Author's note: I think that in the previous chapter, I made Ryo meaner than he really is. He doesn't appear that much on the series and I also missed the first two episodes where he was introduced (sadly).

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Chapter 2

            At lunchtime, Rika waited in line to buy cafeteria food. She felt impatient at the big line. This is cafeteria food and there's such a long line, she thought to herself. To add to her impatience, the tables were full of people. She saw Ryo wave at her and pointing to the empty seat next to him. She rolled her eyes, ignored him and walked on. She finally found a place and sat, as small as it was. It would be better than having to sit next to Ryo. She glanced at the people around her. She was sitting among a group of boys. She ignored their stares at her and ate half of her plate.

"Looks like Rika's sitting with those guys," a boy next to Ryo told him. "Too bad. I guess we're just too low for her."

            "There are other nice girls in this school for you," Ryo teased. "And she probably wouldn't go well with you" He grinned.

            "Yeah. You might not be able to handle her," another boy continued. "She seems like the kind of girl that think they need no one else."

            "Yeah, well I hope those guys leave her alone," Ryo said. "They're known for heavy flirting and getting rough when the girl ignores them which is what Rika would do."

            And it's just what she did.

            She noticed that the little place she was sitting was getting tighter by the second and growled and glared at the guys that were sandwiching her. They were staring at her, a grin on their face.

            "Hey pretty girl," the one on her left.

            "You new around here?" continued the one on her right.

            "If you hang with us we'll show you around," said the boy in front of her, staring at her.

            She just scoffed and made to leave, but as she did, one of the boys snatched her arm.

            "Going somewhere?" he said. "Don't ya wanna stick with us?"

            "Let me go," she snapped at him and freed her arm from his grip with one swift yank.

            She started to leave but her arm was, again, caught. She yanked it away again and muttered a "leave me alone". As she glanced back a disgusted look towards the one who caught her arm, she noticed that the others had also stood up and were headed towards her, looking rather displeased. The five of them circled her and were tightening that circle. One of them broke the circle by making a step towards Rika. He snatched her arm quite rudely with a tight grip. This scared the girl but far from admitting it, she flung her tray onto his face as she kicked him in the stomach to free her wrist.

             Ryo, who had been looking that way, stood up suddenly with a worried look on his face. He made his way towards the group thinking to help Rika who was disadvantaged by number.

            The moment one of their gang member got hit, they got rough and attacked Rika but unluckily for them, Rika was not weak and knew how to defend herself perfectly well. Their first mistake was to break the circle, leaving Rika space to get away so that she was not cornered anymore. Their second was underestimating the tomboy.

            She kicked one as she saw a blur from the corner of her eye. She turned her body. Too late. She readied herself for a blow and counterattack. The kick never touched her. In a flash, Ryo had appeared, blocked the kick and delivered his own that made contact with the assaulter's chest. His face contorted in pain and he fell down, huddling his chest to ease the pain. Ryo then went on to another one and Rika did the same. When they had fended off the gang, Ryo had expected thanks but he got none. The girl punched him in the face and glared at him.

            "Do you think I'm so weak I can't handle a few losers?" she snapped at him. "I didn't need your help."

            "Uh. You're welcome?" he said, confused, as Rika walked away.

            Puzzled by the girl's reaction, he went back to his table where his friends eyed him with a questioning look.

            "Who does she think she is?" said one of them in an annoyed voice. "She could have at least said thanks."

            "Self-sufficient tough girl, I guess," shrugged Ryo. "She won't ever admit to anyone that she needs help with something. I guess she could have handled that herself on her own anyway." he added as he rubbed his jaw.

            Who does he think he is? Rika thought. I could've handled it just fine without him interfering. But deep down, she knew she was wrong. Sure she would have beaten them but she would've been hurt quite badly as the boys didn't seem like they would attack her one by one and let her the time to recover from their blows. She climbed a tree and stayed there until the bell rang.

            "Hey, I know. Let's break her tough girl act."

            "Yeah. " a thoughtful voice. "Ryo, here's the deal. You have to make her become your girlfriend and your relationship has to last three months. Then, you have to dump her in front of the whole school."

            "Huh? I don't know guys, isn't that mean to her?" Ryo answered. "I mean, she hasn't really done anything to us."

            "You afraid you can't tame her? I wanna see the tough girl cry. I'll give you 50 bucks."

            "I still think it's a bad idea though," he agreed reluctantly.

            The bell rang and they went back to school. A look of anticipation and excitement gleamed on Ryo's friends' faces.

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Author's note: I think I made this chapter a little clichéd…. And no one has names… I couldn't really use the names in the series because they're all nice guys except maybe Kazu who seems the most likely to do something like that. I promise I will make the following chapters better [if I can]. I seem to express my imagination not that well…