- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
A/N: Hello, people! Welcome to Chapter three, entitled 'Holy- Safe Happens' (just read it okay!). Reminders- Digimon, not mine, wishing it was. If it were… this wouldn't be on Fan Fiction, it would be a few episodes… or a movie. Whatever, its not mine! Okay, I'll stop now. Love and be loved. Read… and review please.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Holy- Safe Happens

I awoke with a start. Ugh… what's that wretched sound? Oh, of course. That damn alarm is going off again. I reach over and turn it off, ugh, that wordless noise is really starting to get on my nerves. I wasn't awake before it went off today because I was up late last night. I finished my homework last night; rather then do a little bit last night and a little bit this morning, or none last night and all of it today. Stupid Goggles was coming over today to 'talk' and I wasn't really in the mood right now, but then again, I was agitated because of the damn alarm. But now that it was off I felt good lying in bed. I couldn't remember the dream I had, but whatever; I felt good just lying in bed right now. I felt… safe. Yeah, safe. Safe was always a good thing for me. I could drift into a state of safe and be happy for a long enough time to forget about my worries, and problems in the world. The complications of being safe were few if any because safe was always with me, always there for me. Safe was there for me, before Renamon was. Safe was always… safe was… safe…

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Listen buddy, I'm not going to argue with you. I don't care if the bread is day old, you can not return it!" I told a whack job of a customer.
"That's it! I want to see your manager!" he responded.
I considered telling him I was the manager… but if mom or dad found out they wouldn't be too happy with me. Manager… pleases, how about my parents buddy? I turned to face the back of the store and yelled, "MOM!"
"I'm coming, Takato." She responded.

I turned around to see the expression on the guys' face, and he seemed a little confused. "It's a family business dope." I told him.
Before he could respond, my mom walked in from the back. "What seems the problem?" she asked.
"We've got a hustler, mom." I lied.
"What!" the customer said.

"Really?" she asked me.
"Yep, says the bread he bought was day old and wants his money back so he can buy his bread somewhere else." I said. "But I think he bought it yesterday and is bringing it back for the extra cash."

Haha, it was funny to play this guy out to be the bad guy. Fact was, since he didn't have a receipt he couldn't prove anything. I knew he had bought them today, I had rung it up, but he wasn't getting any extra cash. Our bakery gave back what ever you paid and 50 more for anything wrong with the bread you bought… as long as you had a receipt.

"Right," mom started. "Well sir, do you have a receipt?" She asked.
Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Put one down for the home team!
"Well… no. But your son rung me up! He was the cashier!" he told her.
"Takato, is this true?" she questioned me.
"Nope." I replied.

The guys jaw dropped. He couldn't believe I had just lied. But hey… 50 back was just that much more cash lost.
"I… I…" He didn't have anything to say.
"Sir, without a receipt we can't give you back the refund you feel your entitled to." My mom told him.
"Then… I'll just take my business else where." He said… but in a defeated voice.

He walked out the store and my mom looked me square in the eye. "So did you ring him up?" She demanded, rather then asked.
"Yep." I replied without taking a seconds hesitation.
"Ugh… Takato, Takato, Takato, what are we gonna do with you?" she said out loud.
"Thank me, and give me a raise on my allowance." I replied.
She laughed at this. "Just… don't do it again this month. You know your only allowed one of those per month." She reminded me.

I smiled and returned to my job, while she returned to the back of the store. It was good to be slightly in charge.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Where… where am I? I looked around, and saw my alarm clocks red figures lighting up 11:04. Holy crap, I must have fallen asleep again after turning off the alarm clock. I jumped up out of bed, and walked out of my bedroom and headed right for the laundry room and pulled out a towel, a pair of jeans, and a long sleeve shirt. The jeans were simple dark blue jeans, with a real tear at the kneecap where I had fallen before. The shirt was a shade of light red with streaks of white coming from each shoulder down the side of the shirt to just past about the elbow. There was nothing written on it, nor anything special about it. I headed to the bathroom and turned on the shower. I took out my toothbrush and toothpaste and began this tedious ceremony that jump-starts my day. So… I guess there won't be any breakfast today. Or maybe I'll just eat a late one… regardless… it's time to start the day.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
A/N: I'm not going to be filling in the shower scene so if that's what you're here for (sees one or two people leaving) then see ya around. Okay… I'm still into Rika's character so fast forward like… forty minutes? w/e.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

I walked out of my room after getting changed, and took one last look at the clock… 11:47. Okay… so definitely no breakfast. Whatever. It sucks to sleep in, but I guess those extra few hours did me some good. I walked into the kitchen and realized neither grandma or mom were in here. Wait a minute… neither of them were here when I woke up… where the hell are they? I looked around the kitchen for a note like the one grandma had left me before, and couldn't find one. I began to search the house and still couldn't find one. I came back into the kitchen an noticed the 'message' light on the answering machine was blinking. "No… they didn't." I said out loud in disbelief. I walked over to it and turned it on, and the sound of my mother's voice filled the air around me.

"Rika honey, I hope your getting this. Your grandma and I had to run, and there was no time to leave a note. And neither one of us wanted to be responsible for waking you, oh honey, you looked so peaceful! Anyway, I had a photo shoot come up again unexpectedly! Isn't that great! Anyway, your Grandma decided to tag along because she has some friends she would like to visit in the area. It's out of town by the way. We should be home in time for dinner though! Okay, love you. Kiss, Kiss."
"BEEEEEP. No more new messages. To replay this message-"

I unplugged the machine and plugged it back in to save myself the few seconds I would have had to waste listening to it go through it's order. Hmm… no mom or grandma. What should I do? I heard my stomach growl and so there was no chance of an argument for anything else other then- eat! I pulled out anything that looked good and began to decide what to eat.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

I watched as the clock inched upward. 30 seconds… … … 15 seconds… 10… 5.. 4.. 3.. 2.. 1.. Quitting time! "Whoo-ho!" I yelled running out the back of the store and up the stairs to my room. I was half way up the stairs before I heard my mom complain, "Oh no. It's 3 o'clock!" I pulled off my work clothes and threw on a pair of jeans along with a black shirt, on the back it read, "You are what you are player."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
A/N: What? Takato can't be gangsta as sh/t? God bless Jay-Z.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

I grabbed my CD player, headphones, and the closest CD. Without even looking at it, I stuck it in the CD player, and turned it on. I waited a few seconds for the song to start and heard the song start up,

Bones, sinking like stones,
All that we fought for,
Homes, places we've grown,
All of us are done for.

Ah, Coldplay. This is a good song I thought to myself. I changed songs because I liked the second song better, but instead I got a pleasant surprise . . .

I think I'll go home and mull this over
Before I cram it down my throat
At long last it's crashed, the colossal mass
Has broken up into bits in my moat.

This wasn't a Coldplay CD; this was the Garden State soundtrack! This soundtrack's awesome! I hadn't actually ever seen the movie… but the soundtrack kicks ass. I have the movie, but I haven't gotten around to watching it. Oh well. I set the song back on the first and walked down stairs.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

A/N: I really do love this soundtrack. It is one of the few things I do own. I mean… holy crap. I have the CD but it's not mine. Anyway, moving along.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Mom, I'm going out." I yelled to the back of the store.
"Where to?" She yelled back.
"The park." I responded.
"Be back before dinner!" She said.
"Okay, I will." I said and walked to the front of the store, and out the door.

It was gonna take a long time if I was just gonna walk to Rika's house, rather then running there. But I had the comfort of Zero 7 (A/N: not mine!), and others to keep me busy. I crossed the street and headed towards the park. Hmm… today is MUCH better then yesterday.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Hmm, Three-fifty, goggles should be here soon. I wonder what he's still got on his mind that he wants to talk about? I mean isn't it enough that we talked yesterday? It's not like… were… friends? Are we? I mean we sort of are… we were. Way back then, but can we just become friends again just like that? Whatever. He's a nice guy… but he sure is stupid. He was stupid back then too. I wonder why we really stopped talking? A phone call is no reason to stop friends from being friends… is it? Well-

Knock Knock Knock

And there he is. I walked two steps to the door and opened it. He had gotten cleaned up since yesterday. He had jeans, a plain black shirt on, and headphones blaring. For some reason I could hear the tune (because it was so loud), I recognized it, but again, it sounded like the noise from my alarm clock. "What are you listening to?" I yelled over the headphones as he stepped inside.

"Let Go, by Frou Frou," He said. "You wanna?" he asked me, pointing to the headphones.
"Sure" I said. 'Let Go… sounds fami… oh yeah! This was once again another song I knew and liked but couldn't remember.
He took of the headphones and put them on my head, and restarted the song.

"Drink up baby down
Are you in or are you out?
Leave your things behind
'Cause it's all going off without you"

"It's nice." I said, handing him back his headphones.
"Thanks." He replied. "So what's going on?" he asked following me into the kitchen.
"Not much, goggles. I kind of slept in today, and missed breakfast." I told him.
"Really. Well I haven't eaten anything all day either. I had a little hassle with a rude customer at the bakery today, but anyway. It's a great day outside." He mentioned.

"Yeah, I guess so." I said back.
"So you've never heard that song, before now?" he asked me.
"Nope." I lied. "But it's nice." I added.
"Yeah." He replied. "So where's your mom? And grandma?" he asked.
"Gone." I said. "Photo shoot, out of town, grandma's friends, back just before dinner." I gave him the short-handed version.

"And they didn't take you?" he asked.
"I was asleep… and I doubt I would have wanted to go even if I had been awake." I said.
"Why not? It could be an adventure! Way out of town, you get to see a part of the city you've never seen before!" He jeered. "I mean, it could be so-"
"No offense, goggles, but I know I wouldn't want to have gone." I said, just to shut him up.

"Oh… okay." He said in a very defeated voice.
"So, you wanted to talk." I said.
"Nope. I just said I wanted to come back around four-ish." He said.
What? I gave him a confused look.
"Nah, I'm just kidding. Of course I want to talk." He responded to my look of confusion.
"So how is school going for you?" he asked me.
"All right… I could be doing better. Or be trying to make friends… but nah." I said.

"Haha. I'm doing all right. If you think D's through B's are 'all right'. I think they are, but my parents don't." He said.
"Sound's alright to me." I said to him.
I felt a smirk beginning to creep onto my face, but I put it down. "So um, you never really got into how your summer was." I said.

He paused for a moment… a moment too long. I looked up at him and he was obviously in deep thought, probably trying to come up with a lie. "What's the matter, goggles? Cat got your tongue?" I asked.
Busted again, twice in two days. "How was your summer, Goggles?" I asked with seriousness in my voice.
"Okay… I can't lie again. You're too good at telling when I am. My summer was… really fun." He admitted… again sounding defeated.
"And why is that?" I asked, still with the seriousness.

"Because I hung out with the entire gang all summer." He said, sounding the most defeated yet. "Listen, I'm really sorry we never gave you a call. Its just that… after the whole thing you kind of just fell of the map." He said.
"A phone call, and about a mile isn't any reason to leave a 'friend' out of anything, you dope." I scolded him.
"Yeah, I see that now." He said.
"Good, now next time you won't forget." I said. I remembered I had to let him slide for what he did yesterday… but I only had to let him slide once.

He looked up at me with a look of as if Christmas had come early. "So, what does that shirt of yours say anyway? If anything?" I asked.
"Oh," he said, and turned around to show me the back.
" 'You are what you are player.' Wow. I didn't know you were from the streets, Goggles." I mocked him.

He laughed a bit at this. "Oh, you don't know my alter-ego?" he asked. "By day I'm just Takato. By night, I become the great Christopher Wallace!" he responded.
I couldn't help but laugh at this. "I have to admit, Goggles, you're good at making fun of yourself." I said.
"Well, if you can't laugh at yourself, life is gonna seem a whole lot longer then you want it to." He said.
"Whoa… Whoa… back it up. What did you just say? I've never been able to laugh at myself…" I confessed, again before I could stop myself from doing so.

"Really? Never" he asked, and I shook my head.
"Well… let's see. Your too serious." He said.
"Excuse me?" I said, thunder in my voice.
"You see! You took that way too serious! You need to loosen up a little bit." He pointed out.
I thought about it a second… "I guess so." I said, in a flattened kind of voice.
"Anyway, what else can we talk about?" He said.

And then I heard it… my mother's car pulling up to the driveway. I turned to the clock. It was only 4:32. (A/N: Yeah, time sure does fly in my stories) They shouldn't be home by now. Should they? Takato turned to the door, and I was frozen on the spot. Mom didn't know I had a guy friend coming over the past two days.

"Hey is that-" he started
"Yeah, my mom and grandma, I said moving towards the front door, and locking it quickly. I turned back to Goggles.
"Hey, why'd you lock the door? Don't they need to come through that door?" he started to walk towards me… towards the door.
He reached for the knob, but I put myself between the door and him. I gave him a straight look that if he read into it, which I'm sure he did, would tell him I was a 'little' …afraid.

"What's going on…" he asked me.
"My mom will never let me live it down that I had a guy here when she wasn't home… no matter who it was." I told him. "So you mind going out the back way?" I asked.

He smiled, and I felt the door knob twitch, and then my mother talking.
"Rika! Rika are you in there? Hurry honey, the doors locked." She yelled.

I gave him another look of fear in my eyes, and he smiled again before turning heels and heading for the back door. I quickly followed, making sure not to make too much noise, as to alert my mother that I was walking away from the door. He opened the door, and let himself out, and turned around. "Once you let them in I'll head out. But I'm coming back tomorrow whether or not your mom's home." He told me. "We didn't even talk about me!" he gave me a fake look of unhappiness and his tone was of sarcastic upset.

"Right. Tomorrow we'll talk all about you and Crazy girl… I mean, who talks to their hand?" I said.
He opened his mouth to respond, but then closed it, opened it again, and closed it again, then finally said, "I… don't… know…"
I laughed at this, and closed the door. He waved again, and this time I returned the favor. I turned around, ran to the front door, and opened it to my mom and grandma.
"Oh, Rika dear! It was fantastic!" my mother said.

I let them both in, then watched as Takato ran away, back to the park. I red the back of his shirt one more time, smiled, and turned around closing the door. "Tell me all about it mom."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"TAKATO MATSUKI! YOU ARE SO BUSTED!"
Yikes! Two days in a row I was late home from the park. Mom's REALLY pissed.
"HOW CAN YOU DO THIS TO ME? AM I NOT A GOOD MOTHER TO YOU?" she asked me.
"Ugh… yeah mom… you're great . . . it's just that…" I started. But there was no point in telling her the truth. She probably wouldn't believe me anyway. Or think any innocence of me going to a girl's house, when neither her mother nor grandmother were home.
"I lost track of time." I said. That lie wasn't going to work… especially since I used it yesterday too . . . . ..
"LOST TRACK OF TIME?"
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
A/N: Chapters not over, were going ahead of time to the next day at the end of school!
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Takato!" I heard someone whisper near by.
I looked around and saw it was Henry. "What?" I asked.
"You wanna hang out at the park after school today?" he asked me.
Uh-oh. "Umm… I can't." I lied. "I'm busy." I told the truth.
"With what?" he asked.

I can't get busted again, they won't believe me if I told them I was going to Rika's and they wouldn't like it much if I was blowing them off for Rika. "Being grounded." I lied.
"Ah! What you do?" Kazu asked behind me.
"I was home late from the park on Saturday and Sunday." I said.
"How'd you pull that one off?" asked Henry.
Ugh… very nosey, these people are. "I lost track of time, okay!" I said… a little too loudly.

"Well, ladies and gentlemen, I think we have a volunteer to solve the next equation." Said the teacher. "Takato?"
I looked up at the board. '4x4+10x2-52x 0 solve for x' I thought about it for a few seconds…
"The answer is 2." I said.

"No, Mr. Matsuki… I'm afraid the answer is (she looked down at her book) 2. . . hey, wait a minute."
Rrrrrrrrrrrring! Rrrrrrrrrrrring! Rrrrrrrrrrrring!
"Thank you! Thank you!" I said to everyone after the final bell had rung.

I packed up my book bag, and someone came to stand next to me. I stuffed the last paper away and looked up to see… Jeri?
"Hey Takato. I just wanted to say…"
"Nope, can't talk now Jeri, gotta run."
"But Takato-"
"Hey! Maybe we'll have some time to chat later, but right now I gotta fly. See ya." I said walking away.

I was headed home, I needed to do some homework and leave my stuff behind, but after that… after that I was going straight to Rika's.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
A/N: Ta da! La, la, la, la, la! I know I had to many 'A/N:' in that story… but can you blame me? (Sees the people shaking head and pointing fingers at me) :( Whatever. I don't need you. I don't need this!… okay yeah I do. And I need you. You wonderful people! I love you guys! Anyway… I couldn't leave the story off on a Takato running away moment, so I added a Takato walking away moment! He sees Jeri's not the only girl out there and walks away from her, holding his head up high! So, does anyone but myself like how I ended this chapter? I know it was kind of cheesy, that last line, but you gotta give me some credit… it sounded awesome in my head when I thought of it. By the way, if you don't believe me, 2 really is the answer to the math problem. The way I wrote it I made it seem like Takato is some kind of math genius. How do I know the answers 2? Because I made the problem by starting from x2.

But anyway. I started this chapter at like 9 at night and was still writing right through midnight and was pissed that I couldn't finish it at by one (I got done at two.) It was just a really long chapter to write. Excuse me for the 'You are what you are player.' Slogan on the back of his shirt. I don't own that either. I was trying to think of controversial slogans that weren't too long and I figured Takato could be gangster like that, so I looked up famous hip hop sayings and came across this one. Hey, it was either that or "I'd rather live enormous, then die dormant." (both by Jay-Z) so I chose the better of the two.

Oh, if you didn't notice yet (because I didn't notice it until I finished this chapter) but all of the songs I've been putting on either have lyrics, or titles that are in some way, shape, or form a little bit relevant to what is going on in the story. See chp.2 "Caring is Creepy", hello… Rika 'caring is creepy.' This chapter, 'Don't Panic' by Coldplay, the last line of the song, hello, 'Oh, all that I know, there's nothing here to run from, 'cause, yeah, everybody here's got somebody to lean on.' Not mine either, but 'somebody to lean on'. Hello, friends, trust. Are we getting anything people? Btw, that second song on the soundtrack is Caring is Creepy also. And 'Let Go', the title says it all. Come on people, that's too awesome. I haven't been choosing them purposely… okay maybe a little purposely. I just got the Garden State soundtrack for my birthday and I wanted to put the songs on here. But the lyrics and titles are all coincidental. Oh, I have seen the Garden State movie… like 18 times. Haha… I love it so much. Maybe I should add that as a chapter? Where they watch it together? It's awesome. If you've ever seen it you know what I'm talking about… if not, then you better rent it/buy it/borrow it/steal it, what ever you gotta do to watch it, because it will change your life. Anyway, moving along. I need the reviewers opinion… what do you guys think of me starting every chapter off with something weird? I started with the autumn leaves (he that's the name of the story), then I did the melody of music, and this chapter it was being safe. I've got the next one lined up, and I kind of foreshadowed it earlier in this chapter, but I want your opinion, should I keep starting chapters off with those kind of things? Yeah I know this chapters one sucked, but the first two were really good, I think… at least the first one was. Oh, I came across a very nice Rukato video of recent. Go to and just search for 'Digimon Rika" and it will come up. It's entitled 'Rika AMV- Digimon Tamers' and its worth the watch. I'm about 95 sure it's a Rukato (look at what someone posted as a comment for the unsure 5). Oh, and you can see my comment! I couldn't get Notorious P.A.T. on so instead I have "LivinAMovie". If you don't like that video then go type in "Rika's Anything But Ordinary". Its nice, but sadly, the creator is a . . . (tears begin to come out) a . . . a Ryo/Rika fan! There, I said it. Don't make me say it again! Ugh… it's nice and you have to pay attention to catch it, but I thought it was cute. That one is based on "Anything But Ordinary" by Avril Lavigne. Okay, buh-bye.

Love always, and Rukato forever. Peace.

(Truck horn sounded and trucker talking) Honk! Honk! I thank you.
(Chappelle in the background) I'm Rich Bitch!
(I also don't own 'The Chappelle Show' closing or anything remotely like that.)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -