I'm spending too much time on the phone, She thought as she answered her phone. "What is it?" she asked.
"Nice to talk to you, too," Michael answered. "Listen, we need to talk. It appears we have a leak. The same day that Mitsuo came-"
"Yamaki"
"Well, anyways, the same day that he came over, Robinson had the day off, but he still showed up. However, he wasn't himself that day. For one, he was agitated; two, he yelled a lot. The next day, he was himself again, so we didn't question… what? Alisha, not now! What?" he sighed "One minute, Rika."
He set his phone down and walked over to his sister. Rika couldn't hear what they were saying, and will be forever grateful for it.
After three minutes of debate, he picked his phone up. "Apparently, Robinson's strange mood wasn't the only thing that was against you. The college just called, saying that your scholarship form was invalid." Rika began to crush her phone. "They said that you can keep the diploma, but if you wanted to continue your education there, you would have to pay five thousand dollars, as well as the future classes."
"Are you accusing me of sending in false information?" she asked angrily, enough that Renamon visibly tensed up. I might go five over the speed limit, but send in false information?
"No! I'm just saying someone– not you, of course– sent in an invalid form that got through. I don't understand it either, but the college is trying to find the person who did it."
"So I could have stayed here and got a diploma, but because I got a scholarship, I decided to go to the States." She was almost snarling into the phone. Renamon was still a bit confused as to why Rika didn't like the college.
His response was very timid. "Yeah, I guess-" Beep. Rika ended the call. She then uttered some very unladylike curses, directed at no one in particular.
Ding-dong.
Resisting the urge to utterly decimate her phone and the doorbell, she got up and answered the door. It ended up being Ryo.
Ryo knew from Rika's glare that he hadn't arrived at a good time, but he was determined to get his thoughts off his shoulders. "Hi Rika. Uh, did I come at a bad time?" he asked soberly.
"Yes." she answered curtly, still angry from the phone call. She was not in the mood to spar with him today.
"Rika, I need to talk to you. Alone." Ryo said in the same sober manner. Why won't you smirk, Pretty Boy?
"Who are you, and what have you done with Akiyama?" She asked sternly.
Ryo smiled at this, but it was a sad smile. "Surely even you know who I am, Rika." His tone was still that same sober tone, not the joking tone that Rika was used to.
Ryo's use of her name made Rika stop and think for a moment. What's wrong with you now? If you say "I missed you," I'm going to punch you in the face. Hard. "What did I do?" she asked, slightly exasperated.
"Uh, mind if we go in your room?" he asked, leaning closer to Rika as if to impart a secret. "What I have to say is a bit private."
"Sure," she said in an almost rude way. "Follow me." Rika turned around and started walking to her room.
"Oh, hello Ryo" said Seiko, walking out of the kitchen.
"Hello Mrs. Hata." He smiled and nodded at her.
"Ryo…" Rika started.
"Sorry Mrs. Hata, but Rika and I need a little talk, and based on Rika's current mood…"
Rika turned around and glared murderously at him. Taking the hint, he shut up and followed her to her room. Rika opened the door and walked in, followed by Ryo. She was leaning against a wall, still glowering. Ryo shut the door and sat down on the floor, looking at the floor, trying to sort out his thoughts so that they didn't sound pathetic or stupid. It took him a while before he began.
"Rika-" he started tenderly.
"Ryo-" she demanded sternly at the same time that Ryo started. Ryo blushed. Rika just glared at him. What is wrong with him? Did he get dumped by his girlfriend? She wondered, but didn't want to interrupt him. She was still a little miffed by the call, but she didn't exactly know why.
"Rika," he continued "I missed you when you were gone. A lot. It felt-" he hesitated, not sure he should say it with her current mood. So what if she beats me up? She's still a friend. She needs to hear this. "When you left… it felt- it felt as if my heart was being ripped out and stabbed repeatedly. I-I didn't have the same energy. I was always sad, biting people's heads off whenever I thought about you being away. Which was a lot. When I read that you were going to stay a little while longer, I could swear that I almost died with dread, but when Mrs. Hata called and said that she was planning a special party for you, I almost died with joy." Rika blinked, still scowling, waiting for Ryo to continue. This almost sounds like me when I was at college. Almost. "I don't know how to say this next part, but I'll try: I guess what I'm trying to say is that I have feelings for you that go beyond basic friendship." Rika rolled her eyes. Typical. And I thought it was something important.
"So," she said, causing Ryo to look at her. "You want to go on another date with me." she stated. His smile actually had a little more warmth in it.
"Yes, I would. That is, if you're OK with it." he added sullenly, fearing her response.
A part of her felt a bit of pity for him, because she said "Come back in a few days, then we can talk about dating." she turned her head so that it faced a nearby wall. Ryo was dismissed.
Ryo got up and pecked Rika on the cheek. Rika started to blush a little bit. "Bye, Pumpkin," he whispered and left the room.
Rika started to shake. Not out of fear or lightheadedness, but out of anger. I'M GOING TO KILL YOU, RYO! She didn't know why Ryo needed to be killed, nor did she really care. She was angry and frustrated, and wanted a punching bag to unleash her fury upon.
"Rika,"
"How much did you hear?" she asked, turning her head completely around to face Renamon.
Renamon looked surprised. "None: I was letting Ryo talk to you alone. What did he say that upset you?" She added, concerned.
"What do you mean?" she asked darkly.
Renamon did her equivalent of a shrug; she blinked. "I haven't seen you this upset since your mother sent you to cheerleading camp." The moment Renamon said that, she wished she hadn't. Rika's shaking just got more intense. Renamon swore that one of her veins was about to pop.
Rika stopped shaking and, with her head lowered, looked at the ground. "I need to talk to Henry." she finally said, dejectedly. She reached for her phone but her hand only reached it when she was sound asleep.
I guess all that shaking exhausted her more than I thought. Renamon thought as she tried to pick up Rika, but she, herself, was a bit exhausted. Must be what the humans call "Jet lag" She thought as she put her tamer in a sitting position on the floor, as she got into a comfortable sitting position herself, waiting for sleep to come.
Rika was moaning softly in her sleep and rocking back and forth in a cold sweat when Henry entered her room. Rika's still asleep? He shook her shoulder, hoping to wake her. He was rewarded. Rika gasped, grabbed and squeezed his arm hard, waking up with a start.
Henry felt more than a little embarrassed as he pried Rika's hand from his arm. She was apparently recovering from whatever nightmare she just had. "Rika?" She looked into his gray eyes, her own face and violet eyes showing fear. The fact that she was scared scared Henry more than he wanted to admit. It takes a lot to upset her. Must have been a bad nightmare. "What is it?"
She gave him a confused look, then looked at the ground. "A nightmare," she said simply.
"What about the nightmare?" he asked, helping her up. "What scared you?" He was trying to look her in the eye, and she knew that saying "Nothing," wouldn't get him off her back.
Rika then looked out the window and saw that the clouds had become black, making it darker outside. She was calmer now, getting most of her normal composure back, though she was still a bit disturbed. At least I'm not crying like a baby. She looked at him and simply answered "I can't remember," she replied honestly. Getting better control of herself, she asked him "What time is it?" while rubbing her eyes. Looking at his clothes, she noticed that he was wearing nice semi-formal clothes, probably for work.
"A few minutes after one: Lunchtime." Rika sighed. He'll probably ask for a lunch date. "Do you want to come with me to the Matsuki Bakery?" he asked.
She thought about it and agreed. At least I'll be able to see Gogglehead. She then looked for Renamon, only to find her deep asleep. "Renamon." Renamon was still asleep "Renamon!" she ordered. Angry and a little worried, she walked over to her and noticed that Renamon was tensed up and seemed to be fighting some inner battle. When she started to reach over, Renamon grabbed her throat and started to choke her, but let go when she realized who it was. Renamon lowered her head, ashamed. I attacked my own tamer!
Henry was a little shocked, but hid it the best he could. Of course…
"Cat fight!"
Renamon and Rika glared at the white and green Digimon sitting on Henry's shoulder. Rika was the first to get her voice in. "Terriermon, I bet it's been awhile since you were in a tea party and played dress-up."
Terriermon's right eye twitched in fear of the memories. It had been almost six years since Susie had put a dress on him or he had to endure having "tea" forced down his throat. He chuckled nervously, and finally said "I don't think you have any dresses." He continued chuckling, but stopped when he saw the look of triumph in Rika's eyes. She was also grinning as if she had an ace in her sleeve.
"I believe I still have some of my very old dresses around here somewhere, probably in the attic." She shrugged her shoulders. "It shouldn't be hard to find them." Terriermon looked like he was about to faint. Henry himself was trying to keep himself from laughing, but a few chuckles here and there were getting through.
Terriermon began to get angry at how he had been set up. He then glared at his tamer and uttered a few colorful comments that won't be written. Smirking, Henry asked Rika (over Terriermon's cursings) if she would come with him. She agreed. Getting up, she got out of her room and was heading out when Seiko called "If you're going out, grab an umbrella: It looks like it's going to rain." Rika shouted her thanks to her grandma and grabbed two. Henry looked at her, a little confused as to why they needed two: Henry knew that Renamon more or less didn't mind the rain. Rika noticed this and said "I don't want to be stuck under an umbrella with a guy, thank you." Henry shrugged and followed her out the door.
On their way to the Matsuki Bakery, they talked about various things. However, Henry seemed to get nervous about the question about having a girlfriend, and when he couldn't get Rika to change the subject, he shot back "Where's your boyfriend?"
To which, she replied "I don't have one at the moment. Might be trying to date Ryo soon, but we haven't made any plans."
Looking at Rika as if she was insane, he began to ask: "And Takato…"
"Has Jeri," she finished for him and glared daggers. Bet he was in on that little call, too.
"Actually…" Henry began, but didn't finish. Rika planned on glaring at him until he stuttered it out. It didn't work as well, mainly because she still, for some reason, felt a little sleepy, was curious why he said that, and Henry was one of the tamers that was the least intimidated by her. The second one bothered her the most, however. As far as she knew, they were dating almost like a married couple.
"You know that if I don't get it out of you, I'll get it out of Kenta or Kazu, and you know the results won't be pretty." she said pointedly. "Spill it!"
Henry sighed and said "Jeri and Takato broke up,"
"After having a fight." Terriermon added, sullen. He still wasn't happy with the little prank that Rika had pulled. One look from Rika, however, and he knew he was about to be rewarded: Rika stopped and actually glared at Henry hard enough to scare him. Terriermon tried to hide his grin. You're gonna get it! He thought gleefully.
He was right.
"Henry, would you mind telling me what the fight was about." She asked calmly. "And why you didn't tell me about it," she added, her voice getting hard.
Henry sighed, defeated. "It was about a month after you left, and a week after Renamon disappeared. They were fighting about the best ways to raise children. They both had different views about it and neither wanted to give any ground. That and…"
"Takato slapped Jeri," Terriermon said in a chipper voice.
"He did what?" Rika shouted, interrupting the bunny Digimon and glaring at it's Tamer.
Terriermon wasn't finished. "and called her a stupid… little… girl… heh heh" he trailed off as Rika's glare changed from his tamer to himself. Henry would have sighed in relief, but Rika would probably have beat him up for just doing that. Renamon, noticing her Tamer's feelings were not the best, went and joined Rika by her side. If Renamon was surprised by Henry's awkward stance, she only showed it by looking at her partner, then back at Henry. Henry is rarely intimidated by Rika. Unless they were talking about something that Henry had a guilty conscience about.
Rika, calm down. She told herself, closing her eyes. Breathe in. Breathe out. When she looked at Henry again, she simply asked "Why didn't you tell me?" tiredly.
"Because you would have came back and killed Takato. Now don't get me wrong," he added when Rika glared at him "we really wanted you back, but we didn't want to do it over Takato's dead body. And don't worry. Takato and Jeri are still good friends, but they aren't going on any dates right now."
"Momentai. And don't expect them to go on any dates with you around," Terriermon added cheekily.
"Terriermon!" Henry shouted, nearly at his rope's end with the two. Sighing, he looked at the watched and scowled. Yamaki's not going to be happy with me. "Come on. Let's get a quick snack and then I need to be going."
plip.
He sighed. Rika was in the process of opening an umbrella. "Rika…"
"Here," she said, opening the umbrella and giving it to Henry. Henry would have given it back to her but he knew that Rika wouldn't accept the offer. It began to pour. Rika quickly got the other one opened and started running to the bakery, with Henry not far behind. Renamon just disappeared and started moving in her invisible form towards the same building.
Takato was worried. His friend was never this late. Ever. He knew that calling the cops was a bad idea, mainly because he knew that his report would sound stupid: "Hi I'm calling in because my friend's not here, and I think something's happened to him." He could already hear the laughter from the dispatcher. Or is it the rain? He asked himself as he looked out the glass door and was surprised when it opened and a couple came in, followed by a yellow humanoid fox. The lady was drenched, as was the fox, while the man just had a few sprinkles on his head. He then recognized Henry, Rika, and Renamon, with Terriermon on Henry's shoulder. After Renamon shook herself a little bit, she watched her friends close their umbrellas and went to the counter to meet Takato. He smiled, but it faltered when he saw the look that Rika was giving him. What did I do now? Did she check her messages? I wouldn't think that she would be this angry over that. At the same moment that Rika reached the counter, Mrs. Matsuki entered the room, looked at Rika in surprise, and then glared at her son.
"I thought you said that she wasn't coming over!" she almost yelled at him.
"Mrs. Matsuki, we didn't know until Mrs. Hata and Ms. Nonaka picked us all up and started a party for Rika." Said Henry, coming to the defense of his friend.
Rika smirked. So grandma did rat on me.
This seemed to calm Mrs. Matsuki down a little bit, but she was still glaring at Takato as if he was in trouble. When she looked at Rika and Renamon's wet state, however, she forgot about her son. "Oh, Rika, you must be soaked all the way through. Come upstairs, I'll get you a change of clothes. Hon!" she yelled to the back of the bakery, "Get a towel. No, two towels." She turned back to Rika and her friends. "If you don't mind, come with me." The three tamers were about to go into the back room when… "Takato! You stay where you are." his mother demanded. Head bowed, he went back to the counter just as there was a crashing sound in the back room. "Takato! Stay there!" his mother pointed.
"Guilmon!" Mr. Matsuki yelled. "She said towels, not trowels!"
Wondering why there was trowel in a bakery, she looked at Mrs. Matsuki and asked "Renovating?" She shook her head no. "Fixing up the holes that Guilmon makes when he chases rats." she said. When they got to the back room, they came upon a very strange scene. Guilmon was on his back, pinning Mr. Matsuki to the floor. On the floor was a good dose of flour. Both Guilmon and Matsuki blinked innocently twice at the people they saw. Mai had to look stern in order to not bust out laughing at her husband. Shaking his head in amusement, Henry got past Mrs. Matsuki and, grabbing Guilmon's "hand," helped get him up. When Guilmon was off him, Mr. Matsuki got up and went looking for some towels. Guilmon just went to the front of the store where his partner was. Rika then noticed that she was cold in her wet clothes and started shivering. Mr. Matsuki came back with the requested towels and gave them to his wife, who gave them to Renamon and Rika. She then took Rika by the arm and started to lead her upstairs. Rika looked at Mai, fully intent on arguing out of getting her clothes changed. But Mrs Matsuki was just as adamant about Rika getting into dry clothes. Rika gave in, mainly because she was cold and she wanted to do anything but talk to Gogglehead.
Mr. Matsuki got to the front of the store, dismissing his son from the cash register. Takato almost ran to the back of the store, eager to talk to Henry. When he got there, however, he found that he was talking to someone else already.
"Do you know why Rika hated college?" Asked Renamon. Henry rested his chin on his fist and looked down, thinking.
"Rika wasn't exactly happy that she had to leave, but I don't think that was the reason," Henry mumbled, thinking aloud. "She sounded as if she didn't enjoy college. College is a learning experience. She wouldn't find any experience a good one without a friend, despite what she says. And Renamon is the best friend that she has!" he exclaimed, snapping his head up as a sudden thought hit him:
"Rika probably hated college because you weren't there, Renamon!"
Renamon looked at Henry, surprised and a little touched. Rika didn't like college… because of me?
Renamon wasn't the only one staring at Henry. Takato was looking at him as if he was strange, trying to figure out his logic.
They heard some knocking from upstairs and Mrs. Matsuki saying something, breaking the moment of silence in the group.
Takato was still a little bit confused at Rika's mood earlier. "So, why is Rika mad at me now? It wasn't the call, was it?" he asked, nervous. He was relieved when Henry shook his head, but he was still a little worried, still not figuring it out. Seeking for help, he looked at Renamon, who only shook her head, remaining silent. He then looked at Terriermon, who went through the motions of zipping his mouth shut. Deciding that they wouldn't say a thing about it, he decided to change the subject. "So, why were you late?" he asked Henry.
"So what's Gogglehead talking about now?"
They all turned to look at Rika who was wearing clothes that were too big for her. Of course, Mrs. Matsuki had to be four inches shorter than her. Takato recognized his father's clothes as well as Rika's look of suppressed embarrassment.
Henry answered her question. "He was wondering why I was late." He turned to Takato. "The reason why I was late was because I went to Rika's house. That, and her phone was off, so I couldn't say 'come and meet me by the Matsuki Bakery.'"
"That's strange: I don't remember turning my phone off." Rika said as she got her phone out. Sure enough, it was off. She tried to turn it on to no avail. "Typical," she muttered, realizing that it was dead. She looked at her watch, realizing she hadn't changed it to Japan time yet.
This action caused Terriermon to think of something to say that would cause his Tamer to be worried. "So Henry, how are you going to explain to Yamaki why you were late?" Terriermon asked. Henry looked at his watch and cursed in his mind.
"Uh, I gotta go. Bye." he said as he left the back room, picked some creampuffs, paid for them, and ran as fast as his legs could go.
Okay, I relented, but I would still like to get reviews. Otherwise I won't know what you think of this.