Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the plot situations I put them in. Everything else belongs to somebody else and that's the way it's going to stay. Thanks to all those who've been reading and I hope you will continue to review. Thanks and hope you enjoy it.

Battle Declared

Well to say that Rika and Matt were the topic of conversation among the teachers later was an understatement. Needless to say everyone who'd come to the auditions had been blown away by the two who had been scheduled to be humiliated and taken down a peg, not to blow the roof off with their talent. Now they were all in between and a rock and a hard place.

"They have to be in the show." Miss. Mido told the principal for what seemed like the thousandth time. "There is no one else in this school who can play the leading roles. These two have more talent in their baby fingers then most of the students that tried out today."

"I'm aware of that, Miss. Mido. Just as I'm aware that Miss. Nonaka would sooner be eaten alive by rats then participate in a school activity, much less a school play." Was the principal, Mr. Emura's dry reaction. "And judging by the fact that the two seemed to be in it together getting the boy involved seems just as unlikely."

"His personality is very different from hers but I have to agree with you, sir. They did that as a lark, to rub it in our noses that they know they could make this play a hit. Obviously being ordered to perform roused them to put all their energy into showing us up which they succeeded in doing brilliantly." The music teacher said with a small grin on his young face. "I have Matt in one of my music classes and the boy isn't just a talented singer, he's also an accomplished musician. I asked him about his training and he just smiled and said he'd picked it up here and there. I have to agree with Miss. Mido though. I think they've both acted and sang in front of people before. They know how to work an audience."

"Well those two have both had training somewhere. Excellent training at that." Miss. Mido interrupted as she glared at the two men who weren't helping at all. "You don't pick that sort of thing up. Someone's taught them and that someone knew what they were doing. I've seen plenty of singers on stage who have had less training than that boy. The girl's voice wasn't the purest or the best voice this afternoon but it was the one with the most control and punch to it."

"It would be foolish of me to disagree that they're not the best we saw this afternoon but that doesn't change the fact that Miss. Nonaka and Mr. Ishida aren't going to want to set foot on that stage. The only reason we got them there in the first place is because I called her mother on them and I can't do that again. I have no leverage to force them to participate and even if I somehow managed to pull it off they'd find a way to ruin everything. No one can make them perform like they did today unless they want to." Mr. Emura reminded her for what seemed like the hundredth time. "I think you need to accept that there's no way either of them are going to be in your production."

"We'll just see about that." Miss. Mido said with a determined look on her face as she got to her feet. "Now if you gentlemen will excuse me. I think I'll be heading home." The men returning the good nights they watched her go, waiting until she was out of ear shot before they looked at each other, rolling their eyes expressively.

"It really is a shame that either of them won't be in the production. They were right you know. Without a solid leading man and lady this play won't even get lukewarm reviews." The music teacher, Mr. Ito said after taking a sip of his coffee. "I know you think she can do it but I really think there's no way the students at this school can pull this off."

"But if those two were in it..do you think she could?"

"I think that Matt would be a great phantom and as for Miss. Nonaka...well I don't know anything about her but if her performance is anything to go by she certainly would be, at the very least, a more than adequate Christine."

"Maybe we'll get lucky and Nonaka will pull something this week that I can use to get her cooperation." Mr. Emura said with a sigh, rubbing his tired face. Nonaka was a constant thorn in his side and if it wasn't for the fact that she was a damn intelligent pain he would have booted her out of his school long ago. He suspected her hand in more then a few incidents but had never had the proof to lay blame in her door. She knew it too and was always giving him those little smiles of hers that were designed to be salt in his wounds.

"Well so far Mr. Ishida has been a model student." Mr. Ito argued. "And she's only a child. How bad can she really be?"

"You have no idea." Was the principal's dry response.

Typing away at his computer Izzy didn't either bother to glance up as his fingers danced across the keys at a dizzying speed. Calling out an enter he didn't hear his door open or close as he finished the coding before looking up to see Tai and Sora standing in his room. Raising an eyebrow he swerved in his chair to face them. "What's up?" He asked, pretty sure he already knew why they were here. He was a genius after all.

"We need advice." Sora said bluntly, knowing they wouldn't get anywhere if they weren't straight with each other.

"About Matt I presume." Izzy responded dryly, crossing his arms in front of him as he regarded them consideringly. "I should tell you now that I'm completely on his side. From what I've put together you guys got off easy when you're the ones who should have been getting the flank, not him. As far as I'm concerned there's no excuse for not coming to him about whatever is going on between you two. He deserved a hell of a lot better from the both of you."

"We never met for anything to happen. It just did." Was Tai's miserable response, his hands jammed into his pockets as he looked the picture of guilt and misery. "And now we can't even explain things to him because we don't even know where the hell he is. If he'd stuck around...we never meant to hurt him. You have to believe that, Izzy."

"Well you did. And since you both know him pretty well you can imagine how worried I am that he hasn't beaten you to a pulp, Tai. If he'd done that I'd be fine but the fact that he didn't means he's got all that anger and pain building up without an outlet." Izzy stated harshly, not about to sugar coat things just because they were sorry. "If it builds up enough who knows what he'll do. You two have never seen him when he's not in control but I have and he's damn scary. chilling to the bone terrifying. That aside you know he has self esteem issues. You know how hard it is for him to open up and trust people. Everything we've built, every step we've taken to open him up to people has been destroyed."

Tears running down her cheeks Sora looked at Izzy with her heart in her eyes. "Don't you think we know that? Don't you think we know that if he hurts someone or himself it's because of us? Because we hurt him? Do you think I don't know that because of me he's off in some strange city, surrounded by strangers who don't care about him. Who won't take care of him. That because of me he's away from T.K., the one person he lets in and trusts completely. There is nothing you can say about me that I haven't already called myself, Izzy. I just want to know what you think we can do to try and help things. I know that fixing anything is likely out of the question now."

"Write him letters." Izzy said finally, after a few moments of silence. "Then give them to me. I don't know where he is but I'm looking and when I find him I'll send them to him."

"What should we tell him?" Tai wanted to know, taking Sora's hand and squeezing it.

"The truth. Tell him everything you think he deserves to know and everything you think he doesn't. Don't patronize him or make promises or sacrifices to make him come back. Just tell the truth and whatever you do, don't even think about trying to emotionally blackmailing him into coming back. If he comes back I want it to be because he wants to. If he's better off wherever he is then I want him to stay there as long as he needs to."

"Do you really think he's okay? Wherever he is?" Sora asked, wiping away her tears with the back of her hand. "I asked T.K. and he said he thought so. He might have just been humoring me though. I think he and Kari have figured things out too."

"Who knows. But he has Gabumon with him and if I know Matt he can handle himself in any situation. I'm sure he chose a place where he felt safe." Izzy replied, not about to let what T.K. had told him slip just yet. For now he would simply hope that whoever this girl was she was keeping Matt out of trouble and on the straight and narrow.

Riding on the high for what had to be one of their greatest collaborations Rika and Matt stocked up on movies and junk food for a night of fun. Wise enough to do all their homework first they managed to talk Rika's grandmother into letting them ordering out and the three pigged out on food in front of the television watching the movie Matt had picked out as being grandmother friendly. Now that she was in bed though they were watching the gory thriller Bone Collector, curled up side by side with a bowl of popcorn between them. It had taken them a while to find this movie since they'd wanted it in English but the hour spent had been well worth it.

"I'll never look at rats the same way again." Rika said slowly, watching as the police looked at what remained of the bad guy's latest victim. She liked to believe she was tougher then most but even her stomach was a little queasy now. The whole rat jumping towards the screen had been pretty freaky too.

"Not a good way to go." Matt agreed with a shake of his head. As it was he could only prey that this latest death was the worst or they were in serious trouble. There was a bad way to die and then there were REALLY BAD ways to die. So far none of these people had died in a way he'd wish on his worst enemy. "You have to give this guy credit for imagination though. These are some pretty unique killing methods."

"Yeah. I bet Miss. Mido wouldn't mind boiling us alive right now." Rika said with a smirk, thinking of what they'd pulled steadying her stomach. Oh but she couldn't wait till Monday morning when the witch came crawling to them, begging them to be in her stupid play. Oh she wouldn't want to but her job was probably riding on the success of her little doomed production. How sweet was the taste of revenge well executed, Rika thought with a happy little grin.

"If she's smart she's probably plotting some way to try and force us to be in her play. You're sure that the principal doesn't have anything on you that's big enough to force you to be in it?" Matt asked, never taking his eyes off the screen as he helped himself to some more popcorn.

"Naw. He might suspect but lately I think he's given up on trying to prove to the school board that I'm the devil incarnate. My mom donated too much money to the school and besides, with my grades they want to keep me where I am." Rika said with a chuckle, shaking her head. "As much as the principal wants to complain I'm in the top five for my grade and they want the prestige when I get into a top university."

"Well either way, come Monday we're both going to get ambushed." Was Matt's opinion and one which Rika had to unfortunately agree with. Their principal was a real bull dog when it came to making her as miserable as she made him. Plus Miss. Mido hadn't struck her as the sort of woman who would just give up after the first blow. No, the diva with a tude wasn't going to roll over and play dead just yet. The question was, what was she going to try to pull?

"I think I'll take the principal and Miss. Diva over your fan girls though." Rika commented a few moments later, not wanting to interrupt the movie at a pivotal part. "It wouldn't surprise me if the cheerleaders had gotten together to plan something."

"Who knows, maybe there will be some fan boys for you to deal with too." Matt teased back, turning his head to wink in her direction. He was used to girls following him around, whether he encouraged them or not. It was always an ego boost but he'd always done his best to make it clear that he was taken and not interested in getting involved with anyone. Now he was single for the first time in years and he intended to stay that way. It was going to take some work to make the girls at his school realize that. Especially since he didn't have Sora to hide behind anymore. Sora. His eyes darkening slightly he wondered just what his former girlfriend was up to. Since she and Tai were relatively intelligent they had probably already figured things out. After all, Sora's mother had no reason not to tell her daughter that he'd stopped by that night. If he knew them, and he did, they were both probably wallowing in pits of guilt and remorse right about now. He couldn't even say he particularly felt sorry for either of them. Maybe he was guilty of ignoring the chemistry he'd always known was there between the two but they were more guilty for acting on it without letting him in first. As much as it would have been hurt to be told Sora preferred Tai to him it had hurt a hell of a lot more to find out for himself.

"Hey, where'd you go?" Rika asked, waving a hand in front of his face as she broke his line of thought. Turning his head to face her he blinked then looked at the screen which was blank. "Don't tell me I missed the rest of the movie. We were only half way through."

"I stopped it when I realized you were off in la la land."

"Oh." Was his sheepish response, rubbing the back of his neck with his head as he sent her a rueful look. "Sorry about that. You can start it again. I promise to be awake and aware when the scary parts happen to hold your hand."

"Oh bite me." Rika shot back, grabbing one of the couch's pillows to whack him in the shoulder playfully. "You're the one who was so scared you went into a trance."

"Bite you huh?" Matt said as he grabbed the pillow from her hand before she could hit him with it again. Tossing the pillow back at her she automatically caught it in front of her with both hands. "And just where would you like that bite?"

"As if I'd want you to bite me. Who knows what terrible diseases I'd get." Rika said sweetly, batting her eyes at him. He looked okay now. Good. She'd just rile him a bit more and then hopefully whatever had come into his head would leave for good. "Now lets watch the movie and see who needs to hold whose hand." She teased, taking his hand in hers to squeeze as if in mock comfort.

Squeezing her hand back Matt smiled at her rakishly as he brought her hand up to his lips, giving the side of her hand a teasing nip. "If you wanted to hold my hand you just had to say so."

Yanking her hand away with pink coming to her cheeks Rika peered at her hand, cursing the darkness. There better not be a mark. "You bit me!"

"If you call that a bite the guys at our school are pretty sad." Matt informed her with a chuckle, wishing there was more light so he could see if she looked as flustered as she sounded. "There won't even be a mark."

Grumbling to herself Rika turned the movie back on, settling into her seat with a glare in Matt's direction. She hadn't seen that one coming. She was going to have to get him back for it later.

After the movie was done they started another one, both dozing off part way through it so that when Rumiko got home from a party at two in the morning she heard the sound of the television as she stepped into the hallway. Following the noise she found Rika and Matt fast asleep on the couch, their heads together as they leaned on each other for support. Shaking her head Rumiko walked over and setting the popcorn bowl on the table got a blanket and covering them up left them there. It looked like she'd missed quite a party, Rumiko thought with a smirk, leaving the mess where it was for the two guilty parties to deal with when they woke up. Tip toeing out of the room she headed out to her own room, wondering just what Matt would think when he found out that while he'd been sleeping Rika had drawn on his face with marker. She really hoped that wasn't permanent marker. It was her daughter after all.