Glass Slipper by liahime

7 Slippers of Shattering

Disclaimer that liahime forgot to do, and put in at the very very last second: I don't own Digimon at all.

Rika woke up with an immense pounding in her head that wouldn't go away. It kept bouncing through her head, making her feel dizzy. Her stomach was angry at her- it was turning and twisting and tying itself into a knot. What had happened? All she remembered was being at Ayashi's karaoke party, singing... She drank some punch, but that was all... I t's not like she had a hangover, did she? Why did her head hurt so much?

Downstairs, Ryo woke up with a huge cramp in his neck, feeling slightly irritated after sleeping on a tiny sofa all night. He felt a lot like a clown that had squeezed itself into a tiny car once too often. He sat up, knocking over a glass lamp with his feet.

Rika knew she must have somehow gotten home from the party, but her brain was too fuzzy to remember why. Someone was screaming in her head She remembered someone carrying her, the feeling of being safe and warm in someone's arms... But that couldn't have happened, could it? She stumbled out of bed.

The lamp fell, almost in slow motion. It hit the floor, and didn't shatter. Ryo breathed out. Thank you for carpets. He picked up the lamp. It was perfectly fine- except for a huge crack in the side of the glass. He gently set it back in it's former home, turning it so no one would notice. Where am I? Ryo thought. Glass lamps, sofa... His eyes fell on a picture of Rika, immortalized as a six year old girl in the photo. Oh. He remembered now. He had just cracked her lamp, slept at her house... Oops...

Rika walked into some room, eyes still half closed. She needed to yell at someone. A lot. Her head was splitting apart right now, shattering itself over and over again.

Oops didn't work. It was past "Oh my..." and "Oh dear.." Rika slowly walked into the living room, her eyes still closed. She looked very tired. Very angry.

Rika opened her eyes slowly. Which room was she in?

Ryo decided that he should edge slowly away.

Rika opened her eyes, and saw Akiyama Ryo, for some strange reason, in her house. The screaming in her head crescendoed as her headache grew. She was tired, her head was torturing her, she felt like she had eaten poison... And there was Akiyama Ryo, looking at her with something like pity and disgust?

Rika opened her mouth, and exploded.

She wasn't really even mad at him, she was just mad at the world in general, and her entire body was killing her right now, for something she didn't even really remember. Whatever came into her head, she screamed at him. She needed to vent her anger, and he was the perfect target.

Ryo Akiyama, however patient he was, was not a saint. He too was tired, his neck felt cracked. Rika was screaming at him. Whatever patience he had left snapped after she had started screaming. She was always angry at him, so self-centered in that way, never thinking about how anyone else felt. Why couldn't she act a little nicer sometimes?

And then he looked at Rika, who looked... shocked. He had just said that out loud. He felt sorry, but it was true. He was mad at Rika. For the first time, Ryo Akiyama had actually snapped back at Rika. She looked like a little girl, who had just gotten yelled at for the first time for a moment, and if she had stayed like that... But she didn't. Her face hardened again, and he stayed angry.

She would have screamed back, but Ryo, still angry, walked out the door, slamming it as he left.

The glass lamp wobbled and fell to the ground, shattering into tiny pieces. And Rika, expecting to feel anger, was left only with the sorrow and pain, shards of glass at her feet.

At school, the world was in a hyper buzz, flowing off Rika like a stream around a solitary rock.

"Did you hear?"

"Yeah! Can you believe it?"

"Oh my gosh! I can't believe she did that!"

Rika, slowly walked towards her first class. Jeri ran up to her. "Did you hear? About Ayashi's karaoke party?"

Rika stayed silent. Jeri took the silence as amazement, and continued. "She used a CD and LIP-SYNCED the song! No wonder she was so good!"

"OK."

"Don't you care? I mean, you beat the CD! You must have a really good voice!" When Rika didn't say a thing, Jeri looked closer at Rika.

Rika's eyes were tired. Makes sense, Jeri thought, After the party and all... But Rika's eyes seemed different somehow... Almost sad in a way. "Rika? Are you alright?"

No answer.

Ryo rushed by, without stopping to talk as he normally would have done. Jeri looked at Ryo and then back at Rika. She asked, more gently. "Rika? Did something happen?"

"I'm fine. Perfectly fine."

In drama class, Ayashi sat in her chair, wearing sunglasses and white, the color of innocence. Asuka sat next to her. "Miss Ayash- I mean Fujiwara, oops, sorry!- is unavailable for comment. She's not guilty though."

Rika went through the play, always avoiding looking at Ryo. "MORE EMOTION! YOU ARE IN LOVE WITH THE PRINCE!" screamed the drama teacher. "BE HAPPY!"

Rika smiled, teeth clenched. Love is happy, huh? Then this must not be it. She stiffly played through the parts where she was "happy". Dancing, talking- anything with Ryo in it was as if a huge wall of ice separated them.

Jeri, as fairy godmother, murmured softly. "Poor girl.." She whispered to Rika. "Are you all right? Did something happen?"

Through fake sobs, Rika whispered back. "No."

"Not even after he carried you home? What happened? Tell me, please?"

This time the fake sobs had real tears. "Nothing at all, Jeri. Nothing. At all."

Jeri must have whispered something to Ryo as well, because in a run-through of one of the scenes, he asked Rika too. "Rika?"

Rika ignored him. She was mad, she was sad, and completely too tired and mixed up to say a thing. He left her alone. Rika blinked back tears, and they waltzed on through the drama room stage.

Rika was runinng home from drama practice through the park. Her headache was long gone, but she still felt hurt somehow. Of course it wasn't Ryo. So what if he had yelled at her? It's not like she cared, did she? She kept running down the street, thinking. It's not like she cared that he was mad at her, was she? Because if she cared, that means that she would like him. Like like him. And she didn't. Did she?

The strands in your eyes that color them wonderful

Stop me and steal my breath

Amethysts from mountains thrust towards the sky

Never revealing their depth

The song he had sang at the karaoke party confused her as well. It's not like he likes me

anyways, does he? He probably hates me. After all, I'm the angry self-centered girl, right? A voice in her head answered her. Then why was he looking at you? She

She heard his voice echo in her head. "Rika!" She kept running, as if she could out run her memories. Running, runing.. Never stopping. Maybe if she ran fast enough she could run out of her head, out of the sadness and the questions and confusion. Strangely, the voice was fading. She ran faster.

Tell me that we belong together

Dress it up, with the trappings of love

I'll be captivated, I'll hang from your lips

Instead of the gallows of heartache that hang from above

But did she? The voice was fading, but the questions kept coming. Did she like him as more than just a friend? More than a rival, more than a close friend... But as something more. Did she... love him? She kept running. It can't be love, can it? Love is happy, where you're in some completely impossible stupid fairytale. Impossible. Impossible.

She kept running. His voice was coming louder now, as if he really was calling out to her. "Rika! Stop! Wait!" She ran faster. And if I loved him, I'd stop, wouldn't I? Stop and do whatever people in love do. She was almost through the park now, getting closer to one of the main roads. Keep running

.And I'll be your cryin' shoulder

I'll be love suicide

I'll be better when I'm older

I'll be the greatest fan of your life

The song tormented her, going on and on. She kept running hard, trying to run out of her life, out of her confusion... and away.

I'll be your cryin' shoulder

I'll be love suicide-

Tears were popping into her eyes. It must be her memory, the voice kept getting louder. It's not love. It's just.. It's just.. Something. Something confusing and weird. A disease that affects people, makes them confused, makes them get tears in their eyes. She was almost completely out of the park, and the voice kept asking her to wait up, it needed to talk to her. She squeezed her eyes shut and burst out into the main road. I am not in love with Akiyama Ryo, she told herself. I am completely immune. Immune to his smile, immune to his laugh, immune to his eyes. I don't care about him at all.

Horns were honking, and the voice was screaming her name. She opened her eyes. Horns? Horns? What were horns doing in her mind? She looked up. A blinding white light flashed from lightbulbs... Headlights? Horns? It was rushing towards her, and all she could think about was what it was. Lights, horns.. A car! Cursing her stupidity, Rika started to run. The car was getting closer and closer, the lights were coming closer. She could hear brakes screeching and the car sliding, and when she knew she wouldn't make it-

Someone flew into the car's path, throwing her out of the way. This wasn't supposed to happen... She fell with a thud onto the sidewalk on the other side. But who?

And I'll be your cryin' shoulder

I'll be love suicide

I'll be better when I'm older

I'll be the greatest fan of your life

And I'll be your cryin' shoulder

I'll be love suicide -

Rika looked up. In front of her, she saw the body of Ryo Akiyama in front of the car, where it had pushed her out of the way. The car came closer to him, closer, and closer.

Rika dropped whatever denial she had. She screamed.

Reviews:

Luzr-Gur13- Thank you for the idea! Was this enough action?

Crazy Fool- Thank you very much too!

sk8ergurl12193- thank you for caring about my fingers! (I play piano, so my fingers hurt more often than normal now..)

Cat2fat900-- Thank you! Sorry for the wait!

Lil' Lilo: I like Breakaway too! Hope you like this chapter!

cheriberigurl- Thank you lots!

lady-snow- Thanx very much! I'm glad you liked the song choice

Numbuh half way hell- Thank you! Sorry to make you wait more than a week!

violetaurora: Rika sang Head Over Feet, by Alanis Morissette (I think..) Thank you!

GTKari-123- Hope you get warmer weather soon! Thank you!

Kay- Thank you! Hope you also had a great break!

aNiMe-AzN-aNgEl- thanx lots and lots!

DigiChick-That chapter was very fun to write! Thank you!

Sparkling-Ruby-Gem- Thank you! I liked that part too!

THE AUTHOR NOTE:

Did you like it? I hope you do! Liahime got this idea very randomly, and cuz she had writer's block (EXTREMELY SEVERE! ) she used this! I got the idea from Luzr-Gurl13, who started me in the right path.. She wanted more "action"(Thanx by the way!) (If you're going to get mad at me, don't! Please! Remember, everyone acts OOC when they are extremely tired/hangover whatever..) Lately, I've been lazy, reading Naruto online... ; Especially over the weekend... so I haven't updated anything for a while. Thank you to everyone who waited so patiently for me to stop (being lazy and...) having writer's block! Thank you! Review and tell me what you think! liahime