I'll do whatever it takes
To turn this around
I know what's at stake

- Whatever It Takes, Lifehouse


Shinjuku High School, Friday October 11th, 8:15 AM

"Rika!" Jeri called, running to catch up with the familiar crop of red hair.

"What?" Rika snapped, turning around and instantly regretting her tone when she saw the wounded look. "Sorry Jeri, that came out wrong."

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Rika sighed. She was tired, both physically and mentally. She felt worn, like a rubber band stretched to its limits. She didn't have the energy to care anymore, forget about the stupid rumours circulating around school, the obvious envious stares. she couldn't even bring herself to be angry at the stupid jerk who refused to drop her off a couple blocks away from school

"Are you sure? What happened to you?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Your mom called me last night, asking if she could talk to you. Luckily, I covered for you saying you were staying over and that you just happened to be in the shower."

"Thanks Jeri, I should have told you, but it must have slipped my mind." Rika said, finding it quite comical that Ryo, who had been so attentive in formulating his lies, had left out one key detail.

"So where were you?"

"Nowhere really." Rika said, ignoring the exasperated look on Jeri's face. "I'm fine!"

"I'd still like to know."

"I just ran into some trouble."

"Trouble? What trouble?" There was a slight edge in Jeri's voice.

"Trouble?" Alice asked from behind, swinging her bag lightly against Rika's arm and nodding at Jeri in greeting. "What have you done now?"

"Good morning to you too." Rika replied sarcastically. "Why do you always assume I initiate the trouble?"

"It's a safe bet." The blonde smirked, "So?"

"I might have broken someone's nose." Rika said in a casual tone which horrified Jeri and amused Alice.

"Rika!"

"Typical."

"What?" Amethyst eyes widened in innocence. "Don't worry, I won't get into any trouble. This was after school and way off grounds."

"What happened?"

"Some girls just came to find me and things got out of hand." She answered vaguely, shrugging. "It wasn't really a fight Jeri."

"That doesn't explain the small cut on your lip." Alice noted.

"You're hurt? Rika! You shouldn't fight, it's dangerous! It's wrong! There are-"

"Other, more peaceful ways to solving problems." Rika and Alice finished simultaneously, both receiving a stern look from Jeri.

"It's true! And I wouldn't have to repeat it so many times if you listen and take my advice!"

"That's not true. I do try, I just couldn't avoid it this time." Rika said darkly.

"What was the problem?" Jeri frowned. "What were those girls after you for?"

"The usual." Rika shrugged.

"Where did you go?" Alice asked, "If you didn't go home or stay at Jeri's?"

"Nowhere."


Free Period, Student Lounge, 10:03 AM

"I thought you had class." Henry remarked as he walked into the room, noticing Ryo reading on the couch.

"Self-study."

"I see that." Henry smiled, "How's Rika?"

"She's fine, at least she was this morning."

"I can't agree. Not if she stayed over at your place last night and left you alive." Henry said, looking amused. "That's not normal."

"I would agree with you, but considering how I'm in one piece, I'd have to say you're wrong." Ryo grinned, looking up from his textbook. "Not that she was pleased about it."

"I'll bet."

"It wasn't intentional." Ryo said, leaning back. "She fell asleep on me."

"I wonder how that happened." Henry mused, missing the literal sense of the sentence and the slightest tinge of red across Ryo's face. "Still, I think you're developing a knack of getting away with things."

"I don't want to jinx it, so I'm not going to respond to that. "

"Of course not."

"I never thought that things would get so out of control."

"Well, they do say hell hath no fury like a woman scorned."

"You know what I mean."

"You really have nothing to worry about. It's nothing Rika can't handle."

"That's what she said." Ryo frowned. "Still..."

"I first met Rika through a martial arts competition." Henry smiled, "You don't know what frightening is until you've seen her kick ass. Ironic, really. Learning self-defense was the only activity both Rika and her mom could agreed upon."

"Really? You never told me this."

"We weren't friends until much later. She remembered me though, I think I made an impression because I was the only one that took her seriously as an opponent." Henry mused. "You know..." He turned, but couldn't help bursting out in laughter at the look on Ryo's face.

"Glad to see I amuse you."

"Don't be-! We're just-we're just friends." Henry laughed, trying to calm himself. "There's really nothing to be jealous about."

"If I didn't know you liked Alice, I'd be inclined to disagree."

"Rika and I, we understand each other. It's weird because sometimes we're complete opposites. I can't say she's like a sister to me, because I have enough siblings to know what that's like, but I care for her enough for her to be."

"I know." Ryo nodded. "Thanks though."

"For what?"

"Reassurance." He smirked, "I'm glad I don't have to compete against you."

"I think the real competition is Rika herself."

"I'm prepared to go to war." Ryo grinned. "That's probably what it'll take."

"Did I mention she has a black belt?" Henry teased.

"Thanks for the warning." Ryo grimaced in wry amusement.

"I'm serious."

"I really should watch myself."


Gym, Basketball Training, 4:21 PM

"The coach won't be here today." Kazu informed Kenta as he ran into the gym, panting.

"Oh good, so I'm not late?"

"Just in time, Kenta." Ryo smiled. He blew a whistle around his neck, signaling the team to come over. "Coach is absent today, but we're still going to go ahead and practice without him. We know the drill - warmup!"

The team slowly dispersed. Before Ryo could begin his jog, Takato interrupted him.

"Ryo! Someone's here for you."

"I'll catch up later." Ryo nodded, a curious expression on his face as he headed over.

"Good luck." Takato said, patting his arm, smiling. Ryo gave him a confused look.

"Akiyama."

It was Rika.

"Wildcat!" Ryo exclaimed, surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"I came here to speak to you, obviously."

"Obviously." Ryo grinned. "So, what's up?"

"There seems to be a misunderstanding. Your fans clearly think there's something going on between us, hence what happened yesterday."

"I-"

"I already made it clear to them that there's nothing happening. I think it's best if we just stay away from each other from now on."

"Do you really think that?" He asked quietly. She looked up.

"What?"

"That there's nothing going on?" Her face turned stony for a moment.

"That's a stupid question. We hate each other, remember?"

"I thought we put that past us." He said, frowning.

"It doesn't matter." She snapped, getting annoyed and defensive. "Look, I don't know what you're thinking but-"

"Don't you?" He asked and although he knew it was the wrong thing to say, he didn't care. An icy look came into her eyes again and she gritted her teeth.

"Whatever you're thinking, you better wipe it out of your head before I do." She snapped. An expression came onto Ryo's face and was gone before she could decipher it. She narrowed her eyes, he was smirking.

"What am I thinking?"

"I don't know and I don't care." She said, clearly not falling into his trap. "Like I said, I'm done with all those girls who are obsessed with you, so that means I'm done with you."

"Sure, whatever you say." He said and grinned. "But I know you like me."

"What!?" She whipped her head at him, eyes blazing. "I don't recall feeling anything besides resentment and annoyance towards you." He pretended as if he didn't hear her.

"It's true, besides, I like you."

There was silence. This time Ryo wondered if he really should have said that, he looked at her expectantly, beneath that icy mask, he knew she was trying hard to control her thoughts and emotions.

"I'll do you a favour and pretend we never had this conversation." She said finally, trying hard to keep her temper under control. He scowled.

"Do you always run from the truth?" She brushed past him before walking off hurriedly and he didn't call after her. He had seen the look on her face.

She was scared. Unsure. And he knew that didn't suit her well at all.

He cursed.


Training Area, Friday October 25th, 5:23 PM

"There's something wrong with you." Alice said, while panting. The two were working out at Henry's martial arts place, and needless to say, a couple of kicks and punches was a good way of releasing anger and stress for the both of them.

"What?" Rika asked, quickly moving the bangs away from her eyes, before preparing to defend herself.

"It's been two weeks." Alice said, moving back and forth on the balls of her feet, waiting for an opportunity to strike.

"Two weeks?" Rika asked, blocking Alice's strikes with her arms.

"It's...unusual. You've been studying so hard, handing in all your assignments early, going to all those unnecessary meetings and trying to occupy yourself with your photoshoots. I think you're avoiding something." Alice summed up, trying to approach both the conversation and the fight cautiously.

"What would I be avoiding?" Rika attacked.

"That's what I'm asking." Alice frowned at the sudden aggressiveness, "It's about Ryo, isn't it?" She quickly stepped backwards, blocking a barrage of punches and kicks.

"No. Why would it have to do with him?" Rika asked, lying through her teeth. Alice was too perceptive for her own good.

"Because you guys haven't talked at all. Look, I wouldn't ask you if it wasn't serious, you know that. Besides, Jeri's worried about you." Alice said, stopping. Rika took a step back.

"I'm fine." She said offhandedly, grabbing a towel. "Jeri worries too much anyways."

"That may be so."

"How's you and Henry?"

"Don't try to change the subject." Alice frowned, sitting down on a mat with a bottle of water. "We're fine. Just friends."

"Still? He is so slow."

"No, he's just-"

"Slow." Rika said, smiling for the first time in a long while, "Don't make excuses for him."

"All right, It doesn't matter though."

"Of course, you like him all the same." Alice glared at that.

"And what about you?"

"What about me?" Rika frowned, rigid at the question.

"There's something going between you and Ryo."

"There's nothing."

"You keep denying it, but I know you know the truth." Alice said, shaking her head.

"You're wrong."


Hallway, Tuesday October 29th, 11:53 AM

"Rika! Hey!" Rika turned around to find Jason calling after her. She groaned in response. He was her biggest admirer (self-proclaimed) and the leader of that stupid fan club.

"What do you want?" She asked, not in the mood to deal with him.

"I was thinking," He smiled. I don't care what you were thinking. Rika thought, but bit her tongue. "Do you want to go grab lunch together?"

"What? Why?" She scowled. There was something wrong with the male population.

"It'd be nice..." He said, hesitantly, "And-"

"You know Jason," She cut him off. "and let me just say this once-" She suddenly stopped walking. Ryo was at the end of the hall, with Lina who was looking up at him as if he was a god.

Their eyes met inadvertently, and she stiffened.

"Say what?" Jason asked beside her, staring at her intently. They were within hearing distance now and Rika could see Lina reaching up to brush Ryo's hair.

"Nothing." Rika said, suddenly smiling. "I'm starving. Where did you want to go for lunch?" Jason looked surprised, and then grinned. This was his lucky day.

"I was thinking of that place by-"

Ryo watched them leave, with fists clenched at his side.

"Ryo? Were you listening?" Lina asked. There was no reply, but she watched his eyes follow Jason's with an intensity that unnerved her.

"Ryo?"


Thursday, October 31st, 7:12 PM

"Hey."

"Hi, why are you calling me?" The voice was cold, and a bit resentful.

"I, I'm sorry, I know we haven't been...I just needed someone to talk to."

"Why don't you call Ryo instead?"

"Kazu-I can't talk to him about this."

"Because it's about him?" Kazu sighed, impatient. He should have known.

"And the person he cares about."

"What about it?"

"You do know who I'm talking about, right?"

"Rika Nonaka, of course." Kazu laughed, "It's hardly a secret, yet he acts like it's one."

"I know." There was no amusement in her tone.

"He barely even talks about it to me, so I don't know why you're calling. What about her?"

"You know that...incident?"

"What incident?"

"What happened a while back...in the park?"

"Don't tell me you had a hand in it." He answered warningly. There was only silence. "Lina!" Kazu exclaimed exasperatedly. "I can't believe you."

"I might have edged them on." The confession was a rush, tumbling out of her mouth before she could regret her decision. "The girls were already riled up. All it took was for me to suggest the idea. I didn't actually do anything."

"That's no excuse. This is sick, why are you even telling me?"

"Because I wish I hadn't said anything!"

"What?"

"He loves her!" She cried, "I can tell. The way he looks at her, how he reacts whenever he hears her name-"

"I really don't think-"

"Even today!" She cut him off, "You should have seen how angry he was, how jealous. He looked like he was in physical pain."

"What do you want me to do about it? If you're saying you caused it, then-"

"I don't want him to be like this, this is all my fault."

"It probably is." Kazu said, "But if you regret it so much, fix it."

"How?" She asked, almost pleadingly.

"I can't tell you what to do," Kazu sighed heavily, "But I think the best thing would be tell Ryo yourself. He needs to know what you did and I don't think it'd go well if he found out through someone else."

"I can't." Lina said in a small voice. "He loves her, and I can't win against that. I know. But I can't lose his friendship either."


Changing Rooms, Monday November 4th, 5:21 PM

"Good practice, you guys." Ryo said, turning to face his team, "The coach mentioned we have a friendly game with Odaiba in two weeks, so that would be the..."

"16th." Takato said, looking through his phone. Ryo smiled briefly, appreciatively.

"So practice will be on hold until that week, which is good, since we have exams coming up."

The changing room exploded with cheers.

"Finally!"

"3 nights off a week to study!"

"I really need to get started on World History, I have no idea what's happening in that class."

The excited chatter slowly faded as everyone gathered up their stuff and left.

"Hey, you all right?" Kazu asked, punching Ryo lightly on the shoulder.

"Huh? Yea." Ryo said, turning around. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Nothing." Kazu shrugged. "You seem uptight lately."

"It's fine." Ryo shrugged. "Just the usual..."


"Henry!" Rika called, as the boys from the changing room slowly drifted out. Henry smiled and walked over.

"Hey. How you've been?" He asked.

"Could have been better." She shrugged.

"Alice's told me you've been...weird. Especially these two weeks"

"Speaking of Alice, how are you and her?" Rika asked, "How come I didn't hear about this firsthand from you?"

"Alice wanted to tell you." He grinned.

"She was happy, smiling. Congratulations." Rika smiled, looking at her friend. "It's about time."

"Hey!" Henry shrugged defensively, "I wanted to be sure of everything."

"So care to share with me your side of the story?"

"Why? I'm sure she's filled you and Jeri in on every detail."

"True," Rika laughed, "I didn't think you'd be the the whole after-dinner-walk-in-the-park-and-confess type. Corny, but cute, Wong."

"I hope you didn't come here just to evaluate and criticize my method of asking a girl out." Henry laughed.

"Nah, I came here to give you a warning."

"Oh?" Henry asked, they were nearing the parking lot exit.

"If you hurt her in anyway, I'll return it tenfold. You should know better than anyone when I say I mean it." Rika surveyed him, giving him a cool smile. "Deal?"

"I was waiting to hear that from you." Henry laughed, "Deal. Need a handshake to verify it?"


"You mean exams?"

"Yea." Ryo bent down to pick up his sports bag. "Gotta start studying."

"Going home then?" Takato asked, grabbing his shoes.

"Maybe, where's Henry?" Ryo asked.

"I think he already left."

"Damn, I needed to get something from him. I'll catch up. See you guys." Ryo said, and without another word, he left the changing room, following Henry's footsteps towards the parking lot.

He could hear laughter by the exit door, a girl's laughter. He stopped at the corner, looking cautiously, he didn't want to interrupt anything. He smiled slyly, this could be blackmail material. He stiffened when he saw who it was.

"Just this once." Rika warned, hugging him lightly.

"I am so honored." Henry said sarcastically. "I'd never thought the day would come when I get a voluntary hug from you of all people."

He knew he shouldn't be feeling this way, Ryo scolded himself. Henry has a girlfriend now, they're just friends. It didn't work.

"See you around?" Henry asked, opening the door, Rika nodded in response.

"Sure. Tell Alice to call me later tonight."

Ryo froze in his spot, she was coming and if she caught him standing there watching them, then-

WHAM!

"Are you okay?"

"Yea, I'm..." She looked up at him, and her expression froze. Her tone dropped immediately. "Why do I always bump into you?"

"I have no idea." He smirked. "It must be your lucky day."

"Are you going to move or what?" She snarled.

"Not yet."

"I have better things to do, Akiyama."

"Five minutes." Ryo said, holding up his hand.

"What?"

"Give me five minutes of your time."

"I really don't-"

"Please."

"Fine. Five minutes."

"I'm sorry for what I said last time." Ryo turned to look at her, checking her reaction and weighing his options.

"Yea right."

"Well, clearly I've offended you in some way."

"Why would you think that?"

"It's been two weeks since we last spoke and I know you've been avoiding me in the halls." Rika bristled at his accusation.

"It's none of your business what I do." She snapped.

"It does when it has to do with me." He said, carefully, trepidatiously.

"Why do you care so much? It's not like we were friends in the first place." She asked, annoyed. Why was he so damn persistent?

"I've already told you why I care." He sighed.

"As if I'd believe you." She snorted, shrugging it off.

"I do." He said seriously. He just had to make her see that.

"This is pointless." Rika snapped. "We're never going to agree on this."

"I don't understand why you think I'm lying." Ryo scowled.

"Because you don't know me at all!"

"Maybe I do. More than you think."

"I'm not like one of your stupid fan girls." She frowned.

He grinned suddenly at this. He liked her because she was different.

He liked her for her fearlessness and her audacity. He liked how she challenged him, how she was never afraid to speak her mind.

"Why are you smiling?"

"I like you Rika. I know you don't believe me, but I'll prove it to you."

"What?"

"Give me three weeks. That's all I need. If at the end of the three weeks, you're not convinced, then I promise I'll drop this and we'll never speak of it again."

Rika stared at him. This was absurd! How was he ever going to prove it to her? Only he could come up with an idea as crazy as this. Still, as she stood there weighing the consequences, she realized this could work in her favour. If she agreed, he'd never be able to say she didn't give him a chance. She was pretty sure it didn't really mean anything anyway.

Ryo waited anxiously. He could only hope...

"Fine." She said suddenly.

"Fine?"

"Three weeks." Rika shrugged, almost regretting her decision at the look on Ryo's face. She swore he never looked so happy before. "On one condition." She quickly added.

"Then I get one too. It's only fair."

"Fine." She scowled. "Just leave me alone during exams. I mean it."

"Of course," Ryo smirked, "It's not only you that needs to maintain your grade average."

"Good. Now that's out of the way, what's your condition?"

"Go with me to the dance."

"What dance?"

"Haven't you been listening during our student council meetings?" He asked.

"No." In truth, she had been too busy focusing on ignoring him.

"We have a dance, the Friday after the exams."

"Really?" She frowned, she hated these kind of social events. He should have known.

"That's my condition."

"Fine." She crossed her arms, closing her eyes in frustration.

"Trust me, Rika," He added, smiling gently at her, knowing she was doubting this. "I do like you. And I'll do anything to prove it. You'll see."

She shrugged, words were just words. This was probably the stupidest thing he could propose and she could agreed to, but if it meant he'd finally give up this stupid notion of him liking her...

"Your three weeks start tomorrow."

He grinned.