Ichigo strolled happily down the moonlit street, in utter bliss and happiness.
She had her favorite strawberry flavored, whipped cream, chocolate ice cream in her hand.
It tasted delicious, she thought absently mildly, licking it in the cool night air.
It was the perfect night, she decided finally, absolutely perfect for her birthday. It wasn't too hot and it wasn't to cold.
Though it was dark the moon lit a clear pathway ahead of her and everything looked extremely serene.
Ichigo glanced sideways, through her strawberry-colored hair, at the handsome boy next to her.
If someone had told her this morning who she would be spending her birthday with she would have told them they were crazy.
Yet here she was with Ryou Shriogane.
It was strange spending the day with her young boss and friend, but she had to admit she enjoyed it, even through the sometimes bickering they thrust at each other.
Infact, Ichigo was supposed to be spending the whole day with her boyfriend Masaya but he had called that morning apologizing profusely that his mother had gotten extremely ill and he had to take care of her.
She had offered to help him take care of her, but being the sweet gentle guy he was, he said no. He didn't want her to spend her birthday in the hospital.
"Go have some fun, he told her, find your friends" He told her this morning and she had relented and decided to.
Well Ryou shirogane was her friend and she did have a good time so she filled the requirements.
Still she was uneasy in telling Masaya who she had spent her day with.
He unfortunately did not get along well with Ryou and she wasn't sure why.
Sure Ichigo got angry at Ryou sometimes but they got along-somewhat. He had saved her life in numerous occasions and that meant she had his back. Which led into minor, small fights sometimes with her boyfriend.
But it never lasted long, they couldn't stand mad at each other forever.
So that morning she had looked for her friends, mint, pudding, zakuro and mint. She had hoped maybe they could get off work from the café and go catch a movie or make plans with her.
Ichigo being the persistent girl she was had refused to work on her birthday and managed from a reluctant and grudging Ryou that she could have the day off.
Who would have thought that she would come to the café on her birthday. They all would have been surprised to see her at it.
But they didn't because they had made plans to go to the beach early that morning and take opportunity of the sunny weather and suddenly she was left alone.
It had looked like it was going to be a gloomy birthday rather then a good one and she had even contemplated going back to work.
But instead….Ryou shrigoane and bought her dinner and walked through shops, where he bought her an amazingly expensive present.
It was really unexpected of him.
Now at ten-thirty at night, she lagged slightly behind him, feeling slightly exhausted.
Excitement had gotten the better of her and now she just wanted to sit down, She had to say Ryou was fit because he was way ahead of her, not slowing or tiring but just going his steady energetic pace.
Hmm….maybe I need to exercise more
"Hey Ryou" Ichigo called to him " Do you think we could sit down? My legs hurt"
He seemed slightly surprised, but shrugged nether less and pointed to a two-seater bench under a cherry blossom tree.
AW. It's so cuute
It was cute, a romantic spot. She could even picture Masaya kissing her softly under the blowing branches.
But definitely not Ryou.
Ew. About summed that up.
She sighed dreamily, in her own fantasy, standing stock-still going back to Masaya…
"What are you doing?"
Ryou's voice pierced her ears and she squeaked ears reddening.
"N-nothing" She stammered.
Inwardly she was beating herself up at how stupid she must have looked.
No, he was looking at her like she was insane.
"Stop looking at me like that!" She snapped, making her way to bench.
Ryou shoved his hands in his pockets, and muttered sarcastically "Thanks for the thank you by the way- I can feel your overwhelming rush of gratitude"
"Oh yeah –well"
She looked up at him with a small glare, he had sulky yet superior expression on his face.
His stupid flawless face.
He sat down beside her, hands on his knees, not looking at her.
He didn't talk to her.
She didn't talk to him.
Ichigo was angry at him, but yet she didn't know why…
It was just like her to over-react at him.
After all he had done for her, she sighed softly.
"I'm sorry, she whispered, I was being a jerk. You didn't deserve that and I really did have a nice birthday thank you" Her voice was filled with sincerity.
Ryou still didn't respond but his frown was definitely fading.
"Ryou…., she trailed off thinking, Your one of my good friends…I never realized that before and though it may seem weird, with all the fighting and everything."
She tugged at his ear when he didn't turn.
"Ryou" She whined, breathing into his ear.
He jumped back startled, inching away from her.
Ichigo grinned, finally a response.
"Come on Ryou, you know I love you! You're a friend!"
"A friend…." His voice trailed off with a wistful smile.
"Are you okay Ryou?" Ichigo lay a hand on his shoulder her eyes brimming with concern.
He really doesn't seem to be acting himself today….i wonder what's wrong with him…I hope he's not sick…..
"Ryou?" Her voice lingered in the silence.
Ryou turned to face her and his eyes seemed to widen.
She had without her or his realization had come right up beside him and when he had turned round to face her, their proximity of closeness might have even been miss-seen as kissing.
Ichigo could see her brightly flushed face reflected in his eyes, feel his breathe on her cheek, smell the masculine scent he had on his skin, and sense the static between them.
Static of what, she wasn't so sure.
She didn't move and she wasn't sure why.
She just stood their not moving forward or backward, waiting for his mood and his reaction.
She expected a rough push back at any moment and a look of disgust on his face.
Ichigo didn't want to see it, didn't want to see his angry face at what she had done.
Broken their boundaries, made things awkward…
Then why aren't I moving back….why am I waiting for his first move, I can step back first..
Ichigo was about to do so, eyes still lowered when suddenly his lips pressed against hers.
What? She couldn't even seem to comprehend it or at the fact of why Ryou was kissing her out of the blue in the first place.
And then she stopped caring.
And didn't try to comprehend it, lost in the moment of arousal and desire.
She forget the person she was kissing was her boss, Ryou and the biggest jerk in the planet.
His lips were hot and brushed gently against her own, leaving her agonizing for more.
He gave more.
His lips pressed harder against her own firmly tight ones, wanting entry.
She slid her mouth open slightly and his tongue tactfully pried it open completely giving him entry into her mouth.
His arms slid from her shoulders to the blades of her back and drew her closer to him. She didn't resist.
Her chin was tilted upward, her eyes closed, enjoying the sensation of him holding her.
His body pressed against her own and---
" Look at those two, I told you that was the most romantic spot in the world it can bring anyone together" A passerby commented to his friend beside him as they walked on by.
Those words seemed to break the spell on the two.
In an instant they were as far away from each other as possible, eyeing each other with cautious eyes.
It was cold and she missed his warmth.
Still in their eyes had come the realization of what they had done.
They had kissed.
She had kissed her boss. She had kissed Ryou! She had kissed Ryou while she was going out with masaya! She had cheated!
Ichigo wanted to cry, she loved masaya….now everything was messed up.
Why did she kiss him?
Why did he kiss her?
Why did she let him?
These thoughts raced through her mind though she was calm on the outside. The only giveaway was the shaking of her hands which showed her hysteria.
They had done wrong.
"I….I didn't mean to…I don't know what happened". He didn't look at her In the eyes, just his shoes.
She had never seen him like this, afraid to look at her, ashamed.
She had to respond, right. Slowly she forced her lips to move, the lips that Ryou had just kissed moments ago.
"Me neither….Just…it just happened,"
He shrugged trying to make it out as no big deal but he didn't look at her.
Her heart sank, what would happen to their friendship now? Would it just be to awkward to have normal conversations with him now?
"Let's just forget about it" He continued. "No one has to no, it can be our little secret"
She nodded, unable to think of anything to say, after all it would be easier that way.
"Let's just go back to normal" She voiced, praying that would happen.
"Yeah…sure…" He muttered " Listen it's late….I gotta go"
He walked off, not looking to see if she was following behind him.
Ichigo felt so confused……but she wasn't going to think about it right now, just put it at the back of her mind till she was home and away from the guy who had made her life way to complicated then it already was.
Ryou Shirogane.