Confessions of Rika Nonaka (Ruki Makino)
Don't own Digimon. Remember it!
Another quick A/N: I hate description! I feel like I'm rambling. Asjdflkajdslfkjasldkf So try your best on picturing how the tamers would look three years from now.
Chapter 1: Another one of those first days of school
New school, new people, and possibly new friends? I don't think I need new friends, but this is definitely going to be a huge change for me. I'm not used to going to school with boys, and I rather have my old black uniform than these gross green ones.* I hate the fact that I have to take the high school exam AGAIN to get into Shinjuku,* but heck. I asked for it, ne?
And like all first 'days' of school, mothers contribute their time like no other. No lie, I'm closer and appreciate my mother a lot more now than ever, but she really needs to lay it off. Not really- seriously. She got me designer shoes and bag to use and she made sure that I'm using a ¥92,000 pen* for my assignments. Ridiculous? Yes, but at least she is starting to understand my taste. The black backpack made by Salvatore Ferragamo was something that I don't mind using, but the shoes? Hell. I know I'm short but damn, who could walk on those 3 inch Stilettos? Not me. Not without tripping.
I had my hair down to show my mother that I wasn't going to go to school with my hair up, I made sure that I had a hair tie in backpack.
I thought I was going to take the subway considering how far the Shinjuku was to the outskirts, but mother had a limo right outside the house to come and pick me up.
"You need to go in style! I bet half those kids can't afford a limo to come and pick them up and drop them off every day!" Every day? Mom. How the heck are you going to pay taxes with a limo coming by every day?
"Rumiko, don't you think you're going overboard just a bit? I thought you know your daughter by now." Grandmother to the rescue.
"Yes, but, I just wanted her to be known and loved at school!"
"Have you asked her yourself if she wanted to be popular like you?" Yeah did you ask mom? Nope.
"I'm sorry Ruki. Can you just ride the limo for this month? I already paid for it." My mother turned to me. She already knew that I didn't want any of this.
I couldn't help but crack a smile for her. At least she's trying and learning? "That's fine mother. I don't mind. Just ask next time." Great. Now the whole Shinjuku society is going to think I'm some rich snob. Please don't let that happen!
The ride to school was long, thanks to traffic. I wondered if it would've been faster if I just took the train...
The plan for today was to meet up with my friends by the tree next to the gate in the courtyard, go to the office and meet my teacher and get a tour of the school, go to class and pray that I'll be in the same class as Jeri, make sure that no one draws attention to me, and that this first day of school run by smoothly.
We stopped in front of the school, I quickly put my hair in a ponytail and walked inside the campus.
The school was huge and beautiful and there's so many people crawling around the area. There were so many trees that I didn't know which one that I was supposed to meet my friends at.
"RIKA!" What happened to not drawing too much attention? I turned around to see who screamed my name. Kuso, it's
"Ryo?" Ah damn! What the hell is he doing here? I saw him with the rest of them right by this huge tree. Don't tell me he goes here too!
Unlike the rest of us, Ryo is slowly growing out of his awkward teen phase. I admit, he's gotten a whole lot more handsome then he was when we met him. He was so grungy at the digital world, but he cleaned up nicely when he came back to earth. Now, Mr. Charming-more now than ever, is starting to man-up and be less than a boy. However, the 'boys will be boys' rule still applies to him no matter how much he matured. He's less googily-eyed for me, that's for sure. He better be because Alice wants to take things more seriously.
He was about to run up to give me a hug. I just slapped him across the face. "Who the hell do you think you are!" First day of school= ruined. Ryo is the last person I want to see today. "Did you not get the memo? 'No attention for Rika.' And what are you doing here?"
"Is that how you say hello to a friend?" You, yes. Ryo got up and started caressing his cheek. He was wearing his uniform, but his white dress shirt wasn't buttoned down all the way. Who is he trying to be? Elvis Presley?
"Yes, I did get the memo, but do you think anyone here is going to pay attention?" Once they hear my last name, yes. My mother is known to everyone in Japan. And shoot. I'm a splitting image without make-up.
"and I'm a student here at this school. I applied after junior high was done. As you know, I don't live around here, so I just take the train, stay at my aunt's apartment, and go back home every Sunday and take the train back Monday morning. Understood?" He was going to give me a hug, but I walked away to greet everyone else.
"Hey everyone!" life is so much better when you're with people you care about. I don't mind giving Jeri a hug. Everyone else gave me a smile.
"I'm so glad you're here!" Juri has gotten so pretty these past few years. I have a feeling that she tries too hard since she's going out with Takato. I don't think Takato cares how she looks, all he cares about is her in general. Juri, personality-wise, is my complete opposite. If anything, she and my mother could be best friends if they were the same age. The difference is, I get along with Jeri so well. I think because she has the ability to be happy-go-lucky all the time. She's naïve and she's a great listener. My best girlfriend- I think I'm lucky.
"Yes! I have another person who can help me away from bullies!" Kenta exclaimed. Kenta has gotten taller but he's way skinny even if he eats all the time. He's still a huge nerd and looks exactly the same from three years ago- just stretched out.
"But that means she's going to be the one to bully us…" Kazu sighed. Out of all us, I think Kazu was the one to change the most. From some awkward 13 years young freak, to a 16 years old teenager reading tips on how to look and act from girl magazines so he can be Mr. Suave. It amazes me how Kazu and Kenta are polar opposites but yet, be better than the best of friends. They're a great duo, but I will never admit that to them.
"Better her than them. I think she'll scare them all away." Am I that scary?
"Well, it's great that you're here Rika!" Takato seemed more excited than everyone else. I see my friends during weekends only and Takato always get excited when he sees everyone together.
Takato has matured a lot. I'll admit, he's gotten real cute, especially with his uniform on. Jeri is lucky. Takato is great guy. He's less of a goof ball, but he is still that naïve boy that we all know and love at heart. Him and Jenrya I consider as my best guy friends. Those two guys are the ones that really brought me up and taught me about character, friendship and love.
"Do you know who's class you're in?" asked Alice. It's hard to imagine Alice in a green seifuku, especially when she wears dark, old fashion outfits all the time. I wonder where's she's from? She's quiet, but she's not afraid to express her opinion or whatever is on her mind.
"No I don'- wait a minute. Where's Henry?" It's either he decided not to show up to school today because of me or he's sick or somewhere else, he's late, or he's busy doing something slash, he's too cool for us.
"Don't worry Rika. He was here." Started Takato. Yeah right. He was. "It's just that Mrs. Takaishi* came in and asked him to do a favor. You know Jenrya, he would be here. It's just that…"
"I understand Takato." No really. I do. I forgive Henry, just this once. I guess Takato sensed my fire when I realize someone was missing. "Well you guys, I'm off to the office. I have to tour this school."
"We could do that for you." Of course, Ryo would be the one to say that.
"No thanks. I'll be okay." I quickly walked away.
"Ruki wait up!" I turned around to see Takato trying to catch up to me. "After school, are you free? I was wondering if you, Jenrya and I can get together after school. It's been a while since the three of us hanged out, ya know?" To come to think of it, I do miss the old days where it was just those boys and I saving Shinjuku. I thought it was better that way, but the more the merrier is good too.
"Yeah sure, I don't think I'm doing anything after school. I won't be picked up until 6. I was just going to go to Juri's till then." Yet another smile crossed my lips. This will be fun.
"Alright see you then! Do you want me to walk you to the to the office?" Takato offered, but I backed down.
"It's ok, go to Juri. I'm pretty sure she doesn't know about our get together this afternoon. You better tell her."
As I got inside the building, I was greeted by a very young teacher. "Konnichiwa, I am Mrs. Takaishi. Congrats, you've been placed in Class 1A.* I have a meeting right now, so I have the school president to show around. Henry, this is the model's daughter I've been talking about. Ruki Makino."
Jenrya Lee is class president? What?
And out came this boy whom which normal girls my age would think is tall, tanned and handsome. He's no other than a pacifist and a computer geek to me. He's just Henry.
"Ruki. Great to see you here! Sorry for not meeting you out front, but Mrs. Takaishi asked me to do this favor. Thank goodness you're the new student that she was talking about." He slid a hand through his hair- a habit of his. He looks unkept this morning. I can tell he's tired. His jacket was buttoned up at all, his white button up wasn't tucked in and he had three buttons loose at the top. Yet, he still looks great.
"Oh so you know each other! Very well then, I have nothing to worry about. Tally on!" Mrs. Takaishi left to her meeting leaving me with Henry.
"So Mr. President," I think I'm going to call him that for now on. I crossed my arms and looked up at him. Man, he's gotten so tall. "What else about you do I not know about?" Keeping secrets from me Henry?
"You have no idea." He smirked- then flashed that thousand dollar smile of his at me. He outstretched his left arm signaling me for a hug.
I pouted. For two reasons: I'm no fan of hugs, but heck, I'm in debt to Jenrya for teaching me how to care (I guess he deserves it); and for knowing everything about me, but I knew nothing of this president business. What else does he do that I don't know?
I shrugged it off and took a step forward. He went up to me and gave a short, but sweet embrace. "Hi Rika." He whispered.
I took a step back and looked up at him. A small smile wouldn't hurt, now would it? "So where to?"
I feel that I'm becoming a bit of a softie. I think soft, but I shrug it off to think of something tough. I have a reputation to keep up with and I'm not going to let it down because of these silly feelings. But deep down in my gut, where Takato and Henry were able to reach out to, I was able to express and have emotions and for once, I felt that there was nothing wrong with it. That still doesn't stop me from being Ruki Makino.
However, with Henry, it's different. I think he has this ability, skill or knack of getting inside people's heads or soul just to figure out what's up. So no matter how much I try to bottle up my feelings or secrets or anything about me, he's able to convince me to just express. Whether it be him, Juri, Takato, my mother, grandmother, even Ryo- there's a trusting point to everyone.
He should take his own advice. I don't care how much he shows the world how great of a sweetheart he is, he's got something that he's bottling up. You can't tell with those steel eyes of his, but some day, I will read him like a book.
"Since you are one of my best friends, I guess I'll show around how I view the school." Henry and I started walking down the hallway. He pointed out the classrooms, their nicknames and story behind them, where to hang out and where not to hang out, who's safe and not safe, and where we normally meet up during break time or lunch.
"Good morning class! We have a new student today! Her name is Ruki Makino. Please Ruki, do introduce yourself."
"Hi I'm Ruki Makino. I transferred from Kudan Senior High* and-"
Some boy raised his hand. "Yes?"
He stood up. "I'm sorry to interrupt you, but I can't help but ask this question."
"Okay. What is it?" Nervous as I am, I hope he doesn't ask about-
"Is Rumiko Makino your mother?" damn it…
"Yes. She is."
Whispers surrounded the room.
"I knew it! She looks just like a very young and plain version of her!"
"That's the girl we saw that came out of the limo."
"We have a celebrity at our school?"
"Enough!" Thank you Mrs. Takaishi. "Thank you Rika for sharing. You may now take your seat right next to him. His name is Kenta Kitagawa. Now everyone, turn your books to page-"
Luckily, I'm in the same class as Kenta and Henry. Juri, Takato, Alice, and Kazu are in a different class and Ryo is by himself in the next grade.
School day went by surprisingly smoothly (especially that "oh my god, your mother is a model!" outburst). They're right about learning something new every day, but I learned something new about Henry and Kenta by the hour.
Kenta is Mr. Know-it-All. He doesn't raise his hand to answer the question. He just waits for the teacher to call on him when no one else in the class, doesn't. Same with Henry, the two of them are practically geniuses. Henry is athletically amazing and Kenta has a great steady hand (an exceptional artist, no lie). Henry is known by the whole school and Kenta is known to be the stop student of the junior student body.
I have no idea how the heck I was able to get into Mrs. Takaishi's class, but I must've barely made the cut and gotten lucky with guessing on the entrance exam.
"Where's Henry?" Takato and I started walking to Shinjuku park, without Henry, again.
"Something came up," Said Takato. "He's going to meet us there in 30 minutes. So by the time we get there, he'll be 15 minutes late."
"Great." Freaking Henry. You need to learn how to say no sometimes. "What's he doing now?"
"He's at a choir practice." Wait. What? Say that again?
"Jenrya Lee sings?" No way.
"Hah! I actually don't know if he can sing, but he does play piano." Takato leaned back and put his hands behind his head. "The piano accompanist for the choir is ill today so they ask Henry to play for them."
"What the crap? He can play piano?" Great. He's president of the school, he's physically fit, and he play piano?
"He is Chinese, Rika." (A/N Chinese piano music prodigy FTW!)
"I know that! What else does Jenrya do?"
"What do you NOT know about Jen?" asked Takato. "Aren't you guys joined to the hip?"
"No! More like separated since birth!" come to think of it, I don't know anything about Henry outside of family and Digimon. "Other than playing piano, what else does he do at school?"
"Well, I'm pretty sure you know he's President-"
"How did that came about?" I interrupted. "I want details on everything."
"Everything?" Takato had a sweat mark run down the side of his head.
"Yes everything!" I didn't care. By the end of this conversation, I have enough reasons why I can punch Henry to the face.
"Well," Takato sighed. I figured he didn't know where to start. "He didn't run for presidency, he got nominated. And of course, everyone thinks he'd be a great choice. And he won. He didn't even try to get people to vote for him. His election speech was short and sweet. At least he's excellent at his job."
"Wait, if he didn't do anything, who did?"
"His fan club." Say what?
"Fan club?" Henry has a fan club? Why would anyone start a fan club of Jenrya? "How did this came about?"
"More like secret fan club. They're called 'Life.*' They do charity work, to seem like they're a real club, but in all reality, they all have a crush on one guy. It was started by Jen's psychotic ex's. Then it grew to a bunch of rabid fan girls who think that Jen might like them because he's so nice and helpful to everyone." We finally got to Guilmon's hideout and sat down from the long walk.
"Gee whiz. Who would have thought Jenrya had a fan club?" I mean seriously? Seriously?
"There's one of Ryo too, you know." I don't care about that.
"Yeah but that's different. He actually did something to be on the cover of a magazine." Great, I'm defending Ryo's popularity.
"And like the rest of us didn't?" Good point Takato.
"That's different! I meant individually." Touché!
"I guess." Hah I win.
"So what else is there?" ever heard of the say 'curiosity killed the cat?' I don't think it applies this time around.
"Well, apart from being a back-up piano player and President of the school, he's in many clubs like Key Club, Link Crew*, Karate Club, Computer Club, Chinese Club, Sister City, etc."
"Okay and? Does he have any jobs?"
"One, but I don't know what he does. He's like a junior executive or something like that."
Nani? How do you not know Takato! "Wait where and why?"
"Well, you know where Yamaki works-"
"Don't tell me he works for him." This gives me all the more reason why I will back hand Jenrya to the face.
"No, well, I don't know." Takato started twiddling his thumbs. He sensed my anger. "What he does is top secret, but he gets paid real good. He doesn't have to go to his work place either. He's allowed do his work at home."
"How long has he been working there?"
"Since he turned 16." "This is ridiculous. I can't believe he's hiding all of this from me." The fool doesn't have a life!
"You never asked." Takato and I turned our heads to see Jenrya coming in from the entrance.
"Hey man, what's up?" Jenrya bro-hugged his best friend. "Ruki-"
WHAM! Hand print to the face. He had it coming. Normally he deflects my slaps to his amazing Tae Kwon Do skills, but he didn't this around.
"I think I deserved that…" he caressed his cheek, but he still advanced to give me another hug. I took a step back and folded my arms. He put his arms down.
"Mhm. Yes you did." I shouldn't be angry for the lack of information I get from Henry, but damn. For some odd reason I'm pissed. I'll blame the hormones. Maybe that time of the month is coming. "After today, I feel like I don't know you." I put my head down. There I said it. That wasn't too hard?
Jenrya put a hand to my shoulder. I looked up to see him lightly smiling down at me. "Aside from Takato and my family, you know me better than everyone else. Especially in that class." Here comes that thousand dollar smile again. "Let's get this show on the road then, shall we? We have 2 hours to catch before Rika has to go back to school and get picked up from there." He turned to Takato, who nodded his head in agreement.
Then he scratched that back of his head. "So…ano… what are we going to do?"
Henry and I hanged our heads. "I know! Let's go get ice cream!" Takato exclaimed. Jenrya and I looked at each other and shrugged.
"Ice cream it is then…" I could use a good scoop of Vanilla.
Ice cream wasn't so bad after all. The three of us got to catch up, but the fun ended so fast. We didn't notice the time flew by.
"You guys!" I got up and ran to the door. "I have to be back in front of the school in 10 minutes!"
"What?" Takato abruptly got up and ran outside. "I have to be home to help cook dinner! Crap! Sorry guys! Bye!" and he took off. See you tomorrow Takato?
"Well, I'd better get going to, but I'm in no hurry. I'm going your direction anyways. Walk with me?" Henry offered an arm, but I kept my head held high and just kept on moving forward.
"C'mon Jenrya, I don't have time for a stroll!" I turned back to see him just trotting behind me.
"I understand." He smirked. Oh the many faces of Jenrya. I can just make a book about them.
The rest of the way was pretty quiet, but I did learn another thing about Jenrya, he can whistle loud and well. He can also whistle through his teeth. Too talented.
"My ride is here. I hope I didn't keep him waiting." I was going to run up to him, but I turned around and remembered Henry. "See you tomorrow? Can I call you tonight? I may need help on my homework."
"Anytime Ruki." Henry rubbed his eyes. He seems so sleep deprived. "I'll see you later." He waved and turned around to go back to the hotel his family is staying at.
I waved at him even though he wasn't looking. The driver pulled open the door and I stepped inside. I turned around to watch Henry slowly walking away.
If life was like this every day, I probably wouldn't mind. It was pretty relaxing and it was great to be with friends. I got to learn more about everyone and what they do every day and not just the weekend.
However, this first month of school is drawing way too much attention to me. Stupid limo.
A/N: *I imagined these uniforms like the high school uniform for the DigiDestined in Season 2
**I have no idea what the schools are in Japan, other than almost all the high schools are private. Also, to get into any sort of higher secondary school, they have to take these exams to see where they can get in. The original school I put in the other fic was Odaiba (like in season 02), but that's an artificial island off the coast of Tokyo, far from Shinjuku. Not going to work.
***92,000 yen is over $1000 U.S. Dollars.
****Gyeah! Hikari is the teacher and married to TK. Win! Ok. She's supposed to be a kindergarten teacher. Don't kill me. =P
*****That's supposed to be high class. I think. xD Japanese school system is way different from the American one.
******Like how Yamato/Matt Ishida had his uniform in Season 02.
*******I know Ruki is not from Shinjuku. I'm not exactly sure where she's from, but I'm going to guess that she's from Chiyoda. Therefore, she goes to Kudan Secondary School (which I do not own, btw), cause I said so. xD hahah sorry.
********Life, gay fan club name huh? Hahaha I couldn't think of anything. If you have a better name for the club, I can set up a poll to see who can come up with the best one.
**********For those of you who don't know, Key Club does charity work and Link Crew is an orientation team. Sister City is where people meet other people from around the world and give them a welcome when they come and visit.
Does it sound OOC? Nah. She's still that tough Rika we all know, but we have also seen that caring side of her (like when Impmon went missing, she tried to cheer Suzie up, she tried to cheer Juri up, etc). Even if Takato and Henry brought the good out of her, she still wants to be that headstrong girl. No weaknesses, got my jive?
Anyways, I'll respond to reviews when I'm done editing all of this (my goal is by July 4th. Fingers crossed!). Don't worry, I'll read your reviews, but I won't show any commentary until the end. Thank you! :]
Kyomona
