Author's Notes- Well, here's chapter two. Enjoy:)
Disclaimer- I can't believe I have to do this every friggin' time... I don't own digimon, alright?
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Rika Nonaka could not remember her one visit to the palace- After all, she had only been 4 years old.
She was 7 now, but, strangely, her pastimes hadn't changed much. She still enjoyed kicking people and fighting. She still called nearly everyone but her grandmother "stupid", and she stil glared a lot. The only thing that had changed about her was that she didn't wear diapers anymore.
Ryo Akiyama hadn't changed much, either. He still smiled a lot, was still layed back; still played with balls.(hehe... I said balls!)
The only thing about him that had changed was that he had taken to doing his hair every morning.
It had been three years since last they'd met. But, since this is a Ryuki fic, they were fated to meet again. See, the prince had to decide between a black tux or a white one, and was having trouble, mainly because he hated tuxes. And he hated royal balls, one of which he was being forced to attend.
"I don't want to wear a tuxedo... In fact, I'd rather not go at all." Ryo frowned as he said this. His caretaker did, too.
"Sorry, your highness, but you must. You're not going to find a wife in a jousting match."
Ryo scowled at this. He knew that Kenta was right; he wasn't likely to find a girl while riding a horse at 70 miles per hour, trying to impale another person. But at least he had interests other than money, unlike most princes. At least he had personality.
"Fine then;" Ryo said. "I'll take the white one." And he walked to his quarters.
Ryo rather liked his room. He had insisted on having his lodging place in the highest tower of the castle. He enjoyed his unaffronted view of the entire kingdom so much that he often spent hours just staring out his window. Right now, he was looking upon a familiar spectacle: A little red-headed dot was surrounded by a bunch of brown-headed ones.
He took out his binoculors and looked more closely. He saw the usual red-headed girl, surrounded by a bunch of brown-haired boys. The girl was beating them up, as usual. But a closer look showed that there were more boys than there usually were, and the girl was fighting a losing battle. Looking down, Ryo thought My chance to play the hero.
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Rika was outnumbered, and she knew it. Stupid boys sweeping in on her from every side. She kicked one in the side of the head as he lunged at her.
He let out a strangled "Oof" as he hit the ground. One down, a million to go.
She tripped one of them, and another fell on top of him. Another one made a ridiculous fighting pose and kicked her in the stomach. This time, it was Rika's turn to fall. "Arg..." She said. "Damn stupid boys..."
As soon as she fell down, all of the "damn stupid boys" swarmed around her and started to kick her in the ribs. All this for a comment about my eyes, she thought.
But then, the torrent of blows stopped. Rika opened her eyes and looked up. All of the "damn stupid boys" were having their sphincters kicked by some kid with brown hair and blue eyes. She got up and folded her arms. By the time she had done this, all of her attackers were on the ground.
"HI!" said Ryo.
"Hmph."
"Why were you fighting all of them at once?" he asked. She seemed reluctant to answer.
Rika mumbled something about "...said something about my eyes..."
Ryo walked over and inspected her from head to toe. "You look pretty banged up," he observed.
"Yeah, well, thanks and everything, but I gotta go." She ran off. Or, at least, she attempted to. Cyberdramon blocked her path.
"Oh, I don't think so." Ryo said. "You're coming back with me for medical treatment."
Rika protested loudly, but Cyberdramon scooped her up in his arms. "Let... me...GO!" she screamed. Ryo laughed.
"C'mon, let's get her to the infirmary..." and he jumped onto Cyberdramon's back.
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Once they were back at the palace, Rika didn't protest as much- mainly because it hurt to move. She still yelled, though. "Stupid boys, always think I'm a "damsel in distress"; well,let me tell you something, mister, I'll kick your ass anyday..."
Cyberdramon grew tired of her rant quickly. "I'm going," he said, placing Rika in Ryo's arms. He nodded, and Cyberdramon dissapeared.
Rika smacked him. "Lemme go!"
Once again, Ryo laughed. "If I let you go, do you promise not to run away?"
"Hmph."
"I'll take that as a yes." He put her down.
She didn't run away, but kept walking down the poorly-lit passageway with him. "So..." Ryo said. "You really took on 20 guys just because one of them said he liked your eyes?"
Rika nodded. "I don't take crap from anyone, especially boys."
"Oh. So, like, if I said that I thought you were cute, you'd beat me up, too?"
She raised one brow at him. "You're not afraid of cooties, are you?"
"Nope. So, where's my beating?" he asked.
She shrugged. "You saved me, so I'll let it go this time... But say it again, and I'll break your nose!" She held up a fist.
Before Ryo could say anything, they were at the infirmary. The nurse looked at Rika. "Wow," she said, "You're a right mess. What happened?"
Rika told the nurse all about her little incident. "Oh, my... Well, you're lucky Ryo here loves to play the hero. And that he owns a pair of brass knuckles." Ryo shrugged. The nurse continued. "Come on, dear, lay down... That's it, nice and gentle. Don't agitate your ribs." She looked at Ryo. "I'll ask you to leave."
"Why! I want to make sure she's okay!"
"Because I have to take Rika's shirt off to treat her ribs." Rika blushed profusely. "Now, go wait in the other room."
Ryo was blushing, too, as he walked away.
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While he was in the other room,there were a number of things that worried Ryo. First, Rika kept screaming "Ow! Hey, don't touch that!" and other things things that made him laugh, but that I can't type, because I don't want this to be deleted.
Second, the nurse had said a while ago "Oh, dear... two cracked ribs. Thank goodness you're so young, they'll heal quickly enough..." and kept making commentary on her injuries, like "You're lucky your skull isn't cracked," and "I should have those kids arrested, look at these bruises!"
And third, Ryo had a question that he wanted to ask Rika, and he wanted her concious(please help me with my spelling...) when he asked her. Maybe he was just old-fashioned that way.
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Several hours later, the nurse finally let Ryo back into the ward. "How is she?" he asked.
"I'm FINE! And she still won't let me go!" came Rika's voice.
"You need rest!" said the nameless nurse. "And a bar of soap for your mouth!"
"Ryo! Make her let me go! It's all your fault that I'm in here, anyways!" She kicked and writhed around in her bed.
"No. If the nurse says that you need rest, then you need rest." Rika glared at him. "But... There is something I want to ask you. So, please excuse us, or I'll have you fired."
She walked away. Grudgingly, but she walked away("Why I never! Such a brat..."). "Rika?" Ryo said, sitting on her bed.
"What? Just spit it out, I wanna go home..."
"Will you go to a royal ball with me?"
Rika stared at him. "Why do you want to go with me? I'm only seven, I'm not even a princess..."
Ryo stared back. "So? That's irrelevant. Will you go with me?" he asked again, this time, making a pleading face(the puppy-dog pout, if you will).
"Oh... Alright." He grinned the hugest grin that Rika'd ever seen. "On two conditions. One, you tell that stupid nurse to let me go."
"Done."
"Two, you can't try any funny stuff. That means no telling me that I'm cute, that you like my eyes, no kissing me, etc."
"It's going to be hard to resist, but... Done."
"Alright, then. Now call that nurse lady and tell her to let me go."
"Say please!"
"No! Not unless you want me to 'forget' about the ball, got it?"
Ryo slumped his shoulders. "I guess I'm your lacky, now," he said.
"Cool!" he yelled. Rika slapped her forehead.
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Author's Notes- Well, that's chapter two. Too long? Too short? I need reviews, people!
