls. He treated them like his own children...but since Ruki made them, that made her their "mother". Then...he was their father? Then the dolls were THEIR children! He was in heaven.

Ruki, too, couldn't believe her luck. All the pocket money she earned from the dolls came from Ryo!? She had been spending Ryo's money, of all things. It was like she owed him now. And she didn't like this feeling one bit.

"So anyway, what did you need to withdraw your doll for?" Kat asked Ruki, interrupting both teens from their shock.

Blackcat314: Well, that's it for now. I thought it was going too long for a chapter, so yeah. Please R&R! If you want to be part of Project Plushie, just drop me a reply, I'll add you on. If you have an idea for the fic, drop me something too!