Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon in any way, shape, or form.

The past few years had been good ones, Rika supposed. It had been a couple of years since the D-Reaper incident, and everything had virtually gone back to normal, as normal as life with Digimon could ever be. Things had at least settled down since then; no new enemies had appeared and the fighting was over. The Digimon had returned from their brief departure after D-Reaper's defeat and life had moved on.

Rika had moved on too. No longer was she in private schools; her mother had insisted she attend a public high school. Even though it was her first day, it didn't seem so bad. It didn't seem that way, at least, until…

"Hey, Rika, how's it going?"

Rika paused in retrieving her books from her locker to groan in horror. She recognized that voice, but she had hoped that she wouldn't have to hear it under such circumstances..

"No, no, no, no!" Rika sobbed theatrically. "Don't even tell me you go to this school too!"

She shut the locker door with a loud bang and turned to greet the smiling face of Ryo Akiyama. He was leaning against the wall of lockers, his book bag slung over one shoulder and a wide grin on his face.

"Shouldn't you have graduated by now?" Rika asked, exasperated.

Ryo shrugged. "You know how it is. I spent nearly a year in the Digital World. I needed to make it up, so I'm still in my fourth year here. I take it you're part of the new first year class?"

"Unfortunately," Rika grimaced, shoving her books into a satchel under her arm. "My mother decided it would be good for me to attend a regular school, hoping I'll meet some cute boys probably."

"Cute boys?" Ryo asked slyly.

"Her words, not mine," Rika said quickly, holding up her hands. "Oh," she added, looking at her wrist, "would you look at the time? I need to get to my first class before I'm late."

Turning her back to Ryo, Rika walked briskly down the hall. Ryo watched her go for a second before turning to look at the clock on the wall.

"What are you talking about? Class doesn't start for another 10 minutes! And you're not even wearing a watch!" When Rika didn't even slow down, Ryo called after her again. "See you at lunch!"

He was just able to catch Rika's response. "Not if I see you first!"

The first half of the day went by quickly enough, though not quick enough for Rika's taste. She was forced to sit through three periods of teachers explaining the same thing. Each one felt the need to restate the rules of the school and spend long periods of time explaining what they would be explaining during the year. It was eventually over, and time for lunch.

After grabbing a tray and paying for her lunch, Rika started to look for an open table to sit down at. Fortunately, there were still plenty of spaces available. She picked one and began to eat in peace. A smiling face disturbed the peace, however, Ryo's face.

"Hello again, Rika!" he said cheerily, taking up the seat across from Rika.

"Hello again, Ryo," Rika started, "and goodbye again." She started to get up and leave when Ryo stopped her with a few well-placed words.

"Running away once more, eh, Rika?" he chuckled. Rika stopped in mid-stand and glared at Ryo. A look of shocked surprise was on her face.

Sitting back down, she said, "What did you say?"

"I just said that you were running away once more," Ryo shrugged. His face held a smug smile. "That seems to be all you do when I'm around."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Rika shook her head.

"It's like four years ago when I saved you from Megadramon…" Ryo began to answer.

"Hold up a second," Rika interrupted. She had a different recall of that day early on in the expedition in the Digital World. "I don't remember you saving me. I remember you butting into my fight."

"Butting in?" Ryo protested. "If Cyberdramon and I hadn't arrived when we had…" Rika wouldn't let him finish.

"If you two hadn't arrived, I would have easily beaten that guy. I was two seconds away from winning that fight."

"One way or the other, that still doesn't explain why you left," Ryo reminded Rika. "It wasn't because I forgot who you were at first, was it?"

"Oh please," Rika grimaced. "My life doesn't revolve around people like you remembering me. I left because… You know, it's really none of your business why I left." She had trouble admitting it to herself, let alone to Ryo.

"If that's the way you want to play it," Ryo smirked, "that's fine with me. That was just the first time though. There was also that time at the D-Reaper pit," Ryo said, counting on his fingers.

"I remember that," Rika chuckled. She leaned forward onto her elbows, staring right at Ryo. "I also remember a certain someone screaming my name."

"Yes, well," Ryo said, cheeks turning slightly red, "you're the one who took what looked like a suicide dive into the pit."

"How sweet," Rika teased. "You're blushing. I might get the idea that you like me."

Ryo returned Rika's stare, leaning forward onto his own elbows, bringing his face in close to Rika's. "Just for the sake of argument, what if I do?"

"Then you're even crazier than I thought," Rika replied leaning back in her chair. She picked up her tray and got up from her seat. "Later."

Ryo slumped forward in his seat with a sigh. He considered making another comment about Rika running away, but he noticed that he was the only one left in the cafeteria. With a soft curse, Ryo quickly put away his tray and dashed for his next class. The first cards had been dealt. Now it was time to see how they lay.

Ryo was at Rika's locker the next morning, waiting for her. Rika sighed loudly and pushed him to one side, retrieving her stuff from her locker. She very pointedly slammed her locker shut and glared at Ryo.

"Not this again," Rika groaned. "This is bordering on obsession."

"What? Is it a crime to talk to a cute girl?" Ryo asked with a wink. It was the wrong thing to say.

"Call me cute again and I'll kick your butt," Rika warned. She hated being called things like that; it simply wasn't her.

"Fair enough," Ryo gulped. He rubbed the back of his neck nervously as he asked, "I suppose pretty is out of the question as well?" Rika's death look told him yes, and he coughed nervously.

With a sigh, Rika said, "Excuse me," pushing past Ryo. She wanted the encounter to end as soon as possible. "I have to get to class."

"See you in the cafeteria?"

"As if I had a choice," Rika grumbled.

"What will it take to get you to leave me alone?" Rika asked at lunch, tired of all of Ryo's dumb little games.

"I thought you'd never ask," Ryo grinned. He leaned forward, moving closer to Rika. "I only want one thing. You let me have that, and, if you want, I'll leave you alone."

"I'm listening…" Rika said hesitantly.

"There's only one thing I want from you," Ryo said smoothly. "One date. That's all I ask."