Rika walked up the stone steps towards the old cement shrine. After Mako got admitted to the hospital and the doctors said he would make a nice recovery, she decided to let him rest and go see if the portal was open. She didn't have her D-Arc with her just because she didn't want to run all the way home to get it, but she made a mental note to start carrying it around with her. She started to breathe heavier and she could feel her heart beat faster as she neared the shrine.

Don't get your hopes up, Rika. It may not even be there.

She opened the rusty gate, causing it to squeak on the hinges. Making sure it wouldn't suddenly shut on her, she put a rock in front of the door. Making her way through the dimly lit place, she stepped on old plastic bags that read 'Matsuki Bakery' and had pictures of bread on it. Going near the hole, she carefully slid down into it and looked straight ahead in every direction. Nowhere was there a light of a digital gate to be found. She went toward the end of the hole and touched it. It was nothing but dirt under her hand.

Maybe somehow that digimon found an opening from the Digital World to our world and climbed through. The gate's not here, so that must be it.

Deciding on that being the best solution, she crawled out of the hole and dusted herself off. Rika then shut the gate door again and ran down the stone steps back to the hospital where Mako was. As she ran, though, a twinkle of light appeared in the park, but disappeared as though it were a trick of the dimming sunlight.

Chapter 02:

The Terminator's Comeback!

Shinjuku Vs. Yamabuki!

Rika ran down the hallway, her feet making small noises as it echoed. Ignoring stares from other nurses and doctors, she found the room he was in and quietly entered. She shut the door and went by Mako's bedside, sitting down on the chair by his bed. Hearing her, he turned his head so he could see her and opened his eyes.

"How you feeling?" she asked quietly.

"Ok. But…I hope my arm heals well enough so I can play in the football game this Saturday."

She placed her hand on his injured arm that was now in bandages. "Don't worry about that right now. Just focus on getting better."

"I just don't want to let anyone down."

"True, but they wouldn't want you to suddenly injure yourself badly during the game. It's better to let it heal than injure it even more."

Mako sighed. "I guess so."

If there was one thing Rika hated about their similarities, it was the fact that they were both stubborn when it came to what they wanted but sometimes couldn't have. Sometimes she wished he wasn't so stubborn all of the time, but when she asked him about it once, he gave her an answer that wasn't an excuse.

Rika growled at Mako, who was attempting to get up after he had launched him and his bike over a hill, but had crashed and burned. "Why are you so stubborn? You could hurt yourself!"

As soon as Mako got up and picked up his bike, he turned to look at her with his brown eyes and smiled. "Well, I get it from you, Rika."

"That's not an excuse!"

"I may be stubborn Rika, but I never give up anything if there's a small possibility I can get it. If I give up, what was the point of me trying to do it anyway?"

Rika always got mad at Mako whenever he said that. She just wanted to hit him and knock some sense into him, but she never did. She was the same way and she knew it, but she never went to the extreme by putting herself on the line. That was the only difference between their stubbornness. He risked everything he could while she only went to a certain limit. And in some odd way, it kind of reminded her of Ryo.

Why am I thinking about him anyway? All he does is tease the heck out of me…at least Mako makes me smile.

"Hey Rika," Mako said in a light voice. "I think Mars has received your transmission by now."

She snapped out of her thoughts and looked at him. He saw that she had come back and smiled at her.

That smile…why does he use that on me?

"Sorry. I was thinking about things," Rika said.

"Obviously. Maybe you should go home."

"Why? I want to stay here……to make sure you're ok."

"I know. But you need to go to school tomorrow and I think getting away from this hospital would be good."

Rika thought about this. "You sure?"

" 'Course I am. Now go on home and get some rest."

Rika stood up and looked at him once more before walking out the door and leaving. As she walked outside to the twilight sky, she let the breeze blow past her and took in the scenery before heading on home.

"Rika, where have you been?" Ms. Nonaka asked her daughter as Rika walked in the door. "I was worried and I almost called the police."

"Mom, I don't want to hear it. I've had a rough day today and I'm tired. So I'll just go to bed."

Seeing that her daughter was in some sort of distress, she nodded. "Ok. Goodnight, Rika."

" 'Night, mom."

She walked to her room and took off her scuffed up clothes, trading them for silk red pajamas. Laying in her floor bed, she stared up at the ceiling, replaying the events of today through her mind. After a while, her eyes got heavy and she finally succumbed to the powers of sleep. As she slept, a pair of light blue eyes watched her in a nearby tree and then suddenly vanished.


The next day after school, Takato was walking to the field for practice when he saw everyone discussing something. An arm suddenly slung around his shoulders and he looked to see that it was Kazu, with a big grin on his face.

"Hey chumley! Did ya hear?"

"Hear…what?" Takato asked.

"About one of Yamabuki's players, duh!" Kazu rolled his eyes as if it was common sense.

Getting out of Kazu's arm grip, he said, "No. What happened?"

"I guess their star player got attacked in the park by some strange creature. He said that it was a couple of stray dogs that attacked him and he fought them off." He put his arms behind his head and grinned. "And I heard he was lucky to have that girl with him."

"What girl?"

Kazu shrugged. "I don't know. Some girl that goes to his school and I guess they were hanging out. But you know what this means right?"

"That we won't be going against Yamabuki's famous star player?"

"Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner!" he yelled. "But also we might actually beat them!"

"Just because their star player is out, doesn't mean anything. They're still a very good team and could still beat us," their coach said, coming out.

Kazu laughed nervously. "Well I knew that."

"But you do have a point," the coach said. "Our chances of winning have increased, unless suddenly he plays."

"Yeah, but I heard his injuries were pretty bad. No way he would play football!" one of the guys said.

The coach nodded. "Well, let's stop talking and start practicing! Two laps around the track!" He blew his whistle and they all ran toward the track, running their laps.


"Come on, coach! I wanna play this Saturday!" Mako said with a raised voice.

His balding coach sighed, not liking this discussion. "Mako…we just don't want to injure yourself anymore."

"But it's only Tuesday! I'll be able to play by Saturday!" He then lowered his voice. "Besides, it's only my arm that's hurt, not my legs. I can just keep it bandaged throughout the game and it'll be fine."

"What happens if the ball hits your arm and the cuts break open?" his coach asked sternly.

"Coach, when have I ever used my arm to hit the ball?"

He sighed, finally giving in. "How about this? I'll check your arm out Thursday and see how it looks. If it looks ok, then I'll let you practice and play on Saturday. If not, don't complain because it's for your own safety."

Mako nodded. "You got a deal."

He stood up from his chair. "Good. Now get some rest and I'll see you Thursday."

With that being said, he left only for another person to come into the hospital room.

"Hey." Rika said softly.

Mako smiled and said, "Hey. What's up?"

"Not too much. Your arm feeling better?"

"Yeah. It hurts every now and then, but it's getting better. I just hope it's mostly healed by Saturday."

Rika scowled at him. "Don't tell me you're still going to play."

"Of course I am! The coach will look at my arm to see if it's playable and it doesn't cause me pain. If so, I'm playing."

Rika knew when it was impossible to tell him otherwise. She just huffed and frowned. "Fine. But don't come crying to me when your cuts get broken open again and you have to be readmitted to the hospital."

Mako laughed. "Don't worry, I won't. But if I play, then I'll make sure our team wins."

"Whatever…" Rika said. Even though she liked football, she could sometimes care less about what Mako was thinking of doing. The only time she would care if he were going to do something even more dramatic.

"So what are you here for?" he asked.

Rika's face suddenly grew red. "What do you think? I came to see you, you dolt!" She suddenly had the urge to smack him and scream at him, but she wasn't able to.

Seeing the distress in her eyes, he gently took her arm in his hand and kept looking at her. "What's wrong?"

She got calmer and then looked off to the side to avert his gaze. "Nothing."

He pulled her closer to the bed and gently said, "I know there's something wrong. Please Rika….tell me. I won't be able to help unless you…" He trailed off as he watched her keep her gaze away from his. This wasn't the first time she acted like this and sometimes he just wished she could tell him.

"It's just…." Rika looked at him and sighed. Her face color had gone back to normal but now it seemed that whatever she wanted to say was troubling her. "I just……don't want you to get hurt…"

She had kept her voice low but Mako had heard it. He raised an eyebrow and looked at her as she, once again, averted her gaze from him and started to turn pink. Even though Mako didn't mind it, it was odd to hear Rika actually sound…nice and caring.

"Rika….I know you don't want me to see me get hurt and you know that I don't want to see you get hurt. But this is my decision." As he looked at her, he flashed a smile. "And if something does happen, you can yell at me and call me a 'idiot' all you want."

She smirked and said, "You're already an idiot."

Mako then got a hurt look on his face and put his hand over his heart, acting like he was in pain. "Now, there, you done and broke my heart," he said with a southern accent.

Rika couldn't help but laugh at Mako's impersonation and at his acting. Somehow he did it just right that she would laugh at him.

"Ahhh, so the Queen does know how to laugh."

Rika stopped laughing and said, "Because the King is acting like the Joker."

Mako didn't have a comeback, so he just shrugged and said, "Whatever."

She smiled and then sighed. "Well I better get home. I promised my grandma I'd help with tending her flowers."

"Ok…and I'll probably see you tomorrow. I think they're letting me out today."

She nodded and left the room quietly. She walked to the nearest elevator and pressed the button to go to the first floor. As she waited, she put her hand up to the heart necklace and started to twirl it between her fingers. Once the doors opened, she let it drop against her chest and walked out of the hospital.


Saturday: 11:30 a.m.

Shinjuku High's football team sat on the benches, waiting for the game to come close to starting. Takato was nervous, but also excited. He gazed out onto the field and then looked up at the stands that were still being filled in. This was going to be a tough game, but the entire team was pumped up for it and depending on him to lead them.

Takato got a small slap on the back from Kazu as he sat down beside him. "Nervous any?"

He sighed. "Of course I'm nervous Kazu. This is Yamabuki we're dealing with here."

"Yeah, but we don't know if the star player is even gonna show up. We can beat them, star player or no star player."

Takato smiled. "Thanks Kazu. I just hope we do a good job out there."

They suddenly heard some people screaming and cheering. The whole team looked up to see Yamabuki's football team come onto the field and go by their benches. They started doing stretch routines and talking to the coach. Takato scanned them and didn't see any of them look like they were real tough. He then heard Kazu growl beside him.

"He's not here…" he grumbled.

Takato shook his head. Kazu didn't care about winning sometimes. Sometimes it was just about teaching the best football player on each team a lesson in, what he calls, 'extreme sporting'. "Even if he was here, he probably couldn't do too much."

"I don't care!" Kazu exclaimed. "I just wanna show him who's the real bosses around here."

"Yeah, but I would be the one facing him on the field."

"Your point?"

Takato sighed. Kazu could be so dense sometimes, it scared him. Then they were called on the field and all the players went onto the field. Takato went into his position in the center circle. Before the substitute went on the field, however, a loud cheering came from the stands. Takato looked in that general direction and saw a guy with reddish-brown hair in a blue football uniform come onto the field. From the way everyone was cheering, he was Yamabuki's star player. As he approached closer, Takato could see his whole left arm in a bandage. It was definitely him.

He walked and stood directly across from Takato. Even though he looked younger, Takato knew he could be mistaken for someone older from how tall he stood and from the look in his eyes.

"In the starting position," the announcer said. "Matsuki from Shinjuku High and Shimamoto from Yamabuki High."

Both names got loud cheers and screams from the stands. Mako looked at the guy in front of him. Where have I heard that name before?

The referee came up and told them the basic rules. He then stepped away, making sure both players were ready, and blew the whistle.

Takato was able to get the ball first and started to kick it toward the goal. Mako suddenly came up in front of him, stole the ball, and ran off with it. Takato and his teammates went after it. Mako then kicked the ball to a team player and ran faster towards the goal. Once he was close enough, he shouted over his shoulder, "Shin!"

Shinichiro kicked the ball to Mako, making it sail high over the players. Mako ran toward it as it flew toward the goal. The players from Shinjuku ran with the ball so they could get it once it landed. But Mako wasn't going to let it land. Once the ball was close enough, Mako did a high jump kick to the ball, making it jet to the goal. The poor guy who was goalie didn't anticipate that, saw the ball coming at his head, and dove off to the side to avoid getting planted in the face.

"Goal for Yamabuki!" The audience cheered from the stands loudly and started to chant Mako's name and the school's name.

The game went on, with Mako and some of his teammates scoring goals left and right. Fortunately, Takato and his team were able to get a few goals themselves. As it was nearing the end of the game, Takato and Mako were at the centerline again. They faced each other, each with determination in his eyes. Fog suddenly started to creep onto the field and it started to surround both Mako and Takato. Both boys looked around, seeing the dense fog that had suddenly appeared. They couldn't see anyone else but them. Shivers went down Mako's spine. He knew what it meant and he was hoping he was wrong. A low grumble suddenly started to come from all around them. Figures were suddenly apparent and they came into view from the fog.

They were digimon made of ice that had a pale blue feature to them. They were surrounded by them and neither one knew what to do. Suddenly, they all leaped in the air and each created a huge ice ball in their hand.

"Iceball Bomb!"

They launched their bombs onto them. Mako moved quickly and so did Takato. The ice bombs hit and shattered on impact with the ground. They had to shield their faces from the flying ice. Then the digimon attacked with full force with more ice bombs. They kept avoiding them but some of the shattered ice that flew in the air cut at some skin leaving small scratches that bled little.

I have to do something. But what? Mako thought to himself. He then suddenly got an idea. Avoiding all of the attacks that were flung at him, he went toward the goal. It was surrounded in fog as well. One of the digimon saw where he was headed and followed him with others.

They suddenly developed ice spears in their hands and threw them at the goal. "Ice Strike!"

Mako yelped as the goal was basically destroyed from the attacks. He covered his face from debris and then looked behind him to see the digimon coming toward him. The goal was in pieces, but the legs of it were mostly still together. Grabbing one of them, he attacked at the digimon. They were confused at first but then attacked.

"Iceball Bomb!"

They launched their bombs but Mako hoped this would work. He swung the leg at the oncoming bombs, deflecting them off and hitting the digimon with them. They screamed and were deleted. Mako then rushed back to where Takato was. Needless to say, he was in a very bad position. The remaining digimon had iced his feet so he couldn't move. They were about to finish him off when Mako hit them all with the goal leg. They scattered like bowling pins, but immediately got up and attacked.

"Iceball Bomb!"

Just like the last time, he swung the leg and the bombs deflected off of it, destroying all of the remaining digimon. Mako dropped the leg and went to his knees, breathing heavily. The fog cleared up and the ice on Takato's feet disappeared. Concerned, Takato went to the other player.

"You ok?" he asked.

After a few deep breaths, Mako said, "Yeah, I'm fine. That just took a lot out of me."

Takato helped him up and they looked at each other. "Thanks for saving me."

Mako shrugged. "No problem."

Takato nodded and smiled. But in his head he had questions running around.

If those were digimon…then does that mean the gate is open again? I guess I'll have to check it out later.

In a tree near the field, a pair of crystal blue eyes had watched the entire thing.

"Rawr. That boy may be of some use to us, after all." The owner of the eyes then smiled. "The master will be pleased to know this and soon…we will overcome this world."


Please send reviews so I can continue. Thanks!