Digimon Tamers: Rika's AU

Chapter 7: From Cold to Warm

Rika was left in a state of confusion five days ago. She was told by the mysterious boy known as Thomas that her parent's divorce had more of a back-story than anyone thought. Her father disappeared the same day as the divorce and he hasn't been seen since; is it possible he remarried? If so, its possible that Rika may have a half-sibling. But she knew one thing, her mother will know, and today was perfect anyway.

It was a new month, so it was time again for Rika to put on a dress and do a few poses for the next magazine. She was wearing what seemed to be a dark blue dress suitable for the ball, she was a little confused really; she normally wore dresses suitable for going out in different types of weather outside, unless it was one of those outdoor dances.

Suddenly it came to her. The school dance, it was only two weeks away; the principle must've told her mother about it, so no doubt Takato might arrive too to make it a dance photo; she just hopes this doesn't give people the wrong idea like last time. It wasn't long later when Rika's mother walked in with a cheerful smile; she noticed Rika holding Viximon once more. "Well Rika, are you ready?" asked Rumiko

"This wouldn't have anything to do with the school dance would it?" asked Rika.

"Why yes? The principle asked me to make an advertisement poster for the school, so you just need to do one photo with Takato." said Rumiko.

"You do know that this will give people the wrong idea… me and Takato are just friends." said Rika in an annoyed tone.

"And you'll be dancing like friends… which is why I made that dress specially for you." said Rumiko looking pleased with herself.

"Oh right" Rika looked at her dress from the sides, but then it occurred to her "Wait hang on!? What did you mean we'll be dancing like friends!? Will we have to dance in front of the camera!?"

"Oh no… the principle said that your punishment was for you to go to the school dance." said Rumiko.

"WHAT!?" asked Rika in shock "But I thought I just had detention!?"

"That was one of your punishments. Now your facing your second punishment, the principle said that the school dance might help you with your anger management problems." said Rumiko looking a little upset now.

"This can't be happening!" muttered Rika holding her head with one hand.

"Well I'm sorry, it is, and you've got no say in it." said Rumiko. Rika sighed in an irritated tone as the two walked off to the photo-shoot room. She couldn't believe what was happening to her, she was forced to go to the dance for beating up Jessica and Kazu six days ago. Not only was she really annoyed, but she hoped that Takato actually comes too, that way she doesn't have to face the music alone.

Rika was standing in front of the white sheet again; this time they weren't going to take the photograph until Takato arrives; although she was completely irritated that she was forced to go to the dance, that wasn't too important to her, what was important to her was her father. "Hey mom?"

"Yes sweetheart?" said Rumiko.

"It's about dad actually." said Rika, Rumiko actually became surprised by this "Do you know where he is now?"

"W-Why would you even think that now all of a sudden?" asked Rumiko.

"I… was told that your divorce had more to it." said Rika.

"Now even you should know not to listen to other's stories that aren't true." said Rumiko.

"I know, but this seems true, after all I've never seen dad since and he did mean a lot to me." said Rika.

"W-Well I certainly haven't seen him." Rumiko looked as if she was getting annoyed with Rika's questions, but she didn't intend to stop until she knew the truth.

"Are you sure?" asked Rika, she noticed Rumiko looked even more irritated, but she wanted the info regardless "It just seems unbelievable that no one has seen him since the divorce, I thought he'd come and visit me as well and-"

"Rika Nonaka! STOP IT!" she shouted, her mother's tone shocked Rika, not only was it unexpected, but it wasn't like her mother at all to just snap like that. "I've had enough of talking about that pig Jiro! I divorced him because he started our relationship on a lie!"

"W-What-"

"He smokes! He drinks! And he certainly didn't like you!" shouted Rumiko looking furious "The only reason he ever took you out for fun was because I hid his cigarettes and told him to spend time with you or he won't get them back! So personally, I don't even give a damn where he is! In fact I hope he's living a miserable life! Or even dead! Now I do not want you to talk about him ever again! GOT IT!? And one more word about him and I'll never let you see Takato ever again!"

Rika felt like a knife had stabbed her deep; she just tipped her head down upset. In fact she almost felt like crying, she just couldn't believe that her father was really a horrible man; especially since her only memories of him were playing in the park with him, he had a very cheerful smile and he always made Rika smile and laugh… and even sing. But what made it worse was Rumiko's harsh tone and even threatening her to never see Takato again, her only friend.

Not long later Takato himself entered the room wearing a smart red tuxedo, he too looked a little disappointed, no doubt its because he has to take Rika to the dance and he already made plans to stay home. "Ok I'm here."

"Good… now lets just get this photo over with!" said Rumiko, still sounding angry, but trying to alm down.

"Huh?" Takato noticed Rika's upset look, they both then looked at the cameraman who also heard their little conversation, so he no longer had his giant grin.

"Uh… ok you two… can you get into like a dancing pose." asked the Cameraman.

Rika and Takato slowly get into a cute dancing pose (you decided what it looks like). And just as the cameraman took the photo, Rumiko handed Rika Viximon. "There! You can go now!" Rika just slowly walks off leaving a confused and concerned Takato.

Later Rika and Takato were walking home in their casual clothing. Rika was silent, very silent, in fact this was silent even for her, she looks to her left and noticed Takato looking concerned. But he wasn't saying anything; it was as if he was afraid to say anything, he then just looked away, Rika felt she should say something, she hated it when Takato was upset, but at the same time, she was afraid to talk, in case she just breaks down into tears, her mothers words had really stung her.

Suddenly she felt something across her right shoulder, she looked to her right and noticed a hand, she looked to her left and noticed that Takato had his hand over her shoulder for comfort. His upset look soon turned into a smile, but she knew it was forced just to make her feel better.

"W-What are you doing?" asked Rika almost losing all her sad thoughts since she was distracted by something she considered dumb.

"I-I know something's troubling you. I just hate to see you upset." said Takato sounding nervous.

"Its… its nothing… honest." said Rika, really not wanting to talk about it.

"… Well… once your ready to tell me… I'm all ears." said Takato.

Rika couldn't help but let out a faint smile, Takato was always someone she could trust, and he's always been good at listening to her problems and trying his best to understand. "… umm… could you please take your hand of me?"

"Oh! Sorry." Takato quickly moves his hand off Rika's shoulder, it was somewhat comforting but it was embarrassing as well, also if anyone saw that, people would think they're a couple. She looked down seeing Viximon looking up at her concerned, but soon Rika faces forward again.

Later Rika was sitting on her bench in her back garden waiting for Takato to return from sending another Digimon back to the Digital World, Viximon was also asleep on Rika's bed, she still couldn't believe what her mother said, about her father being a horrible man. She can still remember the times when her and her father played in the park; then again, that's all she remembers about him, she can't remember his face at all. And if that wasn't enough, hearing her mother yell at her for something she didn't know felt very painful. "Was dad playing with me… really just so he can smoke?"

Rika tried to remember anything else that might contradict what her mother said, but all she can remember was her time in the park with her father, nothing else. It was as if her subconscious was trying to erase him from her mind.

Rika felt even more upset now; not only could she remember anything about her father or what he looks like, but her mother told her that she was a horrible man. Now she couldn't even get those thoughts out of her mind.

Later Takato arrived and sat next to her, he looked cheerful until he noticed that Rika was still upset, then in turn he was upset. "Uhh… is this a bad time?"

"N-No… I guess I'm just a little tired is all… how's Guilmon?" asked Rika, trying to sound like herself but was having trouble.

"H-He's… he's ok, that fight was a little too easy." said Takato, seeing her looking upset made it difficult for Takato to sound his cheery self.

"I see… how's Kazu with his new Digimon card?" asked Rika.

"He's like he just won the lottery." said Takato with a faint chuckle "That HiAndromon card you gave him has became his main card."

"Good… I'm glad he likes it." said Rika with a small smile trying to cheer herself up. Rika grew silent once more, there was an awkward silence for about two minutes until Takato broke it.

"So… that was a nice blue dress you were wearing earlier today." said Takato.

The word 'dress' reminded Rika of her mother, and that began to stir some anger in her "T-Thanks… I guess… mom made it for the school dance."

"I… I know… yesterday the principle told me to take you to the dance, since there's no one else who doesn't have a date." said Takato.

"So… you'll be wearing that red tuxedo?" asked Rika, she wanted to avoid anything relating to her mother but at the same time, she didn't want to hint Takato of what happened.

"Yeah… your mom did put a lot of effort into making it." said Takato "Guess he wanted like a red and blue colouration between us or something."

"Hmph…I think I'll wear a different dress." said Rika, her idea was that she didn't want anything to do with her mother.

"Huh? But didn't your mother make you that blue dress too?" asked Takato sounding confused.

"Yeah… I hate it… so I'll be wearing something else." Rika started to grow very sick of her mother being brought up, but didn't want to say it to Takato directly in case it upsets him too.

"Well… I'm not to fond of the red tuxedo to be perfectly honest." said Takato. "But I figured I should wear it anyway because she's put a lot of effort into it."

"If you don't like it, don't wear it." said Rika sounding more and more irritated.

Takato began to rub the back of his head "But… I'm only being polite to her since she was nice enough to-"

The word 'nice' made Rika suddenly stand up and face Takato looking as if she was about to scream. "NICE?! SHE YELLED AT ME!"

"Eh what!?" Takato shuffled to the edge of the bench flinching, but he then slowly stood up to properly face Rika, as well as keep a short distance. "W-What ha-"

"I asked about my father to her and she went ballistic at me!" shouted Rika, almost becoming red in the face with rage "I don't know a thing about my father and she just goes ahead and shouts at me as if I offended her or something! You must've seen my mother's dark tone when you entered that room you freaking idiot!"

"C-Calm down… I'm sorry!" said Takato feeling panicked himself, Rika was typically scary but this is beyond anything he has ever seen "I didn't mean to upset you."

"No I won't calm down!" Rika shouted "My mother yelled at me for asking something I would've never known about! I'll never forgive her for that so SHUT UP!" Rika actually began to shed tears, but she looked as if she was trying to hold them back, this shocked Takato big time, this was the first time he had ever seen her cry.

"R-Rika!? C-c'mon Rika don't cry, its not like you at all." said Takato trying his best to calm down to try and comfort her.

Rika quickly turned her head away covering her eyes with her hand. "I-I'm not crying! I-I just have something in my eyes!"

"… Rika… don't worry… I'm here for you." said Takato getting closer to her.

Rika soon turned back to Takato, she moved her hand away showing she's still shedding tears. Takato leaned back again but stepped closer once more "And just what can you do to make me feel better you g-goggle head!"

"The only thing I can do… don't get this the wrong way but…" Suddenly Takato moved closer to Rika and moved his arms around her back just under her arms and began to hug her. Rika was shocked and blushing at the same time.

"W-What are you d-doing!?" asked Rika starting to lose all of her anger almost instantly.

"They say a hug helps anyone who is upset." said Takato.

Rika was just silent, she could just ask to let go, but this hug was too comforting. She felt she really needed this, so she moved her arms around Takato and hugged back, starting to feel much better as a small smile crept onto her face. "… T-Thank you. And I'm sorry I yelled at you…"

"Its ok. I understand." said Takato. After about two minutes of silence between them, they slowly let go of each other. Rika had stopped crying but her face was still quite damp from the tears; Rika then grew a little embarrassed, but somewhat upset that their hug stopped, she couldn't understand why, but being in Takato's arms made her feel completely safe and comforting.

"I'm glad no one saw that." said Rika looking around, she had completely calmed down.

"There's nothing wrong with friends hugging. I did the same to Kenta when he lost his pet cat." said Takato.

"I know… but I meant saw me crying… I feel so weak!" said Rika sounding upset.

"Crying doesn't make you weak…" said Takato making Rika looked at him confused "It makes you human. And I know deep down you were never so cold, it was only a matter of time before I proved myself that."

"My father… I loved him so much. The only memories I can remember of him were playing in the park with him, smiling, laughing, even singing… I guess I became so cold and emotionless, was because I was so upset when he left… I became cold to protect myself, I didn't want to get so close to another person, in case he or she would leave me too, I was just so scared!" Rika looked as if she was going to cry again, Takato did seem surprised at this, but then he just smiled.

"But you became friends with me…" said Takato placing both his hands on her shoulders.

"We weren't in the past, you were just a rookie who wanted to be better at cards. I pitied you so I agreed to train you, I never expected us to become friends." said Rika.

"Heh… well there's going to be a difference between me and your father…" said Takato.

"What?" asked Rika.

"I'm not going to leave you, I promise that. Now that I know why you became so cold."

Rika grew surprised at what Takato had said, almost feeling a loud heartbeat, she simply smiled at him. "… Thanks"

"No problem" said Takato moving his arms off Rika's shoulders "So… why not we play a game of cards, I bet I can beat you this time."

"In your dreams." Rika and Takato then walked into Rika's room to play cards. They both walked past Viximon who had one eye opened, she heard everything they had said, feeling glad they both felt better, she snuggled back to sleep.

The end for now.

Now that was adorable wasn't it? Rika does have her soft side. BUT, that was only a sign of friendship… maybe. By the way. About Takato getting his first black eye… are you curious how he REALLY got it?

Epilogue

Takato and Guilmon had just entered a Digital Zone where they saw a big yellow ape like Digimon, Takato took out his Digivice. "Apemon! Champion level! Get ready Guilmon!"

"Got it!" grunted Guilmon. Apemon quickly tried to punch Guilmon but he dodged. "Pyro Sphere!" Guilmon shot a fireball from its mouth blasting Apemon slightly back, Guilmon fired another but Apemon knocked it away. Apemon began to rapidly punch Guilmon but he kept dodging; then Guilmon jumped up onto its arm and ran up it until he was right at Apemon's head and bit his nose.

Apemon screamed and shook around trying to get Guilmon off, but he still held on like some deranged looking nose ring. Apemon was about to punch Guilmon until he dropped off causing Apemon to punch himself in the face; Takato began laughing until he looked at Guilmon who looked disgusted.

"Yuk! Ape Boogers!" said Guilmon feeling disgusted.

Suddenly Apemon grabbed Guilmon and lifted him up readying to punch him. "Oh no! Look out!" shouted Takato. Suddenly Takato's Digivice began to glow.

DIGIVOLUTION

Guilmon was encased in a red digitized egg which caused Apemon to lose its grip

"Guilmon Digivolve to… Growlmon"

Suddenly Guilmon appeared much bigger with long white hair and spikes along his arms

"Pyro Blaster!"

Guilmon blasted Apemon far away with a fireball, but Apemon soon ran back and the two began fist fighting. "Wow! He Digivolved!" said Takato feeling ever so glad. Suddenly Growlmon had done something no one expected. Growlmon shot his foot up between Apemon's 'you know what', then Apemon fell to the ground whimpering in pain. "… Not the kind of attack I'd expect my own Digimon to do. But hey, it works."

Takato took out his Digivice and Apemon disappeared in a light of binary. Soon Growlmon Degenerated back to Guilmon as the fog disappeared. "Wow Guilmon! You were awesome! Now that you've Digivolved! Its gonna get a whole lot easier to fight Digimon now! This calls for a hi-five!"

"YEAH!" After that, Takato and Guilmon then began to hi-five each other. But… their hands accidentally missed each other and-

BAM!

Takato and Guilmon accidentally smacked each other in the eye. Takato and Guilmon then began to scream and jump about in pain, soon they stopped and looked at each other noticing that they both have black eyes. "… If anyone asks… Apemon did it."

"Agreed." said Guilmon.

Then the two walked off, Takato went back to Rika's house and Guilmon ran back to his home in the park. One thing came to Takato, how would Rika react if she found out he and Guilmon gave each other high-five's, she would either sigh with annoyance or laugh. He hoped Rika would laugh since he assumed Rika would sound cute laughing, but then again Takato has no plans of ever revealing this to her.

The end for now… this time