Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Love Is A Battlefield ❯ Phase II: Evolution- Evaluate ( Chapter 5 )

Love Is A Battlefield

Phase II- Evolution: Evaluate

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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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So... after we turned in our equipment, we were both kind of hungry so we headed into the mall in search of edible food (the arcade had a snack bar but... bleagh.) After a few minutes of walking, we found the row of food shops. It had all of the standard offerings... McDonalds, Mr. Donuts, a bread shop, an ice cream shop, and various others... but nothing seemed to jump out right away. Then, Ryo pointed toward a little shop near the end of the row that sold... crepes?

"Have you ever had a crepe, Ruki?" he asked kind of excitedly.

I shook my head.

"They're great! Back in Fukkuoka, there was this little shop on my way home from school that I used to go to all the time. They're not too sweet and you can get all sorts of fillings but the best are..."

He continued to expound on the greatness of crepes for a few minutes as he ordered a couple and we watched them get made. Soon, I found myself with one of the strange, almost conical concoctions in my hand. It was shaped almost like a flat waffle cone... except instead of ice cream, it was filled with a strawberry and cream substance along with various pieces of fruit... and sprinkles on top. I studied this fruity mass in my hand and looked back up at Ryo... who was almost half way done with his and obviously enjoying it. Shrugging, I bit into mine. It was good... I'd have to try it again. Hmmm... would Ryo want to come back here sometime?

Finishing our crepes, we bought drinks for a vending machine and headed back to the arcade. There, we spent the next hour and a half trying out assorted games. We alternated at beating each other in several fighting games... he thoroughly trounced me in car racing ("I can't help it if I've already been through driving school." Whatever...) But, I destroyed him in the two person shooter game, reaffirming my dominance in that area. We were about to leave when I spotted the print club room. Stopping, I motioned toward it.

"Want to do some of those?" I asked.

His eyes showed his surprise at the suggestion but he smiled and nodded. "What better way to prove you actually spent an afternoon with me with out killing me," he commented as we went in.

Dork.

We spent over half an hour choosing backgrounds, posing, and writing until we were about to leave with four sets of pictures.

The first set was a collage of several shots of me ignoring him while he tried different ways of getting my attention... I either had my face turned away or my eyes closed in all of them. We got those done in a medium size with sixteen on the sheet.

The next was a special effects one with a black, starry background that had us shooting lasers at each other. On that one we wrote, 'Tag, you're it!' at the bottom. It was printed small with twenty-four on the sheet.

After that, we got a full-body shot of us standing back-to-back with blue flames coming up around the sides. 'I am cold burning' was printed in English at the bottom. This one looked pretty cool so we had it printed a little bigger with eight on the sheet.

The fourth came from a 100 yen machine and had twenty stickers on the page. We chose an underwater scene with waves for a border and fish swimming in the center. I have no idea what possessed me, but I agreed to make my best 'fish face' for one of the shots... I was under the impression that we would choose a different picture to be printed, but Ryo hit the print button before I could stop him. When I tried to grab the pictures when they came out (in order to take them home and burn them), he grabbed them first.

Big dork.

Mildly annoyed that I had been unable to get to them first and having quenched my desire for any more pictures, we were heading out when Ryo grabbed my arm. Turning around and ready to give him a dirty look, I saw what he was pointing at. Seeing it, I agreed to do one last picture. We got in the machine, paid, chose, posed, and waited for the printout. A few slightly nervous minutes later, we were rewarded with a sheet containing two large pictures of us standing in front of a purple, blue, and silver curtained background with crowns on our heads and holding scepters. The writing at the bottom said 'King & Queen.'

This one wasn't for trading.

Finishing that, we finally made it back out into the sunlight. Seeing how low the sun was in the sky, I checked my watch.

"Aw nuts! I told my mom I'd be home by 4:30!"

I started digging in my bag for my cel-phone.

"Come on," said Ryo as he loosely took my wrist and started leading me towards the subway station. When I began to protest, he looked apologetic and continued, "If you call her from the subway, you can say you're almost home."

I rolled my eyes and hurried so I would be walking next to him. When I caught up, he let go of my wrist... with some regret on my part. It'd felt sort of nice to almost hold hands with him.

Looking over at me, he appeared a little bashful and apologized saying, "Sorry about that... but I don't want to get your mother angry by making you even more late."

We hurried to the station, down to the train, and had the incredible fortune of getting in a car just as a couple got out of their seats. So, we sat down, and, as I called my mother, he pulled out the scissor attachment on his pocket knife and began dividing up the pictures. He took special care with the 'King & Queen' one, making sure the cut was very straight.

After hanging up with my mother, I gathered the ones he'd finished and began dividing them up. I almost got his half of the fish one but he snatched it back and slid it into his back pocket. Then, he looked at me and smirked, as if daring me to go after it. I rolled my eyes and glared at him... which only made him smile more.

Really big dork.

When we reached the station we originally started from, I walked him up to the train entrance gate. As we reached it, he turned to me and gave a real smile.

"Today was a lot of fun... I never knew running around shooting people could be so entertaining."

"Yeah, well... you're approved to be my partner next time."

He smiled again and turned to go through the gate. As he turned, I noticed the fish pictures mocking me from his back pocket. Not waiting to think about it, I reached out and quickly grabbed them as he stepped through the turnstile. He must have felt it... because he whipped around with his mouth wide open and a blush spreading across his face.

"Got them," I said holding the stickers between my index and middle fingers and fighting a blush of my own.

He continued gapping at me for a few seconds before bursting out laughing.

"See you later, Ruki," he chuckled as he headed for the platform.

I didn't hurry when walking home... rather, I was thinking hard. Today _had_ been a lot of fun. We hadn't had any deep conversations, and I wasn't any closer to understanding the things he'd told me last night... but we'd worked really well together today. And... he looked really good.

<There's those stupid hormones again.>

And, in retrospect... I can't believe I grabbed those pictures out of his pocket!! I can only plead temporary insanity... first I let them be taken and then I do that... at least now I could get rid of them. Though, looking at them again, Ryo looked sort of... cute. Oh well... I can always burn them later.

All in all, it had been a good day. Now, I just need to plan my next move. It would only be fair to give him a chance to respond to my signals. I decided that he had one week to react... and then I was taking over again.

When I got home, I went to my room to find Renamon leaning against the wall by the outside door.

"How was your... outing?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"You should know already... after all, you followed us."

Someday, I'm going to have to tell her that smirking doesn't become her.

TBC

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Author's Notes: July 27, 2002- I finally got to type and edit this chapter... it's been written in my notebook for over three weeks. August 1, 2002- Some Japanese cultural notes... Most people in Japan go to a driving school to get their license (I think it's a required but I'm not sure.) Print club picture (or Purikura... short for Purinto Kurabu) is extremely common and extremely popular in Japan. Teenagers and kids trade them with their friends and usually have a special section of their day-planner (or something similar) for them. I knew two sixteen-year-old girls who became friends and one of the first things they did was exchange purikura. It is also very common for couples to get them taken together. There are an incredible variety of styles and background you can get and I tried to give a good sample... most of the ones Ryo and Ruki took are based on ones I have or have seen... very fun stuff. The crepe shop is based off of the one next to the arcade I used to get Purikura taken in... I miss crepes... and Mr. Donuts. <Yum!> Thank you to Kira Wagner for pre-reading this for me.

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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!"