Disclaimer: Of course I don't own Digimon.
Ruki blew hair out of her face.
Kunda had kept her word. Nami hadn't cut off more than an inch. And the haircut was beautiful, and Ruki liked it. But Kunda had forbidden her to put her hair back in a ponytail. Leaving it down was more sleek, and made her look more approachable. So approachable, she thought, that her classmates had thought that they could talk to her--and a simple glare wouldn't scare them away.
They still ran at a snarl though.
But what was really weird was that Kunda had suddenly stopped sticking to her side, and was now attached to the director, Ukiyo Sekien. She was talking pretty much non-stop, and had been all morning. "Miss Ruki." Ruki turned, and accepted the candy bar Iida handed her. "How are you?"
"Bored," she answered, rolling her eyes. She turned on her chair to see the set being constructed behind her, already close to filling half of the room. "How long's it going to take before this thing's ready, anyway?"
"Shooting starts Wednesday," Okanao told her.
"Do we know what I'm selling yet?"
"This." Kunda's voice had Ruki immediately sitting up straight. She was holding something that looked uncannily like a D-arc. Like Ruki's D-arc. But it was also flatter and pocket-sized. She sat down next to her in Iida's chair, since he'd disappeared to locate a soda machine, and handed Ruki the toy.
"What is it?" She asked.
"They're coming up with a name for it still." Kunda didn't sound that concerned.
Ruki stared at her. "You don't have a name for it yet? Shooting starts Wednesday!"
"There's plenty of time." Kunda smiled at her, flashing perfect white teeth. "Here. I'll show you how it works." She reached inside her purse and withdrew a hand of cards. Ruki continued to stare. A brand new edition of Digimon cards. It had to be, because that was Guilmon. She reached around Ruki to get to the toy while still letting her hold it. She nearly choked on the too-sweet perfume Kunda insisted on wearing. "You see," she said, drawing the card through, "it works just like a Card Reader. But look at this."
Ruki did look. And suddenly the toy was the object of her stare.
"Tai. Come here for a second, would you?" One of the electricians was calling her from the set.
"I'll be right there," Kunda called back, and stood, leaving Ruki with the fifteen new cards. "You let me know what you think. If you don't like it, I can take it back." And then she was going to the man, high heels clicking on the floor.
"What is it?" Okanao asked, and sounded curious enough that Ruki glanced up at him before refocusing on the game.
"A simulation."
"Miss Ruki!" Kunda called from the set. "It's lunch time. Why don't you get something to eat? We can rehearse when you get back."
"With what script?" Okanao asked, but Kunda continued speaking.
"You just acquaint yourself with that game of yours," she instructed.
While Okanao made his way over to talk with Kunda, Ruki put the cards in her pocket and left the studio, thinking about Jungle Kong Sherbert. Iida, of course, chose that moment to come back with his arms full of soda cans, and he stared at her as she opened the door. "Where are you going?"
"Lunch break."
"Yeah, but." He looked helplessly at the sodas, then rolled his eyes and followed her away.
"Hey, Kazuo," Kazai said from the front desk, snatching one of the cans out of Iida's arms. "Enjoy your break."
Ruki opened her own door when they got to the car--after opening Iida's since his arms were still full--and climbed in the back seat. "So Tadiyuki isn't going to make it?"
"He was talking with Kunda when I left."
"It'll take a while then," Iida said, "we'll bring him something back. Where to?"
"31 Ice Cream."
The ice cream parlor was a lot less crowded than it had been Saturday, but was anything but empty. Standing behind her, Iida was looking at the line, so she tilted her head up at him. "Jungle Kong Sherbert, please," she requested. Before he could answer, she began toward the back corner table and sat down. She took her new toy out of her pocket and flipped the switch.
Ryo was staring at her over his ice cream from the other side of the table. She struggled to keep her expression neutral--but her mood took on a downward bent when his leveled out. "I didn't see you yesterday," he said. "What did you do to your hair?"
Her hands twitched with the instinctive urge to touch it. Stubbornly, she kept them still. "I never said I'd be here," she informed him stiffly. A new card came up on the screen. She hit the selection button.
"What's that?" He asked curiously.
Ruki smiled mentally. "A new game," she said, deliberately playing it down. "I'm doing a commercial on it. It won't be out for months."
"Oh." Just like that, he seemed to lose interest.
She gritted her teeth, until she saw the new card that came up. "Really?" She asked. She set the game down on the table facing him and pushed it closer. "Take a look." He was powerless to resist. She knew it. So she smiled when his face slackened, and he stared hard at the screen.
Cyberdramon.
"What is this?" He was suddenly interested now.
"A game," she told him. "You did bring your deck, didn't you?" Iida was coming toward them now with ice cream, so Ruki moved out of her chair and went to sit beside Ryo. "Here," she said, taking her own deck out of her pocket, "I'll show you how to play."
Note: Not quite as long as I'd expected this chapter to be. I expected it to be long enough for me to show what the game was and what it did. So I'll tell you here. It's basically a simulation. You play the Digimon card game against a computer. You scan your Digimon cards into the game, where it stores them in memory--that's how the game gets cards. But it gets them at random, like another person playing. Theoretically, you can play the Digimon card game against other people via the game (when hooked up to the internet; it has a wireless connection). But since there's only one of these so far... Oh, and Ruki's is special in that hers already has all of the cards scanned into it--including rare ones, second editions and limited edition cards.
Yeah, the game's not exactly that great of an idea. It was just the only thing I could think of at the time. Sorry. And sorry also for not updating when I said I would. Ah well. At least it hasn't been a month. By the way, Ryo's still going to be in the next chapter.
AzNAnGeL07 -- Yes, I'm sorry. If you've ever seen the fashion channel, when they have a makeover show on, all you see is people getting their hair cut. If I could have gotten out of it, I would have, but it's just something you have to do.
Yokai no Miko -- Hey, glad you're so enthusiastic. Hopefully this chapter hasn't let you down. Please keep reviewing!
Yumi Stern -- Wow, hey new reviewer! Yeah, I used to update a lot more often, but I'm not about to give up on this story yet. Please keep reading, and let me know what you think.
KaguraAziwa -- Glad you enjoyed it. I'll try to update more often, as long as FF-net is willing. It's being really difficult lately.
Speaking of FF-net, since it refuses to let me use horizontal breaks, I'm just going to quit. I've been trying to update this chapter for a week already, and it just doesn't want to work. Oh well. I'll have the next chapter up soon.