I finished this chapter days ago, but I was hoping I'd get a couple more reviews before posting (-shot-) -cough- I'm hoping this time around I get at least 15 (more is always nice though) reviews, so readers please help by sending me a review T.T I appreciate anything that you write up (unless it's a downright flame...constructive criticism is always welcome) but please take your time to contribute! Thaaanks!

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Super special thanks to - anon, In Darkness is Light, katy007, Shotgirl, BabyDark, darkruki008, theamazingbouncing...HAMSTER, Emily & Fletcher for leaving a review!
It's always reviews that give me inspiration keep writing, so I really am thankful to recieve them! -showers you guys with imaginary flowers-

Also, thanks to DistantAtumnMountain, Shanna1003, Botan and Kurama lover, darkruki1008, In Darkness is Light, and BabyDark for adding me/my story to their favorites or alerts.

Update (6/18/08) – Currently editing and rewriting the chapters. It'll be generally the same, though. While I was looking back I realize I haven't mentioned JENRYA at all. So, he has one line of fame in this chapter that I tacked on while I was editing. I promise he will make more appearances soon (because you all love him, right?)
Sometimes when I upload my chapters, the formatting gets totally messed up. It would be a big help if you guys pointed it out when it happens. Thanks.

Chapter two: Day one and a half

"Ten days! In ten days, I, Akiyama Ryo, will make Makino Ruki fall in love with me!" I looked at him in wide-eyed shock and terror at his words, but regained my composure.

"And, I, Makino Ruki, refuse to fall in love with Akiyama Ryo in the next ten days or face unearthly torture."

"Is that a bet?" Ryo's faced cracked into a sly grin, excitement growing on his face.

"You betcha."

And so, the challenge began.

"Good morning, Ruki!" Juri chirped brightly.

"Morning," I echoed, yawning deeply.

"Didn't get enough sleep last night?"

"You can say that..."

"Why? Something bothering you?" Juri looked at me with a concerned expression. I regained my composure and shook my head quickly.

"It's really nothing; I have...insomnia..." I lied.

"Oh. I thought it had something to do with a boy…you just had that sort of expression on your face...but I guess it was a false alarm," Juri said, smiling.

Damn. This girl was good.

Before the Tamers era, I used to attend an all girls' private school. I absolutely hated it there. With some persuasion, my mom let me enroll in a public school. (She had been delighted hearing that that nice Jenrya kid would be there.)

I laid my head on my desk and closed my eyes - attempting to get a few minutes' rest before lessons began. There was an ache in the back of my head from my lack of sleep the previous night and nothing I did would help soothe it out. (I tried to whack myself on the back of my head with a hammer, but my grandmother caught me...)

A clang of bells rang and to my disappointment class began. Our chubby homeroom teacher made her way into the classroom - grinning a little too broadly.

"Ahem, class! We have a new student with us today..." The teacher blushed and put a hand to her face, chuckling like a over matured baby. How I couldn't see something this clichéd happen... "Please enter!"

Even though the forthcoming event had been foreshadowed, I still fell out of my chair in utter and complete shock as the new kid walked in. I snapped up again, standing, as I pointed an angry accusatory finger towards the front of the room "YOU!"

Murmurs (and giggles) filled the room at my abrupt statement - and that's when I remembered I was smack in the middle of a classroom full of hormonal teenagers. I sat back down in my desk - clearing my throat. The eyes darted back to the front of the room where the blue-eyed, auburn-haired new guy smiled at me.

"Hey there, wildcat!" A hyperactive Ryo responded and saluted me.

--

"Hey, Ryo!" Kazu and Kenta were excited to see Ryo. No, that was a lie - they looked like two crazy fan girls clinging and swooning over him.

"It's been such a long time, Ryo! How have you been?" Jenrya asked as he gave Ryo a friendly punch on the shoulder.

"Been pretty good!" Ryo responded, punching him back. The two grinned at each other.

"It's glad to see the whole gang together!" Takato said.

"Sure is!" Juri agreed.

Uh, yeah, for some of us.

I walked straight to the lunch line (trying to avoid the undersireable one). No matter where you go – private or public school – they seem to serve the same old mush nationwide. I pointed at a random blob in front of me and the lunch lady plopped it onto tray. I paid and headed towards the usual spot we sat. Juri and Takato were the only ones there.

"Umm, Takato. I packed you a bento," Juri said.

"Thanks Juri! It looks good!" Takato replied, beaming.

I tried to hold back a twitch, trying to be polite to my friends. Instead, I mad my way to the end of the table to let the lovebirds be. Unfortunately, that option was not quite that smart.

"I'm touched that you want to sit by me," a voice said next to me. I looked up and took into account exactly where I had relocated my seat. Ryo's face grinned down at me. I got up to move again, but soon the others had filled up the other remaining seats. I resolved by ignoring him for the rest of lunch - which was fairly easy since he kept quiet throughout.

"So, Ruki, you wanna see a movie today?" Ryo asked, as he followed me to toss away my trash.

"Is that a death wish?" I questioned sarcastically.

"No, a date request."

"Obviously, the answer is no." I rolled my eyes as I dumped my lunch tray into a large trash bin.

"You're making it really hard for me to accomplish my goal in ten days."

I stopped in my tracks, looking at him wide-eyed. "I thought you were kidding."

"Well, just to let you know - I'm dead serious. So why won't you come along with me this afternoon?" A smile.

"It would give you an advantage." I leered, rolling my eyes again. (…I should probably keep a count of how many times that I roll my eyes in a day. Or maybe how many times Ryo makes me have to roll my eyes everyday.)

"Well, I have to attack while I can. Day one, aftera-"

"Actually, it would be day two. Yesterday was day one," I corrected.

"Hey! That isn't fair!" Ryo frowned, "You rampaged back home yesterday after our talk! I didn't even see you for the rest of the day! C'mon, Ruki! You can't pull something like this on me!"

"But," I said, "the challenge was made yesterday, so it started yesterday. Today's day two."

"One."

"Two."

"One."

"TWO!"

"One."

"TWO!"

"One."

"TWO, DAMMNIT!"

Silence.

"...one and a half?"

"FINE!" I said exasperated – too tired to even bother responding. Now that I thought about it, it wasn't even worth arguing over. Sigh.

I wondered idly how he could keep smiling through all that. The bell rang, thankfully - I collected my things from the lunch table and zoomed off to my next class. Ryo bobbled along behind me, humming some show tune - obviously in a good mood. I wondered how on earth it was possible for someone to be so cheerful all the time and-

My thoughts were interrupted.

"Hey, wildcat!"

"What is it, Akiyama?" I stressed his name, as a reminder he should address me the same way. When he didn't respond, I stopped and turned around. He poked my nose and ran ahead, laughing his head off like a Kindergartener. He's dead.

"Why are you following me?" I snapped.

"Don't you know? I have all the same classes with you!" Ryo exclaimed as if it was the most brilliant idea ever.

"You...what?"

"Aww, you're excited?" He brought his grinning face very close to mine. Too close. I could feel butterflies flapping around in my stomach. My cheeks were burning. He backed me into a wall - I blinked rapidly. A retort shot up my tongue and stopped in its tracks. I licked my lips nervously as I felt my heart beating fast against my chest.

I acted without thinking - next thing I knew Ryo was on the floor with a bloody nose and my hand was stinging a bit - rolled up in a fist.

"...oops," was all I could manage to say.

--

I sat silently next to Ryo's bed in the nurse's office, reading a book for English. Once in a while, I drew my gaze away from the text to check on Ryo. My punch had knocked him unconscious (along with his bloody nose, of course). A herd of Ryo's fangirls began yelling and screaming (one of them thought I killed him...) - which caused the teachers to come out and see what the commotion was. One of the male teachers carried Ryo's body to the nurse's office, and I was put to the duty of watching him until he woke up (and whenever he did I would be given a very strict lecture on "hallway safety!")

I sighed as I plucked through the pages - the book was dead boring. A corny romance about a cold-hearted girl and a kind boy who argue a lot and have a bet. Yet, in the middle of the book, the girl starts to-

I heard a yawn from beside me and quickly looked over at Ryo - who was rubbing his eyes. I stared at his bandaged nose, wondering how badly I had hit him. He opened his eyes slowly and his brown eyes caught onto mine. He looked at me unblinkingly - looking somewhat peaceful.

"Hey there," he greeted, smiling with one corner of his mouth tilted upwards. I averted my eyes to the corner of the bed as I spoke. Okay. So, perhaps maybe he was just the tinniest bit cute. I felt a flush creep onto my cheeks.

"Does it hurt?" I asked grudgingly, trying to calm my hormones.

"Does what hurt?" Ryo asked with a false air of confusion. He was milking it.

"What else?" I asked, my temper almost at its limit.

"My heart? Yes. I'm very heart-broken that my beloved fiancé had injured me so," Ryo replied, grasping his heart dramatically. I had an urge to punch him again, but I held back (I had already earned a detention the next day...)

"Well?" I asked, when he didn't respond.

"Nahh, not anymore. Nurse did a good job," he wrinkled his nose. Why does he have to be so darn cute?! I can't - wait a minute! Did I just…?

I got up and began banging my head on the wall.

"Ruki! What are you doing?!" Ryo exclaimed, he jumped out of bed and took hold of my shoulders.

"Giving...myself...a...concussion..." I said in between smacks.

"Stop!" His voice was no longer coy and happy, dropping to a worried octave. His grip on my shoulders tightened. "Ruki, cut it out! You could seriously hurt yourself! VIOLENCE IS NOT THE ANSWER!"

He yanked me backwards, and then I was tumbling downwards - I closed my eyes getting ready for impact as I hit the hard floor...but nothing happened. Something broke the fall, and I was a bit afraid to find out what that something exactly was...

I opened my eyes slowly and stared right into Ryo's face - smiling crookedly again.

"Ew..." I said - I pushed against the floor to lift myself off of him, but his arms bound around me and held me down. I looked at his face and his smile shown even more profoundly.

"I quite like this position."

"Well, I don't," I said stubbornly - still struggling to break free of his hold. I tried not looking at him, because I could feel the heat on my face. I was most definitely blushing right now. I leaned to the right a little too far and we rolled over - now him on top of me. I gasped, and I felt my blush deepen. I heard voices coming from outside, and I watched in terror as the principal, school nurse, our homeroom teacher, and mothers walk into the office.

--

"It's not what you think!" I cried, but my mom refused to listen to me as she drove back home. She smiled so widely it was as if a ray of sunshine struck her.

"I didn't know you'd grow to like him so quickly!" My mom gave a giggle that reminded me of a five year old. "Then, again, Ryo-pyun is such a looker! Oooh, you guys are advancing so quickly! It reminds me of those days when I was young…"

Ryo-pyun?

"It was an ACCIDENT," I covered my voice in ice, but I could tell she wouldn't believe me.

I groaned and looked out the window. As my eyes glazed over the outside view I noticed that my surroundings were different - this wasn't the way towards home. I gave my mom a suspicious look.

"Where are we going?"

"Shopping!" My mom exclaimed a little too quickly, I saw a bit of fear in her eyes as she glanced around - avoiding eye contact. My suspicions deepened as I continued to question her.

"Shopping where?"

"...at a store..."

"..in?"

"...in town!"

"Is that all you-?" I asked, but the car came to a sudden halt and the next thing I knew my mom kicked me in my backside and I was flying out the door into the street.

"I'LL PICK YOU UP LATER AT EIGHT!" My mom called, and the car sped away.

I stood up and dusted the dust off my pants then turned around to try to confirm my location. I spotted a movie theatre behind me - Ryo was there waving at me to join him. Ugh. So this was the evil plan my mother had hatched. Yes, let the poor, defenseless, injured Ryo have his way...Ohhh, I would join him all right...but if he was missing an arm tomorrow morning...

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!" I roared once I close enough to him.

"Our date, remember?" Ryo asked, "Since you injured me fairly bad, I think you should make up for it by hanging out with me for a couple hours! Besides, what else do you have to do?"

"I have feet. I can walk home just fine."

"Aww, come on. One movie and I'll send you back home!" Ryo tugged at my arm. I tried to whip it away from his grasp, but he was only held on even tighter. He dragged me into the entrance and bought tickets.

"Let's just hurry up, then," I groaned as I headed towards theatre six, where our film would be showing.

"NOOOOOOOOO!" Ryo exclaimed in exaggerated agony.

"What?" I asked, getting impatient.

"SNAAAAAAAAAAAACKS!" He complained, pointing towards the concession stands. I snapped, and punched him on the head (though, not as hard as before).

"TALK NORMALLY, IDIOT!" I cried, my eyes glaring down at him fiercely. Ryo whimpered as he ran towards the concession stand.

--

"Popcorn?"

"No thanks."

"Soda?"

"No thanks."

"Jellybeans?"

"No thanks."

"Aren't you hungry? I can't eat this all myself..."

"I'm perfectly fi-" my stomache growled in protest. Ryo smirked and tilted the popcorn bucket towards my direction. Grudgingly, I took a handful and tossed it in my mouth - chewing bitterly.

"Speaking normally now?" I asked, hinting more punishments could (and would) be performed if necessary.

Ryo laughed nervously as he rubbed the spot where I'd smacked him. "Yep…"

The title of the moving blazed across the screen in pink, bubbly letters. I turned to Ryo and with a confused look I asked, "You're into chick flicks?"

"..."

"Well?"

"...I watch them for the...humor..."

For the first time today, I genuinely laughed, "You...you..." I found it hard to form words, "You watch CHICK FLICKS!" Some of the neighbors around us had turned around - looking sourly in our direction.

"You have a really nice smile...if only you would more often..." Ryo trailed off as the laughter from my face dropped - replaced by an angry glare. I kept my face straight for the rest of the movie, but I couldn't help but feel a little elated from his compliment.


Yes, and the plot moves FORWARD.
I'm going on a Ryuki fanfic rampage right now, so if anyone knows some good ones - please link them to me : )

If you're into fluffiness, I wrote up a one-shot Ryuki fluff called "Valentine Cookies," you can find it on my profile!
Until then, I'm beggi- hoping that you guys will leave a review...please?