Lone Wolf: Thank you to my reviewers! It hasn't even been a full month yet. Yay!
Hiei: Just start already so I can sleep.
Lone Wolf: Fine, you meany.

Chapter 5: Swimming at the Lake P.2

"Hey Jeri! Swim out a bit more and be the finish line!" Kazu yelled. "Okay," she yelled back. "Finish line?" Rika asked. "Yeah, finish line? Usually it's a line or a pole, not a person, Kazu," Henry added. "Well what else am I supposed to say?" Kazu wondered. Rika and Henry sighed. It would be pointless trying to tell Kazu what else would've worked. He'd forget two seconds later and would make the same mistake again and again.

"Okay. We'll race in pairs. First person to slap Jeri's hand wins the round. The winner of each round advances, so it's like a tournament." Kazu said. "Oh, and you have to swim," he added. "Oh, I'm so sure that no one knew that we had to swim," Rika replied sarcastically. "So how many of us are there?" Kazu asked, ignoring her. He began to count, "One...two...three...four...five...six. Six, not counting me and Jeri." "Are you scared to race or something? Afraid you'll lose?" Rika taunted. "No! Of course not. Somebody has to yell 'go!' so I can't race," Kazu defended. "Right. Just make up lame excuses," Rika retorted. Everyone else, including Jeri, sweat dropped. They were so loud that probably everyone at the other side of the lake could hear them.

"Hmm..." Kazu murmured, thinking to himself. (A/N: Well, I think he can think.) "The first round will be Kenta versus Suzie. The second will be Takato versus Rika and the third will be Henry versus Ryo," Kazu decided. "Heh. If Suzie wins, that'll be sad. You're three years older than her, Kenta," Rika said. "There's no way I'll lose against her. Are you crazy!" Kenta asked Rika in shock. "No."

"Kenta, Suzie. You guys are up," Kazu yelled, despite the fact that they were only about a foot apart. "Ready?" he asked. Kenta and Suzie nodded. "Then...GO!" The two took off, Kenta taking the lead. Jeri stood at the end of the race, her palms facing the Tamers at even lengths. Kenta turned around to see how far behind Suzie was, only to find that she swam past him in mere seconds. He tried passing her but never did manage to. She slapped Jeri's hand and won. Suzie stuck her tongue out. 'I lost to a nine year old girl. I lost to a nine year old girl.' The same words kept going through Kenta's head. The two swam back to the others; Jeri stayed put.

"What was it that you said? 'There's no way I'll lose against her?'" Rika asked. "What is wrong with you, man? She's three years younger than you. Plus, she's a girl!" Kazu exclaimed. "Gender has nothing to do with it. Suzie won fair and square, not that the match up was fair, by the way," Henry stated. Kenta's head hung low. "I'll just go have some snacks," he said as he climbed out of the lake. He dried himself with his towel and began to eat some potato chips.

"Takato, Rika. You two are next," Kazu said, moving on. "Don't disappoint your girlfriend over there," Rika said, jerking her thumb in Jeri's direction. Takato just blushed. "GO!" Kazu shouted, without even asking if they were ready or not. Rika took the lead and kept it. The round was over in under a minute, even though it was quite a distance to swim. The Digimon Queen was a fast swimmer and she knew it.

"Suzie and Rika won and they're both girls," Kazu said, ashamed. "At least the next round will have a guy winner." "Ready?" Henry asked his opponent. "If you are," Ryo answered. "GO!" Kazu yelled. The two boys took off. "Ow. My throat," Kazu said, turning away from the splashes. "That should teach you to shut up once in awhile," Rika told him. Henry and Ryo were even. Neither of them wanted to lose and both of them were determined to win. If one was ahead by a mere centimeter, the other caught up within a second. The round of course, ended in a tie. The two swam back to the others.

"Ha! Now we're even," Kazu told Rika. "Two girl winners and two guy winners." "Just get on with it. Who's next?" Rika asked. "You against Henry and Ryo against Suzie," Kazu answered. "You have no sense of fairness, Kazu," Henry said. "Well if I put Rika against Ryo she'd kill me," Kazu retorted. "I don't care Henry. I beat Kenta and he's older than me," Suzie finally spoke. She had lost her whiny voice over the past year. (A/N: I think Suzie was younger and should be about 7 or 8 and not 9 but I didn't feel like typing Henwy every time she addressed her brother. It gets annoying. So, deal with it.) "Fine. Just don't start crying if you lose," Henry replied.

"Takato, why don't you go over there and help Jeri so we can all race at once to get this over with already?" Rika asked. "Sure," the goggle headed boy replied, finally having something to do. He swam over to Jeri. "You two go to Takato and we'll go to Jeri then," Henry decided. "Hey! I thought I was in charge of this race," Kazu said. "Nope. You just yell 'go' and hopefully lose your voice so I don't have to put up with it," Rika told him. "Go," he said lazily and the four swam off.

Henry was faster than Suzie. Ryo isn't any slower nor faster than Henry. Obviously Ryo won. Rika beat Henry. They were both fast. Henry was probably still a little tired from the previous round. Jeri swam back with the four when they finished. Takato would be the 'finish line' for the final round.

"So, it's just me and you," Ryo said, directing the statement at Rika. "Hmph." "Okay. You two can get a five minute break and the course is gonna be longer," Kazu said to the two finalists. "Whatever, Kazu," Rika replied. "Hey Ryo? Could you tell Takato to move back about four feet? My throat's starting to hurt," Kazu winced slightly. "Sure," Ryo agreed. "Takato! Move back about four feet!" he yelled. Takato nodded in the distance and moved backwards.

Five minutes were up. A 'get set' and a 'go' from Kazu, and Rika and Ryo were off. It would be a close race. At a distance two seemed to be evenly match. A closer look showed that Rika had a slight edge, slight meaning about half an inch. Ryo had a chance.

Or not. Rika had suddenly gained a few feet of distance between herself and Ryo. Adjacent to where her feet kicked and splashed, was Ryo's head. Whether or not he was letting her win was a mystery to the on looking Tamers.

Two seconds later, Rika had won. A little more than a minute later and she, Ryo, and Takato were back with the others. Two minutes after that, the three caught their breaths. Thirty seconds later, Ryo earned himself a slap across the face. He and Rika both knew that he had let her win. Though she hadn't voiced it, Rika hadn't wanted Ryo to go easy on her.

Rika got out of the lake and dried herself, leaving Ryo rubbing his cheek. The rest of the Tamers who were still in the lake followed suit, Rika glaring at Ryo the entire time. Kazu joined Kenta and the two began stuffing their mouths with junk food. Takato helped Jeri spread the picnic blanket, placing the sandwiches, cups, and two bottles of two liter sodas on it afterwards. Suzie had gone over to where Kazu and Kenta were and managed to get a few cookies. Henry laid on the ground and stared into the blue sky, trying to prevent Rika from hurting Ryo again at the same time.

Everyone sat on the large blanket, Kazu and Kenta still eating their potato chips. "Who wants ham?" Jeri asked, handing one to Takato. He'd asked earlier when they were making the sandwiches. Henry took one and Kazu took the other. "Peanut butter and jelly?" Suzie, Kenta, and Rika took one each. "You want chicken, Ryo?" she asked. "Sure," he replied, taking the sandwich from Jeri. She took the tuna for herself. There were four sandwiches left, two chickens and two peanut butter and jellies. "Itadakimasu!" they all said in unison and began to eat.

Lone Wolf: There's Chapter 5.
Hiei: For readers of HKISA, Chapter 8 will be delayed. She's planning on rewriting the shorter chapters and updating all at once.
Lone Wolf: Status in profile. Review please.