A/N: Hello all! This is a new story I just finished. It's Ryou and Ichigo and I am entering it into another Ryou and Ichigo contest held by animejuliet. So, please vote for it if you like it. I hope you do. Now, everything in italics are Ichigo's thoughts, and I might repeat some things in her thoughts because that is what she is thinking. So, yeah. I hope you enjoy it. By the way, sakura biyori means cherry blossom weather. You will understand when you reach the end of my story. It's also the name of a song from the anime Bleach. He he.
Disclaimer: I do not own Tokyo Mew Mew. Mia Ikumi and Reiko Yoshida do. If I did, I would have killed Masaya off a long time ago.
Sakura Biyori
I feel so very alone right now. Where is everyone? Why can't I find all my friends? Where are they? And Masaya.... Where is he? Why can't I find him?
Ichigo was laying on a hospital bed, unconcious. She had been hit by a car as she was walking across the street to the cafe where she worked. Everyone was gathered around her. The doctors didn't know if she was ever going to wake up. Mint looked around and saw Masaya standing by the window. He didn't look very happy. So, Mint went over to talk to him.
"Hey, how are you feeling?" Mint asked him.
"Huh? Oh, I'm fine," he said unconvincily. "Do you think she will wake up?"
"The doctor said he didn't know," Mint said, frowning. "But, I know Ichigo. She will wake up. She is too strong to let herself stay like this."
"But, the doctors said that IF she woke up, she would be a vegatable. And to be honest, I don't think I can handle that," Masaya said.
The group was shocked, but the person who spoke to Masaya wasn't Mint, it was Ryou.
"So, you are going to dump her if she's a vegatable?" Ryou asked, half growling.
"There is no point in being in a relationship with someone I would have to take care of."
"How can you be so heartless?" Berry asked. "Ichigo loves you! I thought you loved her, too!"
"Actually, for the past couple of months, I had been seeing someone else. This is a good reason to get rid of her."
"Why you!" Ryou said, starting toward Masaya.
Keiichiro and Tasuku grabbed Ryou's arms and held him back from attacking Masaya.
"I think you should leave," Zakuro said. "We will let Ichigo know how you feel when she wakes up. Don't even try to come back to see her and don't even try to see her outside of the hospital. There is no reason for you to see her now."
"I'm finally rid of her," Masaya said.
He walked out of the room and Tasuku and Keiichiro released Ryou.
"Why did you hold me back?" he asked angerly. "I wanted to rip him to shreds! Did you hear the way he was talking about her?!"
"I was just as upset," Tasuku said, "but we need to be calm for Ichigo's sake. We can't start fights in her hospital room, but if we see him outside, I won't stop you."
Ryou walked over to Ichigo's side and grabbed her hand. It was still warm, so he knew she was still alive. He didn't trust all the machines hooked up to her.
"Please, Ichigo, don't die on me. I don't want to lose someone close to me, again."
"Please, Ichigo, don't die on me. I don't want to lose someone close to me, again." Whose voice is that? I should know. It sounds so familar. And who is someone holding my hand? It feels so gentle. Whoever it is, I don't want them to let go of my hand.
One Week Later
Ichigo had been in a coma for over a week now, and Ryou had never left her side. When visting hours where over, he stayed out in the waiting room until visiting hours started again. No matter what the others said, he wouldn't go home. He was going to stay with her until she woke up. He kept talking to her, hoping that she would hear him, and that she would wake up. He talked about the aliens and the Mew Mews and her friends, hoping to get some sort of reaction from her. He did this everyday. One day while he was talking, all the machines started to beep, and nurses and doctors came rushing in.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"We need to ressucitate her!" one of the doctors yelled, ignoring Ryou.
It finally dawned on Ryou that she was dying. He pushed his way through the crowd of nurses and doctors and grabbed her hand.
"Ichigo! Listen to me! I love you! Please, don't die on me! I promise I will be nicer to you and I will tell you I love you! Please, just wake up!"
I see a bright light up ahead of me. It's a warm light. I should walk toward it. I know I will be safe there. "Ichigo! Listen to me! I love you! Please, don't die on me! I promise I will be nicer to you and I will tell you I love you! Please, just wake up!" That voice.... I've heard that voice somewhere before. It was coming from the dark part of the tunnel behind me. If I go back, what would I face? The voice was echoing in my head. Was it Masaya? It couldn't be, his voice wasn't that masculine, besides, why would he need to be nice to me? He had always been nice to me. There was only one other person it could be. I think it is....
"Ryou!" Ichigo called out, her eyes opening.
She was surprised to see herself surrounded by a group of doctors and nurses, but what surprised her the most was Ryou. He was gripping her hand and looked like he was about to cry.
"Ichigo! You finally woke up!" he said.
He leaned down and hugged her, and she blushed.
"R-Ryou? What happened?" she asked.
"You were hit by a car, and you in a coma. We didn't know if you were ever going to wake up," he said.
"I can't feel my legs," she said, panic starting to rise in her chest. "Why can't I feel my legs?!"
"Well, you were paralyzed from the waist down. There may be a time when you can walk again, but not now," Ryou said, still holding her hand.
"I want to start now! I want the use of my legs now!" she said. "And where is Masaya? I want to see him."
"Well, you see, Masaya won't be coming back," Ryou said.
"What do you mean?"
Ryou looked into her eyes and sighed.
"I guess I better tell you," he said.
A Few Months Later
Ichigo was regaining the use of her legs. The break up was like a fire inside of her. She wanted to be able to walk up to him and show him that she wasn't a vegatable at all. All through this time, Ryou had been by her side, along with all of her other friends. She was lucky to have them, she didn't think she would be able to get through any of this alone.
As time passed, she started to walk on her own, she didn't need the help of anyone. Finally, the day of her release was upon her. She was so happy. She hadn't been outside at all. She wanted to focus on getting the use of her legs back. Ryou was the one who showed up to take her home.
"I have a surprise for you first," he said, walking with Ichigo through the halls.
He stopped her and put a blindfold over her eyes. Then he lead her out of the hospital and into a waiting car. After awhile, they stopped and and helped her out of the car. He untied her blindfold and she found herself among cherry blossom trees. They were in bloom, since it was spring. All of her friends were there, too.
"I promised that I would tell you something when you woke up, and I haven't kept my promise, but I will keep my promise now. Ichigo, I love you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. You are all I think about."
He leaned over and kissed her, in full view of her friends and family. She was surprised at first, but after she got over the shock she was able to kiss him back. This all seemed right to her. Being wrapped in his arms felt good. She continued to kiss him, among the cherry trees, in the cherry blossom weather.
The End
A/N: Well, what did you think? I think it turned out ok. So, I finished it before the deadline. And the deadline is April 2nd. I also wrote this in one day. Yay, Smurf! I was fighting writer's block, but then when I saw the deadline was Friday, it was like a fire was lit inside me and I worked until I finished it. So, I hope you enjoy it. No Mew Mew Crew today, just me. Anyways, read and review. Constructive criticism is allowed, but please no flames.
