DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon or any video games, books, films, TV shows or pieces of music referenced in this story. Original characters owned by me are stated in my profile.
This chapter is just a little random friendship thing I wrote to try and show Rika integrating into the group.
Another note on speech formatting: ["This is somebody talking from the other end of a phone."]
"This is telepathic conversation."
Chapter Nine: The Colour of the Rain
Monday 4th October - 2:46pm
Redcliff Mount High School
Takato let out a long yawn as he trudged out of one of Redcliff Mount's many side entrances. The boy still hadn't recovered from the loss of sleep incurred by the unholy combination of two eighteen-hour coach journeys in one week and six nights of Cam's earth-shaking snoring, and had actually nodded off halfway through last period Maths. Fortunately, the class' normal teacher Mr. Maddox was ill and they had been landed with a substitute teacher who was too stupid to notice.
"Wow, Takato, you really need to get some sleep," Henry noted. "If Mr. Maddox catches you falling asleep in class he'll eat you alive!"
"I know, but I'm just so tired," the brown-haired boy replied while trying to stifle another yawn. "And Maths is so boring - it works better than counting sheep!"
"You have a point there," Henry chuckled. "Hey, do you wanna come round to my place for a bit? We could try and finish that mission on Halo 3."
"Sounds great, but I might not be up to Legendary mode," the Japanese boy laughed as the pair changed course, walking past the park towards Henry's house. "Oh, I just remembered - it's your birthday this Friday, right? Can you give me any clues for a present?"
"I really have no idea…" the blue-haired Tamer grinned sheepishly. "I never know what to ask for - it drives my parents mad. Oh, that reminds me - my dad managed to get tickets to see Sonata Arctica at Sheffield Arena on Friday evening. You interested?"
Takato stopped in his tracks and gave his friend a look of open-mouthed wonderment. "Sonata…Arctica…live in concert?" he asked slowly, then pinched himself when Henry nodded. "WOOHOO!"
Henry grinned as his fellow Tamer began leaping in the air and cheering, his earlier exhaustion forgotten. When the boy finally calmed down enough to make coherent conversation, he turned to his half-Chinese friend and gave him an exuberant grin.
"And I thought I was meant to give you a present!"
"Yeah, well…" Henry shrugged and returned the grin.
"So, who else is going?"
"So far it's you, me, my sister Jaarin, my dad, Cam and Steph. There's still one more ticket and I'm not sure who to ask," the boy replied as he veered towards the newsagent's up ahead. "Mind if we head into the shop? I've got cravings for a Mars bar."
"Go ahead. Actually, I might get one too…" Takato mumbled as he dug through his pocket for some spare change. "Hey, I just had an idea - why don't you invite Rika?"
Henry nodded thoughtfully. "That's a pretty good idea. It'd be the perfect way to say sorry for Gargomon shooting her."
"You know, I don't think she's holding a grudge over that."
"I know, Steph told me what she said on the coach, but I still feel bad. Oh, darn it…do we even know if she likes Sonata Arctica?"
"Uh, I actually have no idea," the brown-haired Tamer replied and frowned. "How can we not know what music she likes? I mean, she's always listening to something on her iPhone."
"Haven't you ever read a song title over her shoulder or something?" the blue-haired Tamer asked as they paid for their chocolate bars and headed for the door.
"I saw a couple of names but I didn't recognize them. We should just ask Rika if she likes them or not."
"Yeah, you're right. She'll probably just turn us down anyway - what are the odds she's even heard of Sonata Arctica?"
As the two Tamers stepped out of the shop a girl's voice suddenly began to sing slowly and beautifully behind them. The boys nearly jumped out of their skins and turned around to discover the identity of the singer.
"I'd give it all for a heart.
If I was a king, I would give away my kingdom.
Treasures and crowns wouldn't mean a thing
If I only had a heart.
If I only had a heart!"
Takato and Henry stood there in open-mouthed shock for several long seconds after the girl had finished singing. Eventually, Takato broke the silence by stammering her name in disbelief.
"R-Rika?"
"R-Rika?"
The redhead mentally cursed herself. What the hell made me do that? I never sing in front of anyone else - not even Renamon! So why did I…and why 'Kingdom for a Heart'?
"Rika, that was…" Henry began, unable to find the words to describe his fellow Tamer's talent. "That was…whoa…"
"Yeah, well, don't get used to it!" she growled in reply, causing both Takato and Henry to blink in surprise and confusion.
If I had a voice like that… the brown-haired Tamer thought and shook his head thoughtfully. "Uh, why not?"
"Because I don't like to sing for anybody but myself. Now, why did you want to know if I liked Sonata Arctica?"
"Uh, well, it's my birthday this Friday and my dad managed to get tickets to see them in Sheffield. I was wondering if you wanted to come."
A confused expression passed across Rika's face and was soon replaced by an angry one. "You're just inviting me because of what happened with Gargomon, aren't you?"
"What? No! Well, maybe a little…" Henry admitted, then winced at the hurt look that flickered briefly in the girl's eyes. "But only a little! Look, you know how I tend to beat myself up over things like Gargomon, even when other people forgive me."
"Really? I hadn't noticed…" she replied sarcastically.
"Well, what I want to say is…look, even if the Gargomon thing didn't happen I would have invited you. It's just that in my head, this is a way of apologizing."
The redhead looked slightly less angry at this part. "You…you'd really have invited me anyway?"
"Well, yeah. I don't have many other friends, you know."
That damn word again… Rika thought with a mixture of irritation and…satisfaction? "In that case…I'll come. Where do you live and what time should I be at your house for?"
"Great! My dad is still working out the times, so I'll tell you tomorrow in History. My address is…hold on a sec…" the blue-haired boy muttered as he rummaged through his bag for a pen and some paper. "Here we are! Thirty-four…Lunar…Road. You know where that is, right?"
"Yeah, my sensei lives on the same street," she replied, taking the small sheet of paper and stuffing it in her pocket.
"You mean Sensei Owen? He's my sensei too! How come I've never seen you in the lesson?"
"I don't go to his Tai Chi lessons, I do the Mixed Martial Arts class. I prefer learning a bunch of different fighting styles and using them to make my own."
"That's a pretty good way to do it," Henry nodded and looked thoughtful. "I don't really do it for the fighting side of it, though. I use it more as a way to build discipline and concentration. Of course, the fighting side is pretty useful too."
"Especially with our line of work," Rika joked. "Anyway, I gotta get going - my grandma needs some stuff for dinner tonight. See you later Brainiac, Gogglehead." She turned and began to walk into the shop, but stopped and looked back over her shoulder with a small smile. "And thanks for the invite."
As the shop door closed behind the redhead, Henry and Takato stood there in silence for a few seconds. Once again, it was Takato who spoke up.
"Did Rika just…smile at us?"
Nonaka Residence - 3:05pm
"Grandma, I'm home!" Rika called as she closed the door behind her and made her way to the living room.
"Good afternoon, dear," Seiko replied from her seat on the living room's large leather armchair. "You seem oddly cheerful today. Did you have a good day at school?"
"It was okay, kinda boring as always. You remember Henry Wong, right?"
"Yes, wasn't he one of the boys who stood up for you in that fight?"
"Yeah, that's him. Anyway, it's his birthday on Friday and he invited me to a concert with a few other people. Can I go?"
"What time will you be leaving?"
"I don't know yet, we're sorting out the details tomorrow."
"Well, since it's not a school night I don't have a problem wi-"
"Thanks grandma!" the redhead exclaimed with a small smile and made a break for the stairs.
"But you'll still need to ask your mother! Fridays evenings are usually your mother-daughter time." the older woman called after her granddaughter.
Because that always goes so well. Ah, crap… "Okay, grandma!"
Rika walked into her bedroom and slumped face-down on her futon with a soft groan. Viximon let out a small yelp as the girl landed on top of her and quickly wriggled out from under her.
"Oops, sorry Viximon!" the redhead sent and scratched behind the small fox's ears apologetically.
"Do not worry, I am uninjured," Viximon replied with a small frown of confusion. "Rika…you seem oddly troubled by the prospect of asking your mother's permission to go to this 'concert'. Do you think she will say no?"
"It's not that I think she'll say no, it's just that she'll make some stupid comment like 'Ooh, so Rika got invited to a party by a boy? My little girl is finally growing up!' I'd rather not have to put up with that."
"That is…understandable."
Tuesday 5th October - 2:58pm
Nonaka Residence
["Ooh, my little angel got invited to a party by a boy! You're finally growing up!"]
Rika suppressed an angry growl as her mother ranted down the telephone at her. She could just imagine the expression on the woman's face - dreamy eyes, slack-jawed smile, right hand twirling her long blonde hair absent-mindedly.
"Mum! He did invite two other girls besides me, you know!" the redhead replied, leaving out the fact that one of the other girls was his sister. "And it's not a party - it's a concert and a bite to eat."
["Oh, it's close enough! Anyway, I have to go now sweetie. I'll talk to you later!"]
"Bye," Rika said and rolled her eyes as she put down the phone. "I guess that could have been worse."
"Yes, at least she didn't try and give you tips on 'fashion'. I doubt that I will ever understand that particular human concept."
"You and me both, Renamon."
The pair's mental conversation was interrupted by a loud beeping emanating from Rika's D-Arc. The Tamer glanced at the screen and cracked a feral grin as she saw that the Bio-emergence was nearby.
"Grandma, I'm going out for a while!" she called as she ran for the door.
"Okay dear, be back by five-thirty."
Kirkfield Park - 3:05pm
Rika was disappointed to discover that Takato and Guilmon had not only beaten her to the emergence site, but also defeated the emerging Digimon in a matter of seconds. As the red dinosaur finished absorbing his fallen opponent's data, the redhead called out to his Tamer.
"Hey, Gogglehead! What did I miss?"
"Oh, hey Rika!" the brown-haired boy replied, walking towards the girl. "It was nothing much, just a Goblimon."
"Damn, I was hoping for some exercise."
"You really didn't miss much - this guy was so weak you probably could have taken him without Renamon!"
Rika narrowed her eyes in mock anger. "Are you calling me weak?"
"Ah, no! I mean yes! I mean…"
"Oh, cool it Goggles I'm just messing with you. You are so easy…" the girl chuckled, much to the relief of Takato. "Compared to Digimon all humans are pretty weak. A major-league martial artist might be able to beat an average Rookie, but other than that a human would be screwed."
"Oh, okay…Hey, have you got Henry his birthday present yet?"
"Uh, no…" she replied, mentally cursing herself. Damn it! I totally forgot I was meant to get him a present.
"Well, do you wanna go down into town now and see if we can find him something? Henry's at Tai Chi until about five, so this is probably our best chance."
"Yeah, sounds like a good idea."
"Great! I need to take Guilmon back to his hideout and pick up some money from my place first, but the bakery's on the way to town anyway."
"Alright, let's get going."
Kirkfield Town Centre - 3:30pm
Takato sighed as he tried to think of somewhere to get a gift for Henry. Kirkfield wasn't really known for being a centre for shopping (or anything else for that matter). Maybe we should have caught the bus into Bradford or something…
"Uh, Gogglehead? Do you have any idea where we can get him something?" an exasperated Rika asked.
"We could try Blockbuster, I guess. They might have something in the pre-owned games section we could afford."
The redhead nodded her agreement and the two Tamers made their way towards the blue-painted shop. Once inside, Takato veered confidently towards the back of the room, Rika following him uncertainly. They reached a series of shelves marked "PRE-OWNED" in big black letters, laden with games for every console imaginable.
"Okay, let's have a look here…" Takato mumbled to himself as he browsed through the ample selection of games. "He's already got that one…that's terrible…got it…got it…wrong console…terrible…"
The boy continued in this fashion for over a minute, finding fault with every game he came across. Rika scanned the shelves much quicker than her goggle-wearing friend, and quickly spotted an excellent candidate.
"Hey, Goggles, what about this one?" she asked, reaching out and grabbing the game.
"Armored Core For Answer? Weird name," he remarked as he took the game from the girl, reading the back of the case. "Customization, military robot technology, hundreds of parts and weapons…sounds pretty cool!"
"It is. I managed to burn out my copy of the game not long before I left Japan. It can be pretty hard, but it's fun as hell."
"Sweet. Well, that's your present sorted, now what should I get him…?"
Takato eventually tired of rifling through the pre-owned games section, instead heading for the pre-owned DVD section. He quickly spotted a DVD box set of an obscure sci-fi show Henry liked and immediately tried to buy it, only to get into a long argument with the cashier over whether the two Tamers were twelve years old or not. The argument was only resolved when Henry's older sister Jaarin happened to walk into the shop. The fourteen-year-old ended up buying the items for the two children.
"Well, that was fun," the brown-haired boy said sarcastically after he and Rika had given Jaarin their thanks. "Now we need to buy him a card…hope we don't get ID'd for that!"
"Wait, we need to get him a card and a present?" a confused Rika asked.
"Uh, yeah of course. Why, is that not how they do it in Japan?"
The redhead looked uncomfortable for a second and glanced away before she answered. "I don't know."
"You don't know? How can you not know?"
"Because I've never been invited to a birthday party before," she replied, trying to sound nonchalant.
"Oh," Takato mumbled, wincing in sympathy. "Sorry."
"Don't be. Almost all the people I knew back in Japan were self-obsessed psychopaths. If any of them had ever invited me, it would only have been as a part of some elaborate plot to humiliate me."
"Oh…" the Tamer said again, not knowing how to respond. "Wait, here's the card shop!"
Phew! he sighed mentally, grateful for the distraction. That was turning into an awkward silence.
The next two days were mostly quiet, without a single Bio-emergence disturbing the peace. Takato and Henry were worried by the lack of activity, fearing that a Digimon could emerge on Henry's Birthday while they were too busy to fight back. Rika quickly calmed their fears when she told them that she was leaving Renamon behind and that she and Guilmon would be able to detect and quickly eliminate any emerging Digimon. As the end of the week drew closer, even Rika found herself growing more and more excited about the upcoming concert.
Friday 8th October - 4pm
Outside the Wong Residence
"3…2…1…and, Rika's late!" Cam sighed and shook his head. "At least it's not Takato for once…"
"Hey!" the brown-haired Tamer exclaimed in mock outrage. "Oh, wait, there she is!"
Sure enough, the redhead was walking quickly up the street towards them. She was wearing her usual jeans and trainers, with her 'Broken Heart' T-shirt swapped out for a black T-shirt with a picture of a howling wolf on a wooded hill. The words 'Sonata Arctica' and 'The Last Amazing Greys' were emblazoned above and below the picture respectively.
"Happy birthday Brainiac! Sorry I'm late, the clock in my room shorted out," she apologized and handed him the poorly-wrapped video game.
"No problem," Henry replied with a grin. "We're still waiting on Jaarin anyway. I still don't know how she manages to take so long choosing a shirt."
"She inherited that trait from your mother," an older Chinese man chuckled from the house's doorway. He looked to be in his early forties, with hair a couple of shades lighter than Henry's. "I'll go see what's keeping her."
As Mr. Wong wandered back into the two-storey detached house, Steph turned to Rika with a conspiratorial look. "So, what were you up against?"
The red-haired Tamer sighed and shot a glare at Takato. "I guess this means Goggles told you our secret code?"
"Uh, I might have let it slip…" he mumbled and grinned sheepishly. The code phrase was 'the clock in my room', and had been arranged by Rika as a way for the Tamers to inform each other of Digimon activity without retreating for a suspicious-looking private conversation.
"Moron. Anyway, it was a BlackAgumon. Renamon managed to take him down in seconds."
"It's probably a good thing that something Bio-emerged this early," Henry mused, scratching his chin thoughtfully. "At least this way nothing's likely to appear while we're at the concert."
"Yeah, and even if something does happen, Renamon and Guilmon are still around to kick some…" Cam started to say, trailing off as Jaarin and Mr. Wong emerged from the house.
"Right, that's everyone!" the man said and began herding the children towards a dark green seven-seater people carrier. "Seatbelts on, everyone. Try and get comfortable - it's going to be a long drive."
The group arrived at their destination - an excellent Italian restaurant in Sheffield city centre - at about 5:30pm. They each enjoyed a beautiful meal, sang 'Happy Birthday' and ate cake. When they had finished the cake, Henry opened his presents - the video game from Rika, the DVD from Takato, a Blind Guardian album from Cam and a Chinese-style coiled dragon neck-chain from Steph.
They arrived at Sheffield Arena at 7:30pm, half an hour before the concert was due to start. Mr. Wong had managed, through his connections with the Arena's owners, to get them all front row seats. When the band finally appeared on stage and began to play, Rika felt an odd sensation deep within her chest. As they moved onto playing 'Wolf and Raven', the redhead looked around at the smiling faces of her friends and finally recognized the feeling.
She was happy.