Lone Wolf: Well, Chapter 11 is finally here. Haven't updated in a bit because I was trying to finish up my other story, HKISA. I get more reviews on this story so I must update. Feedback on this one makes me so much happier. Arigatou gozaimasu! You guys rule!

Chapter 11: Stares and Surprises

Having left the room, Ryo headed downstairs, a look of amusement upon his face.

Guess I have no choice but to eat...

Reaching the living room, he saw that most of the Tamers had finished their meal. Telling Jeri that he would serve himself, Ryo proceeded to the kitchen via the hallway rather than the dining room. He decided to try his hand once more at getting Henry to come out of his room.

"Hey, Henry. If I were you, I'd come out of my room and get myself some lunch. Seriously. Nothing can be more important than your health. Nothing. Not even whatever you're doing on the computer," Ryo knocked on the door.

He waited a few minutes, but soon walked to the kitchen, defeated. They had lost Henry completely.

--

"I'm ba-ck," Ryo said, dragging out the second word as he entered his shared room. "Oh joy. Well, since you're up here, I'm done. Take it downstairs so it can get washed before it gets sticky or stained or something," Rika told him.

Ryo sighed, "There you go again, trying to get rid of me. You're lucky I'm reasonable." He left the room once again, this time with the bowl in hand.

--

"Okay. Now I'm back and I'm staying and there's no way for you to get rid of me. Just try," Ryo said, sticking out his tongue, flirtatious as always. Rika stuck her own tongue out to match his and thus the intense staring contest begun.

Neither Tamer wished to lose; they kept this up for over a minute at a time...somehow...

Jeri and Takato walked in during one of the matches, only making them stare in shock at how long the other two were able to keep it up. The pair of new additions watched, entranced.

Kenta and Kazu walked in soon after, wondering where the bowl of chips that they'd been eating went. They too stared with 'WTF' expressions on their faces. (A/N: Eh heh. Sorry for the acronym.)

Suzie also came in, not very pleased having been left alone in the living room. She watched everyone quizzically in their staring.

–

All sounds having mysteriously disappeared, Henry curiously made his way to the door of his and Suzie's room. He opened it a crack and peered outside, looking first to his left, then his right, and his left again, as if he were crossing the street. There wasn't a soul in sight. Cautiously he stepped out, closing the door behind him as he made his way to the staircase.

(A/N: I REALLY wanted to keep him in there for another chapter but...oh well.)

No banging from the upper floor, no voices, no laughter, no yelling, no cartoons playing on the T.V., no distant sound of a basketball bouncing, not even the rain could be heard as it had turned into a very light drizzle.

Strange...

The boy wondered where everyone had gone. He checked Takato and Jeri's room first: nothing. Seeing a light on in Ryo and Rika's he walked over and pushed the door all the way open...only to hit Kazu really hard in the head. "What are you guys doing?" Henry asked.

"Ow. What was that for?!" Kazu whined, holding his head. The others were knocked out of their little spells and they all turned to face the navy haired boy who had disappeared earlier.

"So you finally decided to come out. Care to tell us what you were doing in your room for almost half the day?" Rika asked from her seat on the bed.

"No, not yet. W-I'm still working on it," Henry replied, unaware of the danger just meters away from him. There was tension between the clueless one and the one ready to strike.

"Oh, Henry! I almost forgot. You didn't eat yet. Come on, I'll go heat it up for you," Jeri said quickly, not in the mood to see her friend get killed by her other companion. Henry allowed himself to be dragged downstairs by the wrist.

"Hey, Kazu? Why are we up here?" Kenta asked, confused. Kazu continued to rub his head, "Actually...I'm not really sure about that either...oh well! Let's go eat...unless you want a rematch since I beat you so badly before." "Did not! I won that round!" "No, you didn't. Stop making things up." "Speak for yourself, would you!" The duo continued this way down the steps.

"Well...uh...I guess...we'll...leave you two alone? Come on Suzie," Takato said, dragging Henry's younger sister out of the room, leaving Rika and Ryo alone once more.

--

"You really suck at staring contests," Rika said leaning back on her pillow as she tried to break the silence.

"Or maybe you're just good?" Ryo suggested, not liking the idea of failing even in one area. He was supposed to be perfect after all.

"I'm good, but you still suck," Rika replied with a smug look on her face. "Oh yeah? Well there's only one way to settle this," Ryo declared. "And that would be?" "Another staring contest. Duh," Ryo answered, laughing. Rika sweat dropped, "You're on. Hope you like losing, Hero Boy."

--

"Told you you'd lose. Now hand over Goliath," Rika ordered, triumphant. "What?! Goliath?! You never said I had to give it to you! Besides, it's only for the best of tamers, which means me!" Ryo said. (A/N: He's so conceited.)

Rika glared at him. "Fine. Here. Enjoy it while you can. I'll be getting it back soon," Ryo told her, leaving the room.

--

Now bored, Rika decided to go downstairs. Walking to the dining room, she found Henry eating while Jeri sat and talked with Takato. Kenta and Kazu were still in the living room versing each other. Ryo was around somewhere.

"So, are you going to tell us what you were doing cooped up in your room yet?" Rika asked. "Nope," Henry replied, "I told you I'm not done." Rika sighed, "Fine. Anyway, I'm bored. Did the rain stop yet?" She made her way to the window in the living room to see.

"Go on the computer or something," Henry suggested before taking another bite of his food. "Eh...I don't feel like it." "T.V.?" Takato put in. "Nah." There was silence.

"7 MINUTES IN HEAVEN!" Jeri shrieked out of nowhere. "It's 7 Minutes in Hell, Jeri," Rika told her. "Heaven." "Hell." "Heaven." "Hell." "Heaven." "Hell." "Heaven or Hell."

"Oh, hey Ryo. Where'd you go?" Takato asked. "Wandering around upstairs. What's all this talk about heaven and hell?" "The game 7 Minutes," Takato replied, sweat dropping. "O-h," Ryo dragged the sound out, "Okay. Let's play then!"

"What?!" Rika demanded, facing him. "I said 'let's play.' We can use the closet in the hall," Ryo said. "That is the stupidest idea that I have ever heard my entire life," she replied. "You know you want to-," he sang. (A/N: Sing-song-y voice, I mean.)

During all of this, Henry had slipped away once again, this time to make a phone call. Whispering, he asked the person on the other side, "How much longer?" "Not much. Ten minutes max.," came the reply. "All right."

--

"Hey...where did Henry go?" Takato asked. "Don't tell me he's in his room again," Rika moaned, fed up.

At that second, Henry walked in as if on cue. "And where were you?" Rika demanded.

"Uh...bathroom..." he lied. There was silence. It wasn't exactly the best discussion topic.

--

"Are we gonna play any time soon?" Ryo asked. (A/N: Slang intended.) "Eh...can we wait awhile? I just finished eating," Henry requested, sitting down on the couch. The others soon joined him, Kazu and Kenta nearing the end of their game.

"Of course," Rika answered, not eager to play. "Thanks," the blue-haired boy replied gratefully.

"Now?" Ryo asked, bored. "No." (A/N: Rika, obviously.) "Now?" "No." "Now?" "No!" "Now?" He was getting on her nerves, "NO!"

"Now?" The doorbell rang. "Sure," Henry agreed, walking to the door. Rika eyed the boy closely as he made his way to the door.

"Surprise, guys," Alice called from the entryway as she removed her sneakers. Everyone's eyes widened. This is what Henry had been planning, inviting Alice? That was it? Realizing this, they all sweat dropped. "Wow, you sure look thrilled," the blonde said sarcastically.

"No, we're really glad to see you, Alice. It's just that...uh...we thought the surprise would be...bigger?" Takato attempted to explain.

"Oh. Well, there's more. You can come in now," the girl said to something outside the door.

"Takato-mon!" "Guilmon?" The red dinosaur Digimon came bounding through the front door, Terriermon jumping off his head onto Henry's when the dog like Digimon passed his Tamer. Lopmon walked in behind them, only to be squeezed to death by Suzie. Calumon and Impmon along with Guardromon and Marineangemon came in next, Impmon proceeding to sulk in the corner. Monodramon then came in with glowing blue rings around his neck and wrists. Finally, Renamon appeared, Rika running to hug the golden fox.

"Wow, Henry, Alice. You guys are the best," Takato told them. "Yeah," Ryo agreed, "But what are the blue things on Monodramon...and how did you get him back to rookie?" "It basically stores any excess energy that he has and gives it to him as he needs it, preventing him from overloading and evolving," Alice explained. "Wow..."

"Okay, so, let's play 7 Minutes in Heaven then," Henry decided, "We've kept Ryo and Jeri waiting long enough." "Lame excuse Henry. You just wanted to wait until Alice got here," Rika teased. "Yeah," Jeri chimed in.

"What? No, of course not. What are you guys thinking?" a blush covered the boy's face. Rika and Jeri exchanged glances and laughed.

"Here's the bottle," Ryo said, handing said item over to Jeri. The Tamers all made their way toward the closet in the hall and sat down, their Digimon watching curiously from the sidelines. The hall, surprisingly, was able to fit all of them comfortably.

"Terriermon, what's 7 Minutes in Heaven?" Guilmon asked, "Is it about eating for seven minutes?" "Beats me. Let's watch. Something tells me this is going to be fun," the white and green Digimon smirked.

Lone Wolf: I know, I know, I know. I should've gone on, right? It's too short. I wanted to make it all one chapter but then I realized I had to hurry up and get working on my 15-20 page special for HKISA's one year birthday. (I didn't even start yet. I'm never going to finish.) This was let at barely six pages, please forgive me. I'll try to update as soon as possible.
Yukina: Review!
Lone Wolf: Status in profile as always. I'll be back soon to torture Rika, don't worry.