This will be the last chapter for Part 1 of my Digimon Tamer story. I hope you guys enjoyed Ryo's Journey so far.
For all who have read my story, thank you for taking the time and reading it.
Ryo
"Dad, I can't believe you told her about Mr. Snugglebottoms," Ryo complained. Currently, Ryo was with his father in the rental car driving back to the hotel near Shinjuku. Right now, the boy couldn't believe his father would tell Ruki about his stuffed animal.
"Ruki was interested to know." Mr. Akiyama said smiling. The man was enjoying his son's embarrassment. "Besides, she promised me she wouldn't say anything unless you said something embarrassing about her. I'm guessing you did."
Ryo stayed silent. Of course, he said something. It was way too good of an opportunity to tease the stubborn girl. He just didn't expect it to backfire. He also didn't expect his father would be so sharing of his life. Ruki must have made a good impression on him.
So, what did you want to talk to me about?" Ryo asked remembering the conversation at the house earlier. He also wanted to change the subject.
Mr. Akiyama's face turned serious. "I got a call from the electric plant saying there was an emergency. I need to head back to Fukuoka immediately to handle the situation."
"Dad, we can't!" Ryo replied, shocked. He knew what that meant. They had to cut their trip short due to this and head back home.
After the battle against the D-reaper, Mr. Akiyama decided to spend more time with his son. Translation, he wanted to keep an eye on him in case he disappeared again. It was okay at first, but then it got harder. His job was the main issue. It wasn't a simple 9-5 job. The man was an executive director overseeing multiple plants and businesses around the Kyushu area. Some of the work wouldn't be finished until late into the night.
Ryo couldn't make it to many tournaments, because of his father and his work. He barely qualified for the Worlds here. Now, they probably had to leave early again. He didn't want to leave early, especially during the tournament tomorrow. It meant a lot to him.
The tournament wasn't the only reason either. His tamer friends were here as well. Ryo lived so far away from them, so he barely got to meet them. He also scheduled a meeting with all of them and didn't want to bail on them at the last minute.
"I have given it a lot of thought son and I-." Mr. Akiyama wanted to continue, but Ryo interrupted.
"Dad, I want to stay here." Ryo made a lot of concessions for his father, but this was the final straw. "The Digimon World Exhibition is here, but more importantly, my friends are here. I want to see them again before leaving. I know I left with barely even a note, and I'm sorry for that, but they are important to me. I don't want to leave!"
"I understand that why-"
"Do you understand? Do you really? I know you are being a protective father, but I lost my partner. He meant a lot to me, and my friends here were the only people who could understand my pain. I want to talk and be with them. You can't-"
"Would you let me finish boy!" Mr. Akiyama interrupted this time. "I understand that which is why I am leaving for the airport and you're staying here to finish your tournament and be with your friends. You can return home when you're finished."
Ryo was surprised. The boy did bring up that he could take care of himself like before he left for the digital world, many times actually. Unfortunately, his dad was adamant about accompanying him. His father still didn't trust him to be on his own again which was understandable, so what changed?
"You're wondering why I changed my mind, aren't you?" Mr. Akiyama said as if reading Ryo's thoughts. "You can thank the girl, Ruki, for that."
"What did you two talk about?!" Ryo replied, surprised. He spent weeks trying to convince his dad to give him more freedom with no results, and Ruki just did it in one car ride.
"I can't give you all the details. I promised her not to tell." Mr. Akiyama was getting amused looking at his son. He had never seen so many facials from him before. This girl must have some kind of effect on him. "I can tell you that she said some convincing things to me. You're a teenager and grown enough to make your own decisions. All I can really do as a father is support and be there for you."
"Dad... Thank you" Ryo was relieved. He could do more things without his dad's work getting in the way.
"I still expect you to call and text me about your whereabouts." Mr. Akiyama reminded. "And you shouldn't just be thanking me, you should be thanking her."
'Ruki again huh?' Even when Ruki wanted nothing to do with him, she always found a way to affect his life. Ryo had the feeling the girl said something crucial to change his father's mind.
"Although I only met her for such a short time, I have to say she is a pretty stubborn and rude girl." Mr. Akiyama continued. "But she keeps things interesting. I can see why you're so attracted to her."
"What?" Ryo looked at his dad aghast. His face blushed a little. "I'm not attracted to her! She's not even my friend."
"Really?" Mr. Akiyama raised his right eyebrow. "Son, I've seen you around plenty of girls and this is the first time I've seen you go out of your way, and just to return headphones and blush. What, is someone shy about their little crush?" Mr. Akiyama said teasingly.
"She's 11. I'm 15!" Ryo countered back. "That's a big age difference!"
"Eh, just give it a few more years." Mr. Akiyama waved his hand like that detail didn't matter. "It won't matter then. Besides, did you see the mother, she's gorgeous, that girl is probably going to grow up looking like that. I think you should strike while the iron is hot."
"Dad!" The boy covered his face with his hands. He did not want to have this conversation with his father. Ruki must have made a really good impression on his father for him to do this. "Can we change the subject please?"
Mr. Akiyama couldn't help but laugh. He tried to tease him with other girls before but never worked. It was pretty hard to break his son's perfect persona and make him embarrassed. The man was starting like Ruki more and more but relented to his son's wishes. "Alright Alright, so what did the Makinos give you?" Mr. Akiyama said eyeing the shopping bag and food containers by Ryo's feet.
"Oh these." Ryo almost forgot about them. "It's food Miss Hana gave me for the road, and clothes from Miss Makino for helping with a photoshoot."
"You going to try on the clothes?" Mr. Akiyama replied.
"I don't think so," Ryo remembered the clothes he tried on earlier during the shoot. They didn't fit his style, and these probably wouldn't either. "I am not really into clothes that much and will donate them."
"Have you taken a look at them yet?"
That was a good point. Ryo should at least take a look and took the clothes out of the bag. His eye went wide with shock. He kept looking up and down at the outfit. These were some pretty cool clothes.
Two days later...
Ryo met with the other tamers at Chou Park to say goodbye before leaving for North Kyushu. Turns out though, they all decided at the last minute to go to the amusement park for fun thanks to Shaochung. It was a great suggestion. They were all together after a long while. Who knew when they would be again? Doing one last thing together was a great idea!
And so after a 15-minute drive, they arrived at the Tokyo Dome Attractions to have fun. It was formerly named Korakuen Amusement Park located in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Their signature ride was the Thunder Dolphin.
It was a roller coaster that could go at a top speed of 130 km/h. The railroad tracks extended all around the area. Some of them went through between buildings and other rides. Its name came from the sight of moving freely through the course like a dolphin.
For the first few hours, the kids had fun with different rides there. They tried the Thunder Dolphin, the Sky Flower, the Haunted House "Onryou Zashiki, and many other attractions. After a while, they decided to take a break and get something to eat.
The boys decided to get the food and drinks while the girls stayed and chatted at the table since it was a gentlemanly thing to do. Ruki immediately rejected saying she could do it herself, but Juri stopped her.
Juri wanted to talk to Ruki since they haven't talked in a long time. The girl suggested spending some girl time together making Shaochung ecstatic. Combined with Juri's and Shaochung's doe eyes, Ruki relented and let the boys bring the food and drinks.
Currently, Jian, Takato, and Ryo were walking back to the girls with an assortment of foods like hamburgers, fries, tacos, and chicken sandwiches. Hirokazu and Kenta, on the other hand, spilled the drinks they were carrying and had to go back to refill them. The two boys said to go on without them and they would catch up later.
Just as the three boys rounded the corner to where the girls were, they heard Juri's voice. "Hey, Ruki. Do you like anyone?"
That question made them stop. Jian, Takato, and Ryo looked at each other using their eyes to communicate. Quickly agreeing, they decided to quietly hang back in the bushes to hear more of the conversation. After all, this could some juicy information.
"Huh, why would want to ask me something like that?" Ruki replied. They just talking about their new hobbies when this question came out of nowhere.
"I was chatting with the girls in my class the other day when the topic came up about boys. We had such a fun conversation about who we liked." Juri let out a grin. "It was especially fun teasing each other about it. So I wondered if you liked anyone that we could talk about?"
"Sorry to burst your bubble, but I don't like anyone. Thank you."
"Really? No one?"
"Really, No one."
"I like Jian!" Shaochung wanted to contribute to the conversation as well. "He is a great big brother! He always cares about everyone."
Shaochung answer was expected. Even Ruki couldn't help but smile at that. Jian, who was in the bushes, smiled happily at the compliment. His little sister was really adorable.
"Yes Shaochung, Jian is a very caring person," Juri answered with a smile before turning to her friend. "See Ruki. Even Shaochung has someone she likes. You must have someone you like."
"No one comes to mind," Ruki said keeping her stoic expression.
"You sure? Because I've been noticing how much you've been staring at Ryo since our whole time here." Ryo perked his ears up when he heard that. The boy noticed it too, but he didn't bring it up to not incur the Digimon Queen's wrath.
"Of course, I've been staring at him!" Ruki admitted angrily. "His presence has caused no end of trouble! We could have gone on more rides, but couldn't because girls kept flirting with him! His new clothes don't help either!"
That was true. Wherever Ryo went, there would always be girls trying to flirt with him. His new clothes made him even more attractive. It was a simple outfit but enhanced Ryo's features well. He wore a gray t-shirt, an expensive black button-up short-sleeve shirt with an intricate dragon design, plain khakis, and his usual shoes. To finish the look, a red handkerchief was tied to his left arm.
The boy looked like a cool bad boy but without the attitude and gave a million-watt smile. Girls kept looking at him and trying to strike up a conversation. Ryo had to talk with all of them while rejecting their advances. It wasted a lot of time traveling around the amusement park. None of the others tried to stop them either. Hirokazu and Kenta even encouraged it, so they could try to be the rebound guys. It wasn't until Ruki threatened to leave early that everyone tried to think of a way to solve this problem.
The solution was simple. Ryo just had to walk side by side with Ruki for the remainder of the day, and it worked. Girls stopped walking to him once they saw he was with a girl.
Why couldn't someone else do it? The reason was simple. Boys wouldn't deter girls. Shaochung was too young and adorable causing more harm than good, while Juri didn't like confrontation unless necessary. No one wanted her to be put in that situation. By elimination, Ruki was the final candidate.
The girl didn't like it, but at least they got to go on more rides. So Ruki decided to put up with being near Sparkling Teeth.
Ryo, on the other hand, honestly didn't like talking to those girls. He would rather be talking to Ruki. Sure, the girl was stubborn and sarcastic, but at least she wouldn't be giggling at every word he said. The boy was actually glad Ruki decided to butt in when she did.
"So you're saying you're jealous," Juri said giggling. "Some of those girls were very pretty after all."
"Why would I get jealous?" Ruki replied in aggravation. "Besides, why are we just talking about me? What about you? Don't think I didn't see you've been eyeing a certain goggle head for a while."
"What? What are you talking about?" Juri's face was blushing. She wasn't the only one. Takato turned beet red at the words.
"You know what I'm talking about." Ruki had put her hand to her chin taking in Juri's flustered expression. She was right. Teasing was fun. "You should go for it."
"Huh?"
"Takato is really shy. It would take him forever to even start a conversation." Ruki explained. "If you want something to happen, you need to take the initiative."
"But what if I do something wrong?" Juri said. She wasn't feeling very confident in herself when it came to Takato. "I kind of just wish he came to me."
"That's the thing, Juri. Nothing will happen if you wait for him. For it to happen, you need to put yourself out there." Ruki encouraged.
"But..." Juri was overwhelmed. Her friend was right, but she didn't have a clue where to start. She just didn't have Ruki's confidence and fearlessness.
"Juri, I'm not asking you to marry him. You can take it slow." Ruki, seeing the girl conflicted expression, grabbed her hands. "I'm just saying don't wait for him. You can do simple things like walking home together or hanging out but you have to take the first step. Promise me that. I know you can do it. You have a lion's heart after all."
"You can do it!" Shaochung said encouragingly. "I believe in you too!"
Juri smiled at that. Although the loss of Leomon was still painful, the experience made her bond with her friends stronger and gave her more courage than ever before. Maybe it was time to put it to the test now. "Thank you Ruki and I promise, but you need to answer a question before I do."
"What's the question?" Ruki asked.
"Why don't you like Ryo?" Juri asked. Ruki stiffened at the question. "You seem to get along with everyone else in some way, but with him, you get agitated. What going on? Don't you like him? Other girls think he's handsome."
Ruki could lie, but with Juri, she felt like she could her the truth. "It's not that he's not handsome, and I don't hate him. To be honest, he is probably the most handsome guy I ever met. Even I was stunned when I took a good look at him for the first time in the digital world."
Ryo had to smirk at that. So even the Digimon Queen thought he was cute. His charm does work on her. He was about to come out and tease her until Juri continued. "But if you don't hate Ryo and find him cute, why don't you like him and ask him out? Like you said us girls should take the initiative."
"Why should I like a person and want to go on a date with him just because he's cute?" Ruki said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"I'm gonna need more context."
"What do you think of my mother?" Ruki asked.
Juri didn't know why her friend would ask that but answered anyway. "She's nice, energetic, and really pretty."
"Exactly, she's pretty," Ruki replied when Juri gave the right answer. "When my mom and dad divorced, she was still just as pretty, but my dad still left her."
"I'm sorry to hear that, but how does this relate to you and Ryo?" Juri said still confused.
"Because it taught me that being pretty and cute isn't enough," Ruki explained. "My mother is a famous supermodel, but he still left her. I don't want that to happen to me."
"Does that mean that you won't like or love anyone?"
"I didn't mean it like that. I want to fall in love." Ruki looked up to the sky watching the clouds pass by. "But not because someone looks hot. I want it to be more, deeper, and special. To be honest, I don't know what to be looking for, but I know Ryo isn't it. The boy is too refreshing and annoying for me, but when I find it, it'll probably be the best feeling I ever felt."
"What happens if you never find it?"
"Then I'll be single for the rest of my life," Ruki said strongly. "I don't need a boy in my life to define me. There are plenty of cases of strong, independent women out there in the world. I can just be one of them."
"Ruki..." Juri was touched by what her friend said and thought this girl was courageous and independent. She wasn't the only one. The guys thought so too. In some ways, Ruki was the bravest out of all of them.
The guys decided they heard enough and made themselves known. Unfortunately, Hirokazu and Kenta had horrible timing.
"We got the drinks!" Hirokazu yelled then stopped when he noticed the trio. "Why are you guys hiding in the bushes?"
Everyone heard it. Quickly, Ruki scanned the bushes until she noticed three shadows through one of them. The girl turned on the glare. "Come out of there! Now!"
Caught red-handed, Takato, Jian, and Ryo came out and faced the girls. Remembering what they just talked about earlier, Juri blushed.
"Hey, Ruki..." Ryo said facing the glaring girl. He was probably the only one fearless enough to face the girl right now.
"How much did you hear?" Ruki asked. Her glare trained on Ryo.
"Umm, not much." Ryo lied hoping it could mitigate the situation. Ruki didn't believe him at all and turned to stare at Takato. The google-head's face was as red as a tomato. She immediately got the geist on how much they heard.
"You..." Ruki said gritting her teeth. Her anger was extremely apparent on her face.
Right now, only amusement park sounds and chatter could be heard. Kenta and Hirokazu came with the drinks looking confused as to why their friends weren't saying anything. Ruki kept glaring at Ryo, while Ryo gave one of his refreshing smiles at her. Takato and Juri's faces were red blushing like crazy. Jian, who understood the situation the most, was thinking about how clear the tense atmosphere. So far, everything was at a standstill. Fortunately, Shaochung was the one who broke the tension.
"Yay, Food!" The little girl cheered running toward Jian and hugging him. "Thank you so much, Big Brother! Come on everyone. Let's eat together!" Shaochung looked at everyone with her innocent eyes.
Leave it to a Shaochung to break the tense atmosphere. Ruki got up heading to Ryo with a glare still on her face until she was in front of him. The boy closed his eyes ready to be hit. Although he had never seen the girl hit anyone, Ryo wouldn't put it past her to do it. They were eavesdropping on a somewhat private conversation.
Ryo waited for the beatdown which never came. He did feel his arms getting lighter. Opening his eyes, he saw Ruki taking some of the food he was holding and headed back to the table.
"Come on, let's eat I'm starving," Ruki said as she put the food on the table. She looked at the guys still frozen in place. "Well, you guys coming or what?"
"You're not angry?" Jian asked testing the water. He was surprised Ruki didn't hit or even lash out at them.
"Oh, I am, but it's not going to stop me from having a good time," Ruki replied. "Besides, it saves me the trouble of telling a certain someone my opinion of him." She looked at Ryo letting him know she was talking about him.
The guys let out a sigh of relief and smiled. They couldn't help but remember the first time they meet Ruki. The girl couldn't wait to get into battles and delete Digimon. She really has changed from the girl back then.
"You guys just gonna stand there with grins on your faces or are you coming to join us to eat." Ruki continued. "The food starting to get cold."
With that, everyone sat at the table and started eating. Once they were done, the sun was starting to go down. It was time to go. Before departing though, the tamers wanted to go on one more ride. After a brief discussion, they decided to go on the Big O.
The Big O was a centerless non-rotating Ferris Wheel. It has a diameter of 200 ft, and each compartment was equipped with a Karaoke machine. The most fun fact is that the Thunder Dolphin has to go through the center of the Ferris Wheel as part of its course.
The tamers decided to go in pairs for the ride. Shaochung went with Jian, so the boy could watch over his little sister. Taking Ruki's advice, Juri took the initiative to ask Takato to be her partner. Both were blushing red, but Takato didn't reject her. All that was left were Ryo, Ruki, Hirokazu, and Kenta.
Hirokazu and Kenta were both arguing about who would be partnered up with their idol. It lasted throughout the whole wait time for the Ferris Wheel. Neither still hadn't reached a consensus. When it was finally their turn, Ruki couldn't take it anymore and walked into the cabin. She would rather do the ride by herself than listen to those two idiots bickering.
She sat down and closed her eyes waiting for the ride to start. She then heard someone enter the cabin and sit right beside her. Opening her eyes, Ruki let out a groan. "What're you doing here? Shouldn't you be waiting on your fanboys to see who you'll be riding with?"
Sitting across from Ruki was Ryo. The boy laughed a little at the girl's slight displeasure. "I would, but you looked so lonely that I thought I would keep you company," Ryo said.
"Well, I wasn't. "My friend 'Space' was right over there until you took her spot." Ruki retorted.
"Well, I guess 'Space' is going to have to share, because now I'm here." Ryo let out his signature refreshing smile. "Besides, I wanted to talk to you."
The girl let out another groan and decided to deal with it. She could already feel the cabin moving. Out the window, she could see Hirokazu and Kenta in tears, because they couldn't ride along with Ryo. "Your fanboys are crying out there."
"They will understand and get over it." Ryo gave them a wave of apology.
'This is going to be a long ride.' Ruki thought. She couldn't just ignore the boy until the ride was over. There was only so much rudeness she could dish out. She might as well start a conversation to pass the time. "What did you want to talk about?"
"I wanted to say thank you," Ryo replied.
"For what?" Ruki inquired. She never recalled helping the boy in anything.
"For talking to my dad. I don't know what you said to him, but he decided to give back my freedom again." Ryo's smile turned even gentler, and his eyes became softer. "Thank you..."
Ruki had to turn her head away from him. She didn't like the way the boy was looking at her right now. "It wasn't a big deal. Your dad was sad, so I just said some things to help. Helping you was just an unintended result."
"I still want to thank you."
"Do what you want." With that, she closed her eyes ending their brief conversation.
For each cabin, everyone was doing their own activity. Shaochung was singing a princess song, while Jian was listening giving out a strained smile. Takato and Juri were silent through the first five minutes. They will still get used to the fact that they were alone together, but once the first words started to leave their mouths, the pleasant, happy conversation began. Hirokazu and Kenta, who got over their fight over the legendary tamer, sang karaoke together like the best buds they were. Finally, there were Ruki and Ryo.
Ruki didn't want to spend the whole ride staring at Sparkling Teeth, so she looked out the window to watch the passing cars on the highway. Ryo, on the other hand, didn't mind looking at Ruki. It gave the boy a lot to think about. He couldn't help but recall the conversation she had with Juri and Shaochung.
"I want to fall in love, but not because someone looks hot. I want it to be more deep and special." Those words kept resounding in Ryo's head. The boy had many girls swooning over him, but they only cared for his looks, smile, and stuff. Ruki, though, didn't care about any of that. It probably had something to do with her family.
Ryo heard from Rumiko that her father left her at an early age. Her aversion to love was understandable. The girl had many layers, and breaking them would be a challenge. But if someone with enough persistence were to break through all those layers, Ruki would love that person with all of her heart and cherish everything about him. That boy would probably be the luckiest person alive. The legendary tamer couldn't help but be jealous at the thought.
Ryo snapped his head out from a realization. What was he thinking? Why was he jealous if Ruki fell in love with a boy? A thought just came to him. Was his father right? Was he attracted to Ruki Makino?
"Is everything okay over there?" Ruki asked looking at Ryo now. Although she preferred silence, the dazed look Ryo gave was unnerving to her. "You've been quiet and staring at me for a while."
"Ye- Yeah., I am." Ryo replied focusing his attention in front of Ruki. "I was thinking about the conversation earlier." The boy then smiled teasingly. "You really think I'm handsome?"
Ruki stiffened at the question and then glared. "Yes, I do, but I also recall saying that I don't like you and your personality. Especially with those clothes you have on now."
"I think they look great," Ryo said inspecting his clothes. "What's wrong with them?"
"It looks like you tried to enhance your sex appeal but failed miserably." Ruki did not sugarcoat it for him.
"You know. Your mom picked these clothes for me." Ryo replied.
"I rest my case." Ruki snorted ending that argument although the girl made a mental check to talk with her mother. The clothes Rumiko picked out for Ryo were way better than the clothes she gets for Ruki. She would rather wear that than the frilly dresses and colorful outfits her mother usually buys.
"Let's just end this that we both have different opinions in styles, alright." Ryo conceded offering a middle ground. "There's something else more important to ask you."
"What's that?"
"Why aren't we friends?" Ryo asked seriously. "We've known each other for around two years and fought together, but you've never accepted me as a friend. Why?"
Ruki thought about it for a moment before answering. "Most of that time you went missing for a year, but I guess I thought of you as more of a rival that I had to beat. I didn't like being friends with my competition when we first meet and never brought it up again."
"What about now?" Ryo inquired. Regardless of what the boy felt about Ruki, they weren't even friends. He at least wanted to establish that now. "As you said, you don't hate me anymore and graduated from the card game. What's stopping us from being friends?"
"True, but I didn't say I liked you either," Ruki replied. She wanted to say more but stopped when she saw Ryo's eyes. They were a little sad after she said those words. The girl didn't know why, but she didn't want to see those sad eyes. The words just blurted out from her mouth. "But with everything over, I guess nothing is stopping us from being friends."
"Great, then let's start now." Ryo smiled and held out his hand to Ruki. His eyes lit up. "What do you say? Friends?"
Ruki looked at his hand and then resumed looking outside the window again.
Ryo sighed in defeat with his head down. It looks like being friends with Ruki still wasn't going to happen. Just as the boy was about the pull his hand back, something grabbed it. Looking back up, it was another hand: Ruki's hand. The girl was still looking out the window, but her hand was grabbing his.
"Friends," Ruki said. Her head never left the window.
Ryo was ecstatic. He was finally friends with Ruki. "Now that we're friends, I'm going to need your phone number and email address," Ryo said as he pulled out his cell phone and gave it to the girl.
That pulled Ruki's attention back to Ryo eyeing him suspiciously. "I don't have a cell phone and why do you need it anyway?
"Your home number is just fine until you get your own cellphone." Ryo didn't that tidbit of information get him down? "Friends are supposed to have friends' numbers and call them."
Ruki grabbed his phone and entered her home number into it. She was starting to regret accepting the boy's friendship. "Here, don't start calling me every day," Ruki said handing the phone back to Ryo.
"Yeah, Yeah I got it," Ryo replied. He couldn't stop staring at the numbers on his phone screen and was feeling pretty happy. Ruki raised an eyebrow. Was getting someone's contact that exciting?
The Ferris Wheel ride finally ended. Overall, it was a pretty fun experience. The tamers all had a great time here and hope they could all meet again to have fun. After saying their heartfelt goodbyes, they all went their separate ways.
Ruki took a train in the direction of her house looking a little dejected. Despite her stubborn, loner attitude, she liked spending time with her friends today and was sad to see them go. Who knows when they could all meet again?
"Wait up!" Someone said coming toward Ruki until he was beside her.
"What do you want!?" Ruki groaned in frustration. The person was obviously Ryo. "Don't you have to go the airport back to Kyushu!?"
"I still have time to get there before take-off, so I wanted to walk you home," Ryo replied.
"Do I look like a girl that wants to walk home with a boy?" Ruki glared at him.
"C'mon, Ruki. We're friends now." Ryo said ignoring the girl's stare. "Friends walk together and sometimes help each other home."
Ruki was starting to second guess if it was a good idea to be friends with this boy. "I think you're taking our shortly-established friendship a little too far."
"I just want to spend a little more time with you before leaving. Who knows when we are going to see each other again? I want to cherish these moments." Ryo gave her the eyes. "Pleeease?"
"Fine." Ruki relented. God, the boy was more persistent than her mother in some ways. "Just don't complain if you miss your flight."
"I won't." Ryo proceeded to walk beside Ruki with his arms behind his back humming happily.
Ruki just ignored him as they took the train and then walked to her house. Despite her initial dislike, the girl didn't mind walking with Ryo. She would never admit it, but the boy was growing on her. Thanks to the previous battles and talk with his father, Ruki wanted to know more about Ryo. Her interest peaked. What was the boy really? What was underneath all of that refreshing personality and sparkling teeth?
After about 15-20 minutes, they finally reached Ruki's house. It was quiet travel but an enjoyable one. Ruki liked the quiet, and Ryo didn't mind either. They just became friends after all. It was going to take time for the friendship to grow.
"This is it," Ruki said. They were at the front door. "Even though I didn't need it, thanks for taking me home. I guess"
"It was my pleasure," Ryo replied. "I will call you later when I get back home."
Ruki wanted to get back in her house but stopped looking at Ryo. The boy showed no signs of leaving. "Is there anything else?" She asked.
"Yeah, I wanted to say sorry for eavesdropping earlier." Ryo started. "And for something else."
"Ryo, I'm not angry anymore about that, and I already told you. It saved me some time about telling my opinions on you." Ruki said. It also worked out in the end with Juri and Takato, so the girl was happy about it. She didn't know why the boy would bring it up now. Did he also say he was sorry for something else?
"What else are you sorry for?" Ruki inquired. "Talking to me about the audio messages or meeting my mom?"
"No, not those," Ryo said slowly. "It's about something else. Something that going to happen down the road right now."
The boy pointed to the girl's right, and Ruki turned her head to look in that direction. There was nothing there but an empty street. "I don't see anythi-"
The girl couldn't finish her sentence before she felt something press against her cheek. It felt like someone's lips. Her eyes went wide. She turned her head to see what happened and was face to face with Ryo. The boy had a big smile on his face.
"I'll hopefully talk to you again soon," Ryo said. His deep, blue eyes never left Ruki. "Good Night Ruki,"
With those parting words, the boy ran as fast as he could in the direction of the airport. He had a flight to catch, but mostly he did not want to stick around to feel the fury of his new friend.
Ruki stood there for a good 3 minutes in shock until it was replaced with white, hot anger. The boy just kissed her on the cheek. How dare he!
"THAT'S RIGHT! YOU BETTER RUN, AKIYAMA!" Ruki screamed at the top of her lungs. She thought about chasing him down, but the boy had a big headstart. There was no way she was going to catch up to him now. "NOW TIME I SEE YOU, YOU'RE DEAD MEAT! YOU HEAR ME! DEAD MEAT!"
Ruki panted heavily after saying that. Just when she finally found Ryo tolerable, he pulls this stunt on her. She instinctively touched her cheek and still felt the pressure of where the boy kissed her. 'The nerve of that boy!'
She'll figure out a way to get him back next time as she entered her house.
Ryo, on the other hand, made it to his flight on time and was in the airplane. He couldn't stop grinning. During their walk to Ruki's house, the boy wanted to know if he was attracted to the girl. After thinking, he decided to just kiss her.
Not on the lips of course. If he did that, it would be the point of no return for him. In conclusion, Ryo decided to go for the cheek, and boy did he like it. For someone so stubborn and hardheaded, Ruki's skin felt surprisingly soft and sweet. The legendary tamer couldn't help but let out a chuckle.
Ryo now knew how he felt about Ruki, but also knew that it was too soon for anything to happen. Besides her stubborn personality, she was also too young. His dad was right. He would have to wait a few more years for anything more to happen if anything happened.
Until then, Ryo didn't mind being friends with Ruki after she gets over that kiss. The boy had a feeling the girl would take a while to let that go. He wondered what kind of suffering he was going to go through.
Even so, he couldn't wait to talk to Ruki and the others again and what the future would bring for them. Those were his thoughts as the airplane soon took off leaving Tokyo.
Let me know what guys thought of my last chapter. Sorry if this wasn't the ending were expecting.
I'm not going to lie. There can still be more to the story, but work and other hobbies are taking a lot of my time, so I am putting it on hold. If there are a lot of likes and reviews, I will continue it.
In the meantime, I will be working on a Digimon Frontier one-shot & story. Again for all who have read my story, thank you for taking the time and reading it.