Author's Ramblings:

Hey guys, here's the next chapter. I'm trying to make the chapters in this story longer than in the other three. I'm still working out how this story will flow—I've been trying to figure out how exactly this story'll go. I know overall what I want to happen, but I'm still stuck on just how much I can use Rika's POV without giving away too much of how/if/when her feelings for him will change.

Alright, so I haven't given up on this story, but I've got an awesome idea for a different story that's gonna take place after this one. It's gonna be a big project—I've got sixteen chapters for it planned out, but that ends with a giant cliffhanger, so if the interest is good enough once it gets going, it can easily be continued. Even if it ends at the sixteen mark, though, it'll still be a decent ending. It'll be awesome, though, promise.

Anyways, back to this one—my problem with this story is that I can't write something that doesn't have monsters, superpowers, or both in it. So this whole 'drama' bit's a little slow for my taste. I just don't want to write a big long chapter then have people feel bored by the end of it. I haven't given up on this story, though, so I'm still going to try my hardest.

Wish me luck, and I hope you enjoy!

-N

--

Chapter 3: Reunions (Part II)

"Don't dwell on what went wrong.

Instead, focus on what to do next.

Spend your energies moving forward

Toward finding the answer."

- Denis Waitley

--

No.

Ryo didn't even realize he'd whispered it aloud until he saw the look on Jeri's face become even more sympathetic.

"I'm so sorry, Ryo."

She's over you.

Of course she was. What was Ryo thinking, that he'd just come back and sweep her off her feet? Rika's one of a kind, obviously she'd move on.

Doesn't mean I wanted her to.

"She's…" Ryo began, but stopped as if someone was interrupting him. Perhaps he was hoping someone would so he wouldn't have to think of anything to say. But only silence followed.

"His name's Adam." Jeri said quietly. "They've been together for about two months now."

Adam?

Ryo suddenly felt light-headed, as he tried to wrap himself around the details he didn't want to hear, the details he couldn't find the strength to ask for the end of.

"He treats her really well, and she's been a lot happier since—" she stopped then, but she didn't need to finish, as Ryo knew damn well what she was about to say.

Since me.

"I have to go." Ryo said absentmindedly.

Ryo turned to leave the room into the crowded hallway,

Jeri called after him, and even reached for his arm, but he was already out the door, and pushing through the crowds. He was halfway down the hall before she caught up with him.

"Ryo?" Jeri called. "Ryo, wait." She wrapped a small hand around his, and he reluctantly stopped. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Ryo lied. "Everything's fine. Everyone, even."

She stared at him, and Ryo recognized disappointment in her gaze, disappointment in that he wasn't telling her the truth.

"Jeri, I really thought she'd—" he began quietly, leaning in to speak to her.

He was cut off by the pain of his nose hitting Jeri's forehead, as someone bumped into him from behind, hard.

"Out of the damn way!" a boy's voice snapped angrily.

Ryo grit his teeth and spun around, in no mood to deal with it, but knowing it might make him feel better. Ryo thought he recognized the boy as one of the ones who was forever behind the school smoking, but he wasn't sure.

"You hear me!" the boy shouted. "Move!"

Ryo found the sight peculiar, especially since the boy was only a little taller than Jeri. Ryo glanced at Jeri to make sure she was okay before he put a hand on each of the boy's shoulders and threw him aside. He was light, and Ryo knew he didn't hurt him, but got him out of the way. Ryo then took the opportunity to get back to his initial plan of storming out.

--

Rika had been at her locker getting ready for her chemistry class when she realized she'd forgotten her notes at home.

Shit.

She frowned, but didn't let it trouble her long when she concluded that she'd rather not go anyways. In the instant, she weighed the appeals of going to class versus the appeals of going to get some food, and came up hungry. She was acing all her classes anyways—it didn't seem worth her time to listen to one of her teachers talk for over an hour when the textbook was quite sufficient. She had tossed her binder carelessly into her locker before something caught her attention.

Mindless high school gossip. Or at least that's what she'd thought at first.

"I heard it was 'cause his family went poor." A girl said as-a-matter-of-fact-ly.

"No way, he left 'cause he's been crazy since a year ago, and someone found him out."

Ugh.

Rika really wasn't in the mood for hearing about Ryo. Almost a month after he took off, and he was still the talk of the city. Four weeks, actually. Three weeks since Ryo rejected her and basically disappeared off the face of the earth. Rika'd adapted in that time. Quickly, even. Thinking about him still hurt her, a lot. She wasn't sure if she hated him, though.

"Why would he've gone crazy? He was the coolest one next to those redheaded chicks."

Heh.

Rika couldn't help but stifle the smile that crept over her face. She'd accepted that she couldn't have forced Ryo to stay and be with her, and to assume that she could would have been preposterous. But that didn't mean she never wished it. If she were to hate him, it would be for what happened because he left. Her friends all treated her differently, and it hurt her because of it. They were always sympathetic, and it made it impossible for her to move on. Jeri had just woken up a week before—she'd been devastated to learn of Takato's death, but was coping. She'd cried to Rika when she'd told her. A lot. But if Rika were to hate Ryo for anything else, it'd be because of how dead she felt inside—she couldn't find it in herself to cry with Jeri for the death of a friend that Rika too loved.

Since that, she'd retreated into herself. She avoided talking to the other Tamers as much as she could just so she wouldn't have to deal with their sympathy, however good their intentions were. It hurt her to do so—to go back to the cold, loner-Rika she was before she'd met them all. In truth, she hadn't. She didn't even think she'd even changed much at all…but the others had to think she did. She couldn't stand the way she knew they were always talking about her while never really talking to her. Her grades, however, skyrocketed at the simple cost of her social life.

Rika stuffed a few books into her backpack, going through a mental checklist of whatever she might need.

"He's probably gotten himself killed by now anyways." One of the boys muttered.

Rika sighed inwardly.

Yeah, that sounds like something he'd do too.

She pulled the backpack out of the locker, and closed it. When she swung the bag over her shoulder though, an "oof" made her spin around, her face red with embarrassment.

"Crap, I'm so sorry." Rika said sincerely, still embarrassed. She bit her tongue, realizing she'd let it slip that she wasn't the Ice-Bitch she had to pretend she was.

The boy she'd clobbered let out a little laugh and managed to smile, rubbing his temple with one hand—

—and Rika found herself staring into the second-most-beautiful pair of eyes she'd seen. And she wasn't sure why she did what she did next, but she introduced herself.

"I'm Rika."

"My name's Adam."

--

He took his time in getting back to his house. More so because he wasn't paying attention and was walking toward his father's old house which was in the opposite direction.

Ryo groaned silently when he realized the flaws in his navigational skills. Or perhaps, it was from how it was a blatant reminder of what he'd left behind. One thought echoed—no, bounced around in his mind.

Why'd you give her up?

He wasn't so sure anymore. He left because he knew he didn't think he could take care of her. But he still wasn't. But if he chose not to be with her, why was he so shocked that she chose to be with someone else?

When he eventually made it back to his house, he headed straight for Will's room, but noticed Miriam in the kitchen.

"Hey, Ryo." She called.

"Hi." He replied as happily as he could. Ryo had turned to head up the stairs before he noticed something in her expression. "Everything alright?"

"Yeah, everything's fine." She answered. "Will's been bored to tears, though, I'm afraid."

Ryo nodded, not really listening, but trying to figure out what looked different about her. Her face was pale, and lacked the certain noticeable glow she usually had. She just looked drained. "You're sure you're okay."

"One hundred percent." She declared with a nod. "How was visiting the school?" she suddenly asked, curious.

Ryo winced visibly, which caused her to do the same. "Not great."

She nodded, and he realized that she knew he really didn't feel like talking about it.

After a few seconds of awkward silence, he told her he wanted to see Will, and headed upstairs.

Will was in his bed, leaning against the back of it. He was wearing a white t-shirt and some navy pajama bottoms, and he was occupying himself with building a house of cards on his lap. Not cards, though—

"Are those the Monopoly properties?" Ryo asked, confused.

"They work better anyways." Will declared. "And I realized after I actually played with the Etch-a-Sketch and the Hot Wheels that I'm too bored here to be picky. And I think mom thinks I'm six."

"It's sadistic, really." Ryo snickered. "She hasn't let you out of the room yet?"

"Barely." Will nodded, his movement knocking down the paper structure. "Crap."

Ryo suddenly didn't feel as compelled to be alone to mope.

"Do you feel like going for a walk later?" he asked him.

Will's expression lit up, but only for a second. "You think mom'll let me?"

Ryo nodded. "As long as you feel comfortable with it." He knew Will would be, he just wasn't expecting it. If it had been Ryo who'd been the one to be jumped, he wasn't sure how he'd feel about going back out so soon. "Alright. I'm gonna go take a quick nap, but we'll head out around six?"

"Okay." Will nodded. "That works."

"Okay." Ryo repeated with an affirming nod. "We'll go sometime after dinner. The city looks awesome at night when all the buildings light up. You'll love it." Ryo saw a weak smile on Will's face, which looked somewhat forced. Ryo didn't really mind, though, he actually appreciated that someone was putting effort in to spare his feelings. It was a whole lot more than what he'd been becoming accustomed to.

Dinner was steak and potatoes. Ryo never really liked potatoes, but he was hungry enough that he ate a lot, and he ate quickly. Although, part of that may have been due to the fact that nobody was talking. Ryo had run it by Miriam that he would be going out with Will that evening. She actually was in great favor of the idea, since it'd do him no good being cooped up all day, and she was glad that he was actually willing to go back out after what had happened.

Ryo took him around the downtown area of the city. All of the skyscrapers were lit up, and Will actually did seem to enjoy it, and Ryo was pretty sure he wasn't pretending.

"I'm thirsty." Will stated blatantly, indicating he wanted to go into the restaurant they were passing for a drink.

Ryo snickered before realizing that it was the coffee shop he worked at, and where he last saw Rika.

"Yeah, okay." Ryo answered, knowing he couldn't let something as trivial as that hold him back. Ryo looked at the waitress as he entered. It wasn't anyone he recognized, so he wouldn't have to talk to her. Bonus. He ordered a pair of cokes for him and Will, which she set next to the cash promptly.

Ryo's attention was suddenly taken by a series of curses from one person during the laughter of another. A glance to the side beheld a very frustrated Takato doing his homework, Cronus at his side.

"Hey, Takato." Ryo said. It was weird; he still thought he was crazy when he saw Takato. Especially since he wasn't around for Takato's return, it made him the only one still surprised to see him. He also wasn't used to seeing Takato next to that blonde guy. "Hey, Cronus. What's up?"

"Math." Takato said with some faux-excitement. Ryo snickered a little, recalling just how many hours he'd heard Takato bitch about math. From the look of the chicken-scratches in the book, it looked to be geometry. Cronus didn't appear to be doing anything other than keeping Takato company, as he had no work in front of him, except what tipped over from the pile in front of Takato. He sipped at his cup of coffee, indicating the pile of crumpled paper on the floor in front of Takato, snickering quietly.

Ryo smiled too. "Going well, then?"

"Wonderful." Takato muttered, before noticing Will behind Ryo, who was shifting from one foot to the other. "This must be Will?"

Will nearly jumped at the mention of his name. "Y-yes, hello…it's nice to meet you." He said nervously, causing Ryo to push him forward.

"Will, relax." Ryo said with a chuckle, sitting down at the table next to Takato and Cronus. Will didn't answer, but just smiled and sat down. But when Takato next swore at his homework, Will—to Ryo's surprise—walked over.

"Can I see?" he asked.

"Go for it." Takato said in defeat, resting his head on the table, his cheek flattening against the glass.

After a few seconds, Will raised an eyebrow. "Is it 3y squared – x?"

"That's what I said." Cronus suddenly chimed in.

"Nah, the book says it's 4y squared – x." Takato said quietly, his face still against the table.

"Th—the book's wrong." Will said with a nervous laugh. "It's 3y squared – x."

"I said that too." Cronus grinned.

"Okay." Takato grumbled, sitting up and closing his book. Ryo was worried that Will wouldn't realize Takato's little tantrum was a joke, but was relieved to see that he was enjoying it. "Smart kids go sit over there."

Cronus shrugged and walked off to where Takato indicated and sat down, still with nothing apparent to do. He indicated for Will to follow, who looked to Ryo for some kind of approval before he actually did.

Ryo stood up from his table and walked to Takato's, the crumpled paper under his feet almost causing him to slip.

"So how's life? Math-world aside, I mean." Ryo asked.

"Been worse." Takato shrugged. "You?"

"Been better." Ryo admitted.

Takato winced. "Something happen?"

Ryo thought on it a moment, trying to figure out where to begin. "Well, I feel like flew half-way around the world to be kicked in the stomach a few dozen times." Takato gave him a puzzled look. "I heard about that Adam guy today."

Takato didn't look altogether surprised, which wasn't shocking to Ryo, as he figured Takato already knew. "I'm sorry, man."

"It's okay." Ryo pretended. "It just took me by surprise is all. I mean—I'm glad she's—well, I want to be happy for her, it's just—"

"Yeah, I know." Takato murmured, letting him off the hook.

"Jeri told me that Rika's been really happy with him." Ryo added absentmindedly.

Takato frowned sympathetically. "She has, yeah."

"What do you think of him?" Ryo asked suddenly, which seemed to take Takato off-guard.

"Me? Well, I don't know, really…Rika hasn't been around much, and I don't get to see people other than Jeri much as it is. Have had my hands full lately."

As if on queue, their conversation was interrupted with Will bursting into a fit of laughter. Cronus smiled at his cup before he too joined in and laughed. Ryo smiled at the two of them.

"How's it going with your mom?" Takato asked suddenly.

"Well, actually." Ryo reported. "There seems to be some sort of 'Conservation-of-Tolerance in my family. I can only get along with one parent at a time."

"Your dad, then?" Takato asked.

"Haven't heard from him since I left. Tried calling back from the States, too. The current living situation isn't bad, though."

"Will seems nice." Takato said, obviously changing the subject, which Ryo didn't really mind.

"Yeah." Ryo agreed. "He's a good guy. Doesn't make friends too easily, I'm afraid, so it's good to see the two of them getting along at least."

Takato shrugged. "Well, we're all a bunch of freaks ourselves, so I'm sure we'll get along fine enough."

Ryo chuckled. "That's true."

"Oh, speaking of that," Takato began. "Cronus said it's cool for me to tell you."

Tell me?

Ryo almost didn't know what the hell Takato was talking about before he remembered that he'd asked about what Cronus's deal was.

"Right." Ryo recalled, remembering. He wondered how interesting it could really be, but would be glad to take the opportunity to get his mind of Rika for a few minutes.

"Well, as it turns out, Valn did some other experiments on the digital world before the monster. Turned a whole section of the digital world into something human, including any digital life that went there."

Ryo thought about what Takato had said. "So he's a digimon?"

Takato nodded. "Guilmon, actually."

Ryo's eyes widened, not really sure what to say. It explained Cronus being happy to see him the other day, but it was still a lot to take in, especially at that time.

"So he's human now…?" Ryo restated quietly, looking over at him. It put some things in perspective for him. If Ryo had passed him on the street, he would have thought that he was just another regular guy.

Takato nodded. "Through-and-through."

"How's he doing?"

"Pretty well, actually. He had the choice of staying human or not when we were leaving the real world, so it was his choice, you know? It's hard not to mess with him sometimes, though. We had spaghetti for dinner one so I put it on a plate and just gave him a spoon." Takato laughed. "He was getting so pissed off—'Mrs. Matsuda, my food is being difficult.'"

"That's—really terrible." Ryo tried to scold, stifling a laugh.

"Yeah, well, when you weren't around it left me with all this pent-up-prank that just sorta leaks out." Takato nodded philosophically.

It was weird, whenever anyone else had mentioned his not-being-there it left Ryo feeling guilty, whether or not it was their intention, but Takato had him laughing.

Really is good to be home at any rate.

"Who knows about him?" Ryo asked.

Takato thought for a moment. "Us, Henry, him, Mala, and Jeri."

Mala?

Ryo realized that it was Takato who had told that girl he met on the street a few days previously about him.

"He fought really well the other day." Ryo recalled.

"Yeah, he did." Takato nodded. "Wasn't sure if he could still do that."

"Still?" Ryo asked, curious.

"He was all super-strong back in the digital world." Takato explained. "Looks like he remembers how to fight, even if the strength's been cut down. The whole mind-reading thing led to some monumentally awkward conversations later." He finished.

"Oh." Ryo responded, still putting pieces together, trying to forget that last part. "How strong were we talking, here?"

"Well," Takato contemplated. "At the very least that I know of, he took out three monsters and Dr. Nonaka by himself."

What?

"What did you say?" Ryo asked quietly.

"Huh?" Takato looked confused, before his jaw dropped and his eyes widened. "Shit." He sighed.

"You know?" Ryo asked in disbelief. Ryo thought that only him and Valn knew that the monster was Rika's father.

"Wait, you know?" Takato asked. "How do you know?"

"Valn told me." Ryo answered. "You?"

"Yamaki told me." Takato responded. A moment passed. "Damn."

"You know she can't know, righ—" Ryo began worriedly.

"No, never, no." Takato said with a shiver.

Ryo's stomach twisted as he recalled those events. "It's pretty scary, to see what that virus did to him—what it almost did to me, too, I mean."

"Yeah." Takato said quietly. "That was pretty scary, too."

"Thanks for coming to rescue me back then, by the way." Ryo told him. "Was definitely needing to see a friendly face there."

"No problem, wasn't gonna let you get all tentacle-y and monstrous."

"Didn't give up on me, eh?"

"Nah." Takato replied, leaning back in the chair. "The bigger pain in the ass was not having any idea when you'd go all freakshow on us."

Ryo recalled that Takato had pretty much kept everyone away from him back when he was recovering.

"Wuss." Ryo grinned.

"I wasn't worried that much." Takato shifted, sounding thoughtful. "If you were to mutate that would mean you'd change, and we both know you're way too stubborn for that."

Ryo's mouth opened but couldn't come up with anything. Defeated, he shifted around in his seat. "I hate you."

"Uh huh."

Another fit of laughter rose from the other table, during which Will declaring to Cronus, "You're really weird."

Takato called to them. "If you two are telling math jokes I'm going to recommend we disown you both."

Ryo joined in. "I second that."

Will gathered himself before he spoke again. "No, no. Cronus's just telling me funny stories about stuff back in the digital world."

Takato and Ryo shot glances at each other.

"Okay, so he knows, too." Takato proclaimed.

--

Ryo slept well that night. Great, even. He felt refreshed in the morning, and wasn't nervous or worried or anything about going to school. It was going like any other, normal day would. He didn't even think about Rika.

That is, until after his third-period class. He had taken off from Physics early, and was heading to his locker when the one other person in the hall was the one he both did and didn't want to see.

"…Ryo." She said after a glance, returning her attention to removing her books from her locker.

"Yeah." He murmured, not sure what to say. "I'm back."

"I see that." She declared sarcastically.

Now or never.

"Can I talk to you?" Ryo asked.

"Free country." She muttered, obviously hurrying to force the books into her backpack.

"I needed to tell, you, I'm s—"

She suddenly spun around to face him, interrupting him, her expression suddenly turning to anger. "Don't you dare say you're sorry, Ryo Akiyama." She said coldly. "It's not enough." She turned back to her locker, busying herself with something in there.

"Well, I am." Ryo finished quietly. She turned to leave, and had taken two steps before Ryo spoke again, causing her to stop. "Leaving, I—I made a mistake."

"…scumbag." She muttered quietly.

"Huh?"

"I said, scumbag." Rika growled, articulating loudly. Her gaze still remained trained on the books in her hands.

"What are you—"

"You." She said coldly, swinging her backpack off of her shoulder and dropping it at her feet. She stepped towards him as she spoke. "You're pathetic. You could have any of the girls here, and you know it. It's just like you to pick the one who knows who you really are. You don't like being alone? You're upset? That's not my problem. Not after what happened."

"I know." Ryo admitted quietly.

"I'm seeing someone." Rika said suddenly. Even though Ryo already knew, he realized a part of him must have hoped it was just a rumor, because it hurt him deeply to hear. She stared him down, and he turned to leave, nothing else he could think of to say to her that wouldn't make her angrier. He heard someone hurry around the corner at the sound of her voice, but he didn't turn.

"Is everything alright?" a male voice spoke to Rika, behind Ryo's back.

Must be Adam.

Ryo's curiosity got the best of him, and he instinctively turned around to see who it was that had managed to win over Rika—

—and Ryo's blood boiled when he saw Adam's face.

"You…" he whispered through gritted teeth, so quietly that no sound came out.

Ryo charged at Adam, taking him by surprise, his green eyes widening in shock and his body visibly locking up before Ryo threw himself onto him, knocking him to the ground.

"Ryo!" Rika shouted. "What the hell are you doing!"

Ryo ignored her, his rage completely blinding him. He punched Adam's face hard before Adam managed to get a strike back at him, in the jaw. Ryo wasn't remotely fazed, though, and swung a single punch as hard as he could into the boy's side. He let out a cry of agony that only made Ryo more furious.

He was in the midst of a series of punches to the boy's face when strong hands pulled him off of Adam.

"Ryo! Calm down!" Henry ordered, holding him back.

"Get off of me!" Ryo hissed as he struggled to break free of Henry's grasp. Adam had gotten to his feet and taken only a step forward before he was grabbed from behind by Kazu, who restrained him, holding him in place. Kazu was putting a lot of effort into it, as he was smaller than Adam. Rika stared at Ryo furiously, and he guiltily didn't care, staring past her, and directly into Adam's green eyes.

"What the fuck's going on!" Kazu questioned desperately, his hold obviously loosening.

"What the hell's your problem!" Adam demanded as he broke free from Kazu and moved himself in front of Rika.

"You!" Ryo yelled loudly. "You're the son of a bitch who mugged my brother!"

Ryo felt Henry's grip on him tighten, while Rika's and Kazu's faces turned to shock. Nobody spoke until Ryo clamed himself enough to stop fighting against Henry, who then let go of him.

"You want to repeat that?" Henry demanded from him sternly.

"Two days ago! He was one of the guys who mugged my brother."

"You have a brother now?" Kazu asked curiously, evidently losing track of what was happening.

Ryo sighed desperately, looking around frantically to see that a few more people had passed into the hallway and were heading towards them out of interest. Among them, a short blonde-haired kid that Ryo was all-too-happy to see.

"What's going on here?" Cronus asked.

"Ask him!" Ryo declared to Henry and Kazu. "He was there!"

"Ask me what?" Cronus asked slowly, sounding nervous.

"Him, that guy, Adam—" Ryo stammered, pointing to him frantically. "He was one of those guys that jumped Will! Tell them!" Ryo was pleading, but things started to make sense for him when Cronus didn't reply immediately. Adam hadn't been running away from Ryo in that fight, he'd been running from Takato and Cronus. So they wouldn't recognize him.

"I'm sorry Ryo, I wasn't—I mean, I didn't see—" Cronus stammered awkwardly.

Ryo's gaze shot around, from Rika, to Henry, to Kazu, to Adam, to Cronus, to the many others who had joined the gathering, many of whom he recognized, but didn't know the names of.

Ryo knew that he was right. He'd been in a few fights in his life, and he remembered them quite vividly. He'd burned Adam's face into his mind when they'd been fighting—it was why Ryo'd kicked him in the side just then—it was right where he'd hit him before. Adam wouldn't have reacted as much as he did in the hallway if it wasn't already sensitive from their fight two days before.

He stared at Adam again, his hatred burning his blood. It wasn't until Rika spoke that Ryo broke his glare.

"Everyone get out of here." Rika ordered adamantly. "I want to talk to Ryo alone."

"He's crazy." Adam murmured to her but not looking at her, his eyes still trained on Ryo.

"I'll be fine." Rika affirmed. "I'll meet you in the car in a few minutes?"

"Okay." Adam answered quietly, before backing up a few steps and turning around. As he left, he shot a few looks back to her.

Henry and Kazu too began to leave, but not before Henry could whisper to Ryo, "Don't you dare try anything stupid."

Ryo would have smacked Henry good for implying that he'd touch Rika if it wouldn't have been a huge detriment to his cause—that and that he knew that Henry could kick his ass hard.

The randoms, too began to leave, murmuring things to each other about Ryo Akiyama losing his mind. Cronus mouthed the words 'I'm sorry' to him before he too, left Rika and Ryo alone.

"Let me make this abundantly clear for you, Ryo Akiyama." Rika said with surprisingly little emotion in her voice at all. "You and me? We're not dating. We're not friends. You gave all of that up. So don't you dare come here to invade my life and attack someone I care about just because you're jealous that nobody cares about you."

As must as each of her words stung him painfully, he had the strength in him to speak back to her.

"This wasn't about you." He repeated to her. "He attacked someone. A helpless kid. He could have killed him—Hell, he probably would have killed him, and he could have killed me." Ryo believed it. Will was small, and he wasn't fighting back, and they were still hitting him. Ryo involuntarily replayed the scene in his head again stifling the shiver that came to him after it.

"Adam wouldn't do that." Rika declared defensively, though still not raising her voice.

Ryo's heart sank as he could see just how strong her loyalty towards him was. He dropped his gaze to the floor as his helplessness took over him. He knew that he didn't deserve her trust, but he wanted it anyways. He needed it.

"Rika, you've got to believe me." He spoke with the deepest of sincerity, trying to reach any small amount of trust Rika might have still had for him.

His own blue eyes met with hers then, an ocean of lavender staring back at him. In that while, as he pleaded for her trust, he felt everything he'd ever felt for her as he relived his life of knowing her—the rivalry, the attraction, the teasing, the need to protect her, his desire to be honest with her, the trust, the teamwork, and the love.

He could tell that she was no longer looking at him with resentment, contempt, hatred—none of it. And Ryo knew that he was staring back at the real Rika. Her lips parted slowly as she stared at him, her breath barely escaping as she prepared to speak.

"I can't." she said quietly—Ryo's insides twisted at the words, uncertain if she'd intentionally picked the same ones he'd said to her months earlier. "Not anymore."

And, just as he did to her fourteen weeks before, Rika turned and walked away from him, in the moment that he needed her most.

--

Sorry the update took so long to get, things should be moving on a little quicker from here on out.

Review, please!

-N