One Girl Revolution
By Fantasya
Summary: Rika and her band get their big break and become one of the most successful punk bands of their time. But when they return to Japan years later for a charity event, the other Tamers realize that a lot of things about the Ice Queen have changed.
Chapter Four: But That Doesn't Mean I'm Plain
O
It was hard to stay mad at someone like Finn. Even Rika, who still found occasion to curse Santa for not bringing her the walkie-talkies she had wanted when she was three, couldn't stay mad at her. Finn was the girl that Rika still considered her best friend even after she had convinced Rika to jump off the roof of her house when she was ten, consequently breaking her arm, and just blinked innocently as she walked away from her own daredevil stunt unscathed.
So what was two years of little to no contact between such good friends?
"Please, please, please let me go with you?" Finn tried for the seventy-ninth time in the last ten minutes.
"No." Rika replied as she stashed the hotel key in her back pocket and grabbed a jacket. Had Finn been wearing a jacket? She considered asking, but changed her mind when she remembered that Finn seemed to always have everything.
"Rika, please! This is my first free day in months and you're going to make me spend it in the lavish hotel suite that could house the crazy eighty-eight and all of their extended family by myself?"
Rika pretended to look thoughtful even though she had made her mind up after the last time she had brought Finn to any type of social event. The result hadn't been pretty. "Yes."
"If you're going to this picnic then what about me?" Finn cried desperately. "What am I supposed to do?"
Rika pointed at the phone and said, "room service," at the TV, "cable," finally the couch, "fold out and comfy as all hell."
"Knew that." Finn mumbled as she burrowed further into the brown suede and crossed her arms over her chest, pouting. "Well, there are some movies I've been wanting to see."
"That's the spirit." Rika took this as permission to leave without some sort of payoff.
"But this is all on your tab. This is payback for never calling."
Rika, fingers brushing the cool metal of the doorknob, froze. "Phone works both ways, Finn," she opened the door, "phone works both ways."
And she left.
Jeri didn't recognize her when she first showed up. She had just stood there, smiling pleasantly, as Rika tried to make small talk. The other present Tamers, Takato, Henry, Kazu, Kenta, and Susie, were down by the basketball court apparently taking a break from a quick game before the firework display. Rika spotted a diamond, small compared to others she was used to, gleaming on the fourth finger of Jeri's left hand.
"Aww, a promise ring. Does that mean that you finally settled for that Gogglebrain? I was hoping I'd taught you better than that."
Jeri's eyes flew to her own ring before she looked back at Rika insulted. "This is not a promise ring and don't talk about Takato like…that…" she trailed off, as if suddenly her brain had registered what was happening. The red hair, the lavender eyes…the unpleasant but at the same time endearing nickname for Takato…it just screamed, "Rika?" She asked, incredulous.
"Who were you expecting? The Easter Bunny?" Rika rolled her eyes. "What have I been referring to myself as for the last ten minutes?"
"Oh my god, you are Rika!" Jeri suddenly squealed, throwing her arms around Rika's neck and almost knocking her to the ground.
"Yeah, Jeri, I'm me." Rika replied, ignoring the odd looks they were receiving from the other Tamers as she awkwardly petted Jeri on the back. "Hi."
"Takato!" Jeri yelled, drawing the full attention of the other Tamers, who had been pretending to play for the last few minuets. "Boys! Come up here!"
They looked reluctant, and Susie appeared to be particularly offended, but they were all smart enough not to enrage Jeri.
"Do I look that different?"
"No, it's just that you're supposed to be in the States and there are just so many look-alikes running around and I thought you looked familiar and – "
"Jeri?" Takato asked timidly as he and the other guys approached. "Is everything okay?"
"Everything's great. Rika made it!" Jeri exclaimed as she finally pulled away.
Takato blinked. "Oh, really? Where is she?"
"For the love of – do I look the Invisible Woman?" Rika said, glaring at the four. Kazu and Kenta, who had been shamelessly checking her out, recoiled in fear and tried to burn the few fantasies they had begun to conjure up out of their minds. Takato did a spit take worthy of an Oscar, and Henry…well, the look on his face made Rika wish that she still obsessively carried around her camera.
Susie threw her arms around Rika's neck, temporarily flying off her feet before she pulled Rika down to her level. "Oh my god, Rika! It's so cool to have you back!"
"Hey, Suse." Rika said, patting the girl lightly on the back as she tried to breathe. After a moment Susie let her go allowing Rika to see how much the younger girl had changed, which wasn't actually all that much. She still looked like she had just walked out of a Barbie catalogue, but she was now taller and definitely more woman shaped. She would have paid dearly to see the look on Henry's face when he had noticed the same thing.
Henry was next, giving her a tight hug that Rika returned gratefully. "It's good to see you again."
Followed by Takato who was a bit more hesitant. And finally Kazu and Kenta who prayed before and after their hugs.
Henry had more or less stayed the same, although he had ditched that ridiculous orange vest. Takato hadn't changed at all. She could have sworn that if she checked, he would probably still be wearing those same Thursday boxers. Kazu, as well, was stuck in the past but Kenta had gone through the most significant transformation. The glasses were gone and a baby bear-belly was forming.
"So, am I too late for the "Whooping Takato's Teams Collective Asses In Basketball" part, or have I come just in time to watch you all stuff your faces with foods I'm not allowed to eat?"
"As of right now," Henry informed her, "Takato's team hasn't sustained any "ass-whooping" since two of my team have disappeared somewhere."
"They're having sex in a Johnny on the Spot." Susie said quickly, but began to glance around innocently when every turned to look at her. "Who said that? Because it certainly wasn't me. I was stuck on the part where Henry said "ass"."
Henry rolled his eyes. "And Jeri's doing that "it's not about winning" thing because she's afraid of damaging Takato's fragile ego by destroying him on the court."
"That is not why!" Jeri protested weakly. "It is not about winning and I think that you all are taking this game way too seriously."
"See, and now we know you're lying, Jer," Rika winked and grinned at the blushing girl, "'cause we all know that it is all about winning. Duh."
"And rubbing it in the loser's face." Susie added.
"Of course."
Unexpectantly, Jeri through her arms around Rika's neck again and pulled her into a second hug.
"I really missed you Rika." She said loudly, looking at something over Rika's shoulder.
"Err…Jeri?"
"And on that note…" She continued more quietly, "I feel it only fair to warn you about Ryo and – Hannah!"
"Oh, sorry we took so long."
"Those Johnny on the Spot's are so disgusting."
"Oh? There wasn't a trail of rose petals leading up to your throne, princess?" Susie asked cattily. "No golden seat cover?"
"Susie." Henry said in that tone that made the other Tamers forget that he hadn't been possessed by one of their parents.
"I missed your sense of humor." Rika cut in loudly, as she slung an arm over Susie's shoulders and pulled her out of her daze. "You do know that you got that from me, right?"
Susie knew that Rika was trying to give her a way out that didn't result in either a meeting between her fist and Hannah's face, or a long, stern talking-to from Henry. As much as the thought of finally slapping Hannah was tempting…she played along anyway. "That's me, Susie Sunshine: Future Queen of Comedy."
Henry cast her a sidelong, grateful look.
Ryo grinned at the seething Hannah in an attempt to placate her. "Well, what are we all just standing around for? We've got a game to finish!"
"But how are we going to finish with Rika here?" Jeri cut in as the seven began their descent back to the field, Rika and Susie bringing up the rear. "We can't just leave her out."
"Well, how about you sit this one out, Hannah? You said you didn't want to play anyway."
"Okay, on a scale of 1 to 10, how fair is that?" Susie cut in. "That's how we picked teams, right? Takato was equal to a Henry, Kazu was equal to a Kazu, a Hannah for a Kenta, and I, by some twist of fate, got to be a Ryo."
"Hey!" Kazu and Kenta called at more or less the same moment.
"Point is, Rika could wipe the floor against your team by herself. She has wiped the floor with the four of you anyway."
"I'm a little out of practice." Rika admitted rotating her shoulder. "And I couldn't afford to strain myself – you guys just carry on without me."
"Well, if Rika isn't going to participate, I think I'll sit out as well." Jeri decided.
"I am all for the spectator aspect of this sport." Susie chimed in before turning to Ryo with a sly grin. "Do you need me to hold your shirt? Wouldn't want it to get all sweaty, would we?"
Ryo grinned back. "How very considerate of you Miss Wong."
"I'm glad that you're so concerned with Ryo's shirt and it's well-being, but I think it'll be okay if he keeps it on." Henry said, calmly although Rika was able to detect a bit of that "Over-Protective Big Brother" thing in the undertone.
"Yeah, see, nobody wants to see Ryo without his shirt on." Kazu announced finally…and ohh was that jealousy Rika could hear?
"Nobody wants to see Ryo without his shirt on except Susie." Takato corrected.
"And Hannah."
"Although, I'm pretty sure that she wants to do a lot more than just look." Rika teased causing the blonde girl to blush as she stammered to say something that Rika was sure would never get said.
"What, Rika, and you don't?"
Rika waved a hand dismissively. "I saw his spread in Playgirl. Wasn't impressed."
"I wasn't in Playgirl!" Ryo shouted, scandalized, at the same time Hannah said, equally outraged, "He wasn't in Playgirl!"
"He really wasn't." Susie said absently before quickly adding, "Not that I would know."
"See, they were candid shots." Rika explained. "Oh, and if you were a member of the Platinum Playgirl Club, you got a free video of him singing Sk8r Boi in his undies into a hairbrush."
"And why exactly do you know all this?" Ryo dared to ask, mortified.
Rika had imagined what the expression on his face would look like if he ever found about Playgirls black-market photos, and she had to admit, nothing she could come up with had been anywhere near as hilarious. "Please, you think I'm subscribed to all that stuff? Nah, man, it's Strata and Hasbro. They're big fans of your work."
"Great. Not only am I being stalked by ninja photographers who are publishing nude pictures of me without my consent, which I'm pretty sure is just all kinds of not legal, you all think this is hilarious."
"It's not funny." Hannah stated firmly, taking in the clearly amused looks on the Tamers faces. Kazu and Kenta were shaking with silent laughter, Takato and Henry were biting their lips, Jeri hid her laughter behind a delicate cough, and Susie was still too sour about missing out on the nude Ryo action to laugh.
"It is so funny."
"What's funny?" A tenor voice Rika could vaguely recognize called.
"Nothing, nothing." The group muttered, quickly regaining their composure as a Calvin Klein underwear model Rika had worked with briefly strolled up to the group followed by Alice.
"We come bearing news of food." Alice announced as she settled onto the ground beside Rika. They acknowledged each other with the briefest of nods before Rika caught the model giving Jeri a peck on the lips from the corner of her eye. Interesting…
"And what news brings you, messenger?" Kenta countered somewhat dorkishly.
"That we're not going to get any if we plan on bringing it out here."
Despite the total cornball moment, Rika had to admit that so far, this reunion thing wasn't going so bad. In fact, it didn't really even feel like a reunion. At a reunion, you all sat around trying to impress each other by regaling your friends and/or enemies with completely made up tales of adventures you could only hope they would believe. No one had asked her "what's it like being a rock star?" and it didn't look like anyone was going to make a very big deal about it. In Rika's opinion, it was more like when they would all get together in the park after school and just hang. Despite the surprise appearance of Todd, the underwear model she now remembered having done an ad with in New York, and the unwanted appearance of Hannah.
"Oh, hey, Rika. I didn't see you there at first. How've you been?" Todd asked in that somewhat dopey, forever cheerful tone he always used.
"I'm good, though I'm a bit surprised to see you here." She replied politely. She'd never had a problem with Todd. "What brings you to Japan?"
"After our bill in the States, I had enough money to take a break so here I am. What about you?"
"Well, after my second album went double platinum, I had enough money to never work a day in my life ever again, and a third of the way through our new album I told Matt he could go screw himself because I wanted to go take a break so I got on my private jet and here I am. Although, I have to admit that I do like your story better."
"Wait, you two know each other?" Kenta asked.
"Wait, you have a private jet?" Kazu asked.
"Oh, yeah to both questions. Me and Mr. Third Story Bulge go way back." Rika smirked at the healthy flush generated from the implications of Todd's nickname.
"Well, hey, three on three." Jeri said, being the only one to remember their original topic and trying desperately to get rid of the visuals she had gotten. Not that anything involving Todd and…err…well, his boy by way of mental images was wrong, she just preferred not to think of Rika and Todd's boy. "Todd, Henry, and Kenta against Takato, Ryo, and Kazu."
"That's brilliant, Jeri! You guys run around without shirts on and we ladies just sit back, relax, and enjoy." Susie gushed.
"That was how we were playing until you three decided that you wanted equal-freaking-opportunities." Kazu said as he gestured towards Jeri, Susie, and Hannah.
"Well, that's true, but now that we realize what we were missing, we've got no problem with that Me Tarzan, You Jane stuff."
With this now decided, the six boys went back to the court. Ryo crossed his arms in front of his chest, and grasping the end of his shirt, he lifted it up and over his head.
Rika couldn't help but wonder if it was just her imagination, or was there a sort of collective moan coming from the three girls beside her. Fully removing his shirt, he tossed it to a not unhappy Susie Wong with a wink. As if finally realizing what they were doing, the girls quickly looked away causing Rika to break out into laughter.
"What?" Alice managed to ask through a heavy blush.
"I will give one of you fifty bucks if you go over there and jump his bones right now." Rika stated between chuckles, off their shocked looks, she scoffed. "Oh, don't give me that look – you are all thinking it."
"Okay, thinking it or having highly erotic fantasies about it and actually doing it are two very different things." Susie reasoned.
"And it's actually kind of disturbing that I agree with her." Alice conceded, frowning slightly.
"Okay, hi! I'm Ryo's girlfriend." Hannah jumped in. "I'm the only one allowed to think about jumping his bones or to have highly erotic fantasies about him, okay?"
"Oh, sweetheart, there's a whole wide world out there that are breaking that rule right now." Alice absently told her, cocking her head in a way that told Rika she had just joined them. "Who are we to stand against the world?"
"Well, could you guys at least not talk about it with me here?"
"If we can't talk about it with you, who can we?"
"But still…"
"Oh come on." Rika said, throwing an arm around the blondes shoulder. "Lighten up! I mean, Jeri wouldn't mind if I told her that if given half the chance I'd do Todd – "
"WHAT!"
"Well, it's true." Rika shrugged.
"No, no, no, no, no, Rika, you are not checking Todd out." Jeri said, burying her head in her hands.
"Yeah, he's probably gay but he's still hot. I'd do him."
"No, no! Rika! You're not allowed to think these things about boys! Boys are the Enemy. You're supposed to be mocking us boyfriend-wanting girls behind our backs." Alice pointed out. "Not plotting against us to steal them when we're not looking."
"Okay, first of all, as far as I can tell, you and Susie don't have boyfriends to worry about me stealing. Chill." Rika started, counting off on her fingers. "Second, I am mocking you all behind your backs as well as to your faces. And third, I am not plotting to steal your boyfriends – I'm plotting to have sex with just Jeri's boyfriend. I don't want Ryo, three's a crowd."
Silence.
"Oh. My. God!" Jeri exclaimed, grinning so hard it looked like her face should have hurt. "Rika, that was almost girl-y of you. I mean, that was the most girlish thing I have ever heard you say."
"Yeah, it was almost, like for two seconds, I thought you were a real girl – a really bitchy, really slutty girl." Alice commented. "But a girl all the same."
"Yeah, well, I've been working on that whole girl/sex kitten angle thing while we were touring America." Rika shrugged again. "Apparently, it's good for my image."
"I'm sorry, I'm still kind of stuck on the part where Rika says she wants to have sex with your boyfriend and you guys are all okay with it." Hannah said, stunned. "That doesn't bother any of you at all?"
"Nope."
"Not really."
"See," Alice started explaining on Hannah's behalf, "if Rika says that she'd sleep with Todd it doesn't mean that she is or that she ever will for that matter. He and Jeri are together, and she'd never go behind Jeri's back and have sex with Todd, even if they had broken up."
"Unless it was an amicable split and they had my permission to give things a go." Jeri added seriously. "It's all in the girl code."
"Okay, we shouldn't be talking about this." Susie cut in, a heavy frown on her face that had only grown since Hannah had joined in their little "bonding" experience. "We should be watching the boys out there working up a sweat."
"Yeah, but I think I'd like to learn more about this Girl Code – "
"Okay, Watching Hot Guys or Teaching Hannah the Girl Code…is this really up for debate?"
Jeri and Alice looked somewhat uncomfortable with how cross Susie had sounded, but they both remained silent.
"Hey, Suse? You think you could show me where those Johnny on the Spots are?" Rika asked.
"What for? You gotta pee? Does wittle wika need to use the wittle giwls woom?"
Rika smirked as she stood from her spot on the grass, waiting only a moment for Susie to follow suit. "Oh, you poor dear. Did that lisp come back already?"
Susie narrowed her eyes. "You just had to bring that up didn't you?" she asked as the two left the group, heading towards the restrooms.
"If you would stop trying to be a smart ass and just make nice with her, I wouldn't be stuck trying to play referee."
"What ever do you mean?"
"I'm talking about Hannah. I swear, in another 30 seconds I was sure she was just going to reach over and try to gauge your eyes out." Rika said as she removed a crumpled pack of cigarettes from her jacket pocket. She was not a chain smoker, but still partook in the ritual "lighting a cigarette during stressful situations" thing one of the drummers, which was surprisingly enough not Finn, had started her on. Rika offered one to Susie, who's eyes widened in shock before politely declining.
"I didn't know you smoked." Susie said as Rika dug through the pockets of Finn's denim jacket for a bic.
"Only when I feel like I'm turning into my mother." She casually lit the cigarette and took a long drag before she continued. "What exactly is your deal with Hannah anyway? She's not exactly head of the class and she's a bit Fear when it comes to Ryo, but a little Mark Wahlberg never hurt anybody."
"Except for Gary. And anyone else that came between him and Reese Witherspoon." Susie said thoughtfully.
"Bad movies aside, this doesn't have anything to do with that humongo-gigantasized crush you have on Ryo, does it?"
Susie blushed. "No because for 1.) I do not have a "humongo-gigantasized" crush on Ryo and for 2.) I don't like her for other reasons."
"Which are?"
"Well, for starters you've never seen her eat. She always does this little pinky-waggling thing like she's all superior and it just bugs me, okay? And another thing, it's like, the more we get to know her, the more we realize that her "hidden depths" are about a centimeter and a half deep. Oh and then, it's like, when we're all just hanging out – minus Ryo – she's basically getting into arguments with Kazu about who kisses his ass better."
Rika quickly cut her off before Susie could really build momentum. "And those reasons have nothing to do with the big fat crush you have on Ryo?"
"There is no crush, Rika."
"What color are his eyes?" She asked quickly.
"Cerulean."
"What's his best feature?"
"Definitely the eyes. They aren't even a real color – cerulean is the closest I could get – and trust me, I looked. Henry thought I was crazy when I dumped a box of 768 Count 'Em Crayons on the floor and through everything but the blues away. It's just that his eyes can see right through…me." Susie came out of her dreamy rant and looked towards the ground guiltily, her blush spreading down the collar of her shirt. "I am such an idiot…okay…so maybe there's a teensy-tiny bit of a crush. So what?"
"Susie, Susie, Susie." Rika tsked as she threw an arm over the younger girls shoulder. "Why couldn't you have a crush on Kazu, huh?"
Susie pulled away quickly. "What? Are you trying to say – that I haven't got a chance?"
"No, what I'm trying to point out is that you had to have a crush on the one Tamer that's already taken. Besides Jeri and I am just going to assume that you don't have a crush on her."
"Well, none of the others are worth having a crush on!" Susie protested somewhat petulantly. "And Jeri's just got way too many girly parts for me."
"Well, then find a guy that isn't a Tamer." Rika said matter-of-factly, and the unspoken "duh" tacked on to the end was so loud that Susie winced.
Rika took another long drag from her cigarette, which was only good for about one more before it was done, and she began to pat herself down again. Before Susie could make a crack about how she had thought that chain smokers waited to finish their first before lighting up a second, Rika pulled out a blinking and vibrating cell phone from the inner pocket of the denim jacket. She pressed a few buttons as her eyes flitted across the screen and took the final drag. After she crushed the cigarette on the side of a Johnny on the Spot, something Susie didn't think was too smart but didn't comment on, Rika smirked.
"And I think I just found the perfect opportunity."
Rika didn't explain further as she spun on her heel and headed back towards where the other Tamers were.
"Wait, that's it? We walked all the way down here so you could check your phone messages in private?"
"Well, I was really just trying to ensure that you and Hannah wouldn't get into a bitch-fest and ruin the night for everybody."
"Don't worry. I'll play nice." Susie conceded, raising her hands in a surrendering gesture. "As long as I don't have to sit through any of their lovey dubby crap, I'll be as tame as a baby kitten."
"For some reason, I'm beginning to suspect that breathing on Hannah's part is going to be considered a lovey-dubby thing, isn't it?"
"Oh, Rika, I'll be generous. As long as they aren't sharing breath, she can breathe all she wants."
Rika perched a second cigarette between her lips, before deciding against it and stuffing it back in the pack. The pack, and the bic, disappeared into one of the jacket pockets.
"So, besides the fact that Hannah is a pinky-waggling Kazu with girl parts that will never drown, why do you really want to donate her body to science?" Rika asked, curiously. She for one was happy that Ryo finally had someone.
"To further medical research?" Susie tried, pulling that "I'm-two-years-old-and-I-can't-find-my-parents-will-you-help-me?" innocent look, which Rika saw right through.
"Somehow I don't think you're that selfless."
"Well, then you don't know me half as well as you thought you did." Susie informed her, a certain, however small, level of disdain and bitterness present in her voice.
Rika stopped and watch as Susie continued walking. In a way, Susie was right. It had been two years. She didn't know any of the Tamers that well anymore.
When they arrived back at their place by the basketball court, Takato's team was celebrating their victory and their official cheerleader, Hannah, was with them. Jeri was split between trying to say congratulations to Takato and be sympathetic with Todd.
Not to self, Rika thought, avoid love triangles.
But even with this thought, Rika felt somewhat detached from the scene. Almost, as if she didn't belong there.
"I know that fireworks are great and all, but…" Rika started, waiting until she had everyone's attention but careful not to catch anyone's eye. Partly afraid that she would see her thoughts reflected in their eyes. Partly hoping that instead, someone would try to catch hers. "Anybody in the mood to party with a rock star?"
Rika looked everywhere but at the others. They looked everywhere except for at Rika.
Somehow, she was not reassured.
Author's Note: Now you'll notice, not a lot of Ryo in this chapter. Consequently, there is not a lot of Ryuki. But alas! I'm trying to stretch this out to cover all…18 (?) lines of the song (well, there's eighteen if you don't recount the chorus which I will probably stupidly do anyway). More or less, this is (what I have been led to believe) called a "filler". Also, I'd like to extend my apologies for the super slow update. I was waiting on a download for my computer, which should have taken a week, and I guess I timed it out wrong. And then, I would have posted but wasn't letting me use the Document Manager. It kept saying something, like, "there is too much traffic at this time and to please try again later". Anyway, now that that's done, One Girl Revolution should be back on its regular rotation. Just in case there are actually people still reading this that is. Which, after almost a month and half, I assume is no one.
Ah well, if someone does manage to stumble upon this, I hope they review!
PS: This is added at the very end because I have just finished my fifth read through of this chapter and although I am not wholly satisfied with it, it is the best I can do. If anyone finds any of this confusing, leave it in the review and I will try to clear up what I can.
Thank you.
It is 2:09 AM of Saturday August 12, 2006.
I really need a life.