Twin Times.
Chapter three.
===
The weekend over, Rika had calmed down somewhat, altough she was always on edge. She had snapped two more times over the duration, and it was wearing on her. As she walked home from school today, her mind worked like crazy. It was never well-orginized however, and she kept coming back to square one.
Allright, I KNow it's silly, it's ridiculous even. Still I can't concentrate because of it. I bet I've lost two grades today because of it. Maybe if I shifted my mind foucus...lesse, oh, those are some rather pretty butterflies...interesting, they've got purple wings with yellow spots...if that was reversed, they'd look like Butterflymon...ahh, people should enjoy butterflies more often...unless they followed you around everywhere, or they stuck around your face, then I'd...
AAUUUGGHH! I'm doing it! Not think About the character girl, and I start thinking Like her! It doesn't make any sense!!
"Rika?"
She stopped in her tracks.
The voice that had said that was low, mature, intellegent...and female.
"Is there something wrong?"
Expecting the worse, she slowly turned around, fully expecting to see a yellow bipedal fox.
Standing behind her was...a blond woman leaning against a wall.
Rika let out the breath she didn't know she had been holding. That's right, I've forgotten that Vivi usually walks home with me.
Although her hair was yellow, and her eyes blue, Vivi Frontires was NOt the bubblehead most anybody would think if they saw her. She cut her hair short, and wore black pants and A knitted sweatshirt. Sometimes, she would wear a beret as well. It would strike one that you would find her in a coffehouse or jazz club in that getup. And sometimes, she was.
She stepped out of the shadows and walked towards Rika. "You seem disturbed today. Perhaps you want to talk?"
The short girl shook her head quickly. "No, it's nothing...it's just that, you sounded like someone else for a moment."
Vivi blinked. "But I always sound this way."
Her eyes widened. That was right, her voice was always like that. Angry or sad, she couldn't make herself sound like anyone else...
Now she was doing it, and didn't even realize it.
"Ummm, okay." Rika simply replied, and walked on.
As they went through downtown, the silence between them was apparant. Vivi would start on a new poem she'd written, or tell Rika what she'd found on the net, since she had gone on that strike. Today, the redhead only listened with half a heart.
"Are you Sure you're all right?"
"...Yes..."
"Okay...I found out that I'm liking anime this week."
Rika turned her head to face her friend. "Really?"
"Yeah, One series intrigues me greatly. Although I've already missed two seasons of it, and the third premired this weekend..."
The blue backback suddenly fell to the ground...
"You...saw it??..."
Vivi looked at Rika in alarm. "Yes...I managed to catch the beginning at least. I liked how they did the show, I liked all the characters..."
"All of them? Even..."
The girl was looking like she had seen a ghost. Her friend had no idea why she was acting like this...
"Did you see...a girl...with my eyes?..."
She remembered a few segments. Yes, she had seen a character that looked and sounded familiar. And they had named her...
"Oh...I see..."
"Digimon queen?" she spat. "I can't...I can't belive it! She Looks like me, she Sounds like me, she even has my Name and she's been broadcasted across the united states!! Thing is, she's the most ruthless, cold-hearted and downright un-friendly being I've ever seen! And she has my face Vivi! MY face!"
"Whoa, whoa there. Aren't you taking this a bit far?..."
"That's what I keep telling myself, but it doesn't help! And I'm not the only one with this sort of circumstance. Brian's got a visor and looks just like Kazu now! And you! You remember the digimon 'She' had? Remember her voice?"
Vivi thought back again. The fox was one of the most beautiful things she had ever seen...no, not going into that right now. But still, yes she remembered her voice...
And then it came to her.
"Now you see why I freaked outside the school?" Rika had her arms crossed, a somewhat smug look on her face.
"But why would my voice cause you any real concern?..."
"Because after I saw the premire, things started getting a lot more freaky. First, I beat both Brian and Tim at the card game, 1000 to zero, and then I start snapping at people, just like...now"
She collapsed on the sidewalk, burying her tear-filled face into her hands.
Her friend knelt down next to her. "You think you're actully turning into Rika Nonaka?"
"It's the only thing that makes sense. I try not to think why, but when I stop thinking about her, I start Acting like her! And I can't help it!"
The two were silent for a moment, before Vivi decided to speak again. "there's something else, isn't there?"
"*sniff* yeah. I'm afraid that if I Do turn into her, ...well, reality issues can be real hard..."
"I don't follow."
"I'm afraid that...I'll turn out to be an imaginary character...I wouldn't be real..."
Now she grabbed her shoulder. "Don't be like that."
"..."
"Sure, the other girl may be an imaginary character, but You are not! Even if this transformation does take place, you will still be very much real. And...I'll be there to help you."
She looked up. "You will?"
"If you think you need me to be there, don't hesitate to call me. I'll be right by your side."
Rika said nothing for a few seconds, then smiled and muttered "Thanks"
"Anytime."
===
"So, how many know your exact problem?"
Rika and Vivi were walking down the sidewalk in front of a few street-side stores.
"Brain and Tim have gotten the drift, My parents are aware of the problem, but don't really know how deep it goes..." she sighed and shook her head. "I wonder if those other guys have this problem..."
Her friend cocked her head. "What other guys?"
Rika stopped and faced her. "It's been a little theory of mine, that for every human cartoon character ever made, somewhere in the world, there is a real-life equveilant." She sighed again. "I just never thought I'd be one of them."
"Wow, that's pretty impressive. Never thought of that."
"Yeah, but even then, My case is different. You could probably find half a dozen other Rikas out there, who look totally different. And then, say you take Trowa from Gundam wing, find a guy who looks just like him, and then find out his name is George. Out of all things, I seem to be a perfect match!"
"And you find this disturbing."
"Very much so. The only differences between us are our personalities, and our clothing. And I'm afraid those barriers are breaking as..."
She walked in front of a clothing store and glanced in the display window.
"...well..."
Past the displays in the window, a single shirt hung on a rack inside the store. Her heart stopped when she saw it.
It was white, with aqua green sleeves, and a yellow turtleneck. Right on the front, was a purple broken heart.
She imiddeitely felt something stir in her, and it scared her.
She liked that shirt.
She wanted that shirt.
That is My shirt. What's it doing on clearance?
"Rika??"
Her train of thought broken, she discovered that she had her face pressed against the glass trying to get a better view.
"If you see something you like, why don't you just go in and try it? I can pay..."
She instantly lept away from the window, clutching her chest in shock. "NO!"
"...huh?..."
"I DOn't want it...I don't have the money...I could save...maybe it'll still be there, in three weeks...No, I already said I don't want it!"
Looks like a split personality problem to me. War of the Rikas?
"I...I need to get home Vivi...excuse me..."
Her arms wrapped tightly around herself, Rika sprinted away from her friend, towards her house.
She had no intention of stopping.
===
Chapter three.
===
The weekend over, Rika had calmed down somewhat, altough she was always on edge. She had snapped two more times over the duration, and it was wearing on her. As she walked home from school today, her mind worked like crazy. It was never well-orginized however, and she kept coming back to square one.
Allright, I KNow it's silly, it's ridiculous even. Still I can't concentrate because of it. I bet I've lost two grades today because of it. Maybe if I shifted my mind foucus...lesse, oh, those are some rather pretty butterflies...interesting, they've got purple wings with yellow spots...if that was reversed, they'd look like Butterflymon...ahh, people should enjoy butterflies more often...unless they followed you around everywhere, or they stuck around your face, then I'd...
AAUUUGGHH! I'm doing it! Not think About the character girl, and I start thinking Like her! It doesn't make any sense!!
"Rika?"
She stopped in her tracks.
The voice that had said that was low, mature, intellegent...and female.
"Is there something wrong?"
Expecting the worse, she slowly turned around, fully expecting to see a yellow bipedal fox.
Standing behind her was...a blond woman leaning against a wall.
Rika let out the breath she didn't know she had been holding. That's right, I've forgotten that Vivi usually walks home with me.
Although her hair was yellow, and her eyes blue, Vivi Frontires was NOt the bubblehead most anybody would think if they saw her. She cut her hair short, and wore black pants and A knitted sweatshirt. Sometimes, she would wear a beret as well. It would strike one that you would find her in a coffehouse or jazz club in that getup. And sometimes, she was.
She stepped out of the shadows and walked towards Rika. "You seem disturbed today. Perhaps you want to talk?"
The short girl shook her head quickly. "No, it's nothing...it's just that, you sounded like someone else for a moment."
Vivi blinked. "But I always sound this way."
Her eyes widened. That was right, her voice was always like that. Angry or sad, she couldn't make herself sound like anyone else...
Now she was doing it, and didn't even realize it.
"Ummm, okay." Rika simply replied, and walked on.
As they went through downtown, the silence between them was apparant. Vivi would start on a new poem she'd written, or tell Rika what she'd found on the net, since she had gone on that strike. Today, the redhead only listened with half a heart.
"Are you Sure you're all right?"
"...Yes..."
"Okay...I found out that I'm liking anime this week."
Rika turned her head to face her friend. "Really?"
"Yeah, One series intrigues me greatly. Although I've already missed two seasons of it, and the third premired this weekend..."
The blue backback suddenly fell to the ground...
"You...saw it??..."
Vivi looked at Rika in alarm. "Yes...I managed to catch the beginning at least. I liked how they did the show, I liked all the characters..."
"All of them? Even..."
The girl was looking like she had seen a ghost. Her friend had no idea why she was acting like this...
"Did you see...a girl...with my eyes?..."
She remembered a few segments. Yes, she had seen a character that looked and sounded familiar. And they had named her...
"Oh...I see..."
"Digimon queen?" she spat. "I can't...I can't belive it! She Looks like me, she Sounds like me, she even has my Name and she's been broadcasted across the united states!! Thing is, she's the most ruthless, cold-hearted and downright un-friendly being I've ever seen! And she has my face Vivi! MY face!"
"Whoa, whoa there. Aren't you taking this a bit far?..."
"That's what I keep telling myself, but it doesn't help! And I'm not the only one with this sort of circumstance. Brian's got a visor and looks just like Kazu now! And you! You remember the digimon 'She' had? Remember her voice?"
Vivi thought back again. The fox was one of the most beautiful things she had ever seen...no, not going into that right now. But still, yes she remembered her voice...
And then it came to her.
"Now you see why I freaked outside the school?" Rika had her arms crossed, a somewhat smug look on her face.
"But why would my voice cause you any real concern?..."
"Because after I saw the premire, things started getting a lot more freaky. First, I beat both Brian and Tim at the card game, 1000 to zero, and then I start snapping at people, just like...now"
She collapsed on the sidewalk, burying her tear-filled face into her hands.
Her friend knelt down next to her. "You think you're actully turning into Rika Nonaka?"
"It's the only thing that makes sense. I try not to think why, but when I stop thinking about her, I start Acting like her! And I can't help it!"
The two were silent for a moment, before Vivi decided to speak again. "there's something else, isn't there?"
"*sniff* yeah. I'm afraid that if I Do turn into her, ...well, reality issues can be real hard..."
"I don't follow."
"I'm afraid that...I'll turn out to be an imaginary character...I wouldn't be real..."
Now she grabbed her shoulder. "Don't be like that."
"..."
"Sure, the other girl may be an imaginary character, but You are not! Even if this transformation does take place, you will still be very much real. And...I'll be there to help you."
She looked up. "You will?"
"If you think you need me to be there, don't hesitate to call me. I'll be right by your side."
Rika said nothing for a few seconds, then smiled and muttered "Thanks"
"Anytime."
===
"So, how many know your exact problem?"
Rika and Vivi were walking down the sidewalk in front of a few street-side stores.
"Brain and Tim have gotten the drift, My parents are aware of the problem, but don't really know how deep it goes..." she sighed and shook her head. "I wonder if those other guys have this problem..."
Her friend cocked her head. "What other guys?"
Rika stopped and faced her. "It's been a little theory of mine, that for every human cartoon character ever made, somewhere in the world, there is a real-life equveilant." She sighed again. "I just never thought I'd be one of them."
"Wow, that's pretty impressive. Never thought of that."
"Yeah, but even then, My case is different. You could probably find half a dozen other Rikas out there, who look totally different. And then, say you take Trowa from Gundam wing, find a guy who looks just like him, and then find out his name is George. Out of all things, I seem to be a perfect match!"
"And you find this disturbing."
"Very much so. The only differences between us are our personalities, and our clothing. And I'm afraid those barriers are breaking as..."
She walked in front of a clothing store and glanced in the display window.
"...well..."
Past the displays in the window, a single shirt hung on a rack inside the store. Her heart stopped when she saw it.
It was white, with aqua green sleeves, and a yellow turtleneck. Right on the front, was a purple broken heart.
She imiddeitely felt something stir in her, and it scared her.
She liked that shirt.
She wanted that shirt.
That is My shirt. What's it doing on clearance?
"Rika??"
Her train of thought broken, she discovered that she had her face pressed against the glass trying to get a better view.
"If you see something you like, why don't you just go in and try it? I can pay..."
She instantly lept away from the window, clutching her chest in shock. "NO!"
"...huh?..."
"I DOn't want it...I don't have the money...I could save...maybe it'll still be there, in three weeks...No, I already said I don't want it!"
Looks like a split personality problem to me. War of the Rikas?
"I...I need to get home Vivi...excuse me..."
Her arms wrapped tightly around herself, Rika sprinted away from her friend, towards her house.
She had no intention of stopping.
===