If Only It Was Real
Con: Man, sorry for the late update! I said that the fourth chapter would be up soon and I lied...But it was because my comp crashed and the chapter was on there. I didn't exactly want to type it all up again because I've been busy with other stuff on Digimon Advanced. But at least it's up now.
Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon, but I do own this story and the plot, as well as anyone you don't recognize from the television show even though they're pretty random.
Chapter 4: Nothing Goes The Way It's Planned
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The ice pellets shattered against the glass windows, making the building itself sound like a war zone. Trees that once stood strong and mighty were being effortlessly pushed around by the harsh wind. Roads were slick with a new ice coat so people had to drive cautiously, their windshield wipers whipping across the front. Events scheduled for this day were cancelled and plans were abandoned. But this bad weather did nothing to stop parents from sending their children to a place much dreaded, despite various pleads.
"Sorry Ms. Ohishi," history teacher Mr. Takashi answered. "But school is not supposed to be a place of fun. You're here to learn and I'm here to make sure that you do. Now everyone take out your textbook and turn to page 252."
Naomi Ohishi slumped in her seat two desks in behind where Rika Nonaka sat, staring out at the attacking armies of hail. It was a pretty stupid question that Naomi had asked: 'Since it's Valentine's Day, could we have this period off?'. Of course the answer was going to be no, it wasn't as if school would be cancelled on each holiday. Rika sighed before taking out her textbook and turning to the page assigned. It hadn't helped that the girl had mentioned Valentine's Day since this day was the source of her thoughts.
As the teacher continued to give the lesson, Rika's mind directed itself to another subject, a subject she had been thinking about-unintentionally-for the past few days. 'I hope I'm doing the right thing...It's been so long that I'm never sure what right is these days. But I'm pretty sure that I'm right this time. I just hope he appreciates it...'
Unknown to her, Ryo sat a floor above the History classroom, pondering more or less the same thing.
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"Okay Jeri, I know that you didn't drag me all the way into the washroom for nothing," stated the fourteen-year-old, leaning against the counter where her friend was. "So why'd you pop out of nowhere and take me here?" she asked, her eyes wandering to the ceiling although the way her eyes darted reflected her desire to leave; class was about to start. Besides, she could guess what the topic was going to be about.
Jeri threw her a questioning look. "I needed to talk to you about the dance Rika, that's all." Right on. She pushed herself off the counter and positioned herself in front of Rika, hoping to gain her undivided attention. "So, are you going or not? You don't have to lie when you're in front of your best friend..."
Rika sighed. "Look Jeri, I know that you mean well when you try to talk to me about stuff like this, but it's not gonna work. I am not going to the dance with anyone named Ryo Akiyama. If you were my friend, Jeri, you would respect that and not be trying to set him and me up. I know what I'm doing." With that she walked past the other girl and went for the door.
"But Rika! Alice's got it all figured out! You won't even need to pay to get in!" The door closed, making Jeri threw up her arms in the signalling that she'd given up. She looked to the second last stall and called out Alice's name. "She's right. We shouldn't be trying to force them like this."
A click echoed through the room as the stall door was unlocked and Alice poked her head out. "What she said is true, but friends always look out for each other. Not to mention making sure that they don't torture themselves, which Rika is doing," she reasoned. She walked out of her hiding place and strolled over to Jeri. A simple motion with her wrist told Jeri that they should leave. "Come, let's get the boys to help."
Jeri's doubtful expression was strengthened with her crossed arms. "Do you really think that Rika will listen to them over us?" she demanded, soured by Rika's earlier attitude.
Alice laughed as she opened the door, scanning for any signs of a lingering girl. "Of course not! But they can help us out with Ryo. He can't really have plans for today; they might be able to persuade him. And as a side effect, he can persuade Rika. C'mon."
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"Ryo! I want to talk to you about something!" Henry Wong confronted Ryo with an air of business. His lip was curled in a tight frown, which resulted in the narrowing of his normally composed eyes. Something was indeed bothering him.
The older boy glanced back to see his classmates staring at him, and with that image, directed Henry somewhere not so populated. "Don't you have a class to go to? Why did you come to me?"
"The teacher's running late today, but I'm the one who's supposed to be asking the questions here." Henry directed a piercing look to the receiver before beginning. "Yesterday I was at Hypnos when I discovered something. It seems that someone had programmed a pretty resistant and tough firewall int-"
Ryo's expression instantly switched over to worry when he looked over Henry's shoulder and caught a glimpse of a certain brown-haired Tamer deep in conversation with Jeri. In an effort to hide, he tackled Henry into a door they were conveniently standing by. The door swung open easily as both boys crashed into the hard tile floor gaining newly bruised limbs.
Henry's head was throbbing intensely as he picked himself up and leaned against the wall, hoping that his world would stop spinning. He closed his eyes and shook his head a bit as if that would lessen the dizziness. Clasping his hand over his eyes, the fourteen-year-old arched his neck back. "Ryo, why'd you do that for? You'd better explain yourself; I've got a huge headache now."
Ryo used the wall to help himself up and pressed the palms of his hands to his forehead, wishing the same Henry had. "Damn...I saw Takato and Jeri headed this way so I figured that we had to get out of sight."
Henry removed his hand and looked at the fifteen-year-old almost with pity. "And you thought that Takato wouldn't come into the guy's washroom." His voice dripped with sarcasm, very un-Henry-like.
Ryo looked at the sign that hung on the door and when he had confirmed this theory, swallowed a major curse word. "This headache for nothing." He remembered what Henry had started to say earlier and decided to finish the subject off. "So does anyone else know about that?"
"So I was right. But no, no one else knows about this."
"How about Alice?" Ryo pressed.
Henry shook his head. "No, she went home before I discovered the firewall." He eyed the Legendary Tamer suspiciously. "Don't tell me that you were the one who set up the firewall. I can understand that you stepped forward with the idea, but for you to actually build one is...well, not that acceptable."
Ryo laughed. "No, it wasn't me but my dad has contacts. With my knowledge of the Digital World and their knowledge of programming, we were able to conjure it up. But it should've been flawless. Anyways, promise me that you won't tell anyone about this, it's crucial."
Henry stepped forward and laid a hand on the older boy's shoulder. "Don't worry, I know that you must have your reasons for doing this. And one more thing you were right, the firewall should have been flawless except for one little problem: you forgot to hide your IP address." With a chuckle, he pulled open the door and sprinted his way to class.
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'Ugh, I just hope no one I know sees me doing this.' Rika glanced around almost nervously, fingering the plain little box in her hands. She shifted her backpack so she would have the pleasure of being comfortable underneath a jacket since there was no reprieve from the thickening heat. The bell rang and she instantly darted her eyes to the ground, in hopes that no one would recognize her or whose locker she was standing at. Although the latter was almost impossible since cards and gifts decorated the locker, obviously taped on by some crazy girls that had still hoped to win the heart of the locker's occupant.
She regained her original posture when she concluded that the crowd was thinning since the number of feet passing by had lessened. Ryo Akiyama was still nowhere to be seen.
'Where can he be? It's not like I have all day,' Rika thought when she glimpsed that she only had an hour left before she had to go and be on time to say goodbye to her mother. Deciding that she needed to leave, Rika began toward the front exit when she saw the guy she'd been waiting for finally make his way.
Ryo flashed his smile and jogged the small distance between them. A light blue jacket was slung over his right shoulder while the opposite hand clutched the top backpack strap. The lights on the ceiling reflected the beads of sweat that had gathered on his forehead, prompting Rika to conclude that he had been waiting for quite a while-with his jacket on. "Rika, I thought you'd be at your locker."
"I thought you'd be at your locker," Rika countered, glad that her waiting hadn't been for nothing although she mentally frowned at this similarity.
Ryo laughed but at the sight of how adorned his locker was, the laughter quickly faded and he decided to place himself between Rika and the metal door. He chuckled slightly but it was a nervous one.
An uneasy silence drowned out the rest of the laughter, neither sure how to start. The fourteen-year-old felt like she had to get this over with before she lost her nerve and shoved the box into the older boy's unsteady hands, causing him to falter. "Well anyways, I just thought I'd give you this." She saw Ryo's grateful look and hastily added, "Don't look too happy. I gave Takato, Henry, Kazu, and Kenta the same thing, so don't think it means anything-'cause it doesn't."
Despite this information, the smile on Ryo's face held and he quickly pocketed his gift. "And here I was thinking that you hated me too much to give me something. But thanks." The awkward silence reappeared and Ryo slipped his hands into the pockets of his jeans, looking around the usual school setting. Occasionally his cerulean blue eyes would gaze over Rika's lavender ones for a second before they'd feel the need to concentrate their attention on something else.
Rika looked at the clock over a classroom door and after seeing that it was close to 4:00, started towards the north exit. "I need to go; my mom wants me to be there when she leaves today."
Ryo, realizing that he could not stall any longer, finally decided to brave the question. With a deep breath and a look in the eye he began, "Rika, I know that you have to meet your mom soon but can you meet me at the usual spot-at the Hideout? I promise it won't be long."
Rika was caught off guard by the question-it was something not anticipated-but something was telling her that she should meet him; then again something else turned the idea down completely. There was a fifty percent 'no' and another fifty 'yes' so she was left indecisive. She knit her brow in thought but she could still not come up with a response. "I'll think about it. You'll know if I come or not."
The Legendary Tamer's smile returned and with a deep nod, he past her to the nearest exit, trying to slip into his jacket at the same time. "Don't be long!" he shouted back to her, he sounded as if he knew that the outcome would be in his favour. He knocked into a snow-covered trio entering the building - identified as people from the student council - and with a short apology, continued his way out into the still raging storm. He was seen pulling his jacket closer to him before disappearing in the whiteness.
Rika Nonaka sighed and spun backwards, her back hitting the smooth metal locker with a hollow sound. With something to lean against, she tried to ponder why she had even given Ryo a chance. She was just supposed to give him the gift and then leave as quickly as possible, but now she had changed her own rules. Was a common two-lettered word so difficult to say? The girl scolded herself mentally for being so weak, for losing her will when she actually came to face him. Her eyes traveled skyward as if asking the heavens to change this situation and weakness.
Rika shifted her backpack slightly as she took a step towards the exit but abruptly stopped when she felt something brush past her. When she looked behind her, there was not a soul present. Shrugging the feeling off as the wind, she proceeded with her walk but shuddered when she felt the same presence wander to her. Rika spared another glance before running through the doors.
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Con: I really should've written up a rough copy for this earlier because I'm really confused about all this (note all the time changes) ; the advantages of planning beforehand are countless. Before you leave this page though, I'd ask you to leave a review. Also, thanks to the ones who have reviewed so far, I should be able to get the next chapter up pretty soon but there are no promises for those of you who've followed me for a while. Anyways, I'll see ya'll soon. Jaa.