Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations I put them in. Everything else belongs to somebody else so just remember to give credit and flames where they're due. Thanks to all my readers out there and thanks very much for all the reviews! Sorry this took so long, school and two jobs suck.
A Memorable Send Off
It didn't take long for Ryo to start second guessing his decision to meet with Kei. In fact, he was calling himself an idiot five minutes after he'd made the call. The only thing keeping him from calling and backing off was the fact that there was no way he was going to chicken out in front of Rika's male friend and protector. No, it was pretty obvious that they were going to have to meet sooner or later. Better to get it over with now than have to live in suspense as to when it would happen. If Rika really meant as much to this Kei person as Rumiko had suggested than there really was no way Kei wouldn't see to it that they crossed paths. So he was stuck and spent the waiting time listing all the reasons why he could get out of the meeting as quickly as possible. He'd reached a hundred and six by the time the appointed hour had arrived and it was time to head in. Walking into the restaurant Ryo looked around but didn't spot anyone that made him think that he might be his early dinner guest. All he had to go on was early twenties, half Chinese and meaner than Rika. That wasn't a hell of a lot to go on. The hairs on the back of his neck suddenly standing up Ryo slowly turned around, his dark eyes meeting even darker ones as the older man came through the door, alone. The two sizing each other up Ryo could see how someone could mistaken the other man for harmless right up until you got to the eyes. It was all about the eyes.
Well at least he had the guts to look him right in the eye, was Kei's thought as he held the gaze of the man he was now sure was Rika's boyfriend. She'd refused to give him the guy's name before but the boyfriend had been kind enough to fill him in on that little detail. He hadn't needed to look the name up, he already knew more than enough about the former Digimon King. He'd made it his business to know all about Rika's friends. This one would have had his ass handed to him on a platter if he'd been in that parking lot, Kei thought as he moved forward, bringing his hand up to shake. No surprise there. "Mr. Akiyama."
"Ryo fine." Taking the hand Ryo shook it firmly, studying the other man as closely as he himself was being studied. And wasn't that just great, the two of them sizing each other up like a couple of dogs with a bone between them, Ryo thought, a small smirk crossing his features at the imagery. "May I call you Kei? I'm pretty sure I'd just mangle your last name if I tried."
"Please do." Letting go of the hand Kei decided that he could possibly tolerate this choice of Rika's, depending on how the rest of the meeting went. He had a good hand shake and he looked you in the eye when he was speaking, both good indicators as to the sort of man he was. "Shall we go find a table?"
"I booked us one." In between ranting about my stupidity, Ryo added silently to himself as they both walked over to the hostess who quickly had them seated off in a corner by themselves, the hour being too early for most would be diners. Taking their seats they ordered their drinks, waiting until the waitress had gone before they got down to business.
"So what is it exactly that you want to talk to me about?" Kei asked lacing his fingers in front of him with an unreadable expression on his face. Might as well get straight to the point after all. That way he'd know whether or not to order something to eat, not that he was entirely sure he wanted to eat something after getting a good look at the interior of the place. It left more than a little to be desired. He'd eaten at worse though.
"I actually keep changing my mind about that." Was Ryo's blunt reply, doing his best not to be intimidated which was not an easy thing when you were dealing with a member of the Chinese mob. This guy could make a fortune scaring the hell out of people with his eyes alone. They were like magnets, making you look into them even when you wanted desperately to look away. Freaky.
"Well obviously it has to do with Rika. She mentioned me to you?"
"In a manner of speaking." Briefly outlining what had happened with Yamaki bugging the Tamers it was clear that Kei was more amused by the whole thing than worried about the possible repercussions of his actions caught on tape.
"My but I bet she's quite pissed off at the moment." Kei commented dryly, turning his head as the waitress came over to deliver his water and Ryo's soda. Thanking her politely and asking her to come back in a few minutes for their orders Kei lifted the glass and studied it before he put it to his lips and took a sip. A small step up from tap water, he thought, drinking it anyway. He got the feeling they'd be doing quite a bit of talking once the boy got to the point of this whole meeting.
"I wouldn't know. I left Hypnos without seeing her."
"Ah." Interesting, Kei thought, turning that over in his head. He wouldn't say it was from lack of caring, quite the opposite in fact. "Worried as to what you might say, perhaps?"
"What's your relationship with Rika?" Ryo blurted out, cursing under his breath as soon as the words had left his lips. "Dammit, that's not the way I meant to phrase it."
"But that is what you wanted to know." He'd wondered as much, especially now that he knew quite a number of people had overheard that conversation in the parking lot. Looking back, there were more than a few things that could be taken the wrong way, especially from someone who didn't know him very well. Very few people did. "And the answer is no, I'm not interested in her in the way you're insinuating. My feelings for her are platonic, she holds no appeal to me in that regard."
"I thought so. I figured I wouldn't be in one piece if you were interested in her that way. You don't strike me as the sharing type." Was Ryo's dry comment, his shoulders slumping slightly in relief. He hadn't thought Rika would cheat on him, she just wasn't the sort of person that would do that, especially given what she'd gone through with her own father. He had been concerned about Kei having more romantic feelings than Rumiko had realized though. The last thing he wanted to do was get into a fight with the mob over Rika. Not that she wasn't worth it, but still...
"No, I don't." Kei agreed with a slight nod of his head. Now that they had that major hurdle crossed he figured it was safe to assume that they'd be remaining for a meal. Picking up the yet untouched menu Kei opened it. "Any suggestions?"
"Just stay away from the seafood."
Both turning their attention to their menus neither spoke again until the waitress came over to get their orders. Both ordering pasta they handed over their menus, unsure now just what they should say. For Kei's part he didn't want to piss Rika off anymore than she already was and though he would risk her wrath if necessary he didn't think it was in this case. At least not yet anyway. On Ryo's side he didn't want to piss Kei off because everything that came to mind to ask could probably be taken the wrong way and he had no doubt the guy could seriously kick his ass without breathing hard.
"So you're going to be a doctor." Ryo finally settled on, hoping this was safe ground to tread on. "Why did you decide to go into medicine?"
"A surgeon actually. I enjoy cutting things." Watching the blood drain from the younger man's face Kei couldn't help it, he had to laugh. Chuckling for a moment there was the faintest of grin on his face as he continued. "I do wait until the person needs said cutting first though. I rarely carry a blade with me at all."
"Good to know." Was all Ryo could think to say to that.
Amused Kei decided to question Ryo until the food got there, doing so mercilessly as they covered nearly every area of Ryo's life with a thoroughness that would have done any seasoned cop proud. It was the eyes, Ryo thought dimly. Once you looked into them you were trapped until he was ready to let you go. Scary.
Finally the food came and looking down at their plates then back at each other they shared a mutual look of 'I can't eat this'. "Uhmmm...suddenly I've lost my appetite. Apparently this place has gotten a whole lot worse since my high school days." Ryo said weakly, pushing the plate of overcooked noodles away from him.
"Shall we leave than and find somewhere else to eat?" Kei asked, already reaching into his pocket for his wallet to pay his half of this disgusting mess.
"Yeah, oh and don't worry about it, I'm paying." Setting the appropriate money on the table with a good sized tip Ryo gave Kei a weary smile. "My bad choice after all."
"If you wish. Then the next meal is on me. I know the perfect place."
"Ah yeah, sure." Well he was in a fine pickle now, Ryo thought as the two headed out, a limo pulling up as if by magic as soon as they were out on the street. The chauffeur coming out to hold the door for them Ryo slid in after Kei, looking around with interest at the interior. Crime definitely paid in this case, he thought as he took in all the extras the limo had been fitted for. Everything but the kitchen sink and that could just be hidden under one of the seats, Ryo thought with a grin as they started to move. "So where are we going to dinner?"
"My house."
"Oh."
The next day Rika was at the Akiyama house by noon, having only an hour before she was to be home and back under house arrest. The relief over being alive was fading quickly thanks to the sudden tag teaming of her parents who really did seem to be enjoying devise all sorts of terrible ways to make her miserable. Being alive suddenly wasn't so great anymore. But at least they'd let her come over for an hour since Ryo wasn't answering any of her phone calls, text messages or e-mails. She'd called first and Ryo's dad had said he was in his room and that he'd stall him for her if necessary. He was really such a nice guy, Rika thought with a nervous smile, rocking back on her heels as she waited for Ryo's dad to come to the door. She shouldn't be so nervous, since this was Ryo, but she was. Apparently he was beyond mad at her and he'd never been more than a little mad at her before. But he loved her, so he had to forgive her, right? It was one of those couple rules she didn't know. The door opening Rika gave a little wave. "He's still here?"
"Hasn't moved a muscle as far as I can tell. He came in pretty late last night." Shin explained as he closed the door behind her. "I don't know where he was but I heard him come shuffling in around two in the morning."
"Oh." That probably wasn't a good sign. What had he been doing until two in the morning?
"Well go on in, I'll come in and remind you when it's time for you to go so that you'll get back before curfew." Shin added with a wink though he could sympathize with Rika, he sympathized with Rumiko a hell of a lot more. He'd do the same in Ryo's case after all.
"Gee, thanks." Rolling her eyes at him Rika slipped out of her shoes and headed straight to Ryo's room, knocking on the door with a couple of good whacks. When nothing happen she tried it again with no result. Well she definitely didn't have time for this, Rika thought as she reached down and turning the knob opened the door and stepped in. The room she'd helped him clean was back to its former messy glory, Rika thought with a smirk as she waded through the clothes and junk to the bed where Ryo was sprawled out, his face turned away from her. Leaning over she shook his shoulder, gradually increasing the strength behind it when he just continued to snooze away, seemingly unaware of her presence. If there was one thing she hated, it was being ignored. Forgetting her worries for the moment Rika grabbed the sheet and whipped it off him, intending to tickle him awake only to discover something completely unexpected. "OH MY GOD!"
Slapping her hands over her eyes Rika's face went as bright as Guilmon at the discovery that her boyfriend wasn't wearing anything but that sheet. Peeking through her fingers she confirmed that yes, her eyes weren't deceiving her and that yes, Ryo's ass was even cuter than she'd thought it would be. And this was so stupid, she was from generations of clothing models, nudity didn't bother her. She'd seen plenty of male models with very little on, no big deal there. But this was Ryo, she thought with a groan, eyes dropping to the floor where the sheet lay discarded. Grabbing it Rika kept one hand over her eyes and the other on the sheet as she tried to re-throw it over him, this taking more than a couple of tries before success. After being completely sure he was covered from the waist down Rika removed her hand and stood there, unsure what to do now. Watching him in silence for several moment she finally accepted there was no way getting around it and sitting down on the side of the bed did some more serious shaking. Finally, he groaned and turned his head towards her, revealing a darkening bruise on his left cheek as his eyes slowly fluttered open to look at her.
"Rika?" Blinking away the sleep Ryo slowly got up, his eyes widening when she gave a little shriek and closed her eyes, her hands over them for added measure. "What?"
"Sheet."
Confused Ryo looked down, his brain finally kicking in enough to understand. His cheeks going pink he quickly pulled the sheet around his waist, cursing under his breath and not just because of the sheet. God he was sore, Ryo thought, trying to remember why that was. Then he did and gave added a groan to the curses. "Sorry." He muttered as an afterthought.
Taking that to mean the coast was clear Rika uncovered her eyes. Checking out the view Rika saw a few more bruises scattered over that very yummy chest, nothing that looked too serious but still. "Did you get into a bar fight?" It was faint, but she could definitely smell something alcoholic on his breath.
"No, not exactly." Was his dry response as he gingerly fingered the bruise on his cheek. That one hurt the worst, ironically it being the one Kei hadn't meant to give him. Late last night was mostly a blur in some areas but he definitely remembered this one.
"But you've been drinking." She prompted, crossing her arms in front of her as her eyes narrowed dangerously. "Didn't your father ever tell you that drinking doesn't solve problems, it just adds to them?"
"Didn't anyone ever tell you not to go to the wrong side of town and pick fights with people that could snap you like a toothpick?" Was his nasty response, finding that despite Kei's miracle cure he had somewhat of a headache. Damn.
"Point taken."
Looking her straight in the eye Ryo tried to remember everything Kei had suggested before they'd gotten into that second bottle of vodka. Kei knew a lot about handling Rika and it had been very interesting to hear the older man's theories on his wildcat. Very educational too. "You know I'm seriously pissed off at you, right?"
"Kinda hard to miss." Was her sarcastic reply, Rika biting the bottom of her lip as she winced, knowing that that hadn't been the way to phrase it. "I mean yeah, I know that you're justifiably pissed off at me. I figure you're going to be pretty mad at me for a while right?"
"Pretty much, yeah."
"Well that sorta works since it looks like I'm going to be grounded for a very long time. You going to wait for me, sailor?" Rika asked hesitantly, showing her hands into her pockets as she watched him uncertainly, waiting for him to respond. She could take him being angry at her so long as he didn't dump her over it. If he dumped her, and ended up with someone else, she'd have to kill him. Of course she'd be really sorry afterwards. Probably. Turns out, she was a really possessive girlfriend.
"Is this the part where you pull the old "I'm going off to war and I might never come back so if you really love me you'll give me a memorable sendoff' routine?"
Blinking slowly Rika gapped at him than with a delighted laugh hurled herself into his arms, locking her arms around his neck as she nuzzled her cheek against his unshaven one. "You need a shower." She informed him with a laugh, hanging on tight.
"Care to join me?"
"You've got enough bruises as it is, pal. Don't make me add to them."
