Blah! Hmm… I don't really like this chapter, but I had to find a way for them to flirt in some kind of way or another. Also, the chapter name is pretty junky so if anyone has a better name please tell me!

Well thanks to Arabella Silverbell for reviewing my fic. Don't worry, nothing bad will happen to the Real Jen-Chan :D.

The Fight

Ryo and Ruki started their journey, and headed towards their first destination -- Verdianna. During the way, as usual Ryo would naturally try to annoy Ruki, and Ruki not learning from her mistake of responding would blow up! To Ryo's amusement of course, thus making this pattern repeat over and over again.

"It's getting late pumpkin. I think we should camp here for tonight." Ryo said looking at the sun about to set.

"Awww… Poor wittle Ryo sleepy?" She teased.

"No, I thought that my queen should have some rest. Did I mention your baby voice is adorable?" Ryo teased back.

"Will you ever quit being a moron, Hotshot?" she asked.

"That depends will you still be as feisty as you are now, when you're an old woman like this Wildcat?" He said pretending to walk like an old granny.

"Quit calling me wildcat, your queen or pumpkin! You look so ridiculous!" she said, anger rising a bit.

"Fine then. How's honey or maybe sweetheart?" He prodded and smiled.

"NEVER!" she screamed walking away.

Unfortunately Ruki's mind was too busy being angry with Ryo, that she tripped on a rock and fell on her face.

"How graceful of you, Ruki." Ryo said in-between laughs.

He was so distracted from the sight of Ruki on the floor and laughing that he tripped over a rock falling face flat on the floor.

"I should say the same for you Ryo." Ruki said bursting out in laughter.

"Wow! Ruki Makino, the Digimon Queen laughing? It's a miracle!" He teased

"Akiyama, shut up! I'm not a robot you know." She said, with the last part with hurt in her voice.

"Ruki, I didn't say you were a robot. It's just I've never seen you laugh like that before."

"Oh!" she said. "Wait a minute, what if someone saw us like this?"

He looked at himself and Ruki covered in dirt from head to toe lying on the floor. Haha! She does have a point.

"We could always say, 'The Digimon King and Queen order you to trip and fall on your face or we'll send Renamon and Cyberdramon on them." He laughed.

Ruki mentally pictured Ryo ordering Hirokazu to fall on his face, and then seeing him eagerly tripping on a rock and falling on his face. At the point she could stop but burst out in laughter.

"Ruki, Are you alright? I think I've seen you laugh too much today." He said as he pretended to scold her.

"Yeah, I just pictured you ordering Kazu to fall on his face and he jumped to do it." She said trying to stop the laughter.

"You know what the funniest part of this was?" He asked.

"I don't know, what?"

"For once you didn't object to being my queen!" He yelled and flashing one of his trademark smiles.

" Why you moron!" she screamed tackling back onto the floor unexpectedly.

"Uh, hey Ruki. Whatcha doing?" Ryo said not knowing what to say.

You idiot! What the hell are you thinking? Hey Ruki… whatcha doing?!?!?! He kicked himself mentally.

"This." She slapped him across his face leaving a red hand mark on the side of his cheek.

"Oh, why'd you do that for?" he asked as he rubbed the side of his cheek.

She glared, smiled and started throwing punches at him. "Because, it's fun."

"This is fun to you Ruki?" He asked skeptically while avoiding her punches.

"Yes, of course. Renamon and I train together. Come on, are you going to fight already or is the Legendary tamer backing down?" she taunted still throwing punches.

"But, I might end up hurting you." He pleaded

Those were the wrong words to use around Ruki. When she heard this the intensity level of the punches increased.

"Not if I hurt you first, Akiyama."

'I can't block her forever. If I don't fight her she'll get annoyed and probably beat the living crap out of me. If I win, she might get mad at me--- again or literally kill me. Here I go….' Ryo thought while throwing punches and defending Ruki's. After a while, he finally landed one causing Ruki to lose her footing and fall to the ground.

"Ruki are you alright?" Ryo asked with concern.

"Yeah, I'm just surprised. You're better than I thought Ryo." She said lowering her eyes.

"I'm sorry pumpkin. I didn't mean to punch so hard." Ryo said lending an arm to help Ruki up.

"No, I'm surprised you actually fought with me, not to mention punching me."

"Ruki I didn't mean to---"

"It's not that. No guy would ever actually fight with me; they're either scared of me or too stubborn. Thanks." She said using his extended arm to throw him back onto the floor.

"Nice throw, Pumpkin." He asked smirking at her.

"It's getting late, we should set-up camp for tonight." She said pointing to the setting sun.

"Alright, can you set up a fire? I'll go cook."

"Don't poison me or I'll beat you up in your sleep?" Ruki threatened.

"Don't worry about it, if I poisoned my queen, who would I rule our country with." Ryo teased.

"How about your ego? I think it's big enough." She teased back.

About 5 minutes later, Ruki had a warm healthy fire going while Ryo was happily cooking their dinner.

"Hey that actually looks pretty good."

"You should see how it tastes." Ryo said cutting a little piece and feeding it to her.

"I'm not a baby Ryo! I can eat on my own." She pouted. "But I do have to say you're a great cook. How'd you learn?"

"Well, my dad goes on trips and kind of leaves me alone to fend for myself and with me being alone in the digital world, I had to learn."

"Where'd you learn to fight like that? You're almost as good as me?" Ryo asked.

"I guess I'm a natural born fighter, I have to thank Renamon for teaching me a couple of things though." She answered.

"Dinners done."

They ate in an unusual silence that night. Both trapped in their own thoughts. Ruki was eating silently and staring at the food. Ryo was shoveling mounds of food into his mouth. Suddenly she got up and Ryo followed her.

"Ruki, where are you going?" He asked.

"To find a place to sleep, you should too." She replied.

"Hmm… I can't let you stay all by yourself, the Brotherhood of Seven might be lurking around here."

"Whatever." Ruki said and lay by a huge willow tree and curled up into a tiny ball.

"Good night Ruki." He said lying down beside her, yet giving her some space of her own.

"Good night Ryo."

"So, when do I get my good night kiss?" he teased.

"Don't push your luck." Yawned Ruki.

'Ruki's wilder than I thought she's so different once you penetrate through her icy demeanor. If I can find a way to get her barrier down… I wonder why she acts like that in the first place. Oh well, I promise to you that I will find out what's wrong before we defeat the Brotherhood of Seven' Ryo thought as he looked at Ruki, moonlight shining down on her accenting her face.

'There's more to Ryo than I thought. I thought he was just another guy, another insolent moron, but I was wrong. I've been thinking so much about him as we left Piximon's house… could it be that I like him? No… It couldn't be even if you did, he would never return my feelings; he's 3 years older then me. Oh well… good night…' she thought as she drifted into a deep sleep.

Hmm… could Ruki be feeling something? About the fighting part, I had to find away for them to bond in some kind of way or another. Plus, I'm not going to make Ruki a weak person in this story, since I like her personality : ). Anyways, Read and ReviewJ Thanks!