Testing... Testing... Is this thing on?

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon or any of its characters. This is a nonprofit, fan-based story. Please support the official release.

Hatchets

Rika glared at the computer screen in front of her, trying and failing to convince it to surrender to her. Accepting that the machine was unlikely to be intimidated, she turned her attention elsewhere in the hopes of getting a different result. While the one other person in the room was unlikely to buckle either, Rika was not one to back down from a challenge.

"I don't want to do this," she stated as definitively and defiantly as she could.

"You never want to do anything," Jeri replied. As usual, she was unfazed by Rika's demeanor.

"I just don't see the benefit to this."

"You mean besides the fact that Henry asked us to test the program?" Jeri was without a doubt better at sounding like a disappointed parent than Rika's actual mother.

Still, Rika wasn't sure what Jeri had been expecting when she arrived at the Nonaka household. Yes, Henry had asked all his friends to test the instant messenger that he had been working on, but that was also why Rika felt she could pass on being a beta tester. He had asked all of his friends to test it, and pretty much all of them had agreed to do so. Even Takato, whose relationship with computers was tentative at best, had taken to using the "D-Chat" regularly.

"I'd like another reason, yes," Rika requested, holding onto the false hope that Jeri would just give up.

"Alright," Jeri answered immediately. "Honestly, Rika, this is just as much for your benefit as it is for Henry's."

"Excuse me?" Rika's eyes widened enough that they actually hurt a little bit.

"You heard me. Look, I didn't want to be the one to tell you this-"

"I highly doubt that."

"-but you suck at making friends."

Rika paused and considered protesting, but couldn't bring herself to do so. "So what? I already have enough of those."

Jeri sighed and crossed her arms. "Okay, name five."

"Easy."

"That aren't in this house right now."

Crap, Rika thought. Renamon had greeted Jeri upon her arrival, so she was already down two easy picks.

"Still no problem," Rika began as she thought over her choices. "Well, there's Takato and Henry obviously."

"How about the other three?" Jeri probed.

"Don't rush me!" Rika snapped before resuming her line of thought. "Calumon and Guilmon seem to like me."

"They like everyone, but fair enough. Who's your last pick?"

Rika paused again. Other names and faces came to mind, but she couldn't bring herself to admit that any of them were her friends. She looked to Jeri, who had started grinning, likely have determined what was going through Rika's mind.

"You know I go to a different school than you do, right?" Rika asked. "For all you know, I could have plenty of friends there."

"Do you even know any of those girls' names?" Jeri questioned.

"That depends," Rika admitted begrudgingly. "Do you want their real names or the names I gave them?"

"Don't bother. You're only proving my point."

"Whatever..." Rika returned to her computer screen, letting the cursor sit over the program she was being coerced into launching. "I don't see how this thing fixes that."

"Think of this as getting your feet wet." Jeri reached over and clicked the mouse for her. "We have common ground with these people, so getting to know them will be easy."

Rika slouched down in her seat, deciding she could play along for the time being. She glared in Jeri's direction though, as a promise that their debate wasn't over.

Jeri giggled, almost as though she had read Rika's mind. "Oh, don't be like that. You'll have fun."

"No, I won't."

"We'll get to help out Henry, catch up with some old friends..." Jeri had walked across the room at this point and opened her own laptop. "Bury a few hatchets..." she added quietly as she ducked her head behind the screen.

"What was that?" Rika snapped, now more discouraged about what she had just agreed to take part in.

"Hey, I bet the program's done booting up!"

Rika glanced at the computer screen, finding that Jeri was correct. She also found some other users were already logged in, their messages popping up as Rika finished logging in.

Sora: It's about time.

Though she would never admit it to Jeri, Rika felt some relief at seeing Sora's name pop up in the chat. During their brief time fighting alongside the Digidestined, Sora was one of the few of them that Rika was able to get along with. The two of them had stuff in common, and Sora was typically easy to talk to. Rika's one real gripe with the girl was that, like Jeri, she tended to insert herself in and try to solve everyone else's problems, but no one was perfect.

At least she doesn't pretend to be perfect, Rika had to remind herself as the next name popped on screen. She definitely didn't harbor any particular fondness for this individual.

Kari: I'm sure they have a good reason for being late.

"Jeri..." Rika growled, her eyes locked on the screen. "What is this?"

"Like I said," Jeri replied innocently. "Burying hatchets."

"No."

"What?"

"I said no."

"Why not?"

"Because..." Rika paused for only a second, knowing that taking any longer would signal to Jeri that she didn't have an answer. "There are no hatchets to bury."

There weren't, and that was the whole truth. Yes, Rika and Kari had gotten into a not insignificant argument when they first met. Yes, this argument had been down to Kari being condescending and judgmental while also acting like she could do no wrong. No, Rika did not hold any old grudges. She was completely over the whole experience, so much so that she never needed to talk to the Digidestined of Light ever again.

Rika looked at Jeri, who was already staring back at her. Jeri stayed quiet at first, leading Rika to wonder if she's actually won the argument. Naturally, however, this couldn't be the case.

"Prove it," Jeri finally said.

"What?" Rika responded without really thinking.

"Prove. It. Have a civil conversation in this chat and I'll never bring it up again."

"You're on." Again, Rika's response was more down to instinct than something she had thought out. Before she could even entertain the notion of reconsidering, a notification went off on her computer.

Jeri has joined the chat.

"Perfect!" Jeri cheered. "Okay, remember, no talking out loud. If you have something to say, say it in the chat."

Rika grunted in agreement as she leaned towards her keyboard. She knew she had to start somewhere.

Rika: Hey.

Jeri snorted, but Rika didn't even bother turning to face her. With any luck, the rest of the chat would start their own conversation and she would just be able to sit back and wait for it to end.

Sora: Hey yourself.

Kari: What are you guys up to?

Jeri: Teaching Rika the value of socializing.

Why that little... Rika resisted the urge to look in Jeri's direction. She mentally kicked herself for not predicting that Jeri would basically throw her into the middle of the conversation.

Sora: A noble cause.

Rika: Ha. Ha.

Jeri: It's why we took so long. Getting her to sign in was like pulling teeth.

Kari: Sounds like it would be an uphill battle.

Rika's first impulse after the last message appeared on screen was to shoot a remark back, but she managed enough self-control to hold off. Kari wasn't doing anything the other two weren't and, looking at the situation objectively, was being less antagonistic than Jeri was.

Rika: Can we talk about something else?

Jeri: Like what?

Rika waited before typing a response. There weren't any specific topics that interested her at the moment, but she was willing to try anything at the moment.

Rika: I don't know. Ribbons? Flowers? Whatever it is you girls talk about that isn't me.

Sora: Well, I've had enough flowers for one day. Mom made sure of that.

Kari: I'm sure she wasn't that bad.

Sora: "You have to be more delicate, Sora. How can we expect anyone to purchase these if they're not aesthetically pleasing?"

There was a brief pause before the next message appeared on screen.

Sora: That's my impression of my mother, in case anyone was wondering.

Kari: We gathered.

Jeri: I doubt the rest of us would've had much to say about flowers anyway.

Rika: Next topic then.

Rika sat back, again hoping that conversation might be able continue on without her. For a few seconds, she allowed herself to believe she was in the clear. Then the next message appeared on screen.

Jeri: What did you have in mind?

"Stop that!" Rika snapped, this time not hesitating to look in Jeri's direction.

"Stop what?" Jeri replied absentmindedly, eyes not even bothering to leave the screen in front of her.

Rika clenched her fist together, restraining herself from yelling again. The way Jeri was acting shouldn't have come as a surprise to her at all. They had made a bet, and of course she would be playing to win. Rika's only real question was whether Jeri's competitiveness was something she picked up from their time together or was who she had been all along.

Rika: Nothing in particular.

Kari: That doesn't help us much.

Rika typed without thinking. It didn't register to her what she had done until after she had sent the message.

Rika: Well, I'm sorry that we all can't be perfect like you, Princess.

There was a more than noticeable pause before the next message came through. Rika made it a point to not look in Jeri's direction. If she did, she would find either a look of triumph or disappointment, and she wasn't in the mood for either.

Kari: Who said I was perfect?

Rika: It doesn't matter. Let's just forget about it.

Kari: I don't think we should.

Sora: Maybe shifting this conversation in a new direction isn't such a bad idea.

Jeri: Or we let them hash it out.

Rika held off from returning to her keyboard. She was not in the mood for a long talk about her feelings, and knew she had to think of something to avoid this. The problem was that one of the people she would usually turn to for advice on damage control was actively working against her.

Kari: I just want to know what Rika's problem is.

Rika: I don't have a problem.

Admittedly, Rika's own instincts were an issue as well. She found herself wondering if simply yelling what she was feeling at the screen was worth a try, rather than continuing the argument through the chat.

Kari: Yes, you do. Or do you have another way of describing your attitude problem.

Rika: I don't have an attitude problem.

Rika ignored Jeri's laughter.

Rika: I'm just not overly sensitive like some other people.

Kari: There's a difference between being insensitive and being a word that I don't feel comfortable spelling out right now.

Rika: Who's stopping you? Go ahead and spell.

Kari: Maybe I will!

Sora: Enough! Both of you are gonna stop this right now or, Sovereigns help me, I will use all of my exclamation points!

Rika took Sora's message as a marker to pull her hands away from the keyboard, and the lack of any immediate message afterwards told her that Kari had done the same. She thought about apologizing just to put an end to things, but she didn't feel like she was entirely at fault here. Nor was Kari, for that matter.

Jeri was at least partially to blame for, having organized the whole thing without bothering to share her intentions first. Jeri being Jeri, her intentions had been in the right place, but they were hindered by the fact that her desire to help people sort out their problems was more of a compulsion at this point. Some things were better left alone to sort themselves out, with third parties causing more issues than solving them.

Ultimately, Jeri was still figuring out the differences between these two kinds of instances. With Jeri being as smart as she was, Rika often wondered if her tendency to not see which conflicts to steer clear of was less her not knowing the difference and more just her aversion to facing her own issues dead on.

Before the D-Reaper, Jeri typically kept her pain and sadness hidden behind a constant smile and a sock puppet. All these years later, the puppet was gone and Jeri tended to be more honest about how she felt. Still, Rika knew better than anyone that old habits died hard. Could she have traded one mask for another?

Realistically, Rika wasn't likely to figure out those answers then and there. With that said, Rika did come up an idea for maybe putting an end to the problem immediately in front of her. She leaned forward and typed slowly.

Rika: Jeri, are you alright?

"What?" Jeri said under her breath. Rika chanced a glance at her, finding a confused look on her face.

Jeri: Of course. Why wouldn't I be?

That's right. Two can play at that game, Katou, Rika thought as she typed another response.

Rika: I don't know. I just worry about you sometimes.

Jeri: Well, thanks, but I'm okay.

Rika: Are you sure?

"Stop that," Jeri said, this time out loud and in Rika's direction.

"Stop what?" Rika replied absentmindedly. She knew she just had to draw this conversation out a little longer for the real fun to start.

Jeri: I'm positive.

Kari: And I'm lost.

Jeri: There's nothing to be lost about. Everything is fine.

Rika: Everything?

Jeri: Yes!

Sora: You're getting a little defensive, Jeri.

Rika let a small smirk come to her face. She leaned back, having accomplished what she had set out to do. If anyone could give Jeri a run for her money, Sora could.

Jeri: I'm not defensive.

Sora: But something is bothering you?

Jeri: Yes, this conversation.

Sora: Well, let's talk about that.

Jeri: I don't want to.

Sora: Why not?

Rika used the moments in between messages to look over to Jeri for her reactions, and was not disappointed by what she saw. It was a decent representation of how Rika had felt a little while ago. By this point, Jeri looked back at her, accusation written all over her face.

Jeri: Because that's exactly what Rika wants. She's making up imaginary personal problems so we don't focus on hers.

Rika waited for the next message to appear, to see if Jeri's last desperate play was enough to swing things back into her favor.

Sora: Maybe, but we don't deal in double standards here. You're obviously upset too.

Jeri: You can't be serious right now.

Sora: Don't worry, Jeri. We're all your friends and we're here to support you.

Jeri gently put her forehead against the table in front of her. After a couple seconds, she lifted it and began typing again.

Jeri: I actually have to go take care of something. I'll talk to you guys later.

Jeri has left the chat.

Jeri gathered her things and moved to the door, sliding it open slowly and deliberately.

"Seriously, though, are you okay?" Rika asked, trying to not let her genuine concern be overshadowed by how amused she was.

Jeri turned around and looked at Rika with a death stare, or at least what could pass for one on Jeri's face. "By no means is this a win for you. We'll finish this another day."

Rika gave no response as her friend finally departed the room. For some reason, she found herself unsure if she should take the threat seriously or not. Rika eventually just shrugged the feeling off.

What's the worst Jeri could do, anyway? Rika wondered as she returned her attention to her own computer. She found a single new message waiting for her.

Kari: Is she going to be alright?

Rika: Yeah. I'll check on her tomorrow just to be sure.

Rika was going to just turn off the D-Chat without another word, but another message appeared before she could move the cursor.

Kari: Will that be before or after you find a box of kittens to throw into a river?

Rika took a few seconds to consider her response before actually typing it out.

Rika: I have no issues with kittens. Cat owners, on the other hand, are the ones who have to watch out.

Kari: Are they now?

Rika sighed before leaning forward to respond again. If it meant putting Kari in her place, she could stay online for a little longer.

Coming back to this story after so long was interesting, mainly just due to how few notes I kept about it. That's both in regards to the collection as a whole and this chapter specifically. Despite this chapter being somewhat timely for the world we're currently living in, I actually started it like three months ago and haven't really been able to bring myself to finish it until this point. I did what I could to power through that feeling, so hopefully the next update will come easier.