Chapter 1 – The Meeting

Hi! So that's my new favourite couple... LettucexRyou. For my other story, I don't have a lot of hope, but we never know. As for this one, I don't have a title yet, so if you have any suggestions... And I'll try to update weekly (just in case, I said I would TRY, so again don't get your hopes up too much) Anyway, here it goes...

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Lettuce suddenly woke up with a start. She knew she had to go to school, but lately she dreaded that idea. Aya and her clique were enslaving her more and more. At first, she had thought that they just needed to vent their anger, anguish, sadness or whatever they had bottled up inside them, and that that task had fallen on her. However she was starting to see their real side. Last week, they had all gone, or more precisely been dragged in her case, to a new café that had opened near the outskirt of the city; Café Mew Mew. There, she met four dreamy people; two beautiful girls and two handsome boys. She had been ridiculed by her supposedly friends, but everyone had been kind enough and saved her.

XXX

They finally arrived near the café. Lettuce was starting to get tired from having carried everyone's school bag. Yet, she didn't think about it anymore, when they started to see, just above the bushes, the shape of a pink dome. When they rounded the corner, a path, surrounded by roses, lead them to a small castle like building decorated with hearts of the same color; pink. It was quite flashy, but the effect on the girls was intense; they all had the impression of entering a fairytale. A magnificent garden, roses everywhere and a castle, Lettuce wouldn't have been surprised if a knight in shining armour had jumped right in front of her at that instant.

Once lettuce opened the door, she was even more amazed than by the exterior of the building. There was a little bit too much pink to her liking, however she loved all the frills that adorned the place. All the tables were disposed so people could walk freely in between and have some privacy at the same time.

"What are you doing, green pea? You're in the way, move aside.", said Aya with an air of superiority.

Lettuce didn't react to the venomous insult and held the door for the girls to pass. When she entered the café she didn't look where she went and bumped into someone, thus making the said person drop the plate he held. Once she heard the crashing of porcelain and the clatter of the plate rolling on the floor, many 'sorrys' flew out of her mouth equally out of habitude and regret. With her head bent in shame and a blush creeping up her face, she didn't dare face the man with seeping tea on his shirt.

"Ha! Ha! Ha! Looks like goofy green pea can't even walk through a door without causing a mess", mocked Aya." Next time try looking in front of you instead of the floor."

"Yeah, you're so clumsy, you'll never become worth of being our true friend", snorted Satsuki.

At that, Lettuce looked up with sorrowful eyes. Unable to bear any of the girl's gaze, she faced her tea-attacked victim. He was taller than her, blond hair falling in front of his sky blue eyes with an annoyed look etched on his face. Thinking he was mad at her, Lettuce once again looked down with tears forming in her eyes.

"Why don't you back off! You should be the ones ashamed. You can't even open a door yourself, and then complain instead of helping out.", said Lettuce's saviour while stepping in front of her.

"Ryou, calm down. We wouldn't want our beautiful customers to get the wrong impression of us, now would we?", soothingly said a brown haired boy. "So now, ladies, why don't we seat you and offer you free pastries for having you suffered through such a traumatic accident?"

The girls were suddenly in their own fantasies, completely forgetting about the recent events, Lettuce or even how to think. So, when the brown haired waiter led them away, they didn't notice him wink surreptitiously at the younger one . Still unsure of what to do, Lettuce then decided that she had to try to repair what she did, so she bent down and started to pick the broken pieces of porcelain. She saw from the corner of her eye the man or grown teenager, she wasn't sure yet, Ryou, also start to clean.

"You know, you don't have to do that. There are people here hired to especially do that", he softly remarked trying to lighten the mood.

"Oh, no. I don't mind. It was my fault anyway."

She glanced at Ryou, and found his face inches of hers. She yelped in surprise, fell on her butt and cut herself at the same time.

XXX

Seeing she had a lot to do before going to school, she finally got up and hurried to do her morning routine. She didn't have time to daydream, her father being away on a business trip and her mother having already gone to drop off her brother, she was alone in her house. She changed into her school uniform quickly, swiftly prepared breakfast; a bread slice in the toaster with a glass of juice, and walked to school.

On her way, she met her Oh-so caring friends who suddenly stopped talking and stared at her as if she had grown a second head. She decided to ignore them and picked up her pace. She had hoped to finally gain their trust and have real friends, yet they only wanted a scapegoat. If they couldn't face their problems, she couldn't help them. Anyway, she didn't have to concern herself about them today, she had something to look forward to.

'Ryou, my prince', she thought.

She pictured his face and the way he had been so kind to her the first time she had met him. She was mentally squealing with joy, after school, she would be able to see him again. He wasn't the only one she was looking forward to see either. The brown haired guy who had driven Aya and her gang away, Akasaka-san, she had learned later, Ichigo and Minto, the other waitresses, had all be so kind to her afterward. Knowing she may now have real friends gave her courage to go through her day.

XXX

Suddenly, she found herself once again in front of Café Mew Mew as if the few hours between this morning and this precise moment had just flown by in one second. However, every ounce of bravery that she had managed to gain had now disappeared leaving her in the uncertainty of what to do.

'Should I knock or just enter? They're not open yet, maybe I'll just get in their way?'

Still before she could do anything, Ichigo caught her in her fish-out-of-its-tank moment. She casted a brief "Hello!" before running past her and hurrying inside. She took that as a permission to enter, and shyly opened the door. She looked both sides to see no one was near the door and entered swiftly.

"Um... hello? Is anyone here? I-I'm Midorikawa Lettuce from last week", she slightly stuttered.

"Lettuce-chan! Hi, nice to see you again. Are you ready to start?", greeted Akasaka-san.

"Start? R-really? ... Don't you prefer to find someone more fit for this kind of job? I-I'm so clumsy! I'll just be in your way."

Minto chose this moment to enter and try to persuade Lettuce to stay.

"Don't worry Lettuce, you can't be worst than kitty back there!"

"WHAT! Minto, you're so mean! Anyway, you can't judge me, as I remember I'm the only one who works here. So why don't you try doing something before pulling me down?"

"Excuse-me? I'm too delicate to do rough tasks such as lifting heavy things like you do. I'm not Hulk with muscles popping everywhere.", calmly responded Mint.

"Are you saying I'm bulky? I'm a young delicate girl too, you know", said Ichigo pushing a table out of her way in anger.

"And that proves my point. Continue like that, and one day you'll be able to lift a car by yourself."

At that, Ichigo had a fit and Akasaka-san had to step between the two to stop World War III. Minto, just stood there looking disabused while Ichigo tried to get to her through Akasaka-san who was trying to calm her down. Then, they heard a laugh ring through the room over the sound of their quarrel. They looked around, and found Lettuce giggling openly at them. Ryou chose this moment to enter and hesitated between the three on one side petrified and the girl on the other giggling to no end. However, when Lettuce spotted him, she stopped halfway, produced a sound between a nervous laugh and a strangled gulp, then became completely red.

"Lettuce, are you alright?", asked worriedly Ichigo unsure of what had happened.

"Y-yes, Ichigo-chan.", Lettuce whispered shyly.

"Lettuce, you don't need to be so formal, just call me Ichigo"

"And that goes for all of us", added Minto.

"How's your hand?", Ryou asked seeing as she became uncomfortable.

"Oh! Great, thanks to you, Shirogane-san.", replied Lettuce completely forgetting about Ichigo's and Mint's demand.

"Good"

And then he left without any further comment, making Lettuce wonder if she had angered him.

"Don't worry about him, he's not really a social person", Akasaka-san said after seeing her feeling bad about Ryou's sudden departure. "Anyway, now that you're here, we'll be able to open the café. So, girls, can you show her the way to the back? I hanged your uniform behind the door."

Then everyone was off their own way, Akasaka-san to the kitchen and the girls to the locker room. Once she took the time to look around, everything felt familiar to Lettuce as she remembered the few minutes she had spent there week before.

XXX

After she had cut herself, Ryou had led her to the back where he could treat her and change his shirt at the same time. He made her seat in a cushioned pink chair and asked her to wait there for him. She looked around and saw that she was in the kitchen. It was quite large with a two door entrance leading to a corridor which then led to the café and an exit. The place smelled like fresh pastries, tea and chocolate. She felt so comfortable that she hadn't noticed at first the brown haired boy already in the kitchen. On the side, partially hidden by the fridge, was the brown haired guy from earlier. He seemed to be the cook since he was standing next to the oven concocting something. When he heard the closing of the door Ryou just went through, he moved to face Lettuce.

"Hi, I'm Akasaka Keiichiro. Are you alright? Do you want something? I can prepare you whatever you want, or do you prefer a hot chocolate? It always soothes a broken soul.", he said thus certifying Lettuce's assumption as him being the chef.

"Um, yes please, a hot chocolate will do.", she answered. Still, she was a tad uncomfortable; she was in a room, in a place she hadn't heard of before today, with an unknown person offering her something to drink. She tried to think of something to talk about before everything became too awkward when someone entered. It was a cute girl around Lettuce's height with red short hair and pink eyes. She was wearing a red uniform, matching her hair, with a white frilly apron and headband. She was holding a large plate in her hands to put her commands on, and she looked like she had to do many things at the same time, but couldn't divide herself to do them all.

"Akasaka-san, there's an order for one cinnamon tea, one hot chocolate and two apple scones.", Ichigo ordered.

"I'm on it. Anyway I already had to whip up a hot chocolate", Akasaka-san winked at Lettuce who blushed at a such opened sign of closeness.

"Hi! I'm Ichigo. I work here, but you must have noticed already since I'm wearing this so cute uniform, and I'm taking orders. Anyway, nice to meet you.", she said happily.

"Hi, I'm Midorikawa Lettuce", she responded shyly.

"Ichigo-chan, your order is ready.", interrupted Akasaka-san.

"Thanks! Well I'm off, see you again Lettuce", Ichigo said making Lettuce blush at such familiarity.

Ichigo got out almost bumping into Ryou on her way out.

"Be careful Ichigo!", Ryo yelled after her. "So, how's the hand?"

"It's o-okay, just stings a little..."

"Well. We'll just put a band-aid just in case",

He cleaned the scratch, and gently put a band-aid on it. He was so concentrating on the task that she couldn't stop from staring at him with his bangs falling in front of his face. He had changed his black shirt to a clean white one. He looked just like prince charming, he just lacked the horse and the sword. Then, she suddenly realised why he had changed clothes.

"Um, you know? About the tea cup... how can I repay you? I don't have much money on me, but I can come back. I assure you, I'm not the type to run away with a debt and not come back. I..."

"Don't worry about it", Ryou said smirking.

"B-b-but I want to repay you, it was my fault. I should also do something about your shirt."

"Lettuce-chan, if you want to repay us so much, you could come here and help out. How about Monday next week? It'll give us enough time to prepare your uniform.", Akasaka-san proposed.

"Excuse-me. Akasaka-san, it's time for my cup of tea. Do you mind preparing it for me?", Minto asked politely.

"Wow! You got up to get it yourself Minto? Anyway, it's already that time? How's Ichigo doing? She didn't chase all the clients away yet?", Ryou interjected while Akasaka-san prepared the tea.

Minto, as Ryou had called her, was as pretty as Ichigo with smaller height with two buns on each side of her head. Also, her predominant color, compared to Ichigo, was blue.

"Yes, I had to come myself, since Ichigo didn't want to take my order saying I'm not a client. But seeing how she's doing, I don't know how much longer she'll have someone to serve. Anyway, at least she's working. Hi, I'm Aizawa Minto. So I heard you'll work with us? I hope I'll see you again on Monday then"

She took her cup of tea, smiled slightly at Lettuce and went out to sit in the café and watch Ichigo overworking herself. Happy to see that she was accepted, Lettuce thought about the offer.

"I don't mind", finally responded Lettuce looking at her hands. "But I'm not sure I'll be the best waitress, I'm quite clumsy."

"Lettuce-chan, we really want you here. I'm sure you'll be an asset to our group", Akasaka-san said glancing furtively at Ryo.

"If it's about those girls earlier, don't worry they won't bother you here.", Ryou encouraged her.

XXX

After that, she had to accept the offer. Everyone was so kind and it also got her the chance to spent more with Ryou. She couldn't stop from thinking of him as Ryou. She blushed at her own mental audacity. Once she found her uniform, the same as Ichigo's and Minto's, but in green, she hastily put it on and went to the front door. On her way, she bumped into Ryou who caught her just in time before she fell on her butt once again.

"Are you alright?", he wondered.

"Y-yes", she responded shyly.

Then an awkward silence grew between the two of them. Both trying not to catch the eyes of the other.

"You-..."

"I-...", they both said at the same time.

"Um... go ahead", said Lettuce hastily.

"Oh, well. I was just going to say that the uniform suits you", Ryou complimented her.

"T-thank you", she stuttered and blushed even more. "Now, um... I should go now. They're going to open the café soon"

"Yeah", he said looking at her walking away.

Once she arrived at the front door, Ichigo, Mint and Akasaka-san were already there prepared to greet clients.

"Ready?", asked Ichigo. "We're opening now"

When they open the door, people were already waiting in line outside.

"Welcome to Café Mew Mew", they all greeted happily in unison.

XXX

Okay, so I've updated once again my story. The changes are not so important that you have to reread I just thought some things could be arrange. Thanks for reading and don't be afraid to review :D