Author's Note: Vacation! Vacation! Boy, do I love vacation! Anyways, to celebrate my 'ever so happy' mood. I decided to type some more. Not much you can do when you're grounded, as I have come to learn over the years. Heh.
Special thanks to Tamer of Darkness, thanks for being honest. But, ehehehehe, I didn't mean to imply any Rukato. By their little scenes I just meant to show that they really are better friends then the show perceived them to be. But of course, I only got to see the chopped up dub, so I can't say much there. I'm a Takato-Juri fan all the way! Oh, and I'm sorry if this story seems to be moving slower than it should. I'll be starting the tournament soon enough, so just stick with me ok? Pretty please!
Don't worry peoples! I'm 100% Ryuki lover! So just remember… patience is a virtue.
Disclaimer - toot - remialcsiD
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hypnos. As Ruki looked at the building she just couldn't see how that place could hold so many secrets. Yamaki had never sold the place, so it looked the same as it did 4 years ago. Nothing was ever added, but at the same time, nothing was ever removed.
"NOOO!" Ruki woke up in a cold sweat.
As she analyzed her surroundings she realized that she was still in her bed. Her clock read 10:02. After she got her brain working she remembered that she wasn't going to school today.
"Now what to do?" she wondered.
When she heard no answer she turned on the television. As if the heavens had heard her, an answer came to her… straight from the TV.
"Hey kids! Do you like the Internet? Try new JOL version 4.20!" Ruki sighed.
"And now we're back with Harry the Hypnotist…"
Ruki sighed again. JOL, hypnotists, whatever. HANG ON! She started thinking, JOL… hypnotists… DUH! HYPNOS! Ruki quickly got herself ready and headed out to Hypnos.
As Ruki went into the building she got an eerie chill. It was as if she wasn't alone. Ruki brushed it off and kept walking around, eventually she found herself at the top floor. Much to her surprise, she found that the door was open (you're supposed to have a card to get in), so she went inside. Oddly enough, she found herself drawn to the computers.
"Huh? What's this?" Ruki picked up the object.
Behind one of the computers Ruki had found a small flat object. As she turned it over she noticed that it was a picture! But, the odd thing was that it was a picture of none other than Ryo Akiyama. He was apparently hugging some weird looking old guy.
"Okay. Now how the hell did this get here?" she wondered aloud.
Unbeknowst to her, she had started walking in some random direction while analyzing the picture. It wasn't until she bumped into a big pile of boxes that she noticed that she had moved at all.
"Ween-Dows-98?" Ruki read the writing on the box (remember, she's Japanese.)
By the time Ruki had figured out what was in the boxes it was too late. Every single box in the tower came crashing down. Ruki screamed as she yelled out the first name that came to her mind.
"RYO!!!!"
She felt someone's arms encircle her waist. Before she had a chance to look at her savior the two of them fell to the ground... missing death by a mere three inches.
"Ruki, what are you doing here?" she looked at her savior.
"FELIX! I could ask you the same thing." She shot back.
"Well, I came to get those."
He pointed to the 17 computers that were now smashed on the floor. Ruki winced as she thought of what would have happened to her if Felix hadn't been there.
"Oh… oh yeah! Thanks!" he looked surprised.
"Yeah, anytime. So…" he cut himself off.
They didn't know what to say. Without words it was already known that Ruki would be going back to Japan Online with him. She was bored and he knew it. So, when push comes to shove, you follow your friends.
"Well, we'll definitely have to come up with a cover story for that." He pointed to the computers.
"Eheh. Yeah. Sorry about that." Ruki said sheepishly.
"Ah, don't worry about it." He shrugged it off.
The two of them went to the Yamaki Limo, it was parked outside. Ruki sat down beside Felix and the two shared a comfortable silence. But… even comfortable silences get annoying with time.
"So Felix, where are you from?" she asked. He looked away.
"I don't like going into my past." She shrugged.
"Understandable. My past sucks as well." He nodded in understanding.
The rest of the trip consisted of them talking about things as random as the weather. Back at JOL the duo was met with a smirking Alice and a pissed off Yamaki.
"Felix. What the fuck took you so long." Yamaki nodded his hello to Ruki. She nodded back.
"Well, I met up with Ruki on the streets and…" Felix started.
"We went inside to get the computers, but they were all sprawled on the floor." She supplied.
Alice barely contained her laughter. To her it was obvious that the two were lying. But then again, she was just good at figuring these things out. Felix and Ruki are the two most impassive people she knew. So the two of them finishing each other's sentences just sorta seems odd.
"Yeah. I can go get the remains if you want them." Yamaki just glared.
"No. I don't want them." He gritted through his teeth.
Ruki started to panic. It was apparent that Yamaki was definitely not buying their story, so she did the only thing she could think of. She attempted to get his pity… using her inner businesswoman.
"Yamaki! I'm sorry, it was my fault! You see, I knocked them over!" Ruki burst out. Yamaki raised an eyebrow. Alice coughed. Felix gave her a wistful gaze.
"But… my mother has the money to buy as many computers that you need. All you have to do is act nice to her for about 5 minutes." He gazed at her skeptically.
"Well, put it this way. My mother will split her legs for anything with two legs and a penis."
The outside of JOL was silent. Felix and Ruki awaited their fate. Yamaki stood still, as if he were having a conversation within himself. About 5 minutes later Yamaki left to find Ruki's mother, while the remaining people went to go tell Reika and Ryu where Yamaki was going.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"HE'S ON BREAK!!!!" Ruki yelled.
After getting to the top floor of the building Ruki ran right into the center of the room. Hell, she wanted to see Ryu. But of course, the world got in the last laugh as she was soon informed that Ryu was on his lunch break.
"Yup, I'm afraid so." Reika replied.
"ARG… oh well, I guess I can wait around for an hour." Reika nodded.
"Sure, go ahead. Alice, Felix, the platforms have to be finished by today, all you really have to do is add the functions and remember, multiply the speed by the force to get the calculations of the conclusions of the matches."
"Yeah yeah, that'll be a piece of cake."
Ruki's head was spinning. Speed, force, calculations, conclusions? Whatever, Ruki thought. She went over to the computers and looked at one of the screens, 2(x)g[10(x)(f+s)]=LOSS is what she saw.
"It means that, depending on which floor we're on, the loser of the match will fall at twice that speed level. The stuff inside the brackets mean that the force and speed must be higher than 10 times the level." Alice told her.
"Oh, I get it… sorta." Ruki blinked. Alice smirked. She brought Ruki to the computer she was at with Felix.
"Now this data--" she pointed to the screen.
Ruki looked at this screen and almost got dizzy. This entire screen had line after line of numbers and letters, to Ruki it looked as if someone was just pushing the buttons. But, as she looked at Felix, who was typing away, she realized that every letter had its own meaning.
"--is just the base. The stuff you were looking at were the details on the loser's side. This data here just gives a basic description on what happens when a match is over. The winner moves up, and the loser drops out." She smirked.
Ruki nodded and watched them type in computer language. There were still many more things she was curious about, but hell, the tournament was only in a week… she could wait.
"Hey, how many people are signed up?" Ruki suddenly asked.
"About 1200. But of course there's still a week left to sign up." Reika answered.
The hours passed by and Ryu never showed up. Yamaki eventually came back, a receipt for 20 computers clutched in his hand, with a smirk on his face. He said that Ryu was at the mechanic's place, the car he was driving got hit on the main freeway. Yamaki had told him to just take the rest of the day off.
"You did what!" Ruki yelled. Yamaki sighed.
"I told him to go home." Ruki gritted her teeth.
"ARG!" she raised her hands in defeat.
Looking at her watch she saw that the time was 1:14. She had about 2 hours and 45 minutes to wander around. She had a few stops she wanted to make so she said her goodbyes and left.
"Hey, I sorta gotta get home so, yeah." Ruki sighed.
"Bye Ruki! Don't forget, Friday!" Alice reminded her.
Ruki nodded, smiled, and left.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"C'mon Ruki 1-2-3-4!" Shannon yelled.
Okay, Ruki thought, twist, turn, move my leg up. Do a 180… and flip!
"OUCH! Riley, what's up!" Ruki exclaimed as she was dropped flat on her ass.
"Huh? Oh sorry Ruki." Riley scratched the back of his head. Before Ruki had a chance to yell at him some more Trevor butted in.
"Hey Ruki explain this to me, if a High Rookie Agumon battles a Low Rookie Veemon how could the Agumon lose?"
Ruki gave him a quizzical look. It wasn't that she didn't understand what he was saying, it was just that she didn't know that Trevor even PLAYED the Digimon Card Game.
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"Riley beat me today, even though my Agumon was so much stronger."
Ruki looked at the clock, 7:53. If there was only 7 minutes left of class Ruki didn't see why it couldn't be wasted on digimon. She looked to Shannon for approval, she shrugged her shoulders. Ruki smiled and looked back at Trevor.
"Well did you have any accentuations added?" Ruki asked him. He nodded.
"Yeah, I put on extra strength while Riley put on extra speed." Ruki shook her head.
"Trevor, how long have you been playing?"
"Oh, that was my first match. Eheh." Ruki nodded.
To her it was obvious where he went wrong. To any experienced card player it was obvious where he went wrong. But… how could she break it to him without hurting his 'oh so precious' ego?
"Well, let's say that two guys were fighting. One had a bigger build and was really strong; the only problem was that he was really slow. The guy he was fighting wasn't as strong, but pretty strong none the less. If this guy is fast enough to dodge the first guy's punches he wouldn't have to worry about getting hurt, all he'd have to worry about would be when to strike at the right moment. Am I making sense?"
"Yeah, so you're saying that strength isn't everything." She nodded.
"EXACTLY!" he looked at her for a moment.
"Hey, Ruki. Battle me." she blinked.
"Are you sure?" she asked tentatively.
It wasn't that Ruki didn't want to battle him, it was just that she was worried about what would happen when he lost. She didn't want to be forced into extra drills for no apparent reason.
"Sure, let's have some fun!" Ruki sighed.
"As you wish."
The two cleared some space on the floor and started the "battle." It lasted about 20 seconds. Trevor gaped as she layed down her final card. Riley and Shannon nodded their heads in respect as they watched their egotistical friend get his ass kicked by someone 2 years younger than him.
"WHAT! I had the whole speed part down kaput!" Trevor blurted.
"Ah, but there's one thing you're missing. Experience." Ruki said wisely.
"Well put." Grandmother joined them. Ruki smiled at her.
"Hey Grandma/Mrs. Makino." They greeted.
"Will you three be staying for dinner?" she asked.
The trio thought it over. It took them no more than 2 seconds to reach a decision.
"YUP!" they replied.
The trio rushed to the kitchen like there was no tomorrow. The food they were fed here were a good 10x better than the stuff they get in their apartment. Shannon may be a great dancer, but she definitely was not a great cook.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When Ruki woke up the next morning she had a plan ready. Last night she was talking to Takato on the phone. He said that his parents had to go to a bakers' convention on the other side of town. He would be at the bakery taking care of everything on his own, she had offered to help him out.
"Takato, are you serious?" she asked
"Yup, my parents are out tomorrow. A simple way to get out of school." He replied.
"Hey… do ya need any help?" she inquired.
"Really? Thanks!" Takato said gratefully.
"What time should I come in?" she asked.
"Oh, around 10:00."
Ruki looked at her clock as she was getting up. It read 9:52. Ruki gasped and started a string of swear words as she got ready. By the time she left the clock read 9:59.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"WHEW! I think I made it." Ruki sighed as she went into the bakery.
"Running late, I see." Came a sudden voice. Startled, Ruki turned around.
"JENRYA! What're you doing here?" she asked.
Jenrya looked away shrugging his shoulders, it was still a mystery to him as to why his mom agreed.
"Hey Mom, Ruki's getting to miss school for this week… can I as well?" Jenrya asked.
"Hmmmm… no." she replied.
"But Mom! I gotta… um… practice!" he tried.
"For what?" she asked.
As Jenrya goes on about the Digimon Card Tournament Shuichon comes out. As Jenrya's rant comes to a close Mother's phone rings, she holds up a finger to Jenrya while she takes the call.
"Jenrya, have your day. I can't afford to have anything on my mind." Jenrya whooped.
"Hey, what about me?" Suzi asked.
"Yeah, sure Shuichon. Have fun." She said detachedly.
Suddenly Shuichon comes back from around the back. She has on an apron and a few flour stains on her face. She immediately brightens up when she sees Ruki.
"Hey Ruki!" she said.
"Suzi, how's it goin?"
"Fine… hey Ruki?" Shuichon started.
"Yeah?"
"Can you teach me how to play the Digimon Card Game?" Ruki looked at her, startled.
It was odd. Ruki would have thought that Jenrya would have at least taught her the basics. After all, Shuichon is a genuine Digimon Tamer.
"Yeah, sure; I guess." The two of them brought out their decks.
Wow, thought Ruki, for someone that's just learning how to play; she sure has one hell of a deck.
"Ok, first there's the attack cards…"
Takato groggily walked into the room, what he saw surprised him to hell's end. Ruki and Suzi were playing with cards, Jenrya was helping himself to a cup of coffee (let's just say that the bakery has coffee, okie dokie!), and there was bread in the oven. Takato blinked as he suddenly wondered how the hell everyone got in.
"Uh, hey guys." Takato said sheepishly.
"Takato!" they yelled simultaneously.
"Me!" he yelled back. The quartette cracked up.
About 20 minutes later the bread was baked, the next batch was in the oven, and the bakery was ready for business. The only thing left to do was assign roles.
"Ok guys, you three have to decide who does what." Takato said.
"What about you?" Ruki asked. Takato chuckled.
"I have to clean the house." He said.
Ruki nodded her head in both sympathy and understanding. Takato's room itself was bad enough, but the entire house would just be terrible for the poor guy. Luckily enough, the house was really the top floor of the bakery… so he didn't have too much to clean.
"So, are we gonna draw straws or something?" Shuichon asked. Jenrya and Ruki shrugged in response.
They made out the straws and drawed. In the end Ruki wound up getting the register, Shuichon got dishes, and Jenrya got sweeping duty. As the trio got to work a familiar face showed up. As she strolled in she noticed the lack of usual workers.
"Hey, where's the baker's son?" she asked. Ruki looked at her.
"HEY! You're that fortune teller lady from the mall!" she exclaimed.
"Oh, hello Ruki. Nice to see you again." She bowed politely.
As Ruki got the lady's bread she couldn't help but notice that she seemed to be looking for something. She had no time to ponder this as she was suddenly bombarded with questions.
"Hey, you're friends with the baker's son, correct?" Ruki blinked.
"Yeah, why?" Ruki asked. The fortune teller blushed.
"Well, you see, I sorta did some matchmaking." Ruki gasped.
"You're the kind old lady Juri was telling me about!"
"Well, yes. I guess that would be me." she smiled.
Jenrya finished sweeping. He looked over to the counter and saw Ruki chatting it up with some old lady. He sighed for no apparent reason; even before he turned around he heard "You done Jen?" escape Ruki's mouth. He nodded in response and walked back to the counter.
"So, what do I do now?" he asked. Ruki shrugged.
"I dunno, go ask Takato." He left. The old lady watched his retreating figure.
"That boy--" she started. Ruki cut her off.
"Sorry, but I don't have any--" this time Ruki got cut off.
"It's on the house." Ruki smiled.
Jenrya came back and said Takato said that he should just help her at the register. Ruki told him to wait a minute; she'd be gone for a moment. Jenrya nodded as the two ladies stepped outside.
"So…" Ruki broke the silence.
"That boy, I feel that you two are close. Closer than just friends, but not as the world perceives. Something in your future tells of him. But this is only one possible path you could take. In your near future you will be faced with a choice, there are two choices for you, both with endless possibilities. If you take the path that I'm now speaking of I assure you… you and that boy will be changed forever. If, you choose this path, you will be faced with yet another choice. This one will involve life and death…"
There was an eerie silence. Then the lady was standing there with that smile on her face.
"Well, Ruki. I'll be seeing you around, bye bye!" The old lady waved, and left.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As Ruki layed down to sleep (I sorta skipped ahead, so yeah) she was suddenly jerked awake by the ringing of her phone. She mumbled a "fuck" before she lifted the receiver to her ears.
"What?" she said grumpilly.
"Hello!" corused two voices.
"Alice? Felix? Why the fuck are you calling me this late?" she asked.
"We just got off work."
"So, what do ya want?" Ruki demanded.
She could literally hear the shrugs that emitted from the duo. Ruki rolled her eyes.
"It's nothin' major, we're just reminding you about tomorrow." Alice said.
"Tomorrow, the skating rink right?" Ruki clarified.
"Yup! You don't have plans, right?" Alice asked menacingly. Ruki remained silent.
"Or do you?" Felix asked curiously. Ruki smirked.
"Don't worry, it's nothing I can't get out of."
Ruki heard the two shrug again. She smiled, the more she thought about it, the more she liked it. The idea of her and Felix being together brought a smile to her face. She didn't know why, but she just felt that the two of them belonged together. The way she felt with him… she had never experienced it before, not even with Ryo.
But then again there was the other side of her brain that wanted her to wait around for Ryo to return. Whenever she'd think of "the feeling" this side of her brain argued that: if she honestly thought it was love, she wouldn't have felt it with Ryo due to her age. Shit, at 11 she wouldn't've known what love was… even if it was staring her in the face.