Formal Disclaimer: Fictional Japan, any characters, plot or reference to Digimon are the property of Toei. I do not own any brands or copyrighted materials mentioned.

Author's Note (2011): I've spent 4 years working on this story, I don't deem it as my best work, but I am proud of what I've written. My inspiration for this came from one of my first and favorite Asian TV show, so there may be some similarities.

Author's Note (2015): Sometimes nostalgia hits you unexpectedly. The release of Digimon Adventure Tri prompted me to revisit my love for Digimon and this story. It's been a while, but this story still holds a special place in my heart. After all this time, I'm still seeking to make it better – so here's a revision. I've thrown in some extra "scenes" and I'll eventually get to the epilogue everyone wanted me to write. Although I'm not sure if anyone is still reading this, I'm happy enough just to update it for me.

Unpredictably Yours

Only when I stop to think about you,

I know

Only when you stop think about me,

do you know?

I hate everything about you,

Why do I love you?

- Everything About You, Three Days Grace

Shinjuku High School, Friday September 28th, 8:54 AM

It had been a quiet morning.

Half-empty coffee mugs were abandoned among piles of paperwork on mahogany desks. The ringing of the telephone was lost amongst lively chatter and the laughter of students.

Nothing unusual at one of Japan's top secondary education institution.

The calm was first disturbed by a sleek black Mercedes pulling up to the entrance. Neither the car nor the sight was unusual, but the passenger soon became the cause of the commotion.

Shortly after, an indignant figure stormed down the halls, spewing out short, snappy retorts to the blonde beside her.

"For the last time, I do not like him!" She protested angrily. The rest of the students unconsciously hurried out of the way. Her companion, on the other hand, only smirked at the response.

"There's no need to bite my head off, you know."

"There's no need for you to keep mentioning it."

"Well I could be wrong," Alice McCoy agreed offhandedly, "but I couldn't help notice you staring so blatantly."

"I was glaring. Why on earth do you think I'd be staring at him in the first place?"

Alice raised an eyebrow and was given a dead-cold look in return. The expression alone from Rika Nonaka would have terrorized anyone else, but just as it so happens, it had no effect on her best friend.

"You don't believe me, do you?"

"No, not at all."

"Honestly, Alice! I never thought you would take Jeri's side." Rika scowled, brushing her bangs out of the way.

"I'm not taking anyone's side, I was merely commenting on what I saw."

"You're clearly delusional then. Besides, why are we only talking about me? What about you and your conquest?"

"What conquest may that be?" Alice snorted in the most unladylike manner.

"You know...the one involving you and-"

"Henry Wong!" All heads turned to look towards the opposite end of the hallway. Out of the curious faces, one in particular was smiling victoriously, the other furiously fighting a blush spreading across her face.

"What happened?"

"Ha! Smooth move man!"

Rika wrinkled her nose in distaste, knowing that the annoying, loud and obnoxious voice couldn't be from anyone else but Kazu Shioda.

At the scene of the crime, a dark-haired Chinese male grimaced at the mess he made. The school's famous soup-of-the-day had somehow managed to cover a pretty brunette from head to toe.

"I'm so sorry!"

"I totally saw that coming! It's all over-woah!"

The guy named Kazu, who always found himself in the wrong places at the wrong time, just so happened to slip and fall face first into the mess. The crowd roared with laughter. Even Alice, who barely ever smiled, cracked.

"Kazu? What happened here?"

"Great, here's another one!" Rika muttered under her breath.

"This will be amusing. He's going to go ballistic."

"It's loverboy with that stupid fashion statement of his, what do you expect?" Rika scoffed at the figure wearing a pair of goggles on his head.

"Jeri?! Is that you? Kazu! What are you doing?!"

"Takato?" asked Jeri, wiping some soup off her face.

"What happened?"

"Just an accident." Jeri explained cheerfully, but upon seeing the angry look on his face, she quickly added, "It wasn't Kazu's fault."

"Why'd you have to blame me?" Kazu muttered petulantly, but Takato's attention was only focused on Jeri.

"Are you okay? You're not hurt or anything right?"

"I'm fine! I'll go clean myself up and change into something that doesn't smell like...leeks and potatoes."

"I'm so sorry." Henry repeated, "Are you sure you don't want to borrow-"

"I have extra clothes in my locker. Don't worry Henry, it was just an accident! No harm done! I should hurry, class is about to start!"

Takato frowned at her retreating figure before turning menacingly on his friend. "Kazu! What happened? Are you sure she wasn't just covering for you?"

"Hey! No! It wasn't me! Honestly! It was Henry!" Kazu said, backing away while taking off his sweater to wipe himself clean. Giggles were heard down the hallway and Rika prayed it wasn't because they caught a glimpse of his chest. That would be disturbing.

A look of guilt appeared on Henry's face. "It really was my fault. I-"

"What's going on here?"

The crowd quickly parted.

To their relief, it wasn't a teacher. The person who was coming however, quickly earned a scowl from Rika as she crossed her arms angrily. Alice took one look at her friend and knew immediately who it was.

"Of course, who else would it be if all his posse is here?" Rika murmured, and Alice couldn't help but roll her eyes.

"Come on Rika, it's perfectly understandable why you find Kazu intolerable and Kenta annoying but he-"

"Kazu and Kenta are no more than copy-catting, wannabe clones of him."

"Well, I can't argue against that." Alice agreed with a wry smile "But he's..."

"An arrogant jerk who thinks everyone should bow down worship him?"

"Isn't that just your view of men in general?"

"No." Rika took a moment to consider this. "Takato's decent and Henry is more than fine, which is why I approve of you and-"

"He's coming over Rika." Alice said, cutting her off for more than one reason. "Don't cause another scene."

"I'll behave myself if he does."

"Seriously?" Alice asked, clearly exasperated at her friend's stubbornness. "Forget it, I've got a class to go to. I'll see you later."

"Fine."

The pale blonde shook her head as she walked away. It was always like this when the two met. Unexplained animosity, deliberate provocation from both fronts – a cold war.

A slight smirk came across her face as she glanced back towards the two arguing in the middle of the hall. Her observations were always right.

It was flirting.

"Enjoying the scene?"

"I was until you arrived." Rika replied, her tone cool.

"I don't know about that, you stayed while I was helping out." He smiled broadly. "Were you waiting to talk to me?

"As if! And all you did was call the janitor, great help there."

He gave her an amused expression in return. "See, you paid attention!"

"How could I not? You made such a big deal out of it."

"Only to get your attention."

"Very funny!"

"And to think you waited for me, I'm touched."

"As if I would." She snapped, his teasing finally getting the better of her. "Since we're done here, why don't you just get out of my way-and don't bother interfering, Henry!"

Behind her, Henry withdrew his hand tentatively. It was no use to try and calm her now.

"Don't you think you're overreacting?" It was obvious he was amused.

"Mind your own business!"

"You should learn to take things more lightly. He was only trying to help."

"Whatever he does has nothing to do with you." Rika glared, looking at him in contempt. "Why don't you go and get a life?"

"Why would I want to do that when I can spend my time here with you?" He laughed, winking at her. At this, the girls around him couldn't help but giggle. This only annoyed Rika more.

"Go to hell!"

"Only if you're there with me."

"I hate you." Rika spat.

"Glad to know the feeling's reciprocated then."

The only response she had to that was giving him the middle finger before storming past him in fury. The crowd backed off as she passed by, whispering excitedly. Henry glanced ruefully at the others before going after her.

Just a typical day.

"Man, she's a feisty one." Takato commented, letting out a low whistle.

"Course she is, she wouldn't be my wildcat otherwise."

"What do you mean by 'my wildcat'?" Jason Kamichi demanded, stepping forward from the crowd. Murmurs began to circulate amongst the bystanders.

"Kamichi..." Takato Matsuki scowled, his expression changing to one of extreme dislike. It was a look rarely seen, inconsistent with his carefree and easygoing character. Beside him, Kenta Kitagawa, who had been invisible throughout the previous exchange, sprung up from his casual sitting position.

"What, got a problem with that?" Kazu, who had managed to clean himself up, called loudly.

"As a matter of fact, I do Shioda." Jason replied defiantly, no sign of intimidation in his eyes.

"Who is this?" The question was asked by the final member of the group, in a tone that was somehow both indifferent and dismissive at the same time.

"Jason Kamichi, eighteen years old. Birthday's on April 19th, the second son of a middle-class family. His father's a businessman and his mother's a housewife. He ranked seventy-eighth in the national mock exams and is currently the head of Rika's fan club." Kenta answered pointedly, his gray eyes never leaving the person of description.

"Did you have that memorized?" Takato glanced over, a look of disbelief on his face.

"I keep telling him needs a life, but he never listens to me." Kazu joked.

"How did you even know all that?" Jason asked, clearly taken back.

"Irrelevant question."

"What's your problem with Rika? I didn't even know she had a fan club."

"My problem is you." Jason growled, "Rika doesn't belong to you. Stop making these impossible claims. Stop harassing her. Are you guys dense? Clearly, she despises you all. What you're doing is just pathetic."

"What did you say?" Kazu asked, stepping forward aggressively. A hand on his shoulder brought him to a halt and Kazu frowned. There was an amused expression, a semi-friendly smile but the eyes were cold. The cerulean irises had hardened, turning navy in color.

"Let's go." The command was clear and given without room for negotiation.

All three looked up in surprise. He was just going to let it go? Kazu glanced over at Kenta, who looked just as confused.

"Might as well." Kenta nodded. "We've got class. No point staying around wasting time."

"I thought Rika rather liked me." Takato mumbled to himself, looking troubled. "We're not really harassing her, are we?"

"Yea, I rather go to class than talk to Kimichi any day. Who does he think he is?"

"Hey guys, Rika's okay with me, isn't she?"

"Don't ask me! I know she hates me!"

"State the obvious, why don't you?"

"Shut up Kenta! She doesn't like you any better either!"

There was an untouchable aura surrounding the four as they left. Girls blushed and giggled as they passed, whispering excitedly. It was almost like a scene from a TV show, a page out of a shoujo manga.

"Oh my god! There they are!"

"He is soooo damn hot!"

"It's Ryo Akiyama! He is such a..."

"...infuriating, arrogant, egoistic jerk! I don't see why everyone worships him! I mean just because-"

"-he's the captain of the undefeated basketball team, third in our school ranking and considered to be the hottest guy alive," Rika gagged at this, "I agree, I really can't see why anyone likes him." Henry finished sarcastically.

"He has an awful personality." Rika sniffed in disdain, clearly not swayed in her belief.

"Rika, he has looks, brains, talent and money. Even I agree to that. Aren't you just being biased?"

She pursed lips in her consideration. Calm, steadfast and intelligent, Henry was more perceptive than anyone she knew. She knew he was never quick to make judgement. Hell, he wouldn't be best friends with her otherwise, but in this case...

"He still has an awful personality. Looks, brains, talent and money have nothing to do with that."

At this, Henry couldn't help but smile. "You really should give the guy a break."

"Why are you defending him?" Rika demanded suddenly, narrowing her eyes in suspicion. He looked surprised for a moment at the question.

"I'm a pacifist, it's in my nature." Henry answered in a way which made Rika doubt his true intentions. They understood each other well enough to know when the other was lying...or rather withholding the truth. He didn't cower under her gaze, so she decided to let it go, for now.

"Even so, he's not that hot."

"So you admit he's good looking to some extent?"

"Henry! Stop twisting my words!"

"Okay, okay." Henry laughed, before continuing the teasing. "That doesn't seem the case from how you girls describe him. With his chiseled features, tanned skin, and those brilliant, breathtaking blue eyes. Then there's that fit, muscular body which is just to die for. Am I close?"

"You forgot that sexy smirk he always has on." Rika muttered.

"Rika!"

"What?! I was just copying what the other girls say."