At the request of many fans, I've decided to make a chaptered thing out of this single story. I might even finish off my series with this, but that's still up in the air. You can expect, as always, to find a lot of sappy Shoujo-ai in this. It's just what I do.
I own none of the characters used in this story, and am merely using them for entertainment purposes. No money has changed hands at all.
Rika and Renamon: Termination?
Chapter 2: One simple wish
By: Gabriel
Time crawled slowly in that room, as Rika's mother Mikino lay sprawled out on the floor, still holding Renamon's love notes to Rika that she'd discovered in Rika's backpack. Rika, Renamon, and Rika's grandmother sat around in Rika's grandmother's room, making small talk and learning more about each other and the events of the last several months. After a while none of them really noticed Mikino still lying on the ground. Eventually, though, she did get up from her faint and the others noticed her then.
"That was a very immature reaction of you, Mikino. Fainting at the sight of your daughter's girlfriend. And what was that you were saying about finding notes in her backpack? Hove you been searching Rika's room?" Grandma glared at Mikino, a withering gaze indeed.
"I-I was just checking her room. She's been so cold and distant. I thought she was involved with something illegal. I was looking for drugs, or booze, or weapons. Something I could handle. Not love letters from some freakish modern day Kitsune trying to steal my little girl!" Mikino pointed a finger at Renamon, nearly touching her on the nose with her well-manicured nail.
"Oh Mikino grow up! You're such a child. I blame all that modeling. Honestly, a grown woman believing in something as childish as the Kitsune."
"What else would you call her, mother? Tempting my little girl with sex and power."
"I have never tempted her with power!" Renamon interjected.
"And what makes you think I need any tempting, when I'm already in love?" Rika added.
"You mean that you..? With her?" Mikino looked between Rika and Renamon, panicked.
"There's nothing wrong with it. We talked about a lot of things while you were out. It's amazing what goes on around us without our being aware."
"Nothing wrong with it? Mother, this is your granddaughter you're talking about here! How can you just sit here and calmly talk with this... thing?"
"Mikino, please. She is a Digimon. And her name is Renamon. Honestly, you are just so out of touch. I think we should tell her about all this, so she can get some clue. Sit down here with us, Mikino. You've got a lot to learn about the world."
Mikino looked around at the small group and slowly walked over to the table with them and sat down at it. "Ok, exactly what is it that I should know."
"Well mother you should know about what Renamon actually is."
"That is correct. I am a Digimon. An artificial life program that spread into the data stream of the Internet and evolved into a variety of different types. Digimon can emerge into the human world by synthesizing all the materials necessary to form a body and then place their data into it. I came into this world because Rika's strength and skill drew me. I wanted the greatest tamer in the entire world and I knew that she was it."
"It's all so very fascinating. The Internet is such an interesting thing. Computers all over the world connected to each other, so that people across the globe can share ideas, pictures, stories, anything. And flowing along with all that are these remarkable creatures. It's amazing when you really think about it." Grandma smiled a little and looked wistful. For such a thing to happen in someone's life. And to learn about it so clearly. Simply good luck.
Mikino looked hard at Renamon, angered at her placid sitting and calm voice. "So you came to this world just to seduce my little girl?"
"Why do you keep assuming that? At first our relationship was purely platonic..."
"No it wasn't, Renamon. It was worse than that. As ashamed as I am to say it, I was terrible. I treated her like a thing and not a living being. I forced her to fight to fulfill my own desires. I was proud when she won, proud of me. I was selfish, egotistical..."
Renamon placed her hand on Rika's head, stroking softly. "Don't be so hard on yourself, Heartbreaker. You couldn't have known..."
Rika shook her head a little. "I admit it. I was terrible. Even when you finally Digivolved for me..."
"Digivolved?" Mikino asked.
"That's when a Digimon changes its form, becoming more powerful." Grandma answered. "I paid very close attention to them while they were explaining. I like to think I'm still sharp enough to pick up on new things."
"Even when she finally Digivolved, I was proud of myself. But at that moment I also felt something strange within me. She almost died trying to protect me, and my wanting her to live, my tender, warm emotions and my acknowledgement of her actually being alive, made her Digivolve. I also began to wonder about why she stayed so close to me. I was terrible to her. I was cold, harsh, and insensitive. And yet she stayed around. It never made any sense. But that sentiment touched me in a way I never realized. Because I started to fall in love with her. But I was afraid of getting close. Afraid that she thought badly of me. Afraid she would reject me. For someone who thought she was strong, I was afraid of a lot. But I shouldn't even be saying any of this. It was much, much worse for Renamon. She suffered because of my selfishness." Rika leaned against Renamon, who wrapped her arms lovingly around her.
"Take your hands off of my daughter!" Mikino screamed, reaching for the two of them.
"Mikino! Enough. Be quiet and listen to them. This is very important. If you really care for Rika as much as you say you do then you should be willing to hear about the most important person in her life, and how that came to be." Grandma would take no crap from her daughter this time. This was important.
"I'll admit, it was rather hard dealing with my Heartbreaker's..." Renamon began.
"Why do you keep referring to her as "Heartbreaker"?" Mikino asked.
"It's a cute term of endearment. I think it's rather lovely." Grandma commented.
"As I was saying, it was a little hard dealing with my Heartbreaker's coldness toward me. At first I thought that that was how it was between humans. But then I discovered that it was not. I rationalized that it was all in the interest of making me Digivolve. But once I did that, it didn't stop. If anything it seemed to get worse and worse. I felt as though I was doing something wrong. I felt unworthy, and very hurt. But in all that time I never felt like saying anything or leaving her. I only left when she pushed me away, and even then I stayed close by. When she came to my aid against Harpymon, and defended me at risk to her own life, I realized that deep down inside she really cared about me. Maybe even loved me. And as you can see, I was certainly right in that respect." Renamon placed her head on Rika's and nuzzled it softly.
"So... how long have you been... involved?" Mikino, shamed by her mother, was more docile now, but was clearly not happy.
"It seems like forever sometimes. Renamon has just completed my life so well. I finally found the one piece missing from my life. The last thing that I needed to really be happy. Someone I could really relate to and who understood me. And what's better, someone who would love me for me, and put up with me though my moods and attitudes." Rika closed her eyes lightly and leaned against Renamon, stroking her fingers through her plush chestruff.
"It just seems natural that we be together. I can't imagine being separated from her for a moment, I really can't. As you saw, even in school I write her notes because she looks so bored there I just have to cheer her up..."
"Ah-HA! You're making Rika fail school!" Mikino was grasping at straws; her ideas about what Renamon was and what she was doing were crumbling like broken pottery.
"Oh honestly mother, I have the highest grade in my class. I hardly pay attention and I still get good grades on tests. School is boring. If I didn't have to go I'd spend my time playing the Digimon card game and being with Renamon."
"Have you ever molested my daughter?"
"Mikino! Now that's enough! Renamon has done no such thing. While she has had relations with Rika, they were not anything abusive or harsh. I believe you said the very first time was mutually agreed upon." Grandma had a level head and just loved putting Mikino in her place, having suppressed the urge to do so when Mikino was trying to turn Rika into a vacuous air headed model like herself.
"That is correct." Renamon replied. "I remember it so well. It was a week after we had each confessed our love and shared our first kiss. We were lying against each other, warm and content. Rika was the one who inquired about it, and I admitted that I was curious about it. That night was simply magical. There were no interruptions at all, and, although we were both so very unsure and clumsy, it was the sweetest, most passionate thing in the world."
"It's hard to put into words what it feels like when your first time is experience upon a bedding of the warmest, softest fur you've ever felt." Rika blushed softly and snuggled warmly against Renamon, working her fingers into her fur.
"See Mikino? Nothing dangerous or terrible about it. It's all very sweet and tender. It's too bad you were unconscious during the entire discussion we had. You could have learned a lot, and you could have avoided embarrassment by learning that things aren't the way you think they are."
"Mother how can you be so calm? Rika is in love with another girl! A woman in fact. I think... And she's not even human! My only child is a lesbian, at such a young age. And you're not even getting miffed."
"Why should I? Would you prefer her dating older boys, staying out until all hours and making you grandchildren before you're old enough to look it? Is that what you want?"
"No! I just want her to be normal."
"That was normal for you, except for the child part. At least you waited for a little bit with that. I'll still never know how you managed, seeing as how I found boys in your room almost twice a week."
"Mother, really, this is neither the time nor the place to discuss something like that."
"Oh but that's where you're wrong. This is the perfect time and place. As long as you're trying to shame Rika and Renamon, while claiming some kind of moral high ground, it's important to keep in mind just what kind of ground you're on."
"Please, Ms. Nonaka. I would like you to understand that I really do adore your daughter with all my heart, and I am not the type to make such oaths lightly. But if you cannot understand, that is your own choice. You can feel however you want, but you have no right to tell Rika who she can and cannot be in love with." Renamon held Rika protectively, stroking the girl's hair.
"She's got a point Mikino. Rika is your daughter, not you plaything. If she's in love, then she's in love. If you don't like it, then you can just not see her. But I will not reject her, or my new granddaughter-in-law." Grandma smiled a little. "It sounds so funny to say it, but it's a nice thought."
"You're simply hopeless mother." Rika commented with a sniff. "I think you're the only one in this room who has any negative comments at all about my relationship with Renamon."
"I'm certainly entitled to my opinions." Mikino said simply.
"That's true, you are. However, you cannot use those opinions as law to dominate your daughter and her relationship. You may express your dissatisfaction, but you can't do anything about it. And now that I know, I promise you I'll keep these two from your intolerance." Grandma looked really determined.
Mikino lifted her hands and held them in front of her in a gesture of calming. "Ok, ok. You win. I'll try to be a little more tolerant of... fox... thing... mon."
"Renamon, mother. Re-na-mon." Rika enunciated for the benefit of her mother.
"Renamon. Right. Whatever. I won't be a pain or anything like that. I'll just let you do your thing. Just try not to do it where someone might see you." With that Mikino stood up and made her way out of the room, not looking back at any of them.
"That was easier than I thought. Looks like everything is going to be alright." Rika said, leaning against Renamon.
"I don't think it's over, Rika. Mikino might be a ditz, but she's very headstrong. I can't help but winder what she's planning." Grandma quietly said, looking out the door of her room as though Mikino was still there.
"That's right, just one." A week later Mikino was still putting up with Rika and Renamon's relationship, but it was driving her crazy that she could do nothing about it. Every hind she dropped was ignored or rejected. Every time Mikino mentioned nice boys Rika would always comment that they seemed too young for Mikino. Now she was desperate enough to do anything that could help. No matter what it might be. "I understand. I can pay for a full year if that's what it will take." She'd thought of many, many different things, trying to puzzle out the perfect way to separate the two of them and then fix each one. But with her mother eyeing her like a hawk, Mikino had to tread lightly, and only worked on her ideas in her spare time. "Do anything you want, just don't injure her. I realize that's rather hard, but please keep that in mind. I don't want her hurt." She'd finally worked out a way to take care of both of them, and it was so simple.
Taking care of Rika wouldn't be a problem. The answer was as close as the nearest phonebook. A little searching and she'd found what she needed. Renamon was another problem. It seemed as though there was no solution, until one day she was alone in the park. She was sitting on a bench staring at the ground, trying to think of what he could do. Then a shadow had moved itself to over hers and she could feel someone there. She lifted her head to find a blond man in a dark suit. He was wearing sunglasses and clicking a lighter open and closed.
"Ms. Nonaka?"
Mikino had almost not responded but something about him just made her want to answer. "Yes."
"Your daughter's name is Rika, is it not?"
"Yes it is."
"Your daughter is involved in a very dangerous game. Dangerous to her and all of humanity. She refuses to see, but I'm sure you do."
Mikino wasn't sure what this man really meant, but what he said certainly made sense. "She just won't listen to me. She refuses to just drop all this nonsense and move on. My mother is no help; she just encourages Rika in this."
"Well, if you ever feel that you need some help with this problem, just call this number. Ask for the name on the card." He'd handed her a card and while she was looking down to read it the man had vanished.
Mikino returned her thoughts to the conversation she was involved with. "Come and get her this Sunday night, after sunset. I'll leave the front door open. Don't think twice about anything you see. Thank you. Good bye." Mikino placed the phone back for just a moment while she retrieved the card, which she had looked at a thousand times. She kept it in front of her as she dialed the number, though she had memorized almost as soon as she had gotten it. It only rang twice before she was greeted by a flat female voice. Mikino looked over the card again, which lay atop a timetable she'd drawn up. "Let me speak to Yamaki please..."
Sunday night had finally come. It seemed like an average, ordinary Sunday. Mikino, Rika, Grandma and Renamon were around the table, eating dinner. Rika and Grandma were talking animatedly about new things they planned to do with the computer once they got the money. Renamon occasionally chipped in with advice about something they spoke about. Mikino just ate in silence and watched the clock as it ticked away towards fate.
"Why so quiet tonight, Mikino? You're not usually this silent." Grandma looked up from her bowl of rice and snapper.
"Yea, usually you'd at least mention young boys you've seen, or talk about some obscure and questionable "fact" about lesbians." Rika added, taking a biter of her cucumber roll.
Renamon quietly slurped down a bowl of miso soup, not as much of a pig as Gillmon, but still needing to eat. Something didn't feel right, but she couldn't say so without any concrete evidence. Feelings count for little at times. There was just something about the way Mikino looked at the clock, and how she seemed so anxious.
Mikino smiled a smile that looked real, but hid a little nervousness behind it. "What can I say? It's just a quiet night."
The meal went on without incident for a little while longer. Then the front door fairly burst open, giving entrance to two rather large men in white coats. They hardly looked around at all, but instead went right for Rika, grabbing her arms and starting to haul her away.
"What is the meaning of this?!" Grandma screamed, standing up immediately.
"Put her down now or you'll deal with me!" Renamon screamed, leaping up onto the table and assuming a fighting stance.
"Sorry lady, we got orders to do this." One of the men said, both of them continuing to drag a struggling Rika away.
"Renamon!" Rika gave a mighty twist of her body, trying to escape from the clutches of the men, but she halted as she saw someone familiar standing in the front door. "You! This is your doing!"
Yamaki just smiled a cold little smile. "No, I'm afraid not. I'm not here for you. I'm here for your Digimon."
"Renamon! Run!" Rika continued to squirm and struggle, but was no match for the men dragging her away.
"Mikino what have you done?" Grandma screamed at her daughter, as a quiet dinner became chaos.
"I had to do it, mother. I couldn't let my little girl end up like that. She's just being taken to a deprogramming center. They'll remove her sick lust for women. As for that thing, I'm having her taken away. That man over there is some kind of Digimon expert, he'll take care of the kitsune." Mikino seemed calm, too calm. She was acting like nothing was happening.
Renamon was holding back, waiting for an opening to strike when she wouldn't hurt Rika. She heard Rika scream for her to run, but she did not. She had sworn to defend her, and would. But before she could, she felt a sharp, burning pain in her side, and she dropped to one knee. Beside her was a lab-coated young man holding a cattle prod. On the other side of Renamon was another. This time they both jabbed her in the sides, forcing her down flat.
"This is madness Mikino. You've finally lost it!" Grandma grabbed her daughter by the shoulders, but she just retained her same expression.
"You just don't understand mother. It's all for Rika's own good."
Rika was dragged away to an unmarked van and tossed into the back, where she was quickly locked in. She screamed and struggled with the door for a while before she finally gave up and lay back against one of the walls, looking up through a window at the stars.
Renamon was also dragged away to a van, a plain white one. She was thrown into a cage in the back, stunned and barely able to move. She turned her head a little bit to look out through the links of the cage to the window, through which she could see the stars she loved so much.
Rika started crying as the van began to move, taking her away from her home and her love.
Renamon lightly began to cry, stirring more and more as she got over the shocks.
As the vans drove on into the night, away from each other, both Rika and Renamon began to whisper, thinking the same thought. "I wish so dearly..." They each whispered.
"I wish that Rika would be safe." Renamon quietly said to the stars, even as she heard Yamaki telling her of his plans to destroy her.
"I wish that Renamon would be safe." Rika silently wished, even as one of the men explained she would be deprogrammed according to her mother's wishes.
Back at the house, Mikino was calmly cleaning up the house, acting as though everything was fine and dandy. Grandma, however, had gone back to her room, devastated. In a matter of minutes life had altered itself from a peaceful normalcy that had seemed to exist longer than the week and a half it had. She knelt at her low table, staring out of her window into the night. What had Rika said? "Night is special. It was the only thing that had known about us." She shook her head a little bit. "I wish that they will both be alright, and will be reunited in love..."
~Owari~
