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


Chapter V
"First Date Or A Fast-Forward to the Future?"


A/N: Ryo and Rika's first date! It's a bit long; gomen nasai! ;D

P.S. I don't know if there's an age minimum to drive in Japan, but in MY story, since Ryo's 15, I
thought it's ok for him to drive. In our country of course, the good ol' U S of A, driving by
yourself when you're 15 is illegal, but this is Japan, right? Hehehe...


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


Ryo was sweating a river. He stared at himself nervously in the mirror. He had overdressed for
his first date(which was a blind date, set up by his friends), and didn't want to do it again.
That date was as worse as what he wore. The girl was a total brat and hated everything about him
from his name right down to his shoes.

But Ryo knew Rika wasn't like that. For starters, she told him she loved him the other day. And
they had been friends for a while before trying out the whole dating thing. He was quite nervous,
not knowing what to say to her, or how to greet her...

*If I'm lucky, I might get to kiss her good night.* As he thought this, there was a hint of pink
on his face.

"You can so do this."

Ryo was dressed in a pair of black dress pants and a nice, crisp blue long-sleeved button up
shirt. He didn't bother trying to comb his hair down, because he thought he would look less
nerdy if he kept it spiky. He breathed.

"Well, better get going."

He picked up the car keys to his dad's silver Acura 3.2CL (A/N: My dream car ^^) and headed out
the door, praying that his dad wouldn't come home before he did. His dad had left in a limo to a
company event and wasn't supposed to be back until well after midnight.

As he turned on the engine and shifted the car into reverse, he thought about Rika. Would he
like the place he was taking her? *Hey, where am I taking her anyway?* He didn't care, because
he knew she wasn't picky. He just hope that people wouldn't treat them like kids.

Ryo smiled. "Rika's really mature, anyway, so that won't be a problem."


* * *


"Mom, would you stop touching my hair already?!" Rika screamed.

Rumiko clicked her tongue disapprovingly. "But you've should've put it up, dear..."

"Oh, Rumiko," said Rika's grandmother. "Let the child be. This is her date, not yours."

"Thank you!" Rika said exasperately.

Rumiko was so proud of Rika and her going on a date like a "normal girl", that she had gone out of
her way to help her get ready.

For someone who didn't like to dress up, Rika looked really nice in the outfit that she
was wearing. She was wearing nice black pants and a white halter top. In Rika's opinon, it was nice
and chic, cool and downtown. Quite different that what her mother thought. Rika was wearing black,
strappy, high heel shoes to go with it and she had let her long chest-length brown hair down and straightened it.

"Do you want to put on some makeup, honey?" Rumiko asked.

"I already have enough on, Mother."

"Really? Well, it's nowhere near enough if even I can't tell..."

"Rika has beautiful skin naturally," her grandmother said. "If there's a need for makeup, it's very
little."

Just then the doorbell rang. Rika pushed her mother's hand out of her face impatiently. "Mom, he's
here!" she said, all panicky. "I'm not quite ready, yet. Can you keep him busy, Grandma? Invite
him in?"

Her grandmother nodded. "Of course."

"And Mom, please don't stay in the room, I'm not ready for you to meet him yet."

And with that, Rika dashed into her room.

"Mother, what does she mean?" Rumiko said.

"Rumiko, dear, you just go on with your business. I'll handle this."

"But---"

"You said yourself that Rika is growing up. It's time to respect her wishes. She says she's not
ready for you to meet him yet, and we should amend by that."

"Oh, all right..." Frustrated, Rumiko went into the kitchen and shut the door.

"And no peeking!" Rika's grandmother called. She laughed and went to get the door.

Ryo was standing outside with his hands in his pockets. *I wish she'd answer the door already.
This is making me more nervous.*

Rika's grandmother opened the door. "Well, good evening."

"Uh---" Ryo cleared his throat. "Good evening. Is Rika ready?"

"She's almost finished, why don't you come in?"

"Arigatou."

Ryo stepped in nervously and stood there. Grandmother(A/N: I'm going to call her that now because
it's easier to type) looked at him curiously. "Well, are you going to stand there until she's done?
Come, sit down!"

She beckoned him toward the living room where he sat down on a chair, looking around.

"May I offer you a beverage? Tea?"

"No thank you." Ryo said politely.

"So," Grandmother said, trying to make small talk. "How long have you and Rika been dating?"

"Not a long time," Ryo said. His voice was shaky.

"Were you friends before that?"

"Hai, we were."

"Oh yes, I do remember a time a couple of years ago, when she just got back from a card tournament
and complained sorely about losing to a 'dumb and ugly' boy. That was you, wasn't it?"

"I guess so."

"Well, you must be a wonderful young man, because Rika really likes you."

"Hmm."

There was an awkward silence.

"I've seen the way she smiles when she's on the phone with you, you know." Grandmother said.

"You--you have?"

"Yes. She's so happy and she's always laughing. I can tell she's starting to fall in love with you."

"Yeah."

"You've known?"

"She's told me, yeah."

"I think it's great of Rika to come out in the open and share her feelings. Her mother's been trying
to get her to do that for a long time. How do you do it?"

"I---I don't know."

Grandmother smiled. "Well, I just hope you two kids are content."

Ryo nodded. "Yeah, that's all I want, is for her to be happy."

"That looks like something we have in common." Grandmother took a sip of her tea. "You're a good
child, Ryo. I can see that's why Rika loves you. You've got a great soul."

Ryo blushed. "Thank you, ma'am."

It was silent for a long time again.

"So is Rika ready?"

"She'll be out in a moment, I expect."

A few seconds later, Rika came into the living room, smiling. "Good evening."

Ryo got up and looked at her, amazed by her beauty. "Wow, you look really nice, Rika."

"Really?" Rika said. "You think so?"

"Yeah...definitely." He was still stunned.

"So?" Rika looked between her grandmother and Ryo. "What did you two talk about?"

"Such and such." Grandmother said timidly.

Rika looked at her weirdly, then said, "Grandma, if I know you, it's never such and such."

Grandmother smiled. "You two should get going now. 'Tis nearly eight o'clock."

"Yeah, that's right. You ready, Rika?" Ryo turned to Rika.

She smiled a smile that made him blush more. "Yeah, all ready here. Say bye to Mom for me all
right, Grandma?" Rika added to her grandmother. "Well, goodbye then."

Ryo bowed politely. "Thank you for inviting me into your home."

Grandmother waved her hand. "It was nothing, Ryo. The pleasure was mine. You kids have a wonderful
time now."

Ryo let Rika go through the door first.

"And Ryo," Grandmother added. "Be sure to have her back by 11 o'clock."

"Of course." Ryo nodded. "Goodbye."

* * *


"This is a nice car, Ryo." Rika commented.

"Thanks." Ryo was looking straight ahead.

"The city lights look really pretty tonight."

"Yeah."

"Look at the park, it looks so mystical."

"Yeah."

Rika decided to tease him. "Look at the guy getting robbed, isn't that nice?"

"Yeah."

"Ryo."

"Yeah."

"Stop saying that, already, would you?"

Ryo snapped out of it. "Oh, what? Sorry,"

"It's OK."

"I'm just really nervous."

"About what?"

"I can't tell you."

"You're nervous about being around me?"

"No."

"Then what is it?"

"I dunno, Rika. I just really want this night to go perfectly." Ryo sighed.

Rika looked at him. "No one's perfect, Ryo. And you don't have to try. Not for me, anyway."

Ryo looked at her as they stopped at a red light. "But I---"

"Listen, I don't want to hear anymore talk about this being perfect crap, OK? I love you the
way you are. Just like you told me a couple of days ago."

Ryo smiled weakly. Rika put her hand on his hand, which was on the shift stick. She looked deep into
his eyes. He got all panicky. *Please don't look at me with those eyes.* He blushed furiously but
she just laughed.

"If it makes you feel any better," she said. "I got about a million butterflies in my stomach
right now."

"You? Butterflies?" Ryo said, appalled.

She hit him playfully on the shoulder. "What? I'm human, too, you know."

Now it was Ryo's turn to laugh. "I know."

"Hey, it just hit me. You drive pretty good."

"Yeah." Ryo said egotistically, moving the shift stick as they made a left turn. "What else is
new?"

"I thought that anyone who was with you when you drove would end up dead." Rika laughed.

"Well, you're with me now aren't you? You're fine."

"I wish I could stay with you forever, Ryo." Rika said quietly, looking out the window.

"What's that?"

"Nothing."

* * *


"A sushi bar?" Rika exclaimed. "I took 10 years getting ready and you're taking me to a sushi
bar?"

Ryo panicked. "I thought it was your idea to have a nice, casual place to dine and---"

"This is great!" Rika said, hugging him. "What a good idea. How'd you think of it?"

"Uh---" Ryo searched his head. "Great minds think alike?"

Rika looked at him happily. "I was hoping to go some place cool like this. I thought you were going
to take me to some fancy restaurant with snobby rich people."

Ryo laughed nervously. "Yeah." *Good thing I didn't take her to the restaurant my friend suggested.*

"Good evening!" chimed the hostess, dressed in a kimono. "Two?"

"Yes," Ryo said.

"This way, please."

She lead them over to the sushi bar, where the conveyer belt was constantly rolling around with
different kinds of fresh sushi.

"Enjoy." the hostess left.

"I wish you could've told me, Ryo." Rika said. "I would've worn my kimono. I feel so out of place."

"You're never out of place." Ryo said looking around the restaurant. "You're so beautiful, you'll
fit in anywhere."

Rika looked at him nonplussed. "Is that from the '101 Things to Charm a Girl With' volume 5?" she teased.

"No," Ryo looked back at her. "I made that up from the back of my head."

"Ryo!"

Ryo laughed.

Rika pointed to a kind of sushi. "Oh, Ryo, look, fresh Nigiri! My favorite."

"You know, my cousin just went to America," Ryo said, putting some sushi on his plate. "He says
they invented a new kind of sushi there. It's called California Roll."

"Why would you name a sushi after a province?" Rika asked curiously.

"I dunno, but I hear they call them 'states' over there..."

"Really? Weird."

They didn't talk for awhile.

"You know, I was thinking we could go to the carnival after this." Ryo said, trying to break the ice.
"Today's the last day they're in town."

"Well, if it's what you want to do..."

"What do you want to do?"

"I was thinking maybe we could take a stroll in the park."

"Oh, and did you get THAT from '101 Romantic Things to Do and Really Make Your Boyfriend Feel
Out-Of-Place'?"

Rika giggled. "Well, Ryo, you're so cool, you'll fit in anywhere."

"Touche."

He went back to eating, and Rika decided she would do something to aliven the mood. She took the
wrapping of her sushi off and flung it on his plate, splattering sushi contents on his shirt.

"Hey!" Ryo said, wiping the mess off with a napkin.

Rika smiled really big, stifling a laugh. "Sorry!"

"Oh yeah?" He took his entire glass of water and poured it all over her sushi.

"Ryo..!"

She was about to get him back when one of the employees reprimanded them. "Hey, calm down over
there."

"Gomen nasai." Ryo said, rather embarrased. Then he turned to Rika. "Sorry for ruining your
sushi, Rika-chan."

"'s alright." Rika said. "What makes a date good is who you're with, not what you're eating."

Ryo coughed and blushed. "Y-yeah." *She's making me so nervous I can't eat.* "Whatcha say we
get outta here?"

"Ditto." Rika said.

They paid for their sushi and left.

Ryo opened the car door for Rika to get in. "I hope you're having fun."

"Yes." Rika said as Ryo got in, too.

He eyed her suspciously.

"I am, I really am!"

"Ok, then."

He started the car and headed towards the park.

"Ryo?"

"Yeah?"

Rika was looking out the window. She couldn't bare to look at him while telling him what she
was about to tell him.

"I--I gotta tell you something."

"What is it?"

"Uh,"

"Rika. You know you can trust me. Out with it."

Rika chickened out. "I'll---I'll tell you at the park."


* * *


"So what was it that you wanted to tell me?" Ryo asked.

They were walking in the moonlit park, their arms around each other. Other couples were there
too, and everyone looked really happy.

"Promise you won't laugh at me?" Rika said uneasily.

"Cross my heart."

"Ok...here goes." Rika took a deep breath. "I've never met anyone like you before, Ryo."

Ryo looked at her weirdly.

"And...I guess what I'm trying to say is that you seem to have no insecurity in your life, and
I just really admire that..."

"Um...thank you?" Ryo said strangely, not sure of what to say.

"And I hope that...you'll never stop loving me." she said that last part really quietly.

A normal guy wouldn't have heard what Rika just said, but Ryo didn't need to hear it. It was like
he could read her mind.

"Of course I'll never stop loving you, Rika."

Rika looked up at him. "Liar."

"I'm telling the truth; really I am."

"You don't know that. You can't see into the future."

"You really know what I see in the future?"

"Yes!"

"You don't want to know what I see in the future."

"And why not?"

"'Cause I don't think you can handle it."

"Oh yeah? Try me, why don't you?"

Ryo sat down on the park bench. "Well...when I think about the future, I see us, Rika."

Rika sat down next to him. "Us?"

"We're married, and we have this house in the suburbs..." He had a dreamy sort of look in
his eyes as he said this. "And I would come home to work, and you'd come out of the kitchen
and greet me...and we have these three amazing kids..." Ryo blushed.

Rika could tell he was really incomfortable. "You see us having a family?"

Ryo smiled as he said all this. "I know it's stupid but...yeah, I do. Two girls and a boy. And
they're playing in the backyard on a sunny day, and the little boy is swinging on this little
tire swing we built together...and the two girls are in a treehouse, playing tea party. And in
the front door, we have this small mini-door that the cat would run through...and it'd have a
tiny bell on its collar..."

Ryo stopped there, looking down.

*Whoa.* thought Rika. "Wow, Ryo...I---I never knew that you had given it so much thought."

"Well, yeah, now you do." Ryo said.

*Why did he have to build my entire future for me?* Rika stayed silent. After a while, she spoke
up. "You really want to marry me?"

Ryo turned to her as if he was surprised that she would even ask him that. "Yeah. I'm want
to marry you one day, Rika Nonaka."

"I...I'm just so...shocked."

"That's OK, because everything I just said didn't mean anything."

"Ryo, what are you talking about? Of course it means something!"

"No, it doesn't. Because that's not what you want."

"YOU are trying to tell ME what I want?"

"Yeah."

"Ryo, you can't even begin to fanthom what I want." Rika said, her eyes blazing.

"Yes, I can!" Ryo said angrily. "You want a big fancy mansion and servants and mink coats with
limos! That's what you want!"

"Well, you're wrong!" Rika shouted. "You're wrong..."

"What?" Ryo said, confused.

"I don't want all of that..."

"You--you don't?"

"No."

"Yes, you do.."

"No, Ryo, I don't." Rika said, her anger disappearing. "I want everything that you imagined us
having."

"What?"

"A house in the suburbs...kids and a cat..." Rika started to get tears in her eyes. "That's what
I want."

Ryo was now thoroughly confused. "You really do?"

"Yes," Rika said, looking sincerely at him. "Most importantly...I want to have it all with you..."

"Rika," Ryo said, very seriously. "Are you saying what I think you're saying?"

"Yeah." Rika said, wiping away her tears. "Everything you invisioned sounded to happy and wonderful...
and I guess that's what I've always wanted...with my parents divorced and everything...you never
let me finished what I was saying, Ryo. I was going to say that meeting you was the best thing
that's ever happened to me, and I hope that...your feelings for me will never change."

Ryo took her by the shoulders and looked straight at her. "I already told you, Rika. Nothing's
going to change. Especially not my feelings for you."

Rika laughed. "This is going so quickly. I'm only 14 and you're only 15 and here we're already
talking about kids and where we're going to live...we haven't even kissed yet! Strange, isn't it?"

"No, not really..." Ryo said, leaning back against the park bench. "I guess when you know what
you really want, it seems right."

Rika hugged him tightly. "Do you ever feel that...I dunno...we're moving too fast?"

"Like how?"

"Like just two minutes ago, we're talking about the future."

"Sometimes..."

Rika let go of him. "Why don't we start over?"

"Ok..." Ryo got an idea. "I can tell that, altough it's what you want, talking about the future is
really scaring you. So let's not talk about it anymore until we get there, OK?"

"I'd like that." Rika nodded. "Thank you for being so understanding."

"Sure." Ryo said. "So...starting over."

"Right." Rika took a deep breath. "The stars are really pretty tonight, aren't they?"

"Yeah." Ryo put his arm around her. "They're unusually bright tonight, too."

"They remind me of when I was four..." Rika said. "I was playing in this exact park...I was having
the best time..."

"What then?"

"...it got darker." said Rika. "And no one came to pick me up. I remember that I was sitting on
a swing crying for my mother by nightfall. I was always afraid of the dark..."

Ryo gulped. He began to remember something too.

"And then this little boy came over to me." continued Rika. "What was he? 4? 5? ...anyway, he
handed me a tissue and said---"

"'Don't cry, little girl.'" said Ryo.

"Yes," Rika said, looking over at Ryo strangely. "How did you know?"

"Uh...lucky guess?" Ryo said nervously.

"Anyway...he wiped away my tears for me and told me that I would never cry again as long as
he could help it." Rika's expression was half-happy, half-puzzled.

"And he told you that?" Ryo asked.

"Mmm-hmm. It's funny, because I thought then that he was the best guy in the world...you know,
he was my very first crush." Rika laughed a little.

"Hmm." Ryo said.

"And then I looked up at the night sky, and it looked exactly as it does tonight." Rika looked
up at the star-filled sky again. "I remember really clearly because it was a night I'll never
forget. It's like it only happens every ten years or something."

"You don't say." Ryo gulped. *How can I tell her that I was the little boy? I already freaked
her out with that whole future thing.*

"I'm sorry." Rika apologized. "I am totally chatting at you. Your turn to say something."

"Um." Ryo stood up. "It's nearly 10:30. I should take you home now. I promised your grandmother
I'd have you home by 11."

"We still have half an hour then." Rika said excitedly.

"No, I feel like we've had enough adventure for today, don't you?" Ryo took her hand and they
began walking back to the car.

"Ok, then." Rika looked up at him and smiled. "You've been so good to me, we're going to do what
you want for a change."

Ryo grinned back.

* * *

"So this was fun." Rika said once they were back at her doorstep.

"Yeah. We should do it again sometime." Ryo laughed. "I'll call you."

"What's so funny? What are you laughing at?" Rika crossed her arms.

"My cousin, the one who went to America, says that when a guy drops a girl off at her doorstep
he says those things." Ryo said, still laughing.

"But you're not any other guy." Rika said, leaning in to whisper in his ear. "You're my guy."

Ryo blushed and coughed. "Yeah."

He began leaning in nervously to kiss her, but then got cold feet. They both backed away, not
quite ready yet.

"So, uh, good night." Ryo gave her a hug.

"Good night." They parted, and Rika kissed him on the cheek. She smiled at him and went inside.

* * *


"Back so soon?" Rumiko said as Rika went inside. "It's only 10:45."

"I think that's plenty late, Mother." Rika said, taking off her shoes.

"Well, in my day---" Rumiko began, but Grandmother cut her off.

"You still had to be back by 11:00, except when you disobeyed me." Grandmother said, smiling.

"The night is still young, Rika, dear." Rumiko said, pretending she didn't hear her own mother's
last comment.

"No, Ryo and both agreed that we had had enough for tonight."

"So when do I get to meet this Ryo?" Rumiko went back to reading 'A Model's World' magazine.

"Soon." Rika brushed her hair with a comb she had taken out of her purse.

"Did you at least kiss him yet?"

Rika began to blush. She looked down. "Uh, no."

"No?" Rumiko said, surprised.

"Oh, come off it, Rumiko, it's only the first date." Grandmother went to pour Rika some hot tea.
"Besides, you should be glad that you have a good, obedient daughter that decides to take things
steady with her first boyfriend." Grandmother came back into the room and handed Rika her tea
cup. "Something I didn't get blessed with."

"Mother!" Rumiko said, and Grandmother laughed.

"Mom, Ryo and I are really happy with the way things are going." Rika sipped her tea. "I'll kiss
him when I'm ready."

* * *

Ryo got home and collapsed on the couch. His dad still wasn't home yet. He flung his shoes off
and they bounced against the wall.

"What a night." he said tiredly.

*I'm glad Rika and I decided to take things slow.* Ryo thought while brushing his teeth. *Altough
I do want to marry her in the future and stuff like that, I'm kinda glad to have things easy
right now.*

Ryo slumped into bed and pulled the cover over his head. *It's not like I'm disappointed that I
didn't kiss her. I was just scared, that's all.*

*Rika is really special. How did I ever change her from who she was to the person she is now?*

Ryo didn't want to think about it anymore. *Maybe in the morning.*



...end of Chapter V!


A/N: Next time: Ryo is going away! Rika gets the gift of a lifetime and their first kiss! Playing
at a Fanfiction.net near you.