Hey people! I guess it took me longer thank usual to update, huh? The reason for that is I want a little more reviews. I also got this idea to make a poem dedicated to Tamers. I did. I just watched the last episode, over and over again (I taped it but the tape ran out when they were floating to the gate. Too bad…) and I admit it made me cry. Also my cousin, for that matter. I also have my website to update. So…there. No schoolwork, no homework, no exams…Its summer!
I also noticed something horrible in some Ryuki stories. They make Ruki over-character. They make her just too aggressive. I mean, remember, Ruki has softened throughout the series. She wasn't really angry at Ryo that much and that long. She just gets pissed off with him. Also, Ruki doesn't care if Ryo touches her. She doesn't care if anyone else touches her. Proof: Ryo held her a lot of times, Juri hugged her, Kazu pushed her, Takato 'appeared' with her etc. Seriously, people, Ruki isn't all anger. Besides, her eyes only soften once, and that was to Ryo in the last episode…I really just wanted to say that…Hehehehe…sorry for taking our time.
Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon. You all know that.
What are Friends for? : Chapter five: A plan to lift the Spirit
Ryo couldn't forget ho Ruki felt. When he had his arms around her, he could feel her pain. They were too unbearable. He couldn't forget the look on her face as she collapsed on her knees awhile ago. He couldn't forget how little she ate and how sad she looked. He couldn't forget what she said. No, they were to hard. He logged on to chat and met everyone there. They made a plan, a plan they thought and hoped would cheer Ruki up.
Ryo has signed in
GoggleBrain: Hey Ryo. What happened to LeGeNdArY?
Ryo: Oh…uhmmm…I don't feel so LeGeNdArY right now…
Hero! Kazu: WHY?! You've always been…THE MAN!
Ryo: I don't feel right…
SaberLeomon: It's Ruki, isn't it?
Ryo: …
Hakunamatata: It is. I can tell you're really worried. Oh yeah and this is Jen.
GoggleBrain: Jen can predict our problems!
Hakunamatata: Yeah I'm psycho!
Ryo: oh…
Nerd: You seem sad Ryo
Ryo: …
SaberLeomon: Hey guys maybe we should do something to cheer Ruki up…I mean, I know how it feels and trust me, It's horrible. She may act completely different from now on
Hakunamatata: Yes but Ruki is strong. She has handled this loss many times in her life and has lived through it
Ryo: But this is different. You don't understand her relationship with her grandma
Hakunamatata: Why, do you?
Ryo: Yes. I have had a similar experience in the past
SaberLeomon: …Lets not talk about that guys.
GoggleBrain: yeah
SaberLeomon: Anyway, what do you think we should do?
Hero! Kazu: How about have a Digimon tournament!
Hakunamatata: You don't think Kazu
GoggleBrain: Yeah Ruki will just feel worse
Hero! Kazu: I don't get it
SaberLeomon: Never mind. How about a party?
Ryo: No. That will be bad. Horrible
GoggleBrain: I agree
Nerd: Why is your name gogglebrain Takato? Why not GoggleHead?
GoggleBrain: That's IT!
SaberLeomon: What's it?
GoggleBrain: we can go swimming! Its hot nowadays, anyway so that can be our reason.
Ryo: Good thinking
SaberLeomon: That's a great idea!
Hero! Kazu: But where?
Hakunamatata: Mr. Yamaki has a pool…
GoggleBrain: Maybe we can ask.
Hakunamatata: Okay I'll ask. One more question. When?
Ryo: Saturday
Nerd: Saturday it is!
Hakunamatata: I'll go and phone Mr. Yamaki now. Wait for me.
Hakunamatata has signed out
~one minute later~
Hakunamatata has signed in
Hakunamatata: He said it will be fine.
Ryo: Great.
SaberLeomon: I'll go tell Ruki. Lets all meet at Shinjuku
All: Okay
All has signed out (sorry I'm too lazy)
~Makino Residence~
The phone rang and Ruki ran to answer it.
"Hello?"
"Hey Ruki!"
"Oh…Hi Juri"
"I was just wondering…Do you want to go swimming with us at Yamaki's pool on Saturday? All of us are going to be there."
"Oh…uhmmm…okay, I guess…"
"Great! Meet you at Shinjuku! Bye!"
"Bye…"
The whole conversation Ruki had been feeling…wrong. She didn't know why but something was bothering her. She felt that it was wrong…to have fun. Why had she agreed? Maybe it was because she felt the concern in Juri's voice. She felt horrible.
"Ruki dear, you look sad. Is something the matter with your friends?"
"No mom. Everything's fine."
"Then why the long face?"
"Oh nothing. They invited me to go swimming with them at Yamaki's pool and to meet them at Shinjuku…"
"Then you should go. You guys haven't been hanging out a lot lately."
"It just feels…"
"Wrong? I know how you feel. It's like you aren't allowed to have fun. That's only a feeling, honey, and you should ignore it. Go out with your friends and have some fun okay?"
Ruki looked up at her mom. She understood. She smiled up at her, nodded her head and thanked her. At least now she knew what this feeling was. At least someone had understood her. She walked to her room and thought. She thought about different things. Her life, her friends, her family, her school…then her mind would be just too stubborn and switch her thoughts to things she didn't want to think about…her losses, The departure of her dad, Renamon, grandma…
She shook her head vigorously, got out a pen and paper, wrote down her bad thoughts then ripped the paper into pieces. She stared at the pieces. One of it had the word grandma written in bold and net letters. A tear dropped on the word grand and smudged it away, leaving the word ma to be left behind. 'Even though grandma is gone now, I still have mom…I know she'll always be there for me…'
~*Saturday*~
Ruki woke up at her alarm clock, silently cursing it and wishing to go back to sleep. Until she remembered,
"Today is Saturday!" She sat up, wide awake now. Secretly, she had been looking forward to this day all week. She knew her grandma would want her to enjoy and not make her loss a burden. So did Rumiko and her friends. She then walked to her closet and opened it.
Reaching for the back, she felt something soft and pulled it out. It was a worn-out old teddy bear which her dad had given her when she was younger. Following that was her Digivise and card holder which she had been keeping safe. After was a family picture of her, Rumiko and Seiko. Right after that was the picture of her and her friends. A smile crept up Ruki's face as she put back her memories, one by one and headed for the bathroom.
~Shinjuku park~
"Hey Ruki!" Juri and the others waved at her from the distance. She walked over to them and nodded that she was ready. Ryo was there, too. He was smiling at her from his place near the tree, obviously happy that she had made it.
"Well what are you waiting for? We're already complete! Let go swimming!" Jen shouted and then led the way to Yamaki's private pool. All were astonished that they were staying at a private pool.
"Cool we're going to a private pool!" Kazu and Kenta were repeating this phrase the whole way until it drove Ruki nuts.
"WILL YOU TWO JUST SHUT UP UNTIL WE GET THERE!" Everyone looked at her.
'Well I guess we have the old Ruki back' Ryo didn't say this out loud since it might affect Ruki or something. Finally, after a very silent walk, they reached Yamaki's place. They were awed by the huge place. Yamaki greeted them at the door.
"Morning heroes!" He winked at Jen who put a finger to his lips. He had told Yamaki all about why they were here and who it was for and he made him swear not to make anything obvious.
They made their way into the huge something-shaped pool. Kazu's eyes went big with awe and he quickly removed his shirt and jumped into the pool. He emerged, shivering with cold but smiling with pleasure.
"This thing's huge! C'mon in guys!" Kenta also took off his shirt and hid glasses and jumped in after Kazu. Juri and Ruki went into the bathroom to change while Takato and the others also took off their shirts and jumped into the pool. You may be wondering why they didn't change. It's because the boys are already wearing their swimming trunks and just had to take off their shirts.
In the bathroom, Juri brought up a conversation with Ruki, who was inside the shower room thingy.
"Hey Ruki, You know Ryo is really
worried about you. All of us had a conversation one time on the net and he
hardly spoke. Jen said if it was you and he said yeah. He seemed really
depressed even. Something about his past experience like yours came up…" Ruki
was shocked to hear this. Ryo was so happy-go-lucky and was always cheerful.
Depressed? That seemed more like a Juri kind of thing. She didn't respond to
Juri's statement and just wondered if it was her fault. At last, she they
finished changing into their one-piece bathing suits. Hers was blue and Juri's
yellow.
The pair went outside to the pool to see the boys playing around. Takato was standing at the diving board. "BOMBS AWAY!" and he jumped into the pool rolled up like a ball. Juri ran over and stepped onto the stairs leading down the pool. She squealed with excitement and coldness. Ruki just dove in. She swam to the shallow side and met up with the others. Ryo greeted her with a smile and she smiled back, remembering Juri's explanation. Then Kazu challenged Kenta to a race. The two dashed off, splashing water on their faces and leaving Ruki screaming behind them. The rest watched as Kazu won the race quite easily. Kenta couldn't see well without his glasses…
They swam back to the others, Kenta climbed up out of the pool and took the shorter way. Then out of the blue, Ryo suggested they play a game of wrestling. Not the usual wrestling, the other wrestling. The one where one person has to stay on the other's shoulders (that's one team) and the one on top has to wrestle with the other team. The one who falls first loses. Ryo then turned to Ruki. "Partners?" "Sure…" She climbed on his shoulders as Juri on Takato's. Then Ryo and Takato went towards each other, gripping Ruki and Juri's legs as so they won't fall. 'This will be easy'
Ruki grabbed Juri's hands and wrestled her. Takato was completely under the water now, Ruki's blows were too strong. Juri was trying her best to push Ruki down but her hands were weak and Ryo's grip too strong. At long last, Ruki managed to drive them deeper, causing Takato to suffocate and loosen his grip, making Juri swim back to the shallow side. The four were bursting with laughter when they emerged and Ruki jumped out of Ryo's shoulders, still laughing hysterically and Ryo laughing like a maniac. They challenged Jen.
"Hey I have no partner!"
"There's Shouchion…"
"AHA! You cheaters! MANDARAYA KAYO!" (Your all cheaters!)
"Ooh Jen what language is that?"
"Uhh…Filipino?"
"Cool you know so much languages! Now lets fight!"
"WHO'S MY PARTNER?"
"SHOUCHION!"
"Fine I'll take Shouchion…" He brought up Shouchion on his shoulders and prepared for the worst. Ruki went easy on her but, surprisingly, Shouchion managed to push her. Too bad Ryo's grip was too strong then Shouchion could have won but Ruki quickly back up and pushed Shouchion out. They lost and victory was won again. Both laughed hysterically once more as Jen caught Shouchion. They decided to stop playing as the two showed to be unbeatable and resumed back to swimming around.
Ruki went out the water, wrapped a towel around herself and sat on a sunbathing chair, not lying down but sitting up, looking over at friends and recalling happy memories and endless adventures they had had together. She recalled the time when she isolated herself from others and when she was cold-hearted. Her friends had helped her out of that. She breathed deeply as those horrible memories returned, bringing depression to herself. She sensed a presence beside her. She looked sideways and saw Ryo, concern once again present in his eyes.
"Ruki…are you okay?" She looked him straight in the eye. Neither broke the gaze, each having their own thoughts.
"Ryo, thank you…for being concerned and…and always looking out for me, even if I treat you horribly…Juri told me…"
"Ruki its all fine with me. No harm done! But answer my question, are you okay?"
"Well…I'm not sure. Sometimes I am, but sometimes…"
"Bad thoughts invade your mind, mostly at night?" She nodded.
"Ryo, tell me about your experience. I want to know. Please, Ryo" Ryo looked down, breaking the gaze as he strangled some tears.
"When I was little, around 4, my mom got this disease. It wasn't rare and it can be healed but there was no medicine at that time. My father told me that the doctors suggested an operation abroad, in the United States. We didn't have the money then so we had to loan but we only had enough for my mom to go…alone. The prescribed doctors had gone with her also, they were determined to cure her so they worked for free. Everything seemed wonderful…" His voice trailed off. Ruki saw a tear slide down his cheek but quickly he wiped it away.
"But the plane my mom was on crashed before reaching America. She died instantly along with the other doctors. Dad felt horrible and vowed to protect me no matter what. He was in a deep state of depression as an aftermath. He got fired from his job and we had no money to pay for the loan. I was young then so I couldn't understand anything. But now I do…I never saw my mom again, her body was never found. She had been the only person who really understood me, who would always tuck me in, comfort me when I cry and who was always there. Rumor has it that her body was buried under the plane. I can't stand the thought of it…Now my dad took her job, but I'm too old for those tucking-in stuff now. I learned to be tough and to watch out for myself. I broke my dad's heart by going to the Digiworld by myself. But now everything's fine…"
Ruki was shocked at his story. It seemed worse than hers. But Ryo was fine, wasn't he? They both went over to the side of the pool and dipped only their feet in. The stared at the moving water as the others played around. Then without warning, Ruki splashed some water on Ryo with her hand and pushed him over to the pool around 10 feet deep. She laughed hysterically then saw his hand emerge, grab her foot and pull her under the water. She swallowed some water and they wrestled, one trying to pull the other deeper and getting to the top first.
Turned out they got up at the same time, both laughing uncontrollably and breathing deeply. They then went to join the others to lay the all-too famous game of toss and find the coin, racing, wrestling, doing stunts, jumping and all those other pool games. Then the time came when they had to leave and go back home. Ruki went first to the bathroom to wash. She locked the door, took off her bathing suit and looked at the mirror. The sight made her eyes huge. She had gone darker and you could see the bathing suit mark around her body, like a design, really. Her shoulders and her face were sunburned and red and they were hurting quite terribly. All this she ignored, at least she had a fun time with her friends, noh?
After showering and changing, she met with the others at the doorway to go home. Kazu and Kenta's faces were red with sunburn and their eyes were, too. Everyone had gone darker and not one was free from the evil wrath of sunburn. Only Takato though didn't have even slightly red eyes. He had goggles, of course. They were also cursing their sunburns and aching shoulders and backs until Juri told them that they had fun and it was worth it all. All thanked Yamaki as they went back to Shinjuku Park.
There they retold of what they did that day in the pool and Kazu bragged about his fast speed, which was, of course, followed by an insult from Ruki. Jen suggested they go back sometime and all agreed. They went their separate ways. Juri was going home with Takato and was going to be fetched there. Jen and Shouchion were walking home. Kazu and Kenta were, too but were going separate ways. That left Ryo and Ruki. Their houses were near and went almost along the same street, making them walk home together. Nothing happened on the way except for their continuous insulting and punching. Nothing more was mentioned about Ryo's dead mom, Ruki's divorced parents, their lost partners and Ruki's dead grandma.
Ruki reached home a little while later and waved Ryo goodbye as he went along his own separate way. She felt peace and happiness as she opened the door. Rumiko was nowhere to be found. Most probably she was in her room so Ruki checked there. She thought that maybe she can ask her if they could give Ryo's family some money for the loan. Sure enough, her mom was there but seemed to be in a terrible state. Her eyes were downcast and she was holding a bunch of papers in her hands. She looked over at her newly-arrived daughter and tried to smile but failed.
"What's wrong mom?"
"Ruki there's something I need to tell you. You see, my work just called and they said I need to go to another country, China or America maybe and work there. They are moving some employees there, you see. I need to go or else I'll be fired and our status and comfort will be gone. I wanted to bring you but I can't. Your passport has expired and so has your visa. I'm sorry, Ruki but I have to go…I can't let your future be lost."
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Well that's it! Sorry it came too long. I was quite busy. I know its summer vacation but…well never mind. This story is just getting worse and worse for Ruki isn't it? Tell me what you think and maybe suggests some more Ryuki moments or stuff. I can be too sappy or too emotional or too…careless. Tell me what you think.
REVIEW!
