Hello everyone! Here is the second chapter of Ryo's adventures behind the wheel! I apologize for the delay; with school starting again I hadn't much time to think about this story. But, I know you're not here to read my comments, you're here for the story so I will hold you back no longer! Read and enjoy!
Disclaimer: Sometimes, I own Digimon. Then I wake up and I realize it was only a dream.
Ryo let himself fall into his couch. Sprawling on it sideways in to achieve the laziest position possible, he caught the TV remote in his hand and turned it on. Dressed in faded grey sweatpants and a dark green t-shirt, Ryo smiled to himself as he zapped. It was Sunday, he had no homework or studying to do, and exceptionally he wasn't scheduled to work at the university's bookstore, his part-time job. Since his parents were working, he had the house all to himself. He had nothing to do, and that was exactly what he was planning to do: nothing.
Of course that wasn't what the universe planned.
When the doorbell rang, Ryo jolted with a start. Frowning in confusion, Ryo made his way to the door. Who dared to interrupt his lazy day? He opened the door, and found himself face to face with...
...a very nervous-looking Takato.
"Good morning Ryo!" said the goggle-boy, who was holding a big paper bag.
"Takato? What are you doing here?" he asked, rubbing his eyes.
"Well, I was passing in the neighbourhood..."
"Dude, you live half an hour away by bus-"
"...and I thought we could have breakfast together!" Takato rapidly cut the Legendary Tamer. "I-I brought croissants!"
"Croissants...?"
"A-and chocolate bread and cinnamon buns!" the younger boy added quickly.
"Um, okay," answered a very puzzled Ryo. "Well, uh, why don't you come in?" he added while stepping sideways to allow Takato to enter.
"Thanks Ryo!" said Takato with relief.
Once inside the kitchen, Ryo took out some plates and invited Takato to sit down at the table. The two boys began eating in silence. After eating a cinnamon bun, Ryo looked at his visitor.
"Alright Takato. I appreciate you visiting me, and I really appreciate the pastries, but it's pretty obvious you want to ask me something. So, what is it?" he bluntly asked.
Takato flinched. "Okay, well, I guess I wasn't very subtle" he admitted. "Well, here goes. You know when you came at our school a few weeks ago, to show us your car?"
Ryo nodded. Kazu and Kenta had almost drooled over Sally. "Go on."
"And uh, Jeri was pretty impressed."
"Uh huh." She had indeed been impressed. She squealed in admiration and had begged him to ride shotgun.
"And well, it sort of-of uh, well, I felt j-j-je...
Ryo frowned. "Jealous? Look, let me reassure you right away. I am not going to make a move on her. I'm sorry if it looked like I was flirting with Jeri, but I really don't like her like that."
"No, that's not what I mean!" protested Takato, waving his hands in negation. "Besides," he added, "I know it's Rika you like."
"What?" blinked Ryo.
"I wouldn't have guessed it, but Jeri says it's obvious and she's usually right about those things. But anyway, that's not my point. I felt j-jealous because I wished I could impress her that way. So, I wanted to ask you..." Takato gulped.
"Come on, spit it out. What is it?"
"Will you... teach me how to drive?" he asked, his big chestnut eyes full of hope.
Silence.
"...you actually want me to teach you how to drive?" echoed Ryo, dumfounded.
"Please! I read the traffic code! I-I can pay you for the lessons! Well, I don't have much money... but I can pay you in bread and pastries!"
"You really want to learn how to drive, just so you can impress Jeri?"
"Well..." he blushed and lowered his eyes. "Yeah."
The Legendary Tamer smiled gently. "You know, I bet she would be just as impressed, if not more, if you gathered the courage to ask her out."
The blush on Takato's face darkened. "Maybe. I don't know. But I'd still like to learn how to drive. Please. Will you teach me?"
Ryo thought for a few seconds and shrugged. "Oh well, I had nothing planned today anyway. Okay, I'm in. Just let me get dressed and we'll get this started."
"You are? Oh, thank you so much Ryo! I'll owe you a really big one!" joyfully exclaimed Takato. "But wait. What do you mean, we'll get this started? You mean, now?"
"Why not? Do you have something better to do?" asked Ryo as he got up from his chair.
"No..."
"Then now is as good a time as any. We'll find an empty parking lot or something." Ryo grinned. "Today, I'm teaching you how to drive."
-*-*-*-3 hours later-*-*-*-
The two boys were sitting in a fast food restaurant, sipping soda in silence. A basket of fries lay between them, mostly untouched. Finally, Ryo broke the silence. "Look, it's alright, nothing bad happened."
"Nothing bad?" Takato exclaimed. "I almost turned a cat into a pancake!"
"Almost, Takato. You didn't touch the cat. It wasn't your fault, it jumped out of nowhere."
"This is terrible," moaned the goggle-boy. "I never do anything right. I'll never learn to drive. Jeri will never want to date me." He then proceeded to bang his head against the table. Ryo grabbed his shoulder and shoved him right up.
"Stop with the self-pity" he admonished him. "Nobody is good the first time they try to drive. It comes with practice. A lot of practice" he specified.
"I don't think even all the practice in the world can cure my suckiness..." replied Takato in a sad voice.
Ryo closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. He had to grab Takato's self-esteem and pull it back up, hard.
"Look, Takato. I'm going to tell you something, but you can never tell anybody about it" finally said Ryo after a moment.
Takato's eyes connected once again with Ryo's, curiosity written all over them.
"What is it?"
"I mean it; you can never, never, never tell anyone. Not Jeri, not Henry, not Kazu or Kenta, not even your parents, and especially not Rika. I'm risking big just by telling you about it."
"Well, okay then, I swear I'll never repeat whatever you're going to tell me" said Takato. "So, what is it?"
"Well, here it goes." Ryo took a deep breath. "You're not the first to ask me for driving lessons. Rika did too."
"What?" exclaimed the chestnut-eyed boy. "Really? She did?"
"Yup. And the first time she drove, it wasn't pretty. She actually drove right into a tree. Fortunately she wasn't going too fast, so she didn't scrap my car, but it could have been really bad."
"Really? She did?" asked Takato with wide eyes.
"Yup. And unlike the cat, that tree didn't exactly jump in front of the car, but Rika still bumped into it."
"I can't believe it... I mean, Rika is usually so good at everything!"
"What I mean to say is that when she began, Rika was a much worse driver than you are. But she kept on practicing and she's getting better. So, there's absolutely no reason that you shouldn't get better too" finished Ryo.
Takato pondered at his words. "If Rika had more trouble than me, but still got better, I guess I can do it too" he finally said. He grinned. "Thanks Ryo. I won't give up. I'll get better, I promise!"
"Now that's a better attitude" said Ryo, grinning too. "But seriously, don't ever tell anybody about what I just told you. Rika would skin me alive if she ever found out I talked. She made me swear silence."
"Don't worry, I wouldn't wish Rika's wrath even on my worst enemy, let alone you! I'll take it to my grave!" swore Takato.
"Good. Come on, I'll give you a ride home. I think you had enough practice for today. I'll come get you next Sunday for your second driving lesson. Is that okay?"
"It's great! Thank you so much Ryo, I really appreciate it" said a very grateful Takato as they left the fast-food joint and walked to Ryo's car.
As he drove his friend home, Ryo was thankful that Takato was just naive enough to not ask questions about the details of Rika's supposed accident. He also really hoped the goggle-boy would keep his promise and stay quiet about that little story he told in order to raise Takato's self-esteem back up. Even though it was for a good cause, Rika would certainly not take it well if she ever found out that Ryo had invented such an outlandish story about her.
That's all folks! Sorry this one is a little bit short and sort of meagre on the ryuki side. Don't worry though, next chapter should be much longer and yes, there will more ryuki in it too! Stay tuned for next chapter, and of course comments and reviews are more than welcome!