Chapter 13: Humility
"Good thing I wore flats…" Rika thought, looking down at her ballet-style shoes.
"Alright, pretty boy, bring it!" Rika yelled.
Ryo smiled. "You got it princess."
But Ryo wasn't smiling inside. He looked over at Takato, anger fading fast.
"I feel like a jerk…" he thought. "I thought I got over this during my tamer days. I guess when I saw Rika again, I thought I could get at her. But I acted like a child. Meanwhile Takato there…He's grown I mean, he's never thrown a punch at someone before, but he's been more serious and confident. I didn't even know he danced."
Ryo looked back at Rika.
"Rika…" he started. He then whispered something in her ear.
Rika's eyes widened. "What? You sure didn't sound like this bef—"
"I know." Ryo said. "But I shouldn't have started this anyway."
Rika shrugged, grinning. "Whatever, let's just finish this."
Takato looked from his seat, nursing his leg cramp.
"You can do it Rika…" He thought.
"She'll be fine Takato." Jeri said, sitting next to him. "She learned from you after all."
Takato couldn't help but smirk. "True, from the best."
She rolled her eyes smiling. "Go Rika!" She yelled.
Alright people it's time for the matchup of a lifetime! Rika vs Ryo! This time, you'll be dancing at the same time!" The DJ yelled out.
They both nodded, and turned back to each other.
"Alright ready? GO!" Pressing the play button, the song blared on all over the club.
Takato's eyes widened. "That song! That song has no lyrics!"
Henry caught Takato's looked and shrugged.
"She'll be fine." He said. "Quit worrying."
He sighed and fell back into his seat.
"Get em' Rika!" Takato yelled.
The song, was "Sandstorm" by Darude.
(A/N If the title doesn't ring a bell, I'm pretty sure the tune does. Look it up and you'll see what I mean.)
Immediately, both Rika and Ryo started dancing.
"No lyrics…" Rika thought. "Not gonna stop me…"
The song brought everyone else to start jumping up and down.
Ryo got down and started break dancing!
"Whoa!" Rika thought. "He really is good!"
"I didn't know he could do that!" Takato thought, surprised.
Rika countered by doing a spin and doing a half handstand, then landing on her feet gracefully. Cheers erupted for both sides. Soon, the song reached its moderate intermission.
"So you are good…" Ryo acknowledged.
"Course I am." Rika replied cheekily.
For the first time, Ryo laughed, smiling genuinely.
The song started back up and they went at it again.
Rika then saw Ryo get on the ground and do the worm.
"What the hell is that!" Rika thought, nonplussed
(A/N if you're unsure, YouTube will save me, ha ha.)
More screams erupted from the crowd. After Ryo got back up, Rika did another spin, then did something that caught even Takato by surprise.
Rika jumped…and did a back flip! She then landed on her feet. (Albeit took a step back to regain her balance.)
"What! NO WAY!" Takato yelled in his mind. "She back flipped!"
Yells made were sent to the forefront of the dance floor, no one could believe what just happened.
Then, the song grinded to a halt, ending the upbeat tune.
"Whoa baby!" The DJ yelled "Any of you people seen that! Well I guess it's time for the vote! Who thinks Rika should win!"
A large earthquake of screaming facilitated from the audience.
"Whoa!" the DJ yelled again. "And how about Ryo!"
The room erupted again in yells and screams.
"Man oh man! Tough decision…" the DJ called. "Well I think this'll be a first, but it's a TIE!"
Gasps came from the other tamers.
"Tie!" Takato thought. "I know this is no formal competition but…"
Unfortunately he couldn't find a reason for it not to be tied. The cheers were equal to his ears.
"Come on!" Jeri protested. "You can't just have a tie!""I don't know Jeri…" Henry suggested. "The cheers were pretty equal."
Rika walked back to them. "Sorry guys, I didn't win."
"Well you didn't lose either." Takato replied. "You did great! I mean, how did you back flip!"
Rika smiled. "Gymnastics. My mother's fault; she wanted me to stay in shape so I could be a 'model.'"
Takato gave her a hug. "Well they worked out didn't they?"
Rika's smile grew. "I guess so! Besides, remember what you told me during our lessons?"
FLASHBACK
"One thing you must know about dancing, is that the dancer, has his or her own style." Takato said. "Simply because we're all different. We as people tend to take snippets of other things we're good at and incorporate it into our songs. This way, we get our own particular style."
"You mean..." Rika started. "That people get their own styles by adding in things from other things they know?"
"Yeah exactly." Takato said. So are you ready?
She nodded.
"Alright then. I'm going to split up the genres into multiple sections." Takato said. I'm going to do "Detailed, Upbeat, Flirt, and Love…."
"Ahhh." Takato acknowledged. "You remembered!"
Rika nodded, snickering. "Of course I did!"
Takato ran a hand over his leg; feeling nothing, he stood up and walked around.
"Great! My cramp is gone!" He said happily. "I can dance again!"
"Oy Takato!"
Takato turned, and Ryo was standing there.
"What do you want?" He asked, annoyed.
"Easy." Ryo replied calmly. "I'd like to apologize."
Takato raised an eyebrow. "For?"
"For being a real jerk to you when I saw you guys." He said. "Look we're all older, and we've all grown. I've grown too, but I acted real childish around you guys, and I shouldn't have said what I said that day."
Takato beamed, reaching out his hand. "Apology accepted."
"Eh?" Ryo balked. "That's it?"
He laughed. "Of course, I don't like to hold grudges, they give me hernias."
Ryo laughed back. "Good one."
They shook hands. "However…" he started.
"Huh?" Takato wondered.
"Our competition isn't over yet." Ryo said firmly. "Your leg is fine now. So how about one last round, winner take all?"
Takato grinned. "You're on!"
Rika walked over to them. "You guys are idiots."
"What?" They both said together.
"Just settle this already!" She commanded.
Both boys nodded, and walked over to the DJ.
"Alright folks, it looks like we have time for one more round!" The DJ yelled out.
The crowd cheered, and gathered around the dance floor.
"Alright you too, same as last round, dance at the same time." He said. Are you both ready?"
"Ready!" Takato called.
"Always." Ryo said.
"GO!" Picking the song, the song blared on.
Rika's eyes widened.
"Full circle…We've come full circle!" she thought. "Coincidence much?"
The song "Billy Jean" by Michael Jackson blared on.
"The song that I showed her that I can dance..." Takato thought. "Guess it's full circle!"
She was more like a beauty queen from a movie screen
I said, don't mind, but what do you mean I am the one
Who will dance on the floor in the round…
Takato smiled. "Sweet."
Ryo smiled too. "Awesome."
Takato did a spin, and moved his feet to the beat.
Ryo, in response, used his break dancing to spin on the floor, attracting cheers from some of the girls.
It went back and forth, each one pulling off great moves, until a certain part of the song came on…
Billy Jean is not my lover
She's just a girl who
Says that I am the one
But the kid is not my son
She hee hee…
When the instrumental part of the song came on, Takato kicked into overdrive. He did a long spin,
Hey!
Leg kicked,
Hoo!
Then turned, and moon walked
"What!" Rika yelled in her mind. "He did it again!"
A loud roar escaped the crowd. Even Ryo was stunned.
"He did the moonwalk!" Ryo thought, stunned. "He really knows his stuff!"
By that point, it was over, and Ryo knew it.
Billy Jean is not my lover
Billy Jean is not my lover…
A loud roar of cheers went up, along with a hefty load of clapping. Eventually, both Ryo and Takato made their way back to the other tamers.
"Hey I'll meet you there ok?" he said.
"Alright." Takato said. With that, Ryo turned and left.
"Arrgh." Takato groaned falling into a chair. "I'm tired."
"You did great Takato!" Jeri squealed. "How did you moon walk!"
"Walked…backwards…forwards…" Takato slurred. Quickly shaking his head, he felt his forehead.
"God I am sweating a lot. Are you guys tired too?"
Laughter followed, and they decided this night was over.
"Hey, where's Ryo?" Henry asked.
Rika looked, and grinned.
"Over there." She said, pointing to the bar.
Everyone looked, and he was talking to a girl with moderate long hair.
"Figures." Takato said. "Let's just go home."
Rika smiled. "Let's."
A little order of business here. First of all: I DO NOT HATE RYO. He's not a bad character, and yes I did bash on him a little bit here, but I don't truly believe in someone being punished right at the end; at least most of the time. I just did it to add some heat to the chapter. Overdid it? Maybe. But that's for you to decide! One chapter left people!