"H-hey, Rika?"
Rika looked down at the little girl poking her leg. "Yeah, Lena, what's up?"
"How did you meet…?" Lena cocked her head towards the other members of M4. At present, they were decorating the Christmas tree. Marika was perched precariously atop Dalia's shoulders, leaning towards the tree, while Saori supervised (meaning that she was watching with ill-concealed panic, bracing herself for the moment everything came crashing down).
Had any of them been paying a little more attention to Rika and a little less to the tree, they might've been more concerned about what Rika was telling Lena. But as it stood, Rika was left entirely unsupervised.
"Fear not, little Lena, Big Sis Seto is here to help!" She knew Lena wasn't just asking for the M4 Origin Story, she was asking for advice on how to make friends. Granted, my relationship with M4 is a little more than just friends, Rika chuckled to herself. But the skills are transferable, so to speak… Brace yourself, little Lena, cuz I'm about to give you the Gay Girl's Guide to Picking Up Chicks!
Rika led Lena to the couch. "If I had to summarize it, I think I could put it into three main "focuses": food, music, and PARTY!"
"Uhh, aren't those three things all kinda the same?" Lena asked.
"Huh? Oh! Huh… I guess you're right!" Rika nodded thoughtfully. "But that's how I met them…" Her face softened as she looked back at the tree. Marika was leaning even further towards it, Dalia's strong hands firmly grasping her legs while Saori gripped the sides of her head in worry.
Rika chuckled and shook her head before looking back at Lena. It was story time!
"I met Marika first. She was eating alone, so I decided to slide in and shoot my shot! I admit, I was a little nervous, we didn't know each other, but she was all alone, so it felt like the perfect time to talk to her! No one else would interrupt us, or anything like that. Now, I don't remember all the particulars, but I know that we wound up just talking about food and other casual, normal stuff. Nothing too big or crazy or serious, y'know?"
They always say not to unpack or unload all of your biggest baggage on the first date! "I think I recommended her some type of ramen and she really enjoyed it! That was a win for me! And that was also the start of a most beautiful friendship! By the end of that little lunch date, we were already on a first-name basis!" Rika was proud she mustered up the nerve to talk to such a pretty girl and get her first name all in less than an hour.
"Wow, that fast?!" Lena's eyes widened in awe.
"Mm-hmm!" Rika nodded proudly. "Ya girl moves quick!" She flashed Lena two peace signs.
"Who did you meet next?" Lena asked, excited to hear more of Rika's story.
"Saori," Rika chuckled and shook her head again. The purple-haired DJ was sighing in exasperation and shaking her own head as Marika reached a hand down, gesturing for another ornament. Despite her grouchy expression, Saori complied.
Now that she thought about it, Rika's first meeting with Saori bore more than a few similarities to her first meeting with Marika. Granted, the first and biggest difference was that Rika met Saori at a record shop rather than a lunchroom, but the surprise and suddenness was the same.
"I was just looking around for some DJ stuff when I saw Saori in the booth, and she was killing it!" Rika cried, eyes glazing over at the memory, a smile slowly spreading across her face. "She was just so good! Her music was truly captivating, and I just had to get to know her!"
She rushed right over to Saori before she even knew what she was doing, introducing herself and nearly giving Saori a heart attack in the process. She hadn't frightened Marika quite as much, but Marika had been equally surprised when Rika marched right up to her and started chatting. And like Marika, Saori knew of Rika's party reputation. At first, she had a lot of reserves about associating with Rika, but Rika turned on the charm just like she did with Marika and tried to appeal to Saori's obvious love of music.
"I super love this sort of stuff too, you know?!" she grinned as she joined Saori at the turntables. "Would you teach me how?!"
At first, Saori freaked out and ran away, but Rika went running right after.
"I admit, she was a little tougher to wrangle than Marika, but you can't let fear stop you!" she told Lena confidently. After catching up to the cute, purple-haired DJ, Rika immediately invited her to a party that she and Marika were attending that very night. "It was the perfect way to help Saori get back into her groove!" That was the true reason why Rika invited Saori along. As she noted in the beginning, it was obvious that music meant a lot to her, so Rika wanted to give her an environment where music would be front and center!
"And that actually ties perfectly into my third tip! Parties!" She cast an eye at Dalia as she said this. It should've come as no surprise to all who knew Rika that parties were sure to be on any list she ever made, but in this case, although her party tendencies did contribute to her meeting Dalia, it was just as unexpected as her meeting with Saori. "Honestly, sometimes it feels like fate! What were the odds of me meeting them all in such short order?" The people who would become my three greatest loves, and my three bandmates…
Dalia was also at Rika and Marika's party, although they would not speak for some time more. It happened at a bar where the three of them happened to be performing. Some of the patrons tried to pick a fight with Rika and co., but then Dalia stepped in to save the day.
"She looked so cool!" Rika gushed. And she was absolutely GORGEOUS, seeing that tall, powerful woman rush to our rescue!
In true Rika fashion, she asked Dalia to join M4 barely a second later. Rika recognized her as the dancer from the party. Fate was truly a funny thing. What were the odds they met their fourth member at that party? What were the odds that she worked at the bar Rika and co. performed at?
"But if you noticed, it didn't take anything big, fancy, or special for me to win them over!" Rika told Lena. "It was just about creating a good vibe, being yourself, making a fun and welcoming atmosphere. Food, music, and parties are all ya need!" Rika was totally convinced. It was the red thread of fate that tied her and the rest of M4 together, and even Lena! After all, what was tonight except a Christmas party for her?
ooo
"Oh, I think we're out of decorations!" Marika cried, interrupting Rika and Lena's lesson. Sure enough, the ornament box was empty, but there was still a fair bit of tree left.
"Oh, shoot! I can make a quick trip to the store!" Rika jumped off the couch at once. "You three have done enough work already!"
Rika was already halfway out the door. Saori scoffed. "Classic Rika, not even waiting for us to reply!"
Classic Rika, Lena thought in agreement. Her mind moves so fast, it's like she totally forgot we were talking!
But Lena wasn't hurt, she knew it was just Rika being Rika.
"Say, Lena, what were you and Rika talking about, anyway?" Dalia asked, both out of curiosity and a subtle attempt at distracting Saori from her frustration. Marika laughed quietly, and even though Dalia wasn't looking at her, she gave the other woman an approving nod.
Oh, Rika, you really do need to be more careful how you come across to our poor Saori! It's a good thing Lena and Dalia have cooler heads!
"Oh, Rika was just telling me how she met you guys!" Lena replied with a smile.
"What did she say?" Saori asked, worried and mortified. Lena was dutiful in her response. By the end of it, while Dalia and Marika were laughing, Saori slapped her forehead.
"Noooo, Rika!" she complained. "That's not how it happened at all! … I mean, it was, but… it also wasn't!" She sighed in frustration.
"Wait, what?" Lena tilted her head, genuinely confused now. "Rika wasn't… lying… was she?" Rika didn't seem the type!
"What? Oh, no, no! That's not what I meant! No! Not at all!" Saori waved her hands quickly, Dalia and Marika also voicing protest to Lena's words. Lena was entirely correct. Rika was not the type to lie, especially about something like this.
"I think I get it," Marika was the first to reign everyone else in. "What Rika told you was the truth… as she knew it." Nothing Rika said was a lie, they were all in agreement about that. Instead, it was more that her perception of the events were… different from the others'. Classic Rika.
"I should've kept a better eye on her!" Saori muttered, slapping her forehead again, but this time berating herself rather than Rika.
"Oh, Saori, there's no need to worry," Marika chuckled. "Rika's heart was in the right place. She didn't tell Lena anything wrong."
Marika turned back to Lena. It was up to her to clear the air for everyone. "Rika did indeed befriend me by reaching out to when she saw me eating alone, but it wasn't her casual talk about ramen that won me over. It was the fact that she reached out at all…" Marika got lost in the memory. Those days were nothing but a gray haze for her. There was no pain, but there was no pleasure either, and then along came the sun, bright and beautiful. Rika lit up Marika's world and made everything shiny and new again.
"That had me lovestruck," she giggled. "Rika was just so sweet! And cute! There was a childish sort of hope, energy, innocence, and wonder about her." It was refreshing, after Marika spent so long feeling isolated and rejected by her old friends. It wasn't Rika's "suave charm", or her flirty, corny one-liners that Marika fell in love with. It was her kind, open, inviting honesty.
"Yes, I think it was the same for me," Dalia nodded, picking up where Marika left off. After hearing everything Marika said, Dalia thought back to her own first encounter with the fiery redhead. It wasn't just Rika's hype energy or her invitation to M4 that won Dalia over. What truly attracted the bartender to the singer was the singer's easy, breezy personality.
"I admit, I've always been a little too serious, and people say that I look scary sometimes," Dalia said self-consciously. Even Lena looked a little embarrassed, for she was one of the people who was, at first, intimidated by Dalia's piercing gaze. "But Rika? She was unafraid." She was one of the few people Dalia could think of who had never considered her scary, even for a single second. Even Saori and Marika were a little intimidated at first, but not Rika. Rika's complete acceptance of Dalia, and her lack of hesitation in approaching her, was something Dalia would never forget…
"Yeah…" At last, it was Saori's turn, her embarrassment and irritation successfully forgotten in light of Dalia and Marika's stories. As overwhelming as her first encounter with Rika was, just like Marika and Dalia, there was a small, secret side of her that was genuinely grateful that Rika took the chance to notice her, and to reach out.
Saori would never ever admit it out loud, but she was lonely on the inside, just like Marika and Dalia, even if in a different way, and for different reasons. But just like with Marika and Dalia, Rika showed no fear, regret, or hesitation. She saw something worth loving in Saori and latched onto it as quickly and fiercely as she could.
She says that I was a huge inspiration for her to create M4, but, in reality, it was all her. If it hadn't been for her, none of us would be here right now, celebrating Christmas, together… Including Lena. In private, Rika confessed to the rest of M4 that Lena reminded her of Tsubaki, another lonely girl Rika felt compelled to love and protect. It was very clear that Rika had "a type", and she was skilled at sniffing them out. And as if by some magical force of fate, they were always attracted to her as well.
"No, it's not fate," Marika said confidently. "At least not completely. Whether she meant to or not, whether she realized it or not, Rika helped all of us overcome our loneliness. She was exactly the person we needed at the time, even if none of us knew it back then, and she did it all so effortlessly, by just being herself." In fact, the only reason the conversation had started at all was because Lena had gone to Rika for advice about how to make friends. So even now, Rika's "magic" was still hard at work.
Rika had a knack for bringing broken hearts together, acting as the glue that helped mend and bind them. It wasn't the food or the music or the parties, it was her heart. The things that Rika thought were so small and insignificant in the grand scheme of things were actually the very things that M4 loved and remembered most about her. And vice versa. The things Rika did attribute her success to were all peripheral to the others. Life sure was a strange and funny thing, but there was something hopeful about it, too.
Even the smallest of kindnesses could mean the biggest of things in the long run. All she did was reach out, but in doing so, she changed at least four or five lives forever. And as Rika noted earlier, it wasn't about doing anything big or fancy or special. It was just about being her true, honest self. By showing that side of herself, she was bound to find people she clicked with, because they were the people who would be drawn to her natural side. That was why Marika was convinced that it was more than just destiny…
ooo
"I'M BAAAAACK!" Classic Rika. She knew how to turn a heartfelt mood into a hype mood in just a single second, and all without even realizing. "Woah! What's with all the weird vibes in here?" she asked as she made her way back into the living room.
"Never mind that!" Saori was the first to cry. "What's with that massive bag?! How much did you buy?!"
"Oh, haha, right!" Rika grinned sheepishly as she dropped the Santa-sized sack. It hit the ground with a very loud THUD! Saori's eye twitched. Ok, forget how much that must've costed… How on earth was Rika able to carry it with such ease?! "I got a little carried away!"
"You don't say?" Marika quirked an eyebrow and giggled.
"I know, I know, I was only supposed to get a few more ornaments, but they also had a whole bunch of extra gingerbread house thingies and you could get like a "buy four, get one free" kind of deal, and I thought it would be really cool and fun if we all made houses together!"
Classic Rika. She knew how to turn a hype mood into a heartfelt mood in just a single second, and all without even realizing. Marika's eyes sparkled knowingly as she cast a glance at Lena, Saori, and Dalia.
Didn't I tell you? That's Rika for you! Her kindness is so natural and effortless, it's barely a second thought to her. But as was evident by all of the rest of their faces, Rika's gesture meant the world to them. She was always thinking of ways to make them smile, and to do fun things with them.
"But, ah, aren't you worried you might've broken one of them?" Dalia asked as delicately as she could. The bag had hit the ground rather hard… That was enough to bring down the mood slightly, and for a moment, even Rika looked a little worried.
"Oh, shoot, you're right! Didn't even think about that!" She dug through the bag quickly, pulling out several boxes of ornaments and five boxes of gingerbread making kits. They were massive.
"That's not just a house… that's an entire village!" Saori shook her head, at a loss for words. Marika only giggled again. Classic Rika.
"Oh, yes! Woo hoo! None of them are broken!" Rika cried a second later, standing back up with a proud and relieved smile on her face. Dalia laughed as well, shaking her head, but smiling fondly.
Lena said nothing, but she looked back and forth between the four bandmates and smiled. As cliché as itmight've sounded, she was confident that this was one of her best Christmases ever! And with Rika and the gingerbread houses, it was only going to get better!
"Let's have a contest to see who can make the hypest house!" Rika cried as she set the five boxes out on Lena's kitchen table.
"Oh, you're on!" Dalia's eyes flashed excitedly.
"Be careful about starting competitions that you can't finish," Marika sing-songed, waggling a finger teasingly.
"Guys, this is supposed to be relaxing, not a war!" Saori sighed, but they all knew that, on the inside, she was just as excited as the rest of them.
Lena's smile stretched from ear to ear as she took a seat right beside Rika and opened up her gingerbread kit.
An hour later, her creation was complete, a clumsy replica of her own house, but the most important parts were the gingerbread people. Five of them, each designed to look like herself and the four members of M4, each of them with a big red heart on their chests.
"Awww!" Saori and Rika both looked close to tears when Lena showed off the finished product. Dalia was at a loss for words, but she rested a hand over her heart. Marika only smiled gently, leaning back in her chair.
I think I know who's going to win this little competition, and I'm completely inclined to agree. I wonder, was this Rika's plan all along? Even if she couldn't have known what exactly Lena would create, I wonder if she did this because she hoped that Lena WOULD win?
She wouldn't have the time to ask until later. Right now, Rika was too busy overloading her phone with pictures of Lena's gingerbread house. Lena posed in a few of the pictures, gesturing proudly to her masterpiece.
Oh, yeah, she thought for a second time, Best. Christmas. Ever!
AN: As you can see, this was inspired off the Christmas ep, and the "Road to D4Fes" main arc, and the recent "Take Me GROOMY" event. It's funny, I actually originally wrote this BEFORE that event came out, but after it came out, I put this story on standby because the original draft contradicted the Marika canon.
Only just recently, I found the passion and inspiration to pick it up again. I hope you guys enjoyed! It was meant to be a bit of a written out version of what truly makes Rika such a kind, unique, wonderful person. I definitely would love to be a little more like her.
I've heard many people say before, we all need a Rika in our lives, but we also need to BE a Rika for someone else, and I completely agree. So I hope all of you one day find your Rika, and that you are able to be Rika for someone else. You never know how your smallest of kind deeds can have the biggest of impacts!
In fact, my "Saori" is very much like that. A small thing she did for me back when we were still new to one another has stayed in my mind all these years later and was the very thing that made me certain she would be a really good friend for a really long time. It seems like I was completely right.
So hey, even though it wasn't originally part of the plan, I'll dedicate this one to you, Penguin611.
And to Net Neutrality and Snorlax891, the rest of my "D4 squad"! Love yall!