Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Love Is A Battlefield ❯ Phase II: Evolution- Event ( Chapter 4 )

Love Is A Battlefield

Phase II- Evolution: Event

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Disclaimer: Digimon and all related characters are not mine. The title comes from the song sung by Pat Benatar, written by Mike Chapman and Holly Knight so it doesn't belong to me either. No money, don't sue.

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Sunday morning found me hurrying to the park to make sure I was on time… it would not have looked good for me to be late after I'd made such a big deal about it to him. There had been a small earthquake, barely noticeable, unless you happened to be drinking grape juice at the time… then it's 'goodbye' to the light blue t-shirt you were wearing. Cleaning up the mess and changing clothes (same jeans with a dark gray, high collared t-shirt) had taken up just enough time that I had to run.

When I got to the park at 11:59, Ryo was sitting on a bench just inside the entrance. He pointedly looked at his watch and then me as I approached. I rolled my eyes and motioned for him to come over.

"Hey Ruki! Long time, no see," he said with a smile.

Dork.

Today, it seemed that he'd opted for a less baggy version of his normal khaki's and a dark blue shirt with a square happy face on it.

"You're wearing your hair up!" he added when he reached me.

I involuntarily reached up to touch my hair… it had been a while since I'd had it up like this. The spiky ponytail that had been a defining part of my image when I was younger had slowly given way to wearing my hair down as I'd gotten older. Clearing my throat in slight embarrassment and heading down the street, I responded, "Yeah... well, it would get in the way down."

We walked toward the train station for a few minutes in silence. As we approached it, Ryo asked, "Is anyone else coming today?"

"No," I answered descending the stairs.

"So it's just you and me against the world!"

I could feel him grinning as I rolled my eyes in response. We bought our tickets and found our way to the correct train. When we got on, it was just crowded enough that there were no open seats so we chose a spot to stand near the door. He faced me as we held on to the same pole.

"So why isn't anyone else coming?"

...

Was he totally clueless? A girl asks you to go and do something with her... what do you think the purpose of that is? I fed my annoyance at his question into an irate-sounding assessment of the other tamers' skills in laser tag.

"The others... aren't the best players. I mean, they're fun but not really suited to it. Takato lacks strategy and isn't the best shot... Jen is pretty good but not aggressive. Shuichon is good too but lacks any kind of stealth. Juri's a surprisingly good shot... when you can get her to shoot at people which she usually won't. Hirokazu and Kenta are both... enthusiastic... but usually get tagged very often. I'm just trying you out today to see if you're any good."

He laughed at that and his eyes did this stupid twinkling thing that did _not_ distract me at all...

"I hope I live up to your expectations."

Hmph... He better.

After several stops, we got off the train. He climbed the stairs ahead of me to get out of the station... allowing for a better view of this style of pants. After a closer study, I decided I preferred these to the looser kind.

We made out way to a large, multi-storied arcade complex located on the lower floors and basement of a high rise building. The arcade was part of a mostly-underground mall that connected several buildings on the block. The first two floors of the arcade contained various video games, UFO catcher machines and a few little trinket shops. We headed for the third floor where laser tag was located.

"Have you ever played before?" I asked as we went up the escalator.

"Nope... never had the chance. Any advise, oh wise one?"

Dork.

"Other than to avoid being shot? Not really."

We got in line and bought passes for three games. There were a pretty good number of people there but not a huge crowd like there sometimes was on the weekends. After getting our equipment, we headed into a waiting/locker room to put it on. I fastened my vest and checked my gun to make sure the trigger didn't stick.

"Do you think that this vest makes me look fat?" came Ryo's voice from behind me. I turned to see him twisting in order to see himself from different angles in front of a mirror. Then he looked at me with a mischievous smile.

Cheesy. Again, I say, 'Dork.'

I communicated my opinion with another roll of my eyes and went back to checking my equipment.

"So how do you play this?" he asked sitting down on a bench. A game had just started a few minutes before so we had a little less than half an hour to wait. I leaned against the rental lockers across from him.

"The attendant will probably explain it before we go in but... well, you go around and shoot people with your laser and try not to get shot in return. The vest and gun keep score while you play. The next game is pairs so our scores will be totaled together. I think the winners get points toward prizes or something."

"What happens when you get shot?"

"You're 'down' and your gun doesn't work for a little while... they'll tell us how long before we go in... it's usually around fifteen seconds."

"Does it matter where you hit them?"

"Not really. You aim for the white circles on the vest for it to connect."

"So, don't fire until you see the whites of their vests?"

I stared at him again. He was just smiling innocently. What was it with the lame jokes today?

Anyway, skip to the game... there ended up being around thirty people playing our first round. The attendants had us, along with about half of the other people, enter into the upper level. As we were let in, I pulled Ryo behind a jutting wall to avoid either of us getting shot right off. I stuck my head around the corner and tagged a few people as they made their way into the maze of walls, ramps, and mirrors. Ryo peeked around behind me and got one of the people I missed.

"What do we do now?" he whispered closed to my ear.

Goose bumps rose on my arms when I felt his breath against the side of my face. Focusing past that, I grinned and responded, "We sneak."

And sneak we did. It was incredibly invigorating to work with a partner in the game that didn't need to be told what to do constantly while we were hunting and that I didn't constantly have to worry about being shot. He stuck close to me and provided support for the first little bit but quickly caught on and got more into the groove of the game. Ryo became more aggressive in attacking and offered several good strategies for pursuing the other players... and was suitably impressed when I bounce a laser off of a mirror to make a shot. He did get shot more than I did and didn't get as many hits but it was an impressive showing for a first-timer.

We ended up placing third in the round. I recognized the winning pair... they were here almost every time I came. Kazu referred to them as the 'Laser Tag Ninjas.'

There was a short break between our first session and the second so we sat in the waiting room for a few minutes before lining up.

"So how'd I do?" asked Ryo as he sat down to my right on the bench. I was leaning against the wall with my eyes closed. I opened my right eye and glanced at him.

"You were... acceptable," I responded evenly.

"Ahhh... high praise from the Queen herself." I raised an eyebrow at that. Then he continued, smiling, "So what's next?"

"Individual round... no teams."

He raised an eyebrow at that.

"So does that mean I get to hunt you?"

What was with that smug look?

"Only if I don't get you first." I didn't look smug... I looked... confident.

The attendant came in then and announced the next round Ryo and I headed for opposite entrances to go in from. Looking back before he was out of sight, Ryo called out, "Maybe I'll let you catch me."

Hmph... 'Let' huh? Sounds like a challenge.

There was no 'let' in this round... I'll admit I was pretty ruthless. Most of the time, he didn't even see me coming. The funniest times were when I would get him from around a corner by bouncing the laser off of a mirror. Ryo didn't make it easy for me though... he can be pretty stealthy when he wants to be. And I have to admit that he did tag me... a few times... but I got him more. It was... a stimulating hunt.

Afterwards, we sat in the waiting room again.

"So did you 'let' yourself get caught?" I asked, not quite succeeding in stifling the gloating tone that had crept into my voice.

"Aww, Ruki," he said with an innocent smile, "if you wanted me that bad, you should have just told me."

Heat to face.

No response generated.

Silence.

Dork.

After the silence dragged on a little too long (and he turned pinkish too), Ryo cleared his throat and asked, "So is the next game teams or individuals?"

Grateful for a new subject, I responded, "Pairs again, I think."

He smiled that stupid, completely-not-distracting smile again and commented, "So I guess you're stuck with me."

Ahem... have I mentioned that he's a dork recently?

On that note, the attendant called for the next round. This time, we entered onto the lower level.

Our last round began similarly to the first one but we picked up the pace quickly. Ryo was more comfortable and much more aggressive than he'd been in the first round. We barely needed to speak or even gesture to communicate our intentions and strategies. The round was over much too quickly and I was jazzed from it... I couldn't help smiling. I guess I looked a little crazed because when Ryo saw it, his first comment was, "Oi! Stop that... you're scaring me."

Stupid sparkling eyes stopping me from getting properly annoyed.

After a few minutes, the rankings were posted. We came in second, right after the 'Laser Tag Ninjas.'

This partnership might just work out after all.

TBC

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Author's Notes: July 25, 2002, 4:20 a.m. - FINALLY!!!! After almost a month, this chapter is _done_! I could cry. I don't think this chapter is very good... there are some parts I like but overall, it's currently my least favorite chapter. But it's _done_. The rest of the chapters are already in rough drafts so they should follow soon.

July 26, 2002, 12:35 a.m.- Upon editing and typing... this turned out longer than I thought it would... not too bad for the hump chapter. It's all downhill from here. One note... I've never actually played laser tag... I just picked a couple of my friend's brains that had. (Thanks Mike! Not that you'll ever read this but...) Thanks to kimaru_k for kindly bugging me to finish this chapter... and commenting when I gave her a sneak peek... a little encouragement goes a long way.

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Riah‑chan

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Ruki_and_Ryo/

...because everyone needs a little R&R.

"Well, then there'll be just one less person to poke fun at you, right pumpkin."

"Tashika ni kimi wa Queen, kedo dattara ore ga King da na!"