Fated: Part Two

You and I



"Rika? Don't you have any plans today?"

"No."

Mrs. Nonaka let out a chuckle. "Come to work with me, then! You'd make a good little model!" She missed seeing her baby in dresses... well, something other than those ruddy school uniforms, anyway. The poor girl was merely in her 'tomboy' stage-- it wouldn't last that long... she hoped.

Rika sent an angered glare toward her mother. A... 'good little model?' Model?! "I don't want to be a stupid model," she hissed. It was true... she hated the idea of dressing up and having people like you because you're beautiful or rich. She hated being known as the 'Digimon Queen' at times as well.

"R-Rika... why not?" It surprised her-- really, it did. Rika barely spent any time with her nowadays; she was usually locked up in her room or out playing that silly card game.

"Because," she whispered, her answer blunt. With a light grunt, she stood up and exited the kitchen. Once the door to her room slid behind her, she finished her claim:

"Then I'd be too much like you."

~*~

Takato poked and prodded at the headpiece he had decided to wear. Sure, it was a little old-- he had gotten it a few years ago-- and made him feel odd... but it was something he could possibly use. It all came to him while preparing for his search: what if she'd seen the T.V. show before? Ya know, Digimon? Maybe she even played the card game! Then again... Jeri thought it was weird....

So there he was... brandishing off a pair of goggles at the park! For goodness sakes-- there were people he knew all around him! Still... right then and there, all he wanted to do was to find his dream girl.

Gee... what a great nickname for someone he hadn't really been acquainted with yet.... When he had first met her, she had been so... so mean. She just brushed him aside like he was nothing. Nothing. But... her eyes had cried out... for something....

He just wished he knew what.

"Hey, Chumly!"

Takato didn't need to turn around... the voice and nickname (lots of nicknames, eh?) told him who it was: Kazu.

"You should've come with us yesterday!" Kenta piped in. They made their way up to Takato, chuckling and poking each other. He noted that, as always, Kazu had his 'faithful' box of Digimon cards with him.

A chortle escaped Kazu's lips. "Yeah! That Henry kid-- he knows his crap!" That was something he had experienced himself. The thing was, he just didn't want to admit it... because it was... kinda embarrassing

Kenta, on the other hand, thought otherwise.... "He kicked Kazu's butt!" Thank God he declined in playing... that would have really lowered his self-esteem. "It only took him two turns!"

"Really? What cards?" Now, Takato didn't care that much... sure, he realized that it would be nice to know something about a person who could one day be a friend, but.... Well, he didn't exactly want to straight-out say, 'Hey, guys, I have to go look for my dream girl now, okay?' That... wouldn't sound quite right, if you know what I mean. They would never leave him alone about something like that, either.

"Well... it was on some new computer game!" Kazu cried, shifting his visor. Whining wouldn't help, but it felt pretty gosh darn good.... Especially after having his pride knocked down a block or two. "The boy's a genius with computer junk!" Aww, well! It could've just been luck that made Henry win! After all, that was his territory! The park may tell a different tale....

A computer game? That didn't interest him much, being computer illiterate and all.... Still... Takato felt he shouldn't act suspicious. "That's cool."

"Anyway, we invited him to come down today-- ya know, to do battle with real cards?"

Takato nodded. "Well, count me out. I--"

"CHICKEN!" Kazu and Kenta both howled.

"No...," he explained hurriedly. "I promised my mom I'd visit Grams." In reality, his grandma was living in the US....

His friends gave him a long, intimidating fisheye (to which he just sweated), then toddled on. Once their chants and giddy roughhousing were but a memory, he left the park.

Someone in this town had to know that girl.... She didn't just appear out of thin air... did she?

~*~

God... how she loathed Saturday school. It wasn't her fault she'd been sick and missed too many days! Oh well... the all-girl school wasn't too cruel-- she only had to stay 'till noon. But that was too long! And the stupidest part about it was that she had to wear her school uniform! As if it really mattered!

She really, really, really loathed school.

"H-Hey!"

She turned; black bangs fell over her crystal eyes. It was... a boy. A giggle was building up inside of her. He was pretty cute-- he even had on a pair of goggles! Was he her age? Yeah... he looked it. Oh! He was coming right up to her!

Takato panted heavily. He hadn't intended to run, but he was afraid of losing his only chance on finding information on that girl. "Hey." He pointed to her outfit and asked, "That's your school uniform-- right?"

She finally let her giggle out. He was even cuter up close! "Uh-huh!" What did he want from her? Maybe he admired her from afar... and wanted her to be his girlfriend! Oh... with her school being an all-girl one, guys were hard to come by....

"Great!" Takato closed his eyes and thought of the girl from his dreams again. "Um, do you know a redhead, around our age, who--" he motioned his hands awkwardly above his head "-- wears her hair like this? She also has purple eyes and--"

"You mean Rika?" Why would someone want to see her?! And someone as cute as he was?!

"Th-that's her name?" He felt himself test the name lightly. It... was pretty. "Do you... know where she lives?" Please, please, please....

"Down that way...," she grumbled, pointing to a certain road. "Take a right at the third mailbox and stop at the Japanese-style house with flowers all over both yards."

YES! SCORE! "Thanks!" he yelped, taking off in the direction given. Soon... soon he would meet his dream girl.

No. Soon he would meet Rika.

"Gee... to think-- the tomboy's got a cutie like him after her, and I ain't got nothin'...."

~*~

It was a nice day.... The sun was out, casting its dancing rays of light all over the place... its cancer-causing rays.... Bug buzzed all over, flying from one lovely flower to another... each insect possibly carrying some type of disease.... It would rain tomorrow-- she knew it. It was just the way the clouds swirled together like that....

Rika stretched her legs out on the porch. Next to her, the sliding wall was open to reveal her room. It was simple and plain... nothing decorated the walls... nothing special-- not even a bed-- took up space. Did it bother her? No... it was something she had lived with all her life. Why should it bother her?

Her mother had left an hour ago. She had an 'important' meeting to attend to. Rika assumed it was some guy. Like always, her mother was going off in private... as if she were doing something wrong. Oh well... at least there was her grandma. She got along better with her, anyway; mostly because she never really left the house much. A lot of times, she would be--

"Rika?"

The redhead let out a sigh. Always when she was thinking.... "Yeah, Grandma?"

She could have sworn she heard her grandmother laugh. "You," she called, voice coming closer, "have a visitor!"

She jerked. What?! A visitor? But... she had no friends. Who would want to see her?! Why? Before she could scream, 'Well, have them leave!', the door slid open. In front of her stood her grandma and....

"You...," Rika spat, body tensing and eyes burning. Why was he following her? What had he called her again? The girl from his dreams? Hah-- yeah, right! And digimon were real! "What're you doing here?!" He laughed nervously and fidgeted.

"Well, I can see that the two of you have a lot to talk about." She smiled and turned around. "I'll let you be." With a shhk of the door, they were alone.

Takato couldn't believe it-- it was her! She hadn't appeared out of thin air! He wanted to go touch her or something just to make sure she was really real, but he was honestly afraid of being decked. She sorta looked like the kind that would do that.... "So...," he started, gently walking toward her.

She glared at him. "So, nothing! If you're spying on me--"

"Why would I?" he muttered, bending down and looking into her eyes. They still had that same plea. No matter how hard she tried, that little, scared emotion remained. Besides... she had really pretty eyes.

What on Earth...? What was he doing? "Get," she hissed, ready to fight if need be, "out of my face." Why was he staring into her eyes like that?! "I am NOT your 'dream girl,' so leave me alone...."

She was hurt... somehow, someway... by someone. That's about all he could find. Ten-year-old Takato Matsuki: master at reading people's emotions! "Why...? What's hurting you inside...?"

Rika felt a twinge of uneasiness. How did he...? Her head turned away from him, red hair shimmering in the dull light, and she clutched her shirt. Takato then noticed the dark blue broken heart imprinted on it. "It's none of your business."

Stubborn... but he could possibly get past that. He... he wanted to become friends with this girl. It was odd... he felt connected to her somehow.... Slowly, he raised a hand up and carefully touched her face; he made her look at him. "It could be...," he whispered softly.

Rika's eyes looked into this boy's. She... she didn't even know his name.... How could he make her actually want to tell him...? What was his secret? His method? Her mouth moved, but no sound came out. She... felt as though she should....

No! She had to wake up! He was trying to trick her in some way! She had to be strong-- not weak! Her eyebrows narrowed, and she shook her head from his grasp. "No-- it can't." Never. No one would make her feel that pain again. "Now...," she whispered, standing, "leave."

What had happened? He... must not have made it through to her.... 'I swear... one day, I will!'he vowed silently. All he wanted was to be friends... and to know what was hurting her. Still... he didn't want to tell her how she looked in his dream. She'd pound him for sure, then.

Once he was on the street, he turned. Rika was still standing there. Probably making sure he left.... "Thanks for having me down, Rika!"

She grimaced at hearing him say her name. Why did he have to learn it? "Don't you dare mention anything about this-- you hear me?!"

Takato started to run off. A sudden thought hit him, and he turned as he ran and waved to her. "My name's Takato!" he bellowed; right afterward, he fell over the suddenly-appearing curb. "Ouch!"

Good. He was gone. Now she could be alone again. No more dumb boys who claimed that she was in his dream....

But now... being alone felt a lot more lonelier than before....

~*~

Bells chimed as the children entered the school. Rika was one of those kids, although she, unlike the others, walked among solitude. Besides, her mind was elsewhere....

The boy from Saturday... the goggle-head.... She was unsure of what to think of him.... He had come down the next day as well... although she had made him leave almost immediately after seeing him. He... made her nervous. She didn't know why-- he just did!

He was persistent, too-- she would give him that. But why wouldn't he leave her alone? And now... now he knew where she lived! People would see them together! She didn't want that! Right after he had left the second day, she had hissed out to him, "Just leave me alone!"

She stormed into the classroom and glared at every single person in her own seat. Who had told him? Who?! She sat, scanned those around her and snorted lightly. She'd find out. Yes, she would.

"So, Rika...?"

Her head snapped in the direction of the voice. "What?" she growled.

The owner of the voice trembled slightly. When Rika was ticked, she was scary. "I... I just wanted to know who that guy was...."

The whole room quieted. Rika and some guy? No. Way. She hated everything! Especially guys! Cruel, cold, calm-- that was she.

Rika felt eyes burning large holes right into her. She glared at the girl (Toki... that was her name) and grumbled, "Why would you want to know?"

"B-because he had asked me where you... lived." Toki gulped. She was gonna get it....

Giggles flooded the classroom. Rika could picture it now.... They would start chanting 'Rika's got a boyfriend!' and say that 'hothead' had finally cooled down. Would she let them get that far? No. She sprang up and looked out at all of the girls around her. "Listen," she spat harshly, "to me. If you say anything about this, you will be seeing the nurse for a ticket to the ER. And I don't know if you'll be able to get a ticket out. Understand?"

Everyone nodded. For you see, when Rika Nonaka stated that she would do something... she really would do it. No matter what.

~*~

What was going on? He had been heading home after a long day at work when two men in suits jumped him! "What do you want from me?" he hollered.

A man walked out of the shadows. "Ahh... Mr. Wong. You-- as well as some friends of yours-- will find out soon enough." A chuckle blossomed from him. "All that I can say is that it will be something important." He motioned for his men to take him away. With a sigh, he mumbled:

"Dreams are only real if you believe in them... and what we're dealing with is just that-- a dream. So... what I need is a dreamer... the biggest dreamer." Out of the window, he looked; but not at the stars... something much further. "It is like the old saying... it'll be like 'finding a needle in a haystack.'"

~*~

A/N: Konnichiwa! Haven't updated this in a while! I finally decided that I'll work on one story at a time... and this one is next! I've already gotten 'Trials of the Heart' done! Go read the finished product! For those of you who haven't noticed, this will be a Rukato story. If you want to see anything else, you'd better tell me in a review! So, here's the preview for the next chap.!-Angel-Chan

Fated: Part Three

Pain

"Hey, Mom? Where's Dad been?"

Mrs. Wong glanced at her son nervously. Should she tell him the truth? That she didn't know? "I... think he mentioned something about a meeting in America...," she answered. It was a lie, yes, but it was better than having her son worry.

Henry nodded. That was reasonable. He did travel a lot, after all.

"Henwy?"

"Yeah, Suzie?" His sister ran out, dragging a little Lopmon stuffed animal after her. A humongous grin was planted on her face.

"Can I pway with Pwincess Pwetty Pants for a while?" she asked innocently. Pwincess Pwetty Pants and Bunny Wunny were going to have a dress up party! "Pweaze?"

He sighed. What did she see in his Terriermon stuffed toy...? Especially something that made it 'Pwincess Pwetty Pants?' "Go on ahead... just put it back when you're done!"

"Wee! Dwess party!" exclaimed the child as she ran into his room. Pwincess Pwetty Pants would wear a pink one and Bunny Wunny could try a white one and....

Henry looked out the window in their living room. He wasn't sure his mother was being truthful.... Still, he had to believe her-- she was his mother, after all. She wouldn't lie to him... would she?