A/N: We don't own Digimon. We just… like it very much. ^. ^; Gorsh… We can be scary together… Oh, and, this is AU. So don't expect this following through with the series in any way.
—rukimakino and GataFairy, the dangerous duet!
Chapter 1: Pictures and Secrets
Makino Ruki's violet eyes focused on the picture of her mother at her high school dance. She was standing close, very close, to a tall blonde teen boy. Scribbled on the paper below the page, in her mother's handwriting, was a comment on the picture: "Mitsuo and I, high school dance." 'Who's Mitsuo? He sort of looks familiar…' Ruki thought.
Turning the page, her eyes fell on a picture of her mother and Mitsuo kissing. No writing below it except "No comments needed."
A small smile appeared on Ruki's lips. Further and further into the album she looked until she came upon a picture of her mother, apparently that same year. It was ripped on the left side. The ten-year-old turned the page and saw a picture of Mitsuo, ripped on the right side. "His name is Yamaki, and I never want to see him again!" Ruki's brow furrowed. She wondered what could've happened to make her mother make such a decision. She looked so happy with him a few pages back…
Ruki closed the book, leaving her fingers in it as bookmarks as she walked to Makino Rumiko's room. Sliding the door open with her free hand, she allowed herself to go into her mother's room. They had grown closer now that Ruki wasn't so cold to her.
"Mom?" Ruki asked.
"Yes, dear?" Rumiko asked, smiling softly at her redhead daughter.
Ruki walked to her mother and knelt down beside her, opening the photo album on the floor. She pointed to the picture of her and Mitsuo standing together.
"Who is that?" she asked.
Rumiko frowned slightly and let out a hummed sigh. "That's… He was working with decorations… um… We… asked a few people that had graduated years ago from the same school to come help decorate. He was early… months early… and…" She smiled at Ruki; the girl's eyes were alert. "I liked him. You'll know what that's like someday."
Ruki rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah…" She turned to the next page, skipping the picture of Rumiko and Mitsuo kissing, heading straight for the broken ones. "Why are these two pictures broken?" she asked, turning the pages for her mother to see them both.
Rumiko didn't hide an angry look. "That's… That's something you may not understand now—"
"Mom!" Ruki interrupted sternly. She retracted, knowing she was being rude, and continued more respectfully. "Mom, I want to know. He seems so nice… and you were happy in the other pictures…"
Rumiko sighed heavily.
"All right," she said. "He and I… well… We liked each other, but his parents didn't exactly want that. They'd… I think 'chosen someone for him' is the right way to say it. Anyway, I was so mad at him for not doing what he wanted…" She let out a shaky sigh. "I haven't heard from him since then."
Just then, the phone rang, before Ruki had a chance to ask another question. The girl excused herself and went to answer the phone.
"Moshi moshi, Makino residence," Ruki "greeted" in a monotone voice.
"Hi, Ruki. This is Lee."
"So I noticed," replied Ruki with a hint of sarcasm.
"Listen, there's something I've been meaning to ask."
"Yeah? What is it?"
"I was going to ask if you wanted to see uh— this play. Well, that is, if you want to. It's about a man who murders someone, but the police doesn't know who he is. It's called Death Penalty."
Ruki thought for a moment, then asked, "When?"
"This Sunday at eight PM," Lee said.
"Okay, I'll see if Mom will let me go. I'll call you back. Ja." Ruki hung up the phone, a little happier after Lee called.
Ruki asked her mother if she could go, and, of course, Rumiko became all excited about her daughter's first date. Ruki rolled her eyes and said, "Mom, this isn't a date. We're just going to see a play."
The blonde rolled her eyes, mocking her daughter, and said, "Riiiight. Exactly what I said to your grandmother when I went out on my first date."
Ruki couldn't help laughing at that remark. The smile didn't seem to want to leave as she dialed Lee's number.