Summary: A love story of how something so simple in the beginning can lead to something much more in the end.

Full Summary: After Ryou and Ichigo have a huge fight that leads to them breaking something dear to Keiichiro, Keiichiro takes a few weeks off to vacation, leaving Ichigo and Ryou all of his responsibilities. Which means they're forced to work together before Keiichiro returns home. How will they ever survive? RyouXIchigo

Disclaimer: I do not own Tokyo Mew Mew.

The sound of the antique glass vase crashing into the floor was so loud and so heartbreaking that for a moment after the shock of what had just happened cleared, there was only silence. Silence that was so loud, it rang in my ears. I could hear myself breathing. Each breath was long and slow, which quickly began to change as I glanced at ever shiny piece of glass on the tile floor.

"Oh no," I breathed, crouching down to pick up a piece to the vase. Purple and blue and white glass laid in tiny bits and shards all around my feet, their sharp edges sparkling in the sun that fell from the hallway window. My heart sank in my chest as I realized that the vase Ryou and I had just damaged belonged to Keiichiro.

"Oh shit!" I heard Ryou curse as he hurriedly bent down next to me, gathering as many pieces as he could into his hands. I shook my head, knowing there was no way we were going to fix the broken antique.

Inhaling deeply, I stood back up and said, "We have to go tell Keiichiro."

Ryou looked like he was in a state of complete shock as he stared at the broken pieces. His hands shook as he dropped the shards he had gathered back onto the floor. Running both palms through his blond hair, Ryou stood back up and looked at me.

I stared back and after a few seconds, he broke our silence, "You idiot!" He growled, "If it hadn't been for you, and your non-stop arguing about, 'you work me to the bone', 'you're an asshole', 'this café needs a makeover' nonsense this wouldn't have happened!"

Immediately I felt the air change and it was back to the same old arguing as before, "You suck! I can't believe you're blaming this all on me! You know that you were the one who was being reckless and stumbled back into the pedestal, knocking over Keiichiro's vase!"

"If you hadn't started pushing me, then it could've been avoided!" Ryou shouted back, waving his hands in the air.

"What," Keiichiro's soft but welcoming voice drifted into the hallway, making Ryou and I spin around in unison, "could've been avoided?"

My mouth dropped open as I stared at Keiichiro's steely gaze. He looked as if he was tired and annoyed and fed up with all of Ryou's and mine arguing. But his expression also looked as if he knew what was coming next, as if he already knew that his antique vase that had been handed down to him from generations was demolished into little tiny pieces at our feet.

Keiichiro tried to keep a smile as he stepped into the hallway, his shoes clacking as he took each stride. Finally as he strode closer, his shoe made a sickening crunching sound, the sound of a piece of vase breaking underneath his foot. Once again, there was silence.

Keiichiro looked up from where he stood, his body still in mid step, his foot still standing over the forever irreplaceable glass. Closer now, Keiichiro looked as if he were about to commit murder.

"What have I just stepped on?" He asked, his voice icy and totally foreign.

"Antique glass," I answered, feeling my pulse start to race.

"From what?"

"Your antique vase," Ryou seconded.

The hallway settled again in the loudest silence. After a few seconds, Keiichiro sighed and lifted his foot, staring down at the tiny, tiny white shards of vase. Ryou and I followed Keiichiro's gaze and also stared at the shards. I blinked once then twice before looking up at Keiichiro, his expression dead and gone. He had clearly drifted to another place as he stared at his broken vase.

"Keiichiro. I-," I looked at Ryou, "we are sooo sorry. We didn't mean to do this. It really was just an accident."

Ryou grumbled quietly and whispered under his breath, "What do you mean 'we'?" but I ignored him, looking at my friend as he stared at the glass on the floor. I leaned closer to Keiichiro and sat my hand on his shoulder, trying not to move to refrain from stepping on any of the glass. When he didn't look up, I looked at Ryou, narrowing my eyes and tilting my head towards his best friend. I mouthed, "Do something!" and Ryou sighed, shrugging his shoulders.

"Keiichiro," he began, "I know Ichigo probably wont be able to pay for any of this, but I give you permission to keep her as your slave for a month."

"Oh that's great!" I replied sarcastically, "You're such a heartless dick! I can't believe you would actually say something like that. Do you have any social skills at all? First you wont even help apologize-"

"Apologize? You're the one who broke the vase!" Ryou argued.

"I did not." I was flabbergasted, "You are horrible! Ho-rr-i-ble. How dare you place all the blame on me. You are to blame as much as I am."

"See? There you go, Keiichiro. Ichigo admits to breaking your vase."

I stamped my foot, "You! You are so irritating! I can't believe you don't even have enough bal-"

"Enough what? Enough what! Go on Ichigo. What do I not have enough of?"

"Balls! There! I said it! Balls. Ryou, you inconspicuous ass, you don't have enough balls to even speak kindly to your best friend."

"Oh shut the hell up-"

"Don't you dare tell me to shut the hell up-"

"I just did didn't I?"

"Ryou, I swear to the heavens above-"

"What are you going to do? What are you going to do?"

"Ryou!"

"Ichigo!"

"Would you two both just shut your mouths for three seconds?" Keiichiro's voice finally broke our argument and in shock, we both stared at our friend.

Keiichiro bent down to the tile floor and sighed, picking up a few pieces of vase. After gathering about a handful, he stood up and looked from Ryou to me. He really did look exhausted. The bags under his eyes were dark and sunken in. His skin was pale and his expression looked like he was tired of everything. I wasn't sure what Keiichiro's reaction was going to be and for a moment as I stood watching him with curiosity, the worry began to set in.

Keiichiro had never since the day I met him, look so fed up and tired of life. He was always the man who had the smile on his face and knew exactly how to be just a ray of sunshine. Seeing him in a different state, with a completely different attitude, being someone I knew he wasn't, made every cell in my body tense and worry.

"Would you mind," he swallowed, "getting me a broom Ryou so I can sweep up my mess?"

"Sure." Ryou also looked worried and I glanced at him as I said, "W-We can clean it up Keiichiro. We're the ones who broke it after all. We should clean it."

"No," Keiichiro set the few larger shards on a low shelf that hung off the hallway wall, "it's my mess. I'll clean it."

With that, I watched Keiichiro lean against the wall and stare at the pieces of antique glass on the floor. I decided it was best for Keiichiro to be left alone so I followed Ryou down the stairs to the main café lobby and to the cleaning utensils closet. I took out the broom and he retrieved the dust pan from the closet and I sighed as we made our way back to the staircase.

"Ryou, what are we going to do? Keiichiro's really upset. I haven't seen him this bad since he drank too much at the Christmas party last year." I remembered the hung over snowy, morning afterwards and realized it wasn't any better.

Ryou sort of shrugged while he walked up the stairs, "Keiichiro is a grown man, Ichigo. He can handle this."

"That shouldn't be your reaction at all, Ryou." I scolded and grabbed his arm, making him pause on the staircase. He looked at me and scowled and I glared in return, "He's your best friend. This vase was clearly meaningful to him and we broke it. It's irreplaceable and you know that. You and I have to make this up to him."

Ryou crossed his arms, the dustpan dangling out of his right hand, "Okay. You're right. I'll handle it."

I grinned, "Good." and Ryou rolled his blue eyes in response, continuing up the staircase. Down the hall, Keiichiro had remained where he was and it was almost eerie watching him shadow over his broken vase. I had to stop and stare for a second before I should shake off the heebie-jeebies I got from watching my saddened friend.

After he took the broom and slowly began to sweep up his mess, I elbowed Ryou in the side and he yelped, grumbling at my pushiness, "I have to think of something first."

Keiichiro looked up at us and asked, "Think of what first?"

I cleared my throat, knowing that if Ryou didn't have anything in mind yet, then I could probably squeeze an idea from Keiichiro, "Keiichiro, how," I paused, "are you doing?"

Both he and Ryou stared at me as if to say, "How the hell do you think?"

I ignored their looks and went on, "How were you before the uh," I nodded my head to Ryou's and mine little broken vase birth, "accident."

He stared at me for a minute and then broke into a quiet chuckle, "Ichigo sometimes you are just such an odd one."

I didn't find that funny, amusing, or the best response at all. However, Ryou did because he had to stifle his laugh by turning away and pretending to cough. I glared and smacked him in the shoulder, whispering, "Got any better ideas yet, Shirogane?"

He grabbed my wrist and whispered harshly, "Not quite, Momomiya."

We stayed locked in a glaring staring contest battle for a good minute before Keiichiro cleared his throat and we both looked at him with his pan full of broken vase, "Excuse me. I need to dump this."

"You're not going to salvage it?" I asked, pulling away from Ryou to watch him walk down the hall.

Keiichiro shook his head and when he had disappeared down the stairs, Ryou sniffed, "Oh yeah? What was he going to do with it? Make a stained glass window?"

"Oh yeah, because you're so funny." I glared and smacked Ryou again on the back. In response this time he whipped around and pinned me against the wall. I kicked him twice in the shin and scrambled away, skipping down the hall like a mouse escaping a cat.

"I'm contemplating murdering you," he growled as he rubbed his shin. I smirked in response and tiptoed back over to him before Keiichiro returned. He shook his head as approached us then, he looked at Ryou and I and sighed, "See? This is how stuff gets broken. I could hear you guys hitting walls from downstairs in the café . This is ridiculous, the way you two fight. It's been escalating for years now and no one has grown up enough to stop it.

"Look at you both. How old are you now? Twenty-one and eighteen? You're both adults but you still act like children. It's like the arguing and fighting never end. More than anything, I'm not upset so much that the vase is broken but how you two in your carelessness broke it. And with that, you both haven't even learned from your actions. Rather than both go your separate ways and stay away from each other, you both come back and begin the same nonsense as before.

"This fighting is not only ruining our business but it's also ruining everyone's friendship. Ryou, you over everyone should realize this. You're the boss. This is your store you're running and you've done nothing to help it with this fighting. You're a grown man and it's your responsibility to keep this place up and running but your actions recently are questioning whether or not you are capable of holding onto this job position. And Ichigo, you just turned eighteen. You're the one I expect the best from but from this arguing and fighting, I've found no improvement. You of all people should know better than to roughhouse around and ruin everything. You're a woman now, not a young teenager fighting aliens again. You both have been disappointing not only me, but everyone else with your behavior. The girls look up to you both and you let them down when you act like this.

"I'm very sick and tired of you both. I feel drained of everything and it's because you both don't know how to let up. So now the question is whether you two can even get along."

With that, Keiichiro let out a long sigh and both Ryou and I had to stand there with our mouths hanging wide open.

I honestly had not been expecting the lecture I had gotten from Keiichiro and much to my surprise, I was blown away by his words. Not only was I blown away, but I was refreshed and actually a little enlightened by what my friend had said. I had no idea that Ryou and I had been causing the trouble that he described we were. It was hard to face the facts that in every way, he was right. We both were grown up. We both were being reckless and careless. We both were causing everyone trouble and that was the worst part. It was hard knowing that we were being so immature.

When I looked up from where my gaze had fallen on my feet, I watched Keiichiro rub his brow line and give a long exhale of breath, "I've made me decision regarding the next few weeks."

Ryou and I glanced at each other, as if not knowing what he meant, but Keiichiro finished, "I think it's time that I take a couple weeks off."

"Like a vacation?" I asked slowly, still not finished absorbing all of his words from before.

He nodded and looked at me, "It's not finalized but you're going to be covering for me. Everything I do, you'll have to do. You'll have to take over for me."

I stared at him, feeling both concerned and privileged. Ryou sneered and crossed his arms, huffing out a 'Ha!'. Keiichiro turned his gaze from me to Ryou and narrowed his eyes, "She'll be your official right hand man so don't degrade her."

"Whatever," Ryou rolled his eyes, "I'll be fine by myself."

Keiichiro continued to stare with narrowed eyes and finally said, "There is a catch, Ryou."

Ryou looked at Keiichiro as if secretly communicating with him and finally asked, "That is?"

"Since I'm trusting that you both will have to get along, I expect you both to work together. All the time, with everything. Paying bills, talking to the bank, running a business, waiting on tables, making the food, ordering what we're low on, cleaning, stocking, and closing everyday. Basically you'll both be doing your jobs plus more. And you'll both be doing it," he paused for comical emphasis, "together."

Ryou looked more shocked by this than I did. Stifling a giggle at my boss's reaction, I returned my attention to Keiichiro, nodding as he spoke, knowing this was the best way both Ryou and I could make it up to our friend for breaking something that was dear to him. After he finished, Keiichiro gave a long sigh and smiled, "We'll talk about this more later. But it is just a heads up."

"When are you planning on leaving?" I asked.

Keiichiro looked at the sleeve of his arm and said nonchalantly, "Oh. Probably tomorrow."

"What!" Ryou screamed, throwing out his hands to his sides.

"Wow. Really?" I replied, narrowing my eyes at Ryou as he grumbled angrily. Keiichiro eyed his friend and pulled up the sleeve of his arm.

"Yeah. I'll finalize my decision tonight." he smiled, "But I trust that you both will do well."

I grinned as I watched Keiichiro stretch his arms up and glance over his shoulder. He slipped his hands in his pockets and said, "I guess I better go pack then."

"This is stupid. I can't believe Keiichiro. He never just decides to take off, even when things are bad and he's exhausted." Ryou said later that evening as we began to clean up and close the café. I turned a chair upside down and sat it on the table before I looked up at Ryou. His eyes were narrowed and his arms were crossed angrily as he took one last look around the café. I rolled my eyes and took off my apron, "You really need to relax about this. I mean, Keiichiro needs a break. We owe this to him. And he's right, we really do need to grow up. This is probably for the best."

Ryou snorted and answered, "I'll have you know either way, I wont need your help. I can run and manage this place on my own. I've done it before, I'll do it again."

I shrugged my shoulders as I took the broom that leaned against the café wall, "It doesn't matter to me what you think. I'm doing this for Keiichiro because I actually feel bad about breaking his vase. Whether you like it or not, we're working together. And keep in mind this is for your best friend and my boss."

"I'm your boss too and if I don't need your help, then don't give it."

"Keiichiro said-!"

"Keiichiro isn't always helping me either." Ryou interrupted and I glared.

"He does more than you do, you jerk!" I dropped the broom on the floor and marched away, deciding that it was better to stay away from Ryou like Keiichiro had said. I rubbed my brow line as I walked through the kitchen doors and up to the sink next to Pudding who was washing dishes very slowly. She looked up at me from the stool she sat on and I stared back.

"Want to dry?" She nodded towards a stack of wet plates.

"Why don't you head on home early Pudding. I'll handle the rest of the dishes," I nudged her with my hip and she smiled, hopping off the stool, her dark blond curls bouncing as she did so. She got to the door of the kitchen and asked, "Don't I have to ask Ryou to go home early?"

I smiled and shook my head, "Nah. I'm partly in charge now so you can shake it."

Pudding shrugged and waved as she left through the front doors. I sat down on the stool, staring at the dishes in the sink, the bubbles popping quietly. I stuck my hand into the water and swished it around until my fingers hit the pointed edge of a fork. Taking it from the water, I ran the sponge over the cool silver and sat it next to the other silverware that would probably enter the dishwasher for a rinse. Several minutes passed and I continued to stare at the murky water, thinking about what Keiichiro had said earlier.

Working together with Ryou Shirogane hadn't worked out so well over the years of knowing him. Whether we were simply cleaning up the café or decorating for the holidays, something always went wrong and a fight always broke out. And we both never hesitated to get physical. Don't get me wrong, nothing went beyond playful hits or soft wrist grabs but it was the fact that we did try to beat each other up.

Before Ryou and I had broken the vase, our argument had simply began with talking about changing hours. Zakuro in whatever spare time she had for this part time job could never make it quite on time and I was always coming in much earlier. From looking at the schedule, if I had switched with Zakuro, she could make it on time and I could stop spending my free time in the back break room.

Although the idea was good, Ryou found that messing with Zakuro's hours would lead to Pudding and Lettuce working at later times to cover for me. And even if they were simple changes, it was clear that it would have turned into a big hassle for Ryou. And instead of me giving up, I continued to insist that he give it a try, which in frustration had led to us pushing each other around and Ryou knocking over the vase.

I knew Ryou hadn't meant to be so nonchalant about the vase breaking because even though he said he thought it was entirely my fault, I could tell he was beating himself up over it. We both knew, everyone knew that the antique vase was something special to Keiichiro. Ryou's cold exterior and tense body language may have suggested otherwise but I could tell by the look in his eyes that he felt bad about what he had done.

I blew a strand of hair from my face after I finished the dishes. I threw the smaller things into the dishwasher and heaved a sigh. "Almost done here." I thought and glanced out the kitchen window at Ryou sitting on a chair, his hand moving as he wrote a list of what had to be done in the morning, something he had always done. He looked up from where he sat and rolled his eyes as he caught me looking. I made a face in return and watched him smirk and lean back in his chair, probably chuckling quietly at my childish antics. I turned away from the window and grabbed the mop from the rolling bucket, thinking, "There's no way we'll be able to work together."

...to be continued...

A/N: Hello all and welcome to Best Served Cold. This is indeed a one shot, something I may or may not continue depending on how I feel. This will probably be a short story with not that many chapters and not necessarily a giant plot. For those who are new to my stories, hi, welcome. I am still working on Disarranged and Misfitted at the moment, but I have a little bit of a writers block so I probably wont be continuing that one until I can get my juices flowing again. Well not much else to say except I love feedback and I would appreciate some constructive criticism or a nice review. I do not appreciate flames so for those who dislike my story, feel free to review but do not flame or write something rude. Sometimes I make the characters a little out of character but I do want people to realize that they are a lot older in my stories so try to have an open mind about how they would think. Other than that, see you next time. -Kristen