"A date," Rika asked, not quite believing her ears. "You want me to go out on a date with you?"
"Exactly," Ryo confirmed, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "Go out with me and see what kind of a guy I really am. After that, if you decide you still don't want anything to do with me, I'll leave you alone."
"What kind of a date did you have in mind?" Rika wondered, narrowing her eyes.
Ryo thought for a second before replying, "I was thinking maybe dinner."
Rika rejected that idea. "Be seen with you in a public place? I don't think so."
"Why not?" Ryo shrugged. "A lot of people have already seen us talking together and are starting to talk themselves."
"Yes, but nobody I know is around. No deal."
"Well, I suppose a movie is out of the question?"
"Depends," Rika said, thinking it out. "A dark theatre, little chance of anybody seeing me with you. Don't know if I can trust you with the lights off though." She looked at Ryo sideways, only the hint of a smirk revealing the joke.
"I wouldn't try something like that," Ryo reassured her. "In case you haven't noticed, I'm trying to get you to like me, not get cheap thrills. What kind of movie though? I was thinking a nice romantic movie," he winked. Rika scoffed at the idea.
"I don't do romance. Give me a nice action flick any day."
"Would you settle for a comedy?" Ryo offered by way of a compromise.
"Deal."
"Shake on it?" he asked, extending a hand. Rika took his hand and shook it, squeezing as hard as she could. For the next few seconds they engaged each other in a test of strength, mouths locked in smirks.
"You know the next class bell just rang," Rika said.
"I know…"
The rest of the day passed uneventfully, as did the next two days before the promised date that Saturday afternoon. Rika stood looking in a full length mirror after having gotten dressed up for her date. She still refused to wear dresses, so instead she opted for a light blue skirt, extending just below the knees, along with a white button-down shirt and pale denim jacket. Her hair was pulled back into the ponytail she had taken to wearing, tying with a pink ribbon, her lone concession to her mother.
"Well," she said with a soft sigh. "How do I look?"
"Absolutely radiant," Rumiko beamed. "You look perfect."
"Thought so," Rika replied, rubbing off much of her make-up. "That's better."
"Rika…"
Rika glanced over to the clock, noting that it was almost time for her to meet Ryo at the theatre. "Shall we get going?"
Rumiko dropped Rika off in front of the theatre where Ryo was waiting. He was dressed in khaki pants with a high neck, dark blue sweater. His hair was freshly combed and he had a bounce in his step as he rushed to open the door for Rika. Reaching out, he took Rika's hand as she exited the car.
"So glad you could make it," Ryo beamed as he closed the car door behind Rika. "You're looking quite… Is lovely a safe word to use?"
"As good as any," Rika consented. "You're looking quite… decent yourself." The slightest hint of a blush threatened to betray her, but thankfully nobody noticed.
"See you tonight, Rika," Rumiko called from the car. "Have fun!"
"Don't worry," Ryo said, raising his hand in a saluting wave. "I'll take good care of your daughter!"
"You'll take care of me?" Rika responded icily, crossing her arms.
"Uhh…" Ryo said, fumbling for words. "You know, that's just one of those things you say… I'm sorry…"
"Don't worry about it," Rika said, chuckling softly. "'Take care of me' indeed…"
"Right…" Ryo said nervously, reaching into his pocket. His hand came back out holding a pair of movie tickets. "I've got the tickets already. Shall we head in?"
"Let's."
Ryo offered his arm to Rika as they headed for the entrance. Rika politely accepted it, but still kept some distance between herself and Ryo as they entered.
The scene was completely different as they left the theatre. Rika was walking briskly some distance in front of Ryo, arms crossed once again. Ryo chased after her and caught up on the sidewalk outside the theatre.
"Come on Rika," Ryo was saying. "Don't be like that."
"Like what?" Rika replied rounding angrily on Ryo. "You know, I trusted you… and what did you do?"
"It wasn't that bad," Ryo protested. "Rika…"
"I can't believe you would pull something like that…"
Trying to act as casually as they could, several fellow moviegoers were standing around listening in on the conversation, occasionally murmuring among themselves. If either of them had noticed, they said nothing.
"You can't tell me that you didn't enjoy it," Ryo said. "Admit it!"
"For your information," Rika retorted, "I didn't enjoy it! The nerve of you…"
"You said you wanted to see a comedy, so I took you to one!"
"I also said that I didn't want to see a romance! It was a romantic comedy!"
The crowd of onlookers quickly dispersed as the argument came to a head much less intriguing than they had thought.
"Why don't you just admit that you liked the movie?" Ryo asked, returning his voice to normal. "I heard you laugh. I distinctly remember that…"
For a second, Ryo's cheeks turned red with the hint of a blush and, if Rika had been facing him, he would have seen the same thing with her. Not that she'd ever let him know.
"All right…" Rika said finally, turning back to face Ryo. "I did enjoy the movie…"
"See? I knew it."
"Despite the fact that it was a romance."
Ryo hung his head in defeat. "Why are you against romance anyway?"
"I'm… not against romance, per se," Rika replied. "It's just… The way it's always portrayed, with the heroine getting swept off her feet by the hero. It's just so… fake."
"Are you saying you don't want that?"
"I prefer to keep my feet firmly on solid ground, thank you very much," Rika replied.
"Hmm, I'll have to rethink my plans," Ryo said in mock seriousness, putting a hand to his chin thoughtfully.
"Stop that," Rika laughed, punching Ryo in the arm.
"See!" Ryo pointed. "You're laughing again!"
"Aww, shut up," Rika smiled.
"You're cold," Ryo said in a mock whine, lowering his head. He looked back up and, in a normal voice, he added, "Care to get a bite to eat?"
"Let's go," Rika agreed.
Once again, Ryo held out his arm with a, "My lady?"
Rolling her eyes, Rika took his offered arm with a reply of, "Don't push it…"
As the two of them walked down the street towards some nearby restaurants, Ryo asked, "So, what did you really think of the movie?"
"Well…"
Ryo took one final drink from his cup and set it down on the table next to the remnants of their lunch. Crumpling the wrapper from his sandwich, he aimed for the open mouth of the trashcan several feet away. "So," he said, sinking the shot easily, "You never answered my question that day at lunch."
"And what question would that be?" Not wanting to be outdone, Rika balled up her trash and sent it flying at the trashcan as well from across the table. It banked neatly off the wall and landed right next to Ryo's. She pumped her fist slightly in celebration.
"Nice…" Ryo said. "I meant the question about why you left that time in the Digital World. You know, after the thing with Megadramon."
For several second, Rika sat, silently regarding Ryo's face, just staring at him. Then, with a soft sigh, she began to speak.
"Well, it really all goes back to the first time we met. You know, at that Digimon card tournament. I went in thinking that I was hot stuff. I was undefeated, the 'Digimon Queen.'
"And then, what was completely unthinkable to me happened. I made it to the final round, only to lose. To you. And then, for the first time in a long while, I felt inferior. Digimon was one of the only things I was good at and, if I wasn't the best at Digimon, then what was I? I know it sounds silly now, but that was how I felt at the time. To make matters worse, I couldn't even get a rematch against you the next year.
"Then, when you showed up in the Digital World and defeated Megadramon easily, it all came back. The feelings of inferiority. And, to be honest, the fact that you didn't remember me at first did hurt. I mean, there I was, still stinging over my defeat after all that time, and you had forgotten all about it. So, in order to gain the upper hand and feel superior again, I left."
"Wow," Ryo said once Rika had finished. "I didn't know you had thought about it in that way. I certainly didn't intend to make you feel like that."
"Yeah, I know you didn't," Rika answered. "Hmmph. Looking back on it, it was all so stupid."
"Well, you know," Ryo replied, "you weren't the only one who regretted not getting a rematch."
"Why would you have wanted a rematch?" Rika asked incredulously. "You had already beaten me."
"Are you kidding? Out of all my opponents, you were by far the best card player. If circumstances had been different, like say it were best of three, I don't know what would have happened."
"Heh. Now it's my turn to be surprised," Rika laughed. "Guess we both wanted a rematch."
"Well, then there's only one thing to do, isn't there?" Ryo smiled, leaning forward. "We'll just have to have that rematch now."
"Now, you're kidding, right? Do you even still have any cards?"
"Of course," Ryo answered. "I still got all of my old ones back at my place."
Rika narrowed her eyes to slits as she stared at Ryo. "You're inviting me back to your place?"
"C'mon, don't say it like that," Ryo said, pleadingly. "I'm just inviting you up for a card match. One match. That's all I ask."
