Hi! Sorry for the long wait, once again. I know I take a long time writing these, but hopefully this chapter will be worth the wait. I want to thank everybody who reads this little story of mine, because knowing that you enjoy what I write when I take my sweet time writing it just make my day better. Special thanks to the reviewers of the last chapter: 4815162342 execute, Mimitto, hexgurl001 and Hoshi-Naito. You are all awesome. Now get reading!
-Lusankya
Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon. They wouldn't sell it to me.
The rest of the week passed in a blink of an eye, and before even realizing it, Rika was sitting in her living room, nervously waiting for Ryo and wondering what exactly possessed her to agree to spend a whole week-end with him. Pity? Desperation for company? Genuine liking for the boy? Right now, her favourite excuse was a momentary lapse of judgement. Not that she could back out now, mind you. Rika Nonaka wasn't someone who backed out of things, especially the ones that seemed very challenging. Plus, Ryo would be disappointed.
At exactly 11 o'clock, the doorbell rang. Rika sprang up but, remembering that it was only Ryo, calmly made her way to the front door.
She opened, and behind the door was an over-excited Ryo.
"Hi Rika! How are you? I'm so excited; we're going to have so much fun!"
She smiled a little. "Hi Akiyama. Come in."
"Thanks! Where can I leave my stuff?"
Just then Rika noticed that he had an enormous backpack on and that he was carrying what looked like a rolled-up sleeping bag. She raised an eyebrow.
"Akiyama… Why did you bring so much stuff?"
"Well I was going to need it if I was to sleep over, of course!"
Her eyes widened. "We never spoke of you sleeping over!"
Ryo's face fell. "But you said that you wanted to have a slumber party with Jeri, so I figured that you'd like one even if it was with me?"
"Oh! Why hello, Ryo! How nice it is to see you!" Rika's mother said, making her way towards the pair.
He smiled brightly. "Hi Mrs Nonaka!"
"It's so nice of you to spend the weekend with Rika, I couldn't bear the thought of seeing her all alone" Rumiko said, fondly ruffling her daughter's hair, to her embarrassment.
"Mom!" she groaned, getting away from offending motherly hand. Rumiko only giggled. She then noticed Ryo's gear.
"Oh, are you planning on sleeping over?"
Rika quickly answered in his stead. "He was planning to, but don't worry, I'm going to help him get his stuff back home later."
Rumiko cocked her head to the side. "But why couldn't he sleep here? If he has to go back to Nerima tonight and come here again tomorrow, it will cut your time together. Beside, it is not like I would mind his presence!"
Rika looked perplexedly at her mother. "Well, alright then..." she slowly said. "He'll have my room for tonight, and I'll sleep with grandma."
Hands on her hips, Rumiko dismissed the proposal. "Nonsense! What fun would there be in a slumber party where the participants are separated? None at all, I tell you! Now, you two go put Ryo's stuff in your room, and you two have fun. Tourlou!" And waving happily at the pair, Rumiko retreated to the kitchen, leaving a very embarrassed Rika and a still-smiling Ryo. The red-head sighed.
"Alright then. Follow me."
She made her way towards her room, Ryo silently following her. After a while, he spoke. "You know Rika, if you are in any way uncomfortable with the idea of me sleeping in your room, you just say the word and I'll sleep in the living room."
A hand on the door of her room, Rika remained silent for a while. "It's not that I don't trust you," she finally said. "I mean, I know you are not stupid enough to try something in my own house."
"Plus you would be quite capable of kicking my ass if I did," added Ryo with a chuckle. Unable to refrain herself from doing so, Rika smiled a little.
"You're right. But, still…" she dragged, looking uncomfortable.
"I'll tell you what," Ryo quickly said. "What would you say if we both slept in the living room? We'd be in neutral territory, and I wouldn't be in your intimacy. Plus it would be an open space, meaning if your mom or your grand-mother gets up for a midnight snack, they would see that we are behaving ourselves quite well. Another bonus? We can watch movies or play video games all night if we want to! What do you say?" he asked, looking at her hopefully.
Rika looked thoughtful for a moment. "You know," she slowly said, "that actually sounds like a good idea." With an afterthought, with a teasing smile on her lips, she added: "For a pompous fool, you have good ideas sometimes."
"Me, a pompous fool?" Ryo exclaimed. Folding his arms and sticking his nose high up, he declared: "I demand that you immediately take back this outrageous slander!"
Rika chuckled at his antics. "Come on, Akiyama; let's drop your stuff in my room for the moment and let's get this day started."
"Wow Rika, I would never have thought that you would be so enthusiastic about spending time with me! I feel all tingly inside."
Rika rolled her eyes for only answer as she open the door of her room. They quickly discarded Ryo's gear and made their way back to the entrance of the house.
"Mom!" Rika called out. "We're going out. We should be back for dinner!"
"Alright sweetie! Have fun!" Rumiko cheerfully answered.
And so, the two teens made their way out.
In the Nonaka house, Seiko entered the kitchen. Rumiko looked up from her newspaper and smiled to her. "Hello mother. You just missed Ryo, I'm afraid."
Seiko sat down at the table. Frowning, she said: "I heard you talk to them about sleeping arrangements. Really Rumiko, what are you trying to do, making them sleep in Rika's room? Don't you think it's improper?"
"Improper? Nonsense!" Rumiko answered with a flick of the hand. "I seriously doubt anything serious would happen. The walls of this house are paper-thin, and Rika is quite capable of defending herself. However, I would be quite at ease if some consensual lip-action took place."
"Rumiko!" her mother exclaimed. "How can you talk about your daughter like that?"
"Well, don't you think it's time Rika gets a boyfriend? And I simply adore Ryo. Wouldn't they make the cutest couple ever?" Rumiko said before taking a sip of tea.
Seiko shook her head. "That's not the point. Rumiko, she is only fifteen."
"I don't think fifteen is too young to have a first boyfriend. I wasn't much older than her when I got married."
"Well, don't you want to keep her from making the same mistakes you did?"
Rumiko posed her teacup on the table.
"I wouldn't be jumping with joy if Rika announced me that she was getting married tomorrow, of course. But," she added with a smile, "when I look at her, I don't think I made a mistake."
--Outside, back to Rika and Ryo--
After a couple of minutes of walking, Ryo broke the silence. "So, your Majesty, what do you have in store for me today?" he asked while turning around to face her, walking backwards.
"You're going to hurt yourself if you walk like that, Akiyama. And it depends. Are you hungry?"
"Thanks for caring for my safety, Rika, truly I'm touched, but I do this all the time. And yes, I'm a little hungry, to say the truth. Are there any good places to eat around where you are bringing me?"
"Seriously, you also look stupid. And not really, it's mostly junk food. But I know a good place on the way."
"I do not look stupid. What sort of place is it?"
"Yes you do, and you will look even stupider when you fall on your butt. It's a small café, but they make great paninis."
"I won't fall. And your place sounds good, I'll be happy to try it."
"Excellent. And watch out for that rock."
"What rock-" is all Ryo had time to say before promptly falling on his behind, attracting laughter from some passer-bys. As Ryo's ears slowly turned to red, Rika permitted herself to smirk at him.
"I had warned you," she simply said, amusement evident on her face. Ryo got up on his feet, embarrassed, and clearing his throat, said: "Hehe, of course I did this on purpose for your amusement."
"Yeah, right. Come on hero boy, let's go eat." And so they resumed walking, but this time, Ryo walked normally. About fifteen minutes later, which were mostly spent in silence except when broken by some general comment on their surroundings, they arrived at their destination.
It was a rather small café, but because it was still warm, many tables were set outside on the pavement. The walls were painted a warm orange and a few wooden statues decorated them, along with lamps made to look like torches of fire. About 20 small worn-looking wooden tables were scattered and displaced according to the whims of the clients, while a bar area with many high chairs was set in the back. Smooth jazz music was being blown by the speakers, not quite covering the ambient chattering of the costumers. The crowd was quite heteroclite, ranging from middle-aged men in business suits sipping an espresso to giggling schoolgirls happily drinking fancy coffees with a mountain of whipped cream on top.
Ryo whistled appreciatively. "I already love this place." Rika smiled at his enthusiasm.
"Glad you do. Where do you want to eat, inside or outside?"
"Hmm, I'd prefer inside. It's a little windy and I hate it when my napkins get blown away."
The redhead chuckled. "I see." She then made her way towards a table in the far right corner of the café, Ryo right behind her. They sat down.
"This place is awesome." Said Ryo, looking around. "Do you come here often?"
"Pretty often, yeah. It's a great place to relax."
"What is this place called?"
Rika shrugged. "I don't actually know. There is no name on the door or on the menus, and somehow I never thought of asking. The fact that the food and ambiance are good is enough for me."
Ryo chuckled. "Hehe, I see."
The waitress suddenly appeared next to them.
"Hello!" she cheerfully greeted them. "How are you guys? Will you need our food menu, or just the drinks one?"
"We'll have both," answered Rika.
"Okay! There you go. When you are ready to order, just give me a little wave!" And with a last smile, she hurried towards another table.
"So," Ryo said while opening his menu, "what do you suggest me to try here?"
"Well, my personal favourites are the paninis," she answered. "They make all sorts of them, the one I prefer being the turkey and bacon one. I also like the grilled chicken one as well as the Italian mix. My mom, however, loves the vegetarian panini with goat cheese. Outside of sandwiches, they also make individual pizzas, salads and they normally have soup ready. That's about it. The other sorts of food here are just desserts."
"I should find something to my taste." Flipping through the pages, Ryo asked: "If this place doesn't even have a name, how did you find it?"
Rika stifled a laugh. "I have to thank my mom for that. A while back, after much begging and sweet-talking, she convinced me to participate in a mother-daughter photo-shoot."
"You said yes?" asked a bewildered Ryo. "I thought you hated those!"
"I do, but new Digimon cards were coming out soon and I was low on cash. I stepped on my pride. The photo-shoot wasn't that bad, though; they didn't make me wear a dress and kept the make-up to a minimal. Anyway, after it, my mom brought me here for lunch with her colleagues, and I fell in love with this place."
"What a touching story" said a smiling Ryo.
"Yeah, a cute love story that still goes on to this day" added Rika, laughing.
"Hey, I just thought of something. Does that mean that somewhere, there are pretty professional pictures of you somewhere in a magazine?" curiously asked the blue-eyed boy.
"Well, yeah," Rika uncomfortably said.
"Really? Are they… revealing?" he asked while wiggling his eyebrows.
Rika rolled her eyes. "No," she flatly answered. "It was an advertisement for ski equipment."
Ryo snapped his fingers in a disappointed manner, which only annoyed Rika further. Changing the subject to one that didn't involve what she was wearing, she asked: "Did you make your choice?"
"Hmm, I think so," he said, closing his menu.
"Good." Rika looked around for the waitress. When she turned her face towards them, Rika waved at her. The waitress smiled brightly to her, quickly finished what she was doing and in the wink of an eye she was next to them.
"Hello again! What will you have?" she said, her enthusiasm still at its peak as she reached for the notepad in her apron. They ordered their sandwiches and drinks, and with a last smile, the waitress left after promising it wouldn't be long. With the waitress gone, the teens once again fell in an uncomfortable silence. Ryo began to silently look around the café, letting his gaze wander freely.
Suddenly, Rika began feeling uneasy. She was overcome with the feeling that this weekend wasn't going to work out. How could it? They hadn't even spent an hour alone and yet it had been filled with silence. It was one thing to chat casually among the other Tamers, but being alone to entertain each other for two days was completely different. They were too different. They didn't know anything about each other. But most importantly, she realized, she didn't know anything about him.
"How is your mom?" Rika blurted out, jerking Ryo out of his reverie.
"My mom?" he asked, a little surprised. "Well, she's good, I guess. She's been working a lot these last few weeks, though. Why do you ask?"
"Um, no reason in particular…" Rika answered a little uneasily.
Ryo observed her a few seconds, then smiled. "And when I say she works a lot, I mean it! She has barely taken free time lately. She's always bringing her paperwork home. Even this weekend, she's gone to a convention to Osaka, again for work" he said with a chuckle.
"But today is a national holiday…" Rika frowned.
"I know, and that's what I told her. But", he shook his head, still smiling, "it seems her bosses just can't do without her."
"I see…" Rika said, but her mind held a very different discourse. So, if I had refused to spend the weekend with him, Ryo would have been all alone…What sort of parent leaves their child alone on a holiday?
"Rika."
Ryo's voice suddenly interrupted her thoughts. With a jerk, she caught his gaze. He was looking at her earnestly.
"Look, I know what you were just thinking. You had that look of pity on your face."
Blushing, she mumbled: "No, no, of course not…"
"Please, you're not the first one to look at me like this," he said while rolling his eyes. "Listen, I am not poor little unhappy lonely Ryo suffering in his broken home. First, I understand my mom has to work a lot. She went through a divorce and she now has to pay for stuff my dad used to. Second, I can take care of myself. I have my life, she has hers, and it's all very well like this. So, don't make a soap opera of my life. It isn't tragic. Okay?"
"O..okay," she answered lowering her eyes, embarrassed. She had not meant for conversation to take such a turn. Way to go, Nonaka, she darkly thought. I try to make conversation lighter, and all I manage to do is stretch the distance between us. My social skills are truly amazing. Her thoughts, however, were interrupted by the ever-so-cheerful waitress, who brought the two Tamers their sandwiches and, with a hearty "Bon appétit!", skipped along to another table.
Ryo looked appreciatively at his panini. "My, it looks and smells delicious. Cheers!" he said, raising his glass of iced tea to Rika. "To our weekend of fun together," he added, smiling brightly. With a small smile of her own, Rika too raised her lemonade.
"Cheers."
End of chapter 3