Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon

Song of the Setting Sun

Chapter: 10

Mayumi Wong watched the children with a small smile on her face. The picnic wasn't going exactly as she had planned, given that Janyu had to do some last minute work at Hypnos, Rinchei had taken off to be with some friends for a little while, and now, most of Henry's friends had dropped in on them with their digimon partners. Not that she wasn't happy to see Henry with his friends, or seeing a group of happy children for that matter, it was just that she had hoped that today would be more of a family outing. Mayumi shrugged mentally, not really caring about the course that events had taken so far. There was happiness in the air, and that was all that mattered.

A hand laid itself softly on Mayumi's shoulder, and turning the woman's smile widened as she saw her husband, Janyu behind her as he carefully sat down next to her.

"You're late," joked Mayumi, not losing her smile.

"Sorry," said Janyu. "But Yamaki insisted on my going over some data…"

"Can we talk about something other than what goes on at Hypnos today?" Asked Mayumi, a little more sharply than she had intended, but if her husband was hurt at all by it he did a good job at hiding it. With a smile of his own, Janyu nodded and looked at the children.

"So I see that Henry's friends arrived."

Mayumi nodded.

"Yes. They've been trickling in bit by bit. Takato, Rika, and Jeri showed up a couple hours ago, and Kazu and Kenta arrived a while after that."

Janyu's smile widened as he took in each of the children and their digimon. Kazu and Kenta were locked in a Digimon card battle in a tag team battle against Henry and Takato, Guardromon making comments over Kazu's shoulder about the cards that he had in his hand, earning him more than a few complaints from his visor-wearing partner. Suzie was currently playing what looked like a game of tag with Terriermon, Lopmon, Guilmon, and Jeri while Rika was currently off being aloof, leaning up against a Sakura tree, eyes closed and brow furrowed in concentration, as though she were listening to an another voice that only she could hear.

It was times like these, seeing the children so happy in the company of each other and their digimon, that gladdened Janyu's heart, and at the same time reminded him of when he had to send the digimon back to the digital world shortly after their triumph over the mutated program called D-Reaper. Of course, the children had been able to get their partners back, and Henry had long since forgiven him for his actions that day, but it was still something that pained him every now and then. The look on their faces when he had told them what was happening…

Such shock and sadness should never have a place on a child's face.

Reaching into the Wong's picnic basket and pulled out a drink. Opening it he raised it in the direction of the Tamers, as though he were toasting to their continued happiness, wishing them the best of luck in the future before raising the drink to his lips.

Rika had her eyes closed off to the world around her, her mind focusing on nothing and everything at the same time, trying to get a bead on a feeling that's been bugging her since she joined Takato and Jeri today, while at the same time, avoiding it outright, as she was unsure what it was, or maybe she did know and she was just afraid of what it meant. She had felt a growing sense of disappointment and discomfort all day so far, most of it directed at Jeri and Takato, which didn't make sense to her. Why should she feel that way towards two of her best friends? Well, okay. Sure, she didn't like being dragged to go see the Cherry blossoms with them, especially since it was supposed to be a time just for those two. That, and the whole thing kept bringing Rika back to that time around a month ago when Takato had asked her to go see the Sakura trees with him.

Rika opened her amethyst eyes and rested them upon the goggle-wearing boy as he took a card from his hand and placed it on the ground, a triumphant smile on his face as he did so. Rika thought back to earlier when Suzie had asked that bizarre question of hers to Takato, about whether or not the boy had liked her the way he did Jeri, and he had gotten all flustered, not wanting to insult Rika, but at the same time not wanting to imply that he thought about her in that way. Which was fine by her she guessed. She rather preferred having Takato as only a friend, but as she took in the situation, she couldn't help but take in a kind of irony that, after a fashion, they did get to go see the Cherry blossoms together after all, and she had Jeri to thank for that however unintentional it was on her part.

Suzie's question, and Takato's reaction did have a startling affect on her though, one that confused her to no end. The disappointment that she had felt earlier when she saw Takato and Jeri together walking through the Sakura trees, a faint reminder of Takato's long forgotten proposal, had come back, this time with a vengeance, and her face…

It was not often that Rika found herself blushing or feeling any such emotions that led to that sort of reaction (unless she was superbly angry), and she hated the fact that it was Takato, of all people, who had brought it out of her. And it wasn't the first time either.

The letter to my family, my t-shirt, asking me to go see the Sakura trees with him on my birthday, and today with the ice cream and Suzie's asking him how he felt about me… just what is it that goes through that Goggleheaded brain of his? He's a walking disaster!

Looking down at the full heart on her t-shirt, Rika had to ask herself, what was it that she felt for Takato? What was it that was making her feel this way around him?

For some reason Rika felt as though the heart on her shirt was mocking her. Rika frowned.

This is so stupid…

"Problems Rika?" Asked the soft, almost amused tone of the kitsune digimon known as Renamon.

No more than the usual, replied Rika. Hey, I never got around to asking you why you showed up with Jeri instead of Jeri showing up with Guilmon. She gave Gogglehead quite a scare earlier.

"Jeri had some questions that she wanted to ask me concerning Takato in private, so she sent Guilmon on ahead. She voiced some worries but I don't believe that they were anything too important."

Rika pondered this for a moment.

Not to sound insulting or anything, but why did Jeri ask you about Takato? Since when did you become an expert on him?

Rika could feel dry amusement slipping through their link. Rika could almost swear that she heard her partner chuckle.

"Sometimes it takes a different perspective to really get an answer to ones question."

Hmmph. I still don't understand. She's known Gogglehead longer than you or I have. You'd think that she'd have gone to Kenta or Kazu first.

"Perhaps. But perhaps she trusts yours and my opinions more."

Hmmm… say, what did she ask you anyway?

Rika sensed Renamon's apprehension at her question, and she suddenly regretted asking it.

You know what? Never mind. I probably don't even want to know anyway.

"Are you sure Rika?"

Rika paused, but only for a second.

Yeah, I'm sure. Just forget it.

"Rika," said Renamon. "Are you all right?"

Rika looked up at Takato once more, her face not showing any emotion at all.

Never better, Rika thought to her partner, feeling for some reason as though she was lying.

Up in the tree branches above her red headed partner, Renamon looked empathetically at the girl.
Takato laughed as he placed a MetalTyrannomon card over his DarkTyrannomon.

"DarkTyrannomon digivolves to MetalTyrannomon! Which makes you… history!"

"Aw man…" groaned Kazu as he gripped the sides of his head in frustration.

"Guess you'll have to take back what you said about his playing skills earlier," joked Kenta as he jabbed an elbow into his friend's side. Kazu just growled and looked at his goggle-bearing friend.

"Aah… you just got lucky for once. I still have a higher win/loss ratio compared to you, chumley."

Takato's eyes sparkled and he looked at Kazu challengingly.

"You want to put that to the test this time?"

Kazu had seen this before in Takato, back in his early Tamer days right before he had introduced his two friends to Guilmon for the first time. This usually came about when Takato was feeling a little high on himself, though he didn't often get that way. His experiences in the digital world, and his constant vigil against digimon in general have long since tempered back that particular emotion, but that didn't mean that it still wouldn't come out and play every now and then, especially when it came to Kazu and the Digimon card game. Sometimes it made for a better game when he was like that, especially since Takato had gotten better at the game over these past months, despite Kazu's constantly deriding the boy for his earlier performances. Not like it mattered though. Kazu still bested Takato in the game, even with Guardromon constantly boasting about the cards in his hand. But Kazu had to admit, the matches were getting closer…

With a grin, Kazu picked up his deck and once again shuffled it and set it back down, drawing a new hand while Takato did likewise.

"Sure," said Kazu. "Why not?"

Henry and Kenta exchanged glances, and they sighed. Knowing these two, they would be at it for a while.

While Takato shuffled his deck, he took a moment to look around, smiling as he saw Jeri teaching a game to Suzie and Guilmon. Panning over he took notice of Rika, standing off to the side, as was her custom when usually in large groups, half fancying that he saw Renamon hiding up in the tree branches above her. Takato's smile widened and he was about to look back at the game when suddenly, as though drawn by a magnet, Takato's eyes were locked with Rika's and he froze, realizing that she was looking at him.

Wha…?

Takato felt as though he were in a trance for some reason, and he felt his body temperature rise several degrees. There was no doubt; Rika was definitely looking at him, and for some reason he found himself unable to tear his gaze away. So he just sat there, looking back with some red color spreading its way across his cheeks. He could have been like that for only a minute, or even years while somewhere in the back of his mind he heard a voice calling to him, practically screaming at him to look away before Rika took offense to his staring. Telling him to wake up. In fact, it sounded something like…

"Hey! Chumley! Snap out of it! Are we going to play or what?"

"Ah! Uh… hah? Wha…? Oh. Sorry."

Takato blushed lightly, and set his deck down, trying to ignore the odd looks that he was getting from Kazu, Kenta, and Henry as he drew his cards. Kazu took one look at his friend, raised an eyebrow and looked over at where Takato had been staring earlier and then back at Takato, this time with a mysterious grin on his face.

"You know, when Henry's sister asked you if you liked Rika, I thought that she was just mixed up because of the joke that I made earlier."

Takato's face reddened quite visibly.

"Wha…? W-what're you talking about?"

Kazu snickered.

"You were looking at Rika just now. C'mon. Admit it. She's the only person that was in that direction…"

Takato's face darkened even more.

"I… I w-was just… ahem… l-looking at the scenery…"

Kazu just burst out laughing, and was followed by some lighthearted snickering from Kenta as he put the pieces together.

"Yeah, I'll bet," said Kenta. "You may want to think of a better excuse Takato. And don't let Jeri hear that you were looking at Rika. She might start to get jealous."

"Ahhh… I'd be more worried about Rika," said Kazu. "If she caught him staring at her she'd probably mail his remains home in an envelope."

"Do you think that she would?" Asked Kenta fearfully.

Takato groaned as he hid his face in his hands. This was definitely going to mess up his game. He just knew it…

Henry watched the scene, unsure of what to make of it. It was sort of reminding him of that weird moment down in the tunnels when Rika had caught Takato looking at her, shortly after Terriermon had made his Renamon and Guilmon sittin' in a tree remark. Thinking that his attitude then was the one best suited to this situation Henry thought the same thing that he did then, even though he didn't suit the action to the idea.

Just keep walkin'…

"So…" began Kazu conversationally as he laid down a Bearmon card. "Hear any good songs lately?"

For some reason, Takato felt his stomach clench.

Stupid Gogglehead, thought Rika as she watched Takato go through several shades of red as Kazu and Kenta poked fun of him about something. Rika wasn't sure what it was, and right now she could care less. She was more concerned with fighting down the wave of heat that had enveloped her face when she had gotten into her staring contest with Gogglehead. Closing her eyes once more, Rika tried to put a halt to the direction that her mind was going and succeeded. Once she opened her eyes again she saw Jeri standing in front of her, with a warm smile on her face. Rika returned it.

"Hey, Jeri."

"Hey," responded the brown haired girl as she walked up and stood next to Rika. "So how are things going?"

Rika just shrugged.

"Peachy," was all she intoned, using Jeri's favorite line when describing how she felt. Jeri smiled inwardly at its use.

Jeri looked at Rika's face, trying to analyze the girl's emotional weather, and taking note of the fact that she was currently looking at the card game that was currently going on. Rika had a thoughtful expression on her face.

"How come you aren't down there with the boys playing Digimon?" Asked Jeri, picking up the threads of conversation once more.

Rika shifted slightly against the trunk of the Sakura tree.

"I've just got a lot on my mind right now, and I wanted to get some things sorted out first."

Jeri looked again at Rika, her smile faltering just a little bit as she recalled some of the things that she had heard today, wondering just how much that this was affecting her. From what she had gathered from Renamon and the conversation that she had eavesdropped on earlier, she felt that Rika had to still be rather confused. Jeri carefully studied Rika, noting her expression, which still carried that thoughtful look. As if she felt Jeri's gaze, Rika shifted once again and looked over at Jeri, frowning slightly.

"What?" Rika half asked, half demanded in a grouchy kind of way.

"I was just wondering what you were thinking about. Would you care to talk about it?"

Rika narrowed her eyes and looked away.

"No," she said flatly. Jeri sighed. Rika was retreating again. Whether it was because she didn't want to face whatever it was that she was going through, or because she didn't want to involve Jeri was something that the brunette wondered about. Well, it was more likely that she didn't want to involve Jeri. Rika, from what Jeri had seen, was rarely afraid of anything, though she at times showed discomfort when it came to anything emotional, brought on no doubt because of her normally independent and tomboyish personality, not really liking having to depend on anyone, and not feeling comfortable at all with anything that was feminine. Sometimes Jeri wondered how it was that the two of them had become such close friends despite the obvious differences between them.

Jeri looked over at their friends, some of who were currently laughing about something, at Takato's expense if the boy's face was any indication. Jeri wondered if she should try and confront Rika about her feelings, if she had any at all for Takato that went beyond friendship. For all she knew it might just be a mild crush on her part and Rika being Rika… well, she probably wouldn't know how to handle it. Or not want to handle it.

Maybe I shouldn't force it, thought Jeri. After all, Rika doesn't really react well when she feels as though she's being forced into something, that is, if half the stories that I've heard are true. But I really want to know…

Jeri looked over at Rika once more.

"Well, if you ever want to talk about it, just remember that I'm here for you if you need me."

Rika looked over at Jeri, and then looked away.

"Thanks," she muttered. "I'll keep it in mind."

Jeri waved cutely at Rika and then strode off to watch the boys as they played their game.

Rika watched Jeri go, feeling a little bit bad that Jeri had basically offered her a listening ear, despite the fact that what she was feeling right now revolved around the boy that the former Tamer liked.

She's a lot like Takato in that respect, thought Rika. Always ready to lend a helping hand even if you make it clear that you don't want it. And that's why I can't tell her. Can't tell her about what I'm going through, if I'm going through anything that all.

Rika frowned as she tried to push those thoughts away once more. She was getting a little annoyed at those feelings and what they implied. She didn't like them, and it only made it worse that they were focused on one of her best friends. They just couldn't be what she was thinking! They just couldn't!

Shaking her head, Rika pushed off from the Sakura tree, debating whether or not she should just go home now, as though by leaving she could forget about those silly feelings and move on with her life. They didn't matter, and especially not if they had the potential to hurt one of her friends.

But… there were her friends to think about. If she just up and left without a word they might get worried about her. Takato, Henry, and Jeri certainly would, even though they knew that she didn't like to be worried about. That and there was the fact that if she did leave, it would be like running away from her problems, and her pride demanded that she stay and face them, no matter what it cost her.

With a sigh, Rika wandered on over to the game, determined to stick it out as long as possible until this day was finally over.

A/N: Aaagh! More angst! More unchanging scenery! A lot of thinking going on in this chapter, and slowly, very slowly, Takato's thought process is being drawn into this, though in agonizingly small amounts, which I'm finding to be irritating. The only comfort that I can take from this is the knowledge that if I rush things, I can potentially screw up the story. (Sigh) Well, we'll see where this one goes for now. 'Till next time then. Later.

-Crazyeight

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