The Story of Us
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
by summer dragonfly


Chapter III
Some Deep Soul-Searching


A/N: This is was really hard to write. As with all Ryuki fics, it's so difficult to keep them
in character and still pair them together. Oh well. I did my best. They can be a little ooc, but
I think I still got it OK. WARNING: I hope you don't have anything to do for a while. This is
going to be long! Enjoy! ;D


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rika looked at her clock. It was only 1:30.

"Aww man, be morning already!"

She had been tossing and turning on her sleeping mat for hours, not being able to sleep.

*This is so ridiculous. Why does he have such a great impact on me? On my life? Even my sleep!*
Rika thought angrily, staring up at the ceiling. *When I'll finally be able to sleep, I'm
probably going to dream about him or something...*

Rika sighed heavily. *What is wrong with me? Do I really love Ryo? Do I even like him? This is
so crazy. Maybe I'm losing my mind.*

*I'll never understand Ryo. He cares so much, yet sees so little. What a weird guy.*

Rika closed her eyes and snuggled deeper under the cover. *How can someone be so arrogant...yet
so wonderful?*

*He's good at everything...adored by everyone...and yet he's such a nut.*

She smiled. *And not to mention, he's good at hiding his feelings.*

*Something I'll never master.*




Ryo lied fully awake. He was so awake that he could run a marathon right now. It had been hours
and still he wasn't able to sleep a wink.

*This whole Rika thing is so complicated. I wish she would just tell me how she feels and let it
be done with.*

He looked at the clock and groaned. *Not even close to morning.*

Ryo turned over and over again. *What if she doesn't like me back? I don't think I could take it.*

*Wait. What am I talking about? What did I just think?*

*Good lord! I just don't like her...I think I'm kinda in love with her!*

Ryo shook his head furiously. *That's impossible. I'm only 15 and 5 months old. I can't be in
love.*

"How sappy do I sound?" Ryo laughed.

*Maybe I'll try to mull things over in the morning.*


* * *


Sunlight streamed through Rika's screen door and she squinted and wrinkled her forehead. She turned
over the other way.

*Go away.* she mentally told the sunlight.

"Rika? Honey?" her mother's voice was drawing closer. Soon, Rumiko was in her room, and was shaking
her awake. "Wake up, it's time to go to school."

*School? What's that?* Rika was still half-asleep. *Oh yes, I remember. Place of torture. And I
know who's going to be there.*

Her eyes snapped open. "That's better. Now, brush your teeth and get dressed. Breakfast's almost
ready." Her mother left.

*I remember now...that whole Ryo thing. I was hoping it would be over.*

Rika stumbled on her way to the bathroom. "Let's just hope I won't have to talk to him today..."

* * *

She couldn't be more wrong. As soon as she entered P.E., which was her first class of the day,
she saw Ryo upon exiting the girls' lockeroom.

*Oh, no.* Rika quickly ran over to hide in line.

Ryo saw her and knew it was obvious that she was avoiding him. His heart sank a little, but he
tried to respect her wishes.

The P.E. teacher, Mr. Nasaki, was a short, stout little man with a kind face. he looked at them
all.

"So!" the P.E. teacher looked at them excitedly. "As I told all of you yesterday, we will begin
our Track & Field unit today. It will acquire for 30% of your grade, so I expect you to take it
seriously."

Rika heard him, but her mind was on something else. She glanced over to look at Ryo.

*God, she's looking at me.* Ryo thought. *What to do..what to do...I know! I'll just look at her
and smile.* He smiled.

*That's it? I rack my brain for ideas how to talk to him and all he does is smile?* Rika thought.

*Uh, she's not looking happy. What do I do? Ryo, you baka, stop smiling.* Ryo stopped smiling.

*Great, now I got him mad.* Rika started biting her nails. *Now what?*

"Miss Nonaka, Mr. Akiyama, as soon as you two stop making googly eyes at each other, we can
begin." Mr. Nasaki said, and the entire class laughed.

Rika blushed slightly, Ryo looked down. *Now I got her in trouble.*


As the the class progessed, the students engaged in all sorts of track and field activities. Rika
found the long jumps to be especially easy. The other girls clapped and looked at her in admiration
as she broke the school long jump record.

"Excellent jump, Nonaka! Full marks!" Mr. Nasaki scribbled something on his clip board.

Rika smiled when she heard the rest of the class cheering, standing in a circle to watch the mile
run race.

"What's all this about?" she asked the nearest person.

"That new guy, Ryo, is unbelieveably fast!" the boy shouted excitedly.

And so he was. Rika watched him run around the track, almost lapping his opponent.

It was like the whole world faded away. All there was was Ryo, still running and Rika watching
him. It was a magical feeling, yet disturbing at the same time.

When the race ended, and Ryo had beaten his opponent, he got endless praise from Mr. Nasaki as
well as the other kids.

*Ryo. Always the perfectionist.* Rika thought, half jealous, half happy for him.

Ryo came up to her. "So Rika, whatcha think?"

Rika shrugged. "That was pretty good. For a boy."

"Where have I heard that before?"

They both laughed.

"On a more serious note, I think we need to talk about something," Ryo added.

Rika decided to play dumb. "What thing?"

"Rika-chan, you know what I'm talking about."

"I---"

Just then, the whistle blew for them to line up. Glad of an oppurtunity to avoid talking about
"the thing", Rika ran over to the girls' line quickly.

"Good job, today people." Mr. Nasaki said. "I'm proud of all of you. See you tomorrow."

As the class headed back to the locker rooms, Rika went a little ahead so that she was unseen
by Ryo. She wasn't ready to talk to him about "the thing" yet.


* * *


West Shinjuku park. It was sunset, and the parents began taking their kids home. Rika was sitting
on the jungle gym, looking out onto the multi-colored sky. She was doing some serious thinking.

She then heard a laugh that made her look down. It was Henry and his sister!

"Hey," she waved.

"Hi, Rika!" little Susie giggled.

"Hello," Henry smiled, then noticed her looking down. "Uh, Susie, go play with those ducks, won't
you?"

"Yay!" Susie ran over to the pond.

Henry climbed up on the jungle gym and sat next to Rika. "What's up?"

Rika sighed. "You know---about Ryo--"

"What about him?"

"Does he--what I mean to say is---does he---"

"Like you?"

"Yeah."

"More than that. He's practically in love with you, Rika."

"How do you know?"

"Being so perfect, you would think that the guy would be a little better at hiding his feelings.
Even an person who didn't know Ryo could tell."

Rika groaned. "I was afraid of that!"

"Why?"

Rika looked at the sky again, which was now a mix of pink and orange. "To tell you the truth, I
don't know, either. My mind hasn't caught up with the series of events lately. It's just pretty
much 'Feelings bad, Ryo good'. You know what I mean?"

Henry nodded. "I understand. Those days when you just don't want to catch up with the rest of the
world."

"Exactly! Today when I was watching him run, it's like the world just disappered around us, you
know?"

Henry laughed. "Yeah, I know."

"What? What's so funny?" Rika punched him in the arm. "Tell me!"

"Ow!" Henry laughed some more. "You'd probably slaughter me if I did."

"Henry, you know I'm not like that anymore. Just tell me, OK?"

Henry smiled. "It's so obvious. You like him too."

Rika gasped. "That's what Jeri said!"

"See? I'm not the only one that thinks so."

Rika frowned. "I don't know if I do."

"And you know what else?"

"What?"

"No, if I told you, you'd kill me and send me straight to Hell." Henry laughed nervously.

"I will not!" Rika hit him in the shoulder again. "Tell me."

"Well, Rika, if I didn't know better, I'd say you were in love with him too."

Rika gasped and starting mouthing nonsense. She scoffed. "I can't believe you would say that. I'm
outta here."

"Rika---!"

Rika hopped off the jungle gym. "See you later, Susie!" she called to Susie, who was still splashing
in the pond.

Susie giggled. "Bye!"

*Aww man.* Henry thought, watching her run off. *She must be really mad at me. She even said bye
to Susie!*

"Rika. When will you realize that there's nothing wrong with being in love?"

* * *

"And then he said that I'm in love with Ryo! He has some nerve---" Rika complained.

"Well, I wouldn't put it past Henry to lie." Takato said.

Rika and Takato were talking on the phone. Rika was pacing up and down her room, as if she was
trying to dig a whole in the floor.

"What do you mean by that?" Rika said, starting to get annoyed.

"Jeri told me that---"

"Jeri told YOU? About OUR conversation?"

"Well---no---she kinda did actually when we were at the ice cream shop the other day---"

"What?! And I bet she told Henry too!"

"Rika, calm down---" Takato said nervously.

"No! No, I will not calm down, Takato! What gives you people the right to discuss my love life--
including who I like and not like---" she said, making Takato recoil from the other end.
"---over hot fudge sundaes?!"

"Rika, we're sorry but---we all just want what's best for you."

"And what's that?! For me to say I'm love with Ryo?! Well I do love him---" She stopped there and
gasped. "Scratch that---I--I--I didn't say that! Forget it!"

She threw the phone back on its receiver as if it were a poisonous spider. She screamed in anger.
*What is with these..these..children lately?*

Suddenly the phone rang again. *This better not be Matsuki again.*

"What?!" she said angrily.

"R-r-rika? It's me, Jeri." Jeri said quietly.

"I'm kinda mad at you right now."

"Rika, just hear me out, please? I know it was really really wrong of me to tell Takato and
Henry about our conversation the other day---and believe me, I wish that there was another way---
it's just that...that...what is wrong with you Rika? How come you won't admit it?"

"Admit what?"

Jeri sighed. "Never mind. It's not important. Let's not fight, OK? Listen...how about hanging out
with me tomorrow? We can go that carnival they're having at the wharf...it'll be fun..."

"And why should we do that?"

"To take our mind off this, Rika. It's gotten way too complicated and I would really enjoy it if
I could spend a day with my best friend."

Rika half-smiled. "Best friend? Really?"

"Totally. And it'll give us a chance to talk. NOT about Ryo." She added, correctly interpreting
Rika's silence.

"All right. I'll see you there around 12 tomorrow. Good night."

"Good night, Rika."

* * *

Ryo poked at his dinner. *What did I do to get her so angry?* he thought sadly. *If only I could
make things better...no, I'd probably just make them worse...* Ryo had gotten a phone call from
Takato, telling him all about what Rika had said.

After dinner, Ryo retreated to his room where he did his homework, but with little success. His
mind was still on Rika, had it been for the past few days.

He reached for the phone, and hesistated. *Would talking to her be a mistake? I want to let her
know that I'm sorry for everything, but...she'll just probably hang up on me.*

Ryo tapped the desk with his pencil and sighed. *Maybe I should move on. She'll probably
never return my feelings. Besides, what great news would it be to my 'fan club'?*

Ryo yawned and turned off the light. As he crawled into his bed, he looked out at the window, at
the bright shining moon. He pictured Rika's face in it, smiling, her pretty violet eyes gleaming.

"All I want is for you to be happy, Rika-chan."

It was quite a long time before Ryo fell asleep. He had a dreamless sleep, yet his conscience still
had a heavy feeling.

* * *


"Oh, isn't this cute!" Jeri squealed, pointing to a stuffed animal in a shop window.

"I dunno, it's a bit lame." Rika said.

Rika and Jeri were at the carnival, which was held at the docks this year.

"Well, I think it's cute." Jeri said, pulling on her friend's arm. "Let's go!"

After Jeri had bought the enormous stuffed animal(which was dressed in a lacy pink dress), the girls
had continued to walk around, looking at lots of different shops.

"They've really gone all-out this year." Rika looked around.

"Yeah, like the boat rides around the harbor!" Jeri watched ferries park on the wharf.

Rika smiled looking at all the happy families together, having fun. She also saw many joyful
couples, hand-in-hand, walking and sharing cotton candy. She stopped smiling.

"What's wrong?" Jeri asked.

"Oh, it's nothing really."

"Oooh, look, Rika!" Jeri pointed at a psychic shop.

"Oh, no, Jeri. I don't believe in fortune tellers." Rika said, laughing. "They're all a bunch of
frauds."

"Lighten up, Rika!" Jeri giggled. "You haven't even been to one. They're great, really!"

And she dragged Rika over to the psychic shop. As they entered, they walked into a misty atmosphere
and heavy smoke were their ankles. There were hangings from the tent ceiling of different cards
and planets, with different signs and symbols.

"Isn't this great?" Jeri said excitedly.

"Ahhh..." came a misty voice from behind the curtain. "I sensed it was you."

Rika looked at the curtain. "Who?"

"I knew you'd bring a friend."

Rika and Jeri looked at each other.

"Come one in, your destiny awaits.' said the misty voice.

Jeri and Rika lifted the curtain and went inside to find a small room. There was a round table
with two chairs set before them. A woman sat behind the table, heavily covered in necklaces of
all kinds, wearing a turban and wrapped in a thick shawl. Her overly eyeshadowed eyes leared at
them and she smiled to show crooked teeth.

"Please," she said. "Sit down, my dears."

Rika and Jeri cautiously sat down. "How much will this cost us?" Jeri asked.

"Alas, no price is too much to see your destiny." she said in the same mysterious voice.

"I'll give you 10 yen." Rika said.

"Fair enough...since you're only mere teenagers..very well."

Rika paid the psychic. "You better not be wrong."

"I assure you...I'm highly trained." The psychic looked into her crystal ball.

How long they sat there, Rika didn't know. 15 minutes? 20? It was an awful long time before the
psychic spoke up.

"Listen, lady, we're busy, so you'd better hurry up---" Rika said impatiently.

"Yes!" the psychic said suddenly, making them both jump. "I see something!"

"What is it?" Jeri asked.

The psychic looked at Rika. "It's about you, my dear."

Rika blinked. "About me? What does it say?"

"...I see a boy."

"A boy?"

"About your age. Brown hair, blue eyes...make that spiky brown hair."

Rika gulped.

"This boy...he recently joined your school?"

"Yes! What else do you see?"

"He's sad."

"He's sad?"

"Afraid of him, are you?"

"I don't think so..."

"He has intense feelings for you."

"He does?" Rika gulped again. *Is she talking about Ryo?*

"And you are in love with him."

Rika gasped. "I don't know what you're talking about!" She looked into the crystal ball. "All I can
see is white fluff."

The psychic smiled again. "All right then. I can do tarot cards." Her smile faded. "But it'll cost
you."

Rika hesitated. *I have to find out what this means.* She paid the psychic another 10 yen. "OK...
Do it right."

The psychic put away her crystal ball and got out a stack of cards. She once again did not speak
for a really long time.

"Slow, isn't she?" Jeri said.

Finally, the psychic picked up a card from a face down stack.

"Alas, it is the love card!"

Rika looked at the card. It had a deep red heart on it and a picture of a boy and girl with brown
hair.

"Pick another one or something." Rika said, starting to get nervous.

She picked another one. "The soul card. Care to read it?"

Rika read the card. "You will join souls with the one you love." She looked at the psychic. "That's
impossible. Let me do it this time."

Before the psychic could object, Rika had taken the deck of cards from her and started to shuffle
them around. Then she picked a card from right in the middle of the stack.

"The heart card." Jeri read.

"Altough you think you have it, your heart will always belong in the hands of your beloved."
Rika finished, looking up at the psychic.

"Your beloved. He very well may be the boy in the crystal ball!" Jeri said.

"F-f-forget it." Rika said nervously. "I was right before and I'm right again. Fortune telling is
nothing but a load of crap they use to rip you off. Come one Jeri, we're out of here."

Rika tossed the curtain aside and walked angrily out. Jeri shrugged and ran after her.

"What was that?"

"I dunno." Rika said, stopping. "What does this mean, Jeri?"

"It's what me, Takato and Henry have been trying to tell you, Rika. Maybe you're in love with Ry--"

"DON'T say it." Rika snapped, and Jeri fell silent.

They continued to do some shopping and having fun. They bought cotton candy and ate it on a park
bench. When they finished, Rika took out her wallet and started counting the change while walking.

"Last time I ever bring big money to a carnival--" she said, when she bumped into someone. "Oww!"
She rubbed her head, and everything was black. She readjusted her hat and looked up at the stranger.

"Sorry, I---Ryo?" she said.

"Hi, Rika. Sorry about that." Ryo said nervously, helping her pick up her stuff.

"It's ok."

Ryo could tell that she was in an uncomfortable disposition. He sighed and helped her pick up
the last of her stuff. Both their hands came to pick up a shopping bag and they accidently touched
each other's hands. They both blushed.

"Hi Jeri." Ryo said after getting up.

"Hi, Ryo." Jeri was fighting a laugh. "Well uh--I gotta--uh use the ladies' room. See ya in a
bit, Rika." she ran off.

"What's with her?" Ryo said curiously.

"Who knows."

They looked awkwardly at each other.

"Um, I gotta go." Rika said suddenly. "See you later, Ryo-kun."

"Rika, wait."

Rika turned around. "What is it?"

"I---I--I got this feeling you're mad at me." he said. "It's like---you don't want to be friends
anymore."

Rika gasped. "Oh, no, no, Ryo, don't think that."

"Gomen, but I just can't help feeling---"

"Ryo-kun, does this have anything to do with---us?"

"Hai. It does, I guess."

"I--I know."

"Know what?"

"About your feelings. For me."

"You do?" Ryo started to blush furiously. "'Cause that's ok. Rika, I just want you to understand.
I'll never try to be anything more than a friend to you. That is--if you want me to---" Ryo stopped
there, as if something hit him about how stupid he was sounding.

Rika laughed.

"What?"

"Ryo, you're so funny."

"You'd think so, wouldn't you?"

"What? What are you talking about?" Rika was taken aback.

"Rika-chan, I---I'm sorry, all right? I see now that it was a big mistake falling for you."

Rika was shocked. "Why would you say that?" She looked like she was about to cry.

"Great, see? Now I got you crying, too." Ryo turned away. "I--everything I do, it's not good enough
for you. I don't deserve you, Rika."

"Ryo, stop saying things like that and just tell me what you mean!"

"It was a mistake falling for you because--because--you're obviously afraid."

Now Rika was getting angry. "Afraid? Of what?! Of you?"

"I don't know! You tell me!"

"Ryo..."

"One minute you want to be friends, the next you're yelling at me. Let me tell you what I think
you're afraid of. Having someone love you."

"And why would I be afraid of that?!" Rika yelled.

"Because...because you might love them, too."

Rika looked down. She then looked at him. "Look..."

She went over the railing of the boardwalk and watched the boats float along the bay.

"...this is all so weird for me."

"What are you saying?"

"I've had guys like me before, but never someone like you Ryo...I got so caught up in being this..
this...souless girl that I was that I never noticed that there could actually be people who could
love me for me." she paused to sigh. "And that's when you came along."

"I--I don't understand."

"The reason I've been so harsh about this whole thing is---you're right, Ryo. I AM afraid of someone
having feelings for me. Partly, yes, because I'm afraid I might like them back too. But partly
because...I'm afraid I'm not good enough for them." She felt hot tears welling up in her eyes. She
quickly wiped them away.

"I don't know what to say." Ryo said.

"It's best if you don't say anything. I don't know what my feelings for you are right now. I feel
so lost. It's so strange."

"I still don't know what you're saying."

Rika shaked her head. "No, no, it's not important."

"Sure it is, you---"

"I really gotta go now. See you later."

* * *

Later that night...


Rika's mother, Rumiko, was at the kitchen table doing some paperwork. Rika came up to her.

"Mom?"

"Yes, dear?"

"Do you have a minute?"

"Maybe, why?"

"I'm afraid I have a rather hard question to ask."

Rumiko put her pen and glasses down. *Finally, she's opening up to me.*

"Well take a seat, dear, and tell me all about it." Rumiko pointed the chair next to her.

"I don't know how to say this," Rika took a sip from her glass of water. "But promise you won't
laugh at me?"

"Of course not. Shoot."

"Well, here goes..." Rika sighed. "So, my--uh--friend from school has this big problem. She wants
to know how do you know when you're in love?"

Rumiko frowned at Rika, not as though she was angry, but she was thinking of an answer.

"How do you know when you're in love?" she repeated. "Well, it really depends on the person."

"What do you mean?"

"How the person lets you know is most important. That is, if he's in love with you. If he's
a friend---"

"Yeah, he's my--friend's friend. Yeah. And he really likes her."

"Hmm."

"Yeah, and all her friends have been telling her that she loves him too, and she went to this
freaky psychic who said the same thing. And today..."

"What happened today?"

"Well, she told me that she saw him and they had a talk and he said she was afraid of feelings
and stuff."

"Sounds like your friend needs to start realizing the truth."

"What?"

"Does she like being around him?"

"Oh yes, she says that he's a really nice person and he's always there for her, and she feels like
they have this weird connection---a bond somehow."

"Well then, tell your friend that by denying her feelings, she's simply delaying the inevitable.
If she's been friends with him for awhile, and she's raving about him, she loves him. When you're
in love, it's the most wonderful feeling. You feel like you're so happy, and just being around
the person is fantastic. Everything seems to fade away when you're with them. You can really
talk to them, open up to them, whatever. And if this boy knows what your friend's afraid of,
he seems like he really knows her. A bond, you said? That's the mark of love. Even when you just
blush talking to each other. It's love if you enjoy being in each other's company, have a special
bond and feel wonderful and fuzzy inside. Your heart just swells when you talk to them and you
feel like you can trust them with your life." Rumiko finished, her eyes shining.

"Wow." Rika said. "Wow. I didn't know it was so complicated."

She sat there for a while, then smiled. "Thanks Mom."

"And oh, Rika?"

"Yeah?"

"Tell this boy how you really feel."

"Wha--how did you know---"

"How else could I have known your 'friend' was denying 'her' feelings without you telling me? And
besides, dear, I'm you're mother."

Rika laughed. "Good night Mom. Thanks for the advice."



As soon as Rika reached her room, she had a sense of new-found joy. Everything her mother had said
to her was right. She did feel those things for Ryo and did feel warm and safe around him.

She picked up the phone and dialed his number. She couldn't help smiling.

"Hi, Ryo? It's me, Rika."



....end of Chapter III!!


A/N: Hope you liked it! Wow, that was a bit long, no? Hehehe. Well, I just hope you people keep reviewing
so that I could keep it up and other people could enjoy this fic, too. Chapter IV will be up before
you know it! ;D See ya! -summer dragonfly