"Juri…I need your help."

Juri blinked several times as she looked up from her hand of Digimon cards. "Help? Err… Ruki, aren't you the Digimon Queen? I mean, I don't think I'm skilled enough to be able to give you any advice-"

"No, no, no!" Ruki interrupted as she slammed her own cards down on the table and crossed her arms in frustration. "It's about something else."

"Oh. Well, what is it then?"

Ruki looked away for a second and sighed before wrapping her arms around her knees. "It's, uh… It's about…" She trailed off.

Juri put her cards down calmly and simply looked at her friend with big, brown eyes. "It's okay, Ruki. You can tell me."

"Well…" A loud exhale. "How did you tell Takato that you liked him?"

"Oh! Well, I really didn't outright tell him, to be honest," Juri admitted sheepishly. "I mean, remember when he went around asking us to record notes for our partners? Well, during out conversation, I thought he..." – she blushed – "…I thought he was asking me out on a date. And then he wasn't, so I was like, 'Oh! Never mind!' But then a few days later he realized what I had been implying and well…the rest is history!" She grinned happily.

Ruki sighed once more, this time with a bit of a smile. "That would be the way it worked out. But it's like…you knew Takato liked you, right?"

"Ruki, everyone did."

"Well, yeah, but I mean…why didn't you approach him first?"

"Well...I don't know exactly. I mean…I had a lot to think about after...you know..." She looked away sadly.

"Oh. Right. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring it up."

"It's okay. I suppose…a part of me was waiting for him. You know, the dream proposal, I guess. Well, not a proposal, but like… He already had the 'knight in shining armor' thing down, so all I needed was the romantic part!" She laughed a little. "I think I was a little too into Romeo and Juliet."

"So you wanted him to do it like really romantically and stuff?"

"Well, yeah! Doesn't any girl want that from a guy she likes?"

Another sigh.

"You're full of sighs today!" Juri exclaimed, putting her hands on her hips. "Now why are you asking me all of this?"

It was Ruki's turn to smile sheepishly. "Well…what would you do if Takato had asked you out a million times and you were too stubborn to say yes?"

A pause. Juri stared at Ruki in confusion at first, but it swiftly morphed into surprise and excitement.

"Oh, no…" Ruki murmured, realizing her mistake.

Juri squealed in delight. "Oh my God! Okay, Juri, you get to be the one to get Ruki and Ryo together! YAY!" She turned to a slightly mortified Ruki. "Ruki, we're going to make Ryo's dream of a romantic proposal come true!"

Ruki winced. "You automatically assume it's Ryo…"

Juri stopped. "Oh. It's not? Is it Jen? I mean, there's no way it's Hirokazu or Kenta…"

"No, no…it's Ryo," she forced out.

"Oh, okay, that's what I thought."

"Obviously," Ruki spat. "But it's not going to be a 'proposal,' and it's not going to be romantic." She proceeded to make a face.

"Then what's the point? I mean, he has to think you're serious, Ruki."

"Yeah. Being all mushy-gushy is going to make him think the exact opposite."

"Aww, come on, you need to relax!" Juri grinned. "We can totally have fun with this."

"I think your definition of fun is a bit different than mine."

Juri wasn't listening. She was already hard at work conjuring up the perfect plan for Ruki to ask Ryo out.

"I've got it!" she said after about two minutes. "Okay. Challenge him to a Digimon card game match and then completely unsuspected, put down a fake card that says, 'Will you go out with me?' Aww, isn't that just perfect!?"

Ruki stared at her with the blankest expression. Then, monotone: "That's the dumbest idea I've ever heard."

Juri pouted. "Well I thought it was cute."

"Of course you did."

"What's that supposed to mean!?"

"You're Juri."

Juri smiled. "That's me!"

Ruki rolled her eyes in amusement. "You and Takato are so perfect for each other it's not even funny."

Juri blushed. "Aww, thanks Ruki! I think you and Ryo are perfect for each other, too."

Turning away, Ruki muttered, "Thanks." And there was a touch of pink painted on her cheeks.

"Well, Ruki, if you didn't like that idea, we can always go the traditional route…"

"This is still the dumbest idea ever," Ruki muttered as she approach Ryo's door.

But again: sigh.

She rang the doorbell.

"I'll get it!" she heard from inside. And that's when she realized how utterly nervous she was.

But it was too late to turn back. Ryo had opened the door, and there he was, in all of his splendor, staring at her holding a bouquet of flowers.

And in that all-too-familiar grin of his, he asked, "Well, well, well, what do we have here?"

"I…uh…I-I…" Ruki stared at him dumbly, feeling her face get hot. Glancing from side to side, she suddenly thrust the flowers into Ryo's arms. "Here!" With that, she swiftly pivoted and ran away.

What the hell did I just do? I can't ever face that stupid jerk again…

"Ruki!"

She ran and ran until she couldn't run anymore, dodging people walking the other way and j-walking several streets. Finally, she collapsed against a tree in exhaustion, and when she looked around, she found that somehow, she had made her way to Shinjuku Park.

Then she heard quickened footsteps behind her, and while she wanted to get up and run again, her legs and feet would not let her.

Just let me turn invisible or something. Please.

"Ruki…" Ryo stopped in front of her and placed his hands on his legs, panting. "What's the big idea?"

She didn't answer. She simply crossed her arms and looked away.

"Now that's the Ruki I know."

She glanced over to find him kneeling down next to her, a smile on his face.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Ryo laughed. "Flowers are a bit out-of-character for you." A grin. "Juri's idea?"

She clenched her fists and scoffed as she turned away again.

"I'll take that as a yes."

"Go away."

"Something tells me you don't want me to."

Ruki sighed and closed her eyes. "Just go away. I'm humiliated enough as it is."

"Don't get me wrong, Ruki, your stubbornness is undeniably sexy. But…" Ruki flinched as he placed a hand on her shoulder. "…it's time to give it up already."

"Whatever," she mumbled darting her eyes.

"My answer is yes. But you knew that." He winked.

"I hate you."

"Right."

Finally, she opened her eyes and looked up at him, letting him share a rare glance with her. And then…a smile?

Over behind the bushes, Juri silently cheered. "Mission accomplished!"

A/N: I wrote this during school, so yeah, nothing special! Ahaha.