Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ A Lesson in Life ❯ Projects & Partners ( Chapter 2 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Chapter 2: Projects & Partners



It had been at least three weeks since Takato had transferred to West Shinjuku High. Right about now, he was trying hard not to fall asleep in History, as Miss Naomi rambled on and on about useless information he probably would never remember afterwards. Takato sighed and glanced around the classroom. He spotted Henry and Alice passing notes to each other, and couldn’t help but grin when Henry blushed a deep shade of red after reading Alice’s response to his previous note. Not wanting to cause a disturbance and burst out laughing, Takato averted his gaze to the next person he saw, and fortunately for him, it was the beautiful Rika Nonaka.


She looks so pretty today. He thought to himself.


His thoughts, however, were rudely interrupted when Miss Naomi’s hands came crashing down on his desk, creating a large SMACK, and causing the poor teen to jump at least ten feet in the air.


“Well, now that I’ve finally succeeded in getting your attention, Mr. Matsuki, I can make my announcement.” She said, “Instead of our usual, end-of-the-month exam, you will be doing a project on everything you’ve learned so far in this unit. The project will be due at the end of the month, which gives you three weeks to work on it, and because I’m such a nice and generous person, I’ll be pairing you up in groups of two. Any questions?”


Jeri glanced around the classroom before raising her own hand. Miss Naomi nodded, acknowledging her.


“Umm, will we be choosing our partners?” She asked.


“No, I’ll be choosing them,” replied Miss Naomi, as she pulled out a clipboard with a list attached to it, and cleared her throat, “Jeri, you will be partners with Kenta. Henry, your partner will be Alice. Ryo and Kazu will also be partners, followed by Mai and Kenji, Toshi and Ryan, Michael and Dominick, Sakura and Ashley, Derrick and Naoko, Samantha and Yukiko, and finally, Takato and Rika.”


Gasps were heard throughout the classroom. Takato rolled his eyes at how ridiculous this was. So? He was partners with Rika for a project. Big deal. It’s not like he had suddenly whipped put a gun and threatened to blow her brain to smithereens if she didn’t break up with Ryo and make-out with him right there and then. He was just partners with her, and that was all. Oh well, West Shinjuku High was a weird school, anyways. He didn’t expect them to be normal about the situation.


Takato sighed and stood up just as the bell rang. He gathered his books before heading out of the class and making his way to his locker, before snatching his bag and stuffing his belongings inside. As he zipped up the bag, he felt a tap on his shoulder, causing him to turn around and find Rika standing there.


“So,” she said, “We’re partners.”


“Yeah,” he replied, “I guess we are.”


“We really should get to work on it,” she said, “I need to pass History, or else I won’t be able to visit my bro-” she paused immediately, before shaking her head and continuing, “Well, it doesn’t matter. I just need to pass, plain and simple. The sooner we get it done, the better.”


“Okay, so, what’s the plan?” asked Takato.


“We should start working on it today.” answered Rika, “My house is the closest, so, we could go there.”


“Umm, okay,” replied Takato.


He shut his locker and followed her out of the school.


They walked a few blocks, passed a few variety stores, turned a few corners, and took a short cut through the park before finally arriving at Rika’s home, which was an old-fashioned Japanese mansion.


“Wow!” exclaimed Takato, “Your house is really nice!”


Rika stared blankly at him before muttering something that sounded like, “Yeah, whatever.”


Once inside, the two teens slipped off their shoes and made their way into the kitchen.


“Grandma, I’m home!” bellowed Rika, as she opened the refrigerator door and peeked inside.


No answer.


“She must be out shopping or something,” guessed Rika, “Uh, do you want something to drink? We’ve got a lot of beverages to choose from.”


“No thanks,” Takato declined politely, “I’m good.”


“Suit yourself,” said Rika, as she poured herself a glass of water before glancing over at him, “We can use my Grandma’s computer to find information for our project.”


“Okay,” replied Takato, as they headed into the living room.


***


A few hours later, Takato found himself sitting on the floor of Rika’s bedroom, while she sat on her bed re-reading the information they had just printed off the computer. Takato sighed and glanced around the room. He was about to check the clock when something caught his eye. Curious, Takato reached out and grabbed whatever had caught his attention, and noticed that it was a deck of cards. But not just any deck of cards; Digimon cards.


“You’re into Digimon?” asked Takato.


“Yeah,” replied Rika, “Don’t tell anyone, though.”



“What’s wrong with people knowing?” asked Takato, “I like it. I think it’s cool.”


“Yeah, well, that’s you,” sighed Rika, “I’ve liked Digimon for as long as I can remember. After I started dating Ryo, he said I couldn’t like it anymore because it was a ‘guy’ thing and it wasn’t proper for a girl, especially his girlfriend, to like it. I didn’t want him to dump me, so I stopped playing the card game in public and pretended like I thought it was the lamest thing in the world. But I’ve been secretly collecting the cards for three years, and I sometimes play it with my Grandma. I watch the show whenever I can, too.” She sighed again, “Oh, God, I can’t believe I’m telling you this! I barely even know you!”


“Well,” said Takato, “You could get to know me. I’m sure if we spent more time together, we could become pretty good friends.”


“I wish it were that easy,” said Rika, “Unfortunately, it’s not. Ryo is very possessive. He doesn’t let me talk or be friends with people like you.”


“People like me?” repeated Takato, “What is that supposed to mean?”


“He hates you.” Rika answered, “Ever since you stood up to him and defended Henry. I wish I had the guts to do that, but,” she paused, inhaling deeply before continuing, “He’ll turn everyone against me.”


“I’m sure he couldn’t make everyone turn against you.” Takato assured her.


“You’re right,” said Rika, “He can’t turn everyone against me. Just everyone who matters, which takes up 87% of the people in the school. I wouldn’t stand a chance.”


“Why is everyone so intimidated by him?” asked Takato.


“He has his ways,” replied Rika, “You have no idea what he can do.”


“I don’t,” agreed Takato, “But I’m still not afraid. He’s just a big jerk in my opinion.”


A few seconds of silence passed by, before he finally continued.


“So, uh, does anyone else know that you like Digimon?” he asked.


“Just Henry and his little sister, Suzie.” answered Rika.


Their conversation was cut short, however, when the door to Rika’s bedroom flew open, revealing a woman in her late forty’s - early fifties, with brown hair and violet eyes.


Jeez, does everyone in this family have purple eyes? thought Takato.


“Rika, you’re home!” the woman smiled, “And you’ve got a friend over! I’m sorry, young man, my memory is slowly slipping away. Have we met before?”


“No, Ma’am, we haven’t,” replied Takato, “I’m Takato Matsuki. I just moved here a few weeks ago.”


“Oh, what a polite young man, you are.” sighed the woman, “Well, it’s nice to meet you, Takato. I’m Rika’s Grandmother.”


She shook Takato’s out-stretched hand before smiling at the two.


“Well, I’m going to start dinner. Will you be staying, Takato?”


“No thanks,” replied Takato, “It’s getting late. My Mom’s probably worried sick about me. I should get home.”


He stood up and made his way into the hallway, slipping on his shoes before glancing back at Rika and her Grandma.


“Well, see you tomorrow, Rika!” he said, “Bye!”


“Goodbye!” called Rika, as he closed the door behind him, “Gogglehead.”


***


Well, hopefully, this chapter will get some reviews. The first chapter only had 52 viewers, but no reviews. Nothing. Zip. Jeez, I’m beginning to feel unwanted. Oh well. I hope you enjoyed chapter 2!

~Miranda~
Converting /tmp/phpW307a7 to /dev/stdout