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.

Heh, I know I told people these three chapters would be uploaded on Wednesday but I just wanted to get them out of the way. 11 + 12 are, in my opinion, far from my best, but were a necessary part of the story. The next few chapters are going to be a bit shorter than usual (mostly a similar length to Chapter 9, give or take a few hundred words or so). Please keep up the reviewing.

Chapter Ten: Seppuku

Sunday 10th October - 3:15pm

Kirkfield Park

"Dragon Wheel!" Kyubimon called as she was wreathed in blue flames, taking the shape of a fiery dragon and launching herself at her opponent.

"Shogun Sword!" Musyamon replied, launching a similar dragon made from orange flames from his Shiratori-maru sword.

"Kyubimon!" Rika cried as her partner collided with the attack in mid-air and was sent crashing to the ground.

"Is that all you've got?" the grey-skinned samurai chuckled darkly and began pacing slowly across the grassy field towards the fallen kitsune.

"He shouldn't be this powerful!" the redhead complained telepathically, grabbing a Seed of Health card and swiping it. "He's deflected every attack we threw at him! What the hell is going on?"

"It is not him that is unusually powerful, it is I that is unusually weak. His initial surprise attack did more damage than I first thought," Kyubimon explained as blue flames gathered around the tips of her nine tails. "Fox Tail Inferno!"

Musyamon let out a growl of irritation as the fireballs scorched his leathery skin and armour. With a shouted battle cry, he leapt at his vulpine attacker and launched into an intricate series of slashes with his wickedly sharp sword. Kyubimon dodged the first few attacks with some difficulty, but screamed and collapsed as her opponent feinted to her left, quickly redirecting the blade to cut at her right foreleg.

"You're pathetic," the samurai growled and raised his weapon for the killing blow.

Think, Nonaka THINK! There's got to be something you can… "Digi-Modify! Rock Armour activate!"

An agonising scraping noise echoed throughout the Digital Field as Musyamon's blade glanced off of the now-petrified kitsune. He span and glared at the fox's Tamer, orange flames coalescing around his sword.

"Shogun Sword!"

Rika leapt to her right, barely dodging the fiery dragon-shaped projectile as it detonated against the ground. While she was struggling to get up, the samurai leapt forwards, raising his blade once again.

"They say that when a human dies, their body does not disintegrate into data. We're about to find out if that's true, aren't we?"

"Go to hell!" the girl spat, glaring at her attacker defiantly.

"You first. Kiri sute gomen…" he replied sarcastically and slashed downward, Rika raising her left arm in a futile attempt to block the attack.

Growlmon roared in fury as he shoulder barged Musyamon, knocking him off balance and deflecting his blade to the side. As his partner grappled with the Samurai, Takato spared a quick glance at Rika. The redhead seemed to be unhurt, but her attacker's blade had managed to just barely nick the outside of her left arm, cutting through her red cloth wristband and leaving a shallow scratch several inches long. She also seemed to be in shock, as she was currently staring into space absent-mindedly.

"Rika, get out of there!" the boy yelled, snapping the girl out of her reverie. She scrambled to her feet and ran to her partner's side, gently placing her right hand on the stony kitsune's snout.

"Vile lizard!" Musyamon roared, drawing Takato's attention back to the fight. "You will die for your insolence! Ninja Blade!"

Growlmon yelped as the flaming sword struck him in the ribs and he leapt back, energizing his arm blades. "Dragon Slash!"

The samurai parried the twin blades expertly, counter-attacking with his own blade at the dinosaur's face. Growlmon snarled as a large gash was opened on his snout, and launched into a long series of "Dragon Slash!" attacks, each one being blocked or dodged by his demonic opponent.

"Takatomon, this isn't working…" the massive saurian growled, panting with exhaustion. "He's too fast - I can't get through his defences!"

"I'm working on it…" the goggle-wearing Tamer replied as he rifled through his deck, letting out a small cheer when he found a Hyper Speed card. Or, maybe… he thought with a grin as he picked up the card and spotted what lay beneath it.

"Digi-Modify! Sangloupmon's Shadow-Walking activate!"

"Black Mind!" Growlmon snarled, sinking quickly into his own shadow.

"What the…?" Musyamon exclaimed as his blade bit through the air where his opponent had been stood a second before. "Get back here you coward!"

"As you wish…" a voice growled in an amused tone, seeming to come from all around the samurai. "Dragon Slash!"

Musyamon screamed in agony as Growlmon emerged from his shadow and slashed his energized arm blades at the demonic warior's legs. The blades bit into soft, unarmoured flesh and severed both legs at the knees, leaving the samurai lying in a pool of his own digital blood.

"I am…defeated…by…a mere beast? I never…would have guessed…" he chuckled as he burst into data and was absorbed by the exhausted Growlmon, who promptly de-digivolved and slumped on the ground.

"Takatomon…I need a nap…" Guilmon complained as he climbed slowly to his feet.

"After that fight, you've earned it!" Takato chuckled and patted him on the nose before walking over to Rika. "You guys okay?"

"We're fine," the redhead replied as the rock around her partner disappeared and she de-digivolved to Renamon. "He didn't even scratch me. Thanks."

"Uh, that's not exactly true," he said and pointed to the girl's left arm, a look of confusion passing across the boy's face as he noticed something on her wrist.

"What do you…?" Rika started to say, trailing off as she saw that she had been cut.

She turned and was about to say something to the boy when she noticed his odd look. Following his gaze back to her wrist, the redhead's eyes widened as she realized what he was staring at.

Running horizontally across her left wrist was a long, ragged scar.

"I…I…" Rika stammered and clutched her wrist to her chest, hiding the scar. Takato looked up into her eyes and was shocked by the fear he saw in them.

"Rika, are y-"

The boy never got the chance to finish his sentence, as the redhead suddenly ran off into the woods back towards her house, leaving her wounded partner behind.

"Rika, wait!" Takato called, starting to run after her but stopping when he heard a pained groan behind him. "Renamon, are you okay?"

"I will be fine," she muttered, gazing into the forest in the direction of her fleeing Tamer. "Why did Rika run away?"

Takato winced at the kitsune's accusatory tone. "I don't know! I mean, I might have some idea…"

"What. Did. You. Do."

"I didn't do anything! One of Rika's wristbands got cut off in the fight, and she had this scar on her wrist. She saw me looking at it and just ran."

"Scar…?" the kitsune mumbled in confusion.

"Yeah, on her left wrist. I wonder why she was so freaked out…"

"If she wishes us to know, she will tell us."

Did she say 'us'? "Wait, you don't know either?"

Renamon mentally cursed herself for the slip of the tongue and activated her Kohenkyo ability, leaving behind a very confused Takato and a completely oblivious Guilmon. The red dinosaur was currently chasing a butterfly, but stopped when he noticed the thoughtful expression on his Tamer's face.

"Takatomon?" the saurian called, walking over to the boy and nudging him with his snout. "Terriermon says you'll hurt yourself if you think too hard."

"What? Oh, um…I think he was just joking when he said that, boy. Well, joking and insulting me…anyway, let's get you home."

As Takato led his childlike partner home, he found his thoughts being drawn repeatedly towards Rika's scar. Why would Rika be so freaked out? And why did she have a scar on her wrist. I thought the only way you could get a scar like that was…unless she…no, she wouldn't have…would she?

Would Rika really try to kill herself?

Nonaka Residence - 3:29pm

"Rika, is that you?" Seiko called from the kitchen as she heard the door slam.

"Yeah, it's me," the redhead called as she ran towards her room.

"You're home early - everything okay?"

"Everything's fine," Rika lied, fighting to keep her voice from cracking. "Brainiac and Goggles were busy so I thought I'd come home early."

"Okay," the woman replied, completely unconvinced by her granddaughter's performance. "Your mother should be home in about an hour and dinner will be ready at six."

"'Kay, thanks."

Now Seiko knew something was wrong. Normally Rika would have asked what was for dinner and probably asked where her mother was as well. I know she doesn't like it when she feels like I'm prying…well, if it's anything major, she'll tell me.

Rika slammed her bedroom door, grabbed a spare wristband from her wardrobe and put it on. The redhead slumped face-down onto her futon and let out a muffled groan of despair. After about a minute, Renamon somersaulted into the room through the open window, landing right beside the girl.

The kitsune reached out with her mind to make a telepathic connection, her eyes widening when she encountered a mental barrier. She's blocking me! Why would she…?

"Rika?" Renamon whispered tentatively. "Rika, what is the matter? Please talk to me."

The girl's only answer was a muffled groan. The kitsune wasn't deterred, and kept asking the girl the same question over and over again for several minutes. Eventually, she settled for merely placing a comforting hand on her Tamer's shoulder and sitting there with her for a while.

5:59pm

"Rika, dinner's ready!" Seiko's voice called from the kitchen.

The redhead rolled off of her futon and climbed to her feet, not even acknowledging Renamon. Like a robot, she plodded down the stairs and sat down at the large, circular dining room table, mumbling a quick greeting to her mother and a thanks to her grandmother as the woman placed a plate full of sweet and sour chicken in front of her. The family ate in relative silence, with Seiko or Rumiko occasionally asking the younger Nonaka questions about her day, receiving little more than one-word answers in reply. Even Rumiko could tell that there was something wrong with the girl, and eventually decided to try cheering her up. Unfortunately, thanks to the deadly combination of the copious amount of sake she had drunk and her own social ineptitude, she managed to choose completely the wrong approach.

"So, Rika, I was talking to one of my photographers, Mr. Rutherford - he's been dying to meet you," the blonde-haired woman began cheerfully, failing to notice Rika's white-knuckled grip on her cutlery or the warning glare from her mother. "He said that he might be able to fit you in for a camera test next week. I'll be taking you out of school for a couple of days to go to London with me. Won't that be fun?"

"No."

"What?" the woman gasped, shocked by her daughter's cold tone as much as by what she had said. "Why on earth wouldn't you want to miss school to go to a camera test? Most people would kill to have opportunities like this!"

"Because I don't want to be a model!" Rika shouted, glaring at her mother.

"Don't you shout at me, young lady!" Rumiko snapped in reply, matching her daughter's glare with one of her own before continuing in a patronising tone. "Well, why don't you come and see what it's like? Who knows, you might enjoy it, and this way we can make sure the right people know your name. Besides, you'll probably change your mind later and decide you do want to be a model. Girls your age are like that."

The rage on Rika's face had to be seen to be believed. Unfortunately, Rumiko missed it, thanks to her having leaned back and closed her eyes as she was talking in the stereotypical manner of arrogant people everywhere.

"I know I don't like it. You dragged me to dozens of the stupid things back in Japan," she growled and stood up, her voice rising as she continued to talk. "And I'll NEVER change my mind, because I am NEVER going to turn into a shallow, self-obsessed bimbo like YOU!"

The blonde-haired woman's eyes snapped open and she stood up too, meeting the girl's furious glare and ignoring Seiko's attempts to defuse the situation. "How dare you speak to me like that? When I was your age, my father would have had my head for saying something like that! Oh, why do I even bother? It's times like this I wish I'd never even had a child!"

Rika flinched as her mother's words struck her like a physical blow, unlocking all those secret fears she had harboured for so many years. The girl felt something literally snap inside of her as she screamed her next words.

"Well maybe if you didn't spread your legs for every man that walked through the d-"

CRACK!

Rika staggered back as her mother's hand lashed out, slapping her across the right cheek. Rumiko instantly knew that she had made a terrible mistake when she saw the fear in the girl's eyes.

Oh, kami…what have I done? After what that slimeball put her through…and I…I…

"Rika, I'm sorry…" the woman began, taking a step towards her daughter.

"Stay away from me!" Rika spat in reply, shoving her out of the way and running for the kitchen.

"Rika, wait!" Seiko called as the back door slammed loudly, signalling the girl's escape into the night. The older woman turned to her daughter with a furious look. "That is probably the most stupid thing you have ever done!"

"I…How could I…after Yamato and…I'm a horrible mother!" the blonde-haired woman sobbed, breaking down in tears and running for her bedroom.

Renamon saw all of this from her vantage point in the forest outside. A cold fury swept through the kitsune and she had to fight to stop herself from bursting into the house.

Rumiko Nonaka…Rika's mother or not, if you ever lay a hand on her again…

Outside Bhakram Family Newsagents and Convenience Store, Near Kirkfield Park - 7:20pm

Takato cheerfully said goodbye to the nice old lady at the till as he walked out of the shop, a bag of peanuts and a packet of Doritos in his hand. The boy's father had sent him out to the shop to pick up the items as punishment for burning a batch of bread the previous day.

At least it wasn't mum who found the bread… he thought ruefully. Then she'd probably have made me walk all the way to Gomersal and get it from the shop there. And that is one steep hill to walk in the dark…

As he was walking past the park, something caught the Tamer's eye and he stopped, gazing into the patch of trees at the edge of the park. He blinked in surprise when he realized that he had seen Rika, and quickly crossed the road and started walking towards her.

What is she doing just sat out here? And she looks pretty messed up…I wonder if I should ask her about what happened earlier?

"Rika!" he called and waved, nearly dropping the bag of peanuts. "You okay? What are you doing just sat in the park?"

"What do you want Gogglehead?" she spat in reply, turning her head to the right and not looking at him as she spoke.

"Um, well, I was kind of worried about you after you ran off earlier. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she snapped, her voice quivering slightly.

"Look, uh…what was all that about? I mean, if you don't want to tell me you don't have t-"

"You saw the scar."

"Um, yeah. So?" Takato replied, trying and failing to sound nonchalant.

"And you know how it got there."

"I…I can make a pretty good guess, yeah."

"That is why. I thought I might as well make it easy for you and run off myself - save you the trouble."

"Save me the trouble? What are you…?" he started to say, a pained look passing across his face as he realized what the girl was saying. "You really think I'd just ditch you as a friend? Stop hanging out with you just because you had some problems in the past?"

Rika blinked at the boy's tone. She had expected mockery or an uncomfortable silence - maybe, in the very best case scenario, anger. But Takato just sounded…hurt.

"Who'd want to hang out with a psycho like me?" the redhead asked rhetorically, blinking rapidly to stop the tears from flowing.

"I would," her fellow Tamer replied and looked her straight in the eye. "I don't care about what you might or might not have done - you're my friend, and friends stick together no matter what! They don't abandon each other - they help each other through whatever trouble they run into."

The pair sat in silence for a minute or so, before Rika broke the silence with a dry chuckle.

"Goggles…that has got to be the cheesiest thing I have ever heard."

Takato turned and noticed the tiny smile on her face. "It cheered you up, didn't it?"

"Whatever. I need to get home," the girl muttered, keeping the right side of her face turned away from the boy just in case there was still a mark where her mother had slapped her.

"Yeah, me too. And Rika?" the brown-haired boy called as his friend started walking away. "You might want to try talking to somebody about it. I don't mean me or anything, but at least talk to Renamon."

"I…thanks Goggles."

When Rika got home, she entered through the back door and headed straight for her room, ignoring her mother and grandmother's attempts to talk to her. She closed the door and slumped onto her futon, rolling onto her back and reaching out to Renamon mentally. The kitsune phased into existence beside her and knelt down, placing a comforting paw on the girl's shoulder.

"I'm ready to talk now, Renamon."

"My mum left Japan the day after my twelfth birthday. When she left I was…my head was pretty messed up. I kept thinking that she was…that she wasn't going to come back, that she didn't love me any more."

The girl took a deep, calming breath before she continued with her recollection.

"It was like this…crushing darkness. It all built up and built up until…a couple of weeks after she left, I…" Rika trailed off as a lone tear rolled down her cheek. "I tried to kill myself."

Renamon blinked in confusion, having difficulty comprehending the depths of depression that could have led to such an action.

"I tried to cut my wrists, but I screwed it up. Grandma came home early and found me passed out in my room. She called an ambulance and they managed to 'save' me."

"Rika…" the kitsune sighed mentally, sending waves of compassion and sympathy down their mental bond. "When IceDevimon took you and went into your mind…the darkness I felt at the end…was that…?"

"Yeah, that was it. That was my life, every minute of every day before…before you came along."

The pair sat in telepathic silence for a couple of minutes before Renamon finally 'spoke'.

"Why did you not tell me earlier?"

"When we first met…you know what I was li-"

"We. What we were like. I will not let you shoulder the blame for my actions."

Rika cracked a tiny smile at her partner's words. "Thanks…but, you know what we were like. Obsessed with power, wanting to be the strongest. If I told you what had happened, I thought you'd think I was…weak. Hell, I thought I was weak. I thought you'd leave if you found out."

"I understand that, but…why didn't you tell me later? After we met Jeri and Leomon, and stopped being so…"

"Psychotic? And I don't know, it just…there was never a good time, and it's not easy for me to talk about. I mean, even my mum doesn't know about this."

"She…how does she not know?"

"I made grandma promise not to tell her. I hide the scars with my sweatbands, which makes it easier."

"I am…surprised that your grandmother would agree to such a request."

"I…I think she did it as much for mum as she did it for me. If she knew that I'd tried to…because of her…"

"I understand. At least, I understand as much as I am ever likely to. And Rika, you are not weak. I felt that darkness, and it had crippled me within a minute. To feel that every waking minute…I would not have lasted as long as you did."

"Thanks…"

Rumiko left early the following morning without telling anybody, so that she could avoid facing either her mother or her daughter. Rika was furious at the woman's cowardice, as was Seiko, but both of them had expected her to pull something like this. The woman at least had the decency to leave a tear-stained note explaining her whereabouts.

Rika,

I just couldn't face you this morning after what I did. I hope you can forgive me.

I'll call you tonight at 7.

I love you, and I'm sorry.

Mum