Lone Wolf: Chapter 9 and it's only been a little over a week. Eight reviews for chapter 8; thank you, thank you, thank you. And I was suffering from writer's block, too...wow.

Chapter 9: Let Go

Ryo opened his eyes slowly, waking up from his deep sleep. He felt a weight on top of him and saw something that looked a lot like Rika's hair...

The boy blinked, then blinked again. Adjusting his eyes to the dim lighting, he realized that it was Rika's hair and that she was fast asleep, his arms wrapped around her.

Am I dreaming?

Ryo pinched his right arm, "Oww."

Nope.

Being the light sleeper that she was, that single syllable word woke Rika up. She rubbed her eyes. "Good morning, Pumpkin." She tried to glare at him, but soon realized that Ryo wasn't in front of her, nor next to her. She wasn't on her bed either. Trying to get up, Rika realized that Ryo's arms were wrapped around her waist. She remembered now: the boy had been sleepwalking and she had ended up falling asleep in her somewhat current position.

"Let go of me." "No. Say please," Ryo chuckled. His dream was almost coming true. Rika turned around and, this time, successfully glared at him.

The girl gave the boy a quick kiss on the lips. He let go almost instantly.

Ryo opened his eyes and blinked. Rika was towering over him.

Crap. Stupid daydream.

The girl smirked, not caring for the reason why Ryo had let go, and left the room.

ARGH! Stupid, stupid daydream. I could've spent another hour with her...okay fine...half an hour...fifteen minutes. But noooo. You had other plans.

"'Morning," Henry greeted as Rika knocked and entered his room. "How do you cure sleepwalking?" Rika asked with an 'I'm going to die any second now' look. "Why are you asking me?" came the reply. "Who else is there to ask?" "Takato? Jeri? Kazu? Kenta? Ryo?" "Okay. We're not getting anywhere here." Henry laughed. "Forget it."

Rika returned upstairs to brush her teeth.

Ryo got up and looked out the window. The ground was still wet from the previous day's storm and aside from the brick path, everything was mud.

No lake today, that's for sure.

The sky was still cloudy, though not as dark as the day before.

Leaving the window, Ryo closed the door and locked it, changing out of us pajamas. He exchanged places with Rika when she exited the bathroom, receiving a bonus glare on his way across the hall. (A/N: Exchanged places as in, Ryo went to brush his teeth and Rika went to change out of her pajamas. Just to clear that up if anyone was confused.)

Kazu opened the fridge door, "Okay, where did all the food go? There's like, nothing left!" Rika walked into the kitchen, "Why are you asking us? You're the number one pig in this house." "What? Am not!" Kazu argued. "Be quiet before she loses her temper, Kazu," Kenta whispered. "She does have a point, guys. The two of you've claimed first and second place in that category," Ryo chimed in. "What? Not you too, Ryo," the duo whined.

"Hey! Maybe there's still some food left in our room!" Kazu yelled excitedly. Exchanging a glance with Kenta, the two best friends ran across the hall. 'Jackpot!' could be heard coming from the room. Everyone within hearing range sweat dropped.

"Would the two of you mind going to the convenience store a little way down the road to pick up supplies?" Henry asked, directing the question at Rika and Ryo. Rika gave him an 'are you crazy' look. The navy haired boy ignored the look completely, "Thanks." He left the room. "There's a list on the counter," he added from the hall before closing the door of his and his sister's shared room.

Rika groaned, "He was planning this the entire time." "Come on. We better get going. It might start to rain again," Ryo told her.

I have to remember to thank Henry.

"What? Already? I didn't even eat breakfast yet!" Rika complained. "Umm...there's really no breakfast left," Ryo said. "Don't forget an umbrella just in case," he added, but Rika didn't hear him.

"Come on. The faster we get there, the earlier we'll come back. Okay?" Ryo reasoned, pulling Rika toward the front door. The girl unwillingly followed, being her choices were losing an arm, suffer annoying whining, or just go and come back...with Ryo. Not a single appealing decision.

Rika slipped on her sneakers and stepped outside, Ryo having released her to tie his shoelaces. "Oh, hurry up, would you," she told him impatiently. "Okay, okay. There. I'm done. Let's go," Ryo came out, an umbrella in hand. The sun didn't look like it was about to come out anytime soon.

Rika looked at the dirt along the sides of the brick path, well, more like mud. Lucky for them there was a path. White sneakers don't mix well with the brown, filthy, substance. As the two walked, there would occasionally be a light breeze that rustled the leaves of nearby trees, causing water droplets to fall on them. The redhead looked up at the grey sky that seemed to get darker with each passing minute.

"Finally. Okay. What's on the list?" Rika asked the boy beside her as they entered the convenience store.

Convenience. Psh. We had to walk a hundred miles just to get here.

(A/N: It was really only half a mile.)

"Two cartons of orange juice, a gallon of milk..." Ryo began. Rika grabbed a shopping basket and made her way to the appropriate aisles, grabbing the named items. Ryo followed behind her, "Eggs, chocolate chip cookies, water..." "Water? As in, bottled water or what?" Rika stopped the boy in his speech. "Bottled," came the response. Having gotten the three items, she asked Ryo to continue. "Lettuce, salmon, tuna, ham, carrots, celery, cucumbers, roast beef, pork, oranges, apples, pears..." "Slow. Down. Ugh. Leave it to Henry to not organize everything...on purpose. This was a freaking SET-UP. Argh. I. Am. Going. To. Kill. Him," Rika growled. Ryo chuckled.

Wouldn't wanna be Henry when we get back...

"Here," Ryo handed Rika the list, "You read them off. 'Kay?" The girl gladly accepted it and they began getting the listed items again.

"We need another basket...again. Ugh. Stupid Kazu...and Kenta," Rika said, annoyed. Ryo having ended up behind her, peered over her shoulder, "Don't worry. There's only...six things left." Rika sighed, "How are we supposed to get all this stuff back to the house anyway?" "We'll figure something out," the boy smiled reassuringly.

After picking up the last few items, the pair made their way to the check out counter. The total came to $166.89. (A/N: Random number. Haha.) "Oh, he's really going to get it," Rika said, pulling out her wallet. "I feel bad for the poor guy," Ryo said, pulling out his own wallet, motioning to Rika to put hers away. The girl looked at him strangely. "Yes, I have enough. Okay?" Ryo told her, laughing. "If you say so."

Everything being in plastic bags, Rika and Ryo left the store. (A/N: There were...16 bags.) They each carried four in each hand, Ryo insisting on taking the heavier ones. Rika had told him 'suit yourself.' He'd tied his umbrella to the belt loop on his shorts. (A/N: You know those umbrellas where you push a button for it to open? Yeah, that kind. Not the cane-ish one, so it's small.)

They were halfway back to the house now, and Ryo was regretting taking all of the heavier bags. Rika watched him struggling to keep up with her and laughed. "Here," she said, deciding to be nice for once, and took two of his bags from him and replaced them with two of her own. Ryo blushed at his lack of strength and stamina, causing Rika to laugh a bit more. The boy's embarrassment was worth being kinder to him for a day. Too busy to regain his dignity, Ryo didn't even notice how much Rika was laughing.

Rika looked up at the sky, having felt a few drops of water hit her. "It's raining," she told the boy beside her. She moved the bags in her right hand to her left for a moment to untie the umbrella hanging from Ryo's belt loop. He still had the heavier load. Holding the black irregular cylinder in front of her, Rika pushed the button on the handle and the umbrella opened up. Moving a few bags back to her right hand, she held those as well as the umbrella.

"If you want it, try to keep up," Rika told Ryo, running ahead of him, laughing. It was only drizzling; he wouldn't get sick. It was only when it really started to pour that she stopped for the boy to catch up. If he caught a cold, she would probably catch it from him, being they had to share a room.

The wind began to blow harder, making it more difficult to see. Nearing the house, Rika would have tripped over a large tree root had Ryo not stuck out his arm to prevent her from falling face first into the mud. "Thanks..." the girl mumbled. They reached the two-story building within five minutes.

"Umbrellas don't help much do they?" Jeri asked as she came down the stairs, Ryo and Rika having just stepped in the house. "Nope," the boy answered. "Help us put these away, would you? Get Takato, too. I'm going to dry off," Rika said, soaked to the bone. "Sure," Jeri replied, "You too, Ryo, or you'll both get sick." The two soaked teenagers made their way past Jeri up the stairs. When they reached the top, Jeri yelled Takato's name, nearly killing the said boy's ears as he was just coming down the steps. They picked up the grocery bags and made their way to the kitchen.