Yeees! Looketh this, I have completed yet another chapter, which means 19 more to go. Just watch, when I get to Chapter 15, I'll be halfway done. So I'll be nice and throw a big party for everybody, okay!? Yup, wouldn't that be awesome? I'll have animal cracker goody bags for you all to snack on. And you'll love me forever. Yes, you will. :D

So, anyhoo! Well, according to last chapter's poll, it seems that my best work so far would be Chapter 4. Although Chapter 10 was really close up, which really doesn't help me as to whether I did better at the beginning or more towards the present. Oh well. Either way, I'll just have to face my instincts, write the best I can, and I hope I do not fail you all. Also, here's an update at the story's stats: 90 favorites, 83 alerts, and 244 reviews. Isn't that so pretty?

As for this chapter, well ... meh. This is another one I wasn't so proud of, but really that's cause I wrote this chapter without knowing what the heck I was doing. I didn't have any real plans for this one, so I just wrote whatever came to mind, so if it's a bit messy, please excuse me for that. I still hope you enjoy it though. :)

XI. GARDENIA

Can you see the young and pretty, confident as cops
Blooming, laughing in the shops, till the sun turns black
Time goes slowly when you're only waiting, till the sun turns black
Can you see the wise man simply living, loving quietly
Every breath he takes eternity, till the sun turns black
-'Till The Sun Turns Black' by Ray Lamontagne

"Hi, I'm macho-man Ryou. I like to be a big old meanie and pick on innocent little girls. I also like starting meaningless bets to make out with people cause I can't get myself a girlfriend! Oh, and I think I'm way too cool for people although I really am not. But that doesn't stop me from trying to be!"

Ryou sweatdropped. "How is that being me? I do not act like that, Ichigo," he noted to her, standing aside, arms crossed.

Ichigo knew Ryou obviously didn't talk like that, but she was still having fun doing it. "What's that you say? I'm trying to listen to you, but all I hear is this annoyed low-pitched sound. It sort of sounds like a honking or something like haaaawck or something."

"Ichigo–"

"Oh, there's the sound again!" She said, with a smile. She was enjoying the upset expression on his face. She knew he hated it when she was getting to him, instead of it being the other way around. Then again, that wasn't really fair considering there was no reason why she should be the only one getting the torture. "Hey! You're supposed to be acting like me!"

Ryou just walked along the sidewalk, ignoring her.

"You're so cheap," she muttered. It was then that a shiny little lightbulb formed above her head. "How about we make a bet to see who can stand being the other the longest?"

"I'm currently trying to get out of the last bet I started," he said, sighing. He closed his eyes for a moment, seeming to be lost in his thoughts. When he reopened them, he looked over at Ichigo. "Hey let's have our little day of fun! Let's go!"

Ichigo burst into giggles, coughing to return to normal. "That is such a stupid idea," she muttered, trying to place a glare on her face. Though considering the hilarity of the situation, it was quite difficult to keep a straight face.

"No, you're stupid," Ryou replied, though his expression didn't quite match his squeaky-sounding tone. He still had his casual look along with his arms crossed, which exactly scream out his excitement in Ichigo's little idea. It was this that made Ichigo wonder if Ryou ever even had any fun at all. How did the guy live like this?

She still couldn't get why Ryou had to be all tough all the time. Couldn't he just put on a smile and admit it when he was happy when the time came? Why pretend that everyone pissed him off and that he didn't give a damn about anything? Maybe he just needed to get out more and learn to appreciate the goodness of the world. Hmm. Thank goodness she was here to rescue him from damnation.

"You make the worst me ever," she stated flatly. "We'll need something to spice this up a bit," she looked around the area, trying to form another idea. However, this wasn't exactly something Ryou should have been ecstatic about. After all, the ideas that formed in Ichigo's head weren't always the wisest things. "That's it! Come on!"

Ryou had no choice but to follow her, as she dragged him by the arm towards what seemed to be a perfume stand. "Um, Ichigo? What exactly are we doing?" He asked, just as Ichigo sprayed something out of a bottle in his direction. "Hey! You trying to blind me, strawberry!?"

She giggled. "Well, if you're gonna be me, you have to smell like me," she said, holding up the bottle. "See? Gardenia. Now you smell like pretty flowers."

Ryou coughed, examining the bottle. "Oh, great. Now you have me smelling like a girl," he shook his head, wondering what other surprises Ichigo had for him. "Like this is the best day ever!" He exclaimed, once again, bringing out the high-pitched voice.

"I know! Isn't it!?" Ichigo replied, still giggling. Whether she had sensed the sarcasm from him or not wasn't exactly clear. "Maybe we should dye your hair too. Then we can go shopping and buy you a skirt!"

"Oh, god, no," Ryou began walking away from her, hoping to escape her irritable insanity. "I am not going to continue putting up with this. The only thing that's come out of today is the fact that you're nothing but a mad woman. I'm going back to the café."

Ichigo followed behind him. "Aww, Ryou, wait! Alright, I know I may be crazy, but you just need to do more with your life, you know. And we're not going back to the café yet. You spend way too much time locked up in there and it's good for you to just walk outside and take a few deep breaths."

"Right. All I heard there was "I know I may be crazy" and then white noise," he replied, shoving his hands in his pocket, as he walked faster, though she ran a few steps here and there, so that she could keep caught up with him. They ended up walking into a small park, though he did not stop, probably hoping she'd just end up tripping and falling or that something would just fall out of the sky and land on her.

"You know something? I actually think I'm getting a bit better with this whole translating-Ryou thing," she said, stepping in front of him to prevent him from continuing to walk forward.

Ryou raised an eyebrow. "Translating-Ryou thing?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "It's like whatever you say just ends up having a double meaning to it. You say one thing, but mean another. And it's all part of this little act of yours to pretend like you don't give a damn about anything, but you actually do. Then you just set up these double standards where you can just step all over me and say what you want, but then you get all pissed off if I just say so much as one word that could offend you."

He didn't say anything and just stared away from her. Still, she knew she was speaking the truth and nothing he could say could change that.

"You pretend you're not listening to me, but you hear every word I say; you just don't want to admit that I know what I'm talking about. You say you think this day of fun thing is stupid, but in truth, if you did think that, you wouldn't have agreed to it in the first place. And you told me you don't need friends, but in fact, you probably just want someone to spend some time with."

Ryou signed, and finally opened his mouth to speak. "... What are you, my psychiatrist? You really should quit trying to talk all wisely and all."

Ichigo crossed her arms, watching him as he began to walk again. "Which means, "Wow, Ichigo, you really do understand me"."

After spending so much time with the guy, it wouldn't be long when eventually she'd get used to his doublespeak. Still, even now, his words were still occasionally quite the thinker for her. She wondered why he worked so hard to be so complicated. Couldn't he just say what he meant when he meant it and make lives easier for all of those who spoke with him?

"No, it means to quit with the smart talk, and let me go home," he muttered, stepping through the grass. "You could really do something more useful with your time. Or do what you little girls do for fun. Go party, have a sleepover, paint your nails, I don't care. Just don't–" He was interrupted, when he suddenly knocked his foot into a hard, solid object, causing him to trip over into the ground.

Just as Ichigo was about to say something, water splashed into her face as the sprinkles in the ground turned on. "Oh, well, that's really wise, smart guy," she said, attempting to block the water from hitting her face further. She hopped over in front of him and kneeled down. "Are you alright?"

Ryou lifted his head from the ground. His eyes were still closed, as he attempted to spit out bits of grass from his mouth. "You're just dying to burst out laughing at this, aren't you?"

Well, that was true. She bit her lip, though, knowing this was probably embarrassing for him. And though she should have been taking advantage of this moment to make fun of him, she decided against it, as she wiped a bit of dirt from his face. "Come on, I'll help you up," she said, taking his arm.

Who knew why she chose not to make fun of him? After all, if it was her, Ryou would probably just put on a smirk, point and laugh at her, and then just casually walk away like his "cool", not-caring self.

He sighed, attempting to get up, but with the dirt now wet, the ground was slippery, thus causing him to fall down once again, this time, bringing Ichigo down with him.

"Oww!" Ichigo shouted, as her back landed hard on the wet grass. Instead of whining as she usually did when things went wrong, she began to laugh, as the water from the sprinkles splashed onto them. "Well, you can look at this way, at least you don't have to worry about smelling like a girl anymore."

"Right, because stinking of wet dirt is a lot better," he replied, but chuckled slightly this time. Although the dirt was sticky and mushed and the water was splashing everywhere, neither of them made a move to get up. As Ryou was about to say something, Ichigo had leaned over and kissed him lightly, causing him to blink repeatedly. "You just kissed me."

She nodded, laying back down on the ground. "I just kissed you. I'm supposed to be you, remember? And you're quite the kissing maniac, you know that."

"I thought we gave up on this whole switching thing. After all, there is no way in hell that I am going to continue waltzing around giggling and speaking only in squeaks like you. It's irritating and quite tiring, actually. Plus, you wanted to stick me in a skirt, and that is definitely not going to happen, Ichigo."

She shrugged, before twitching in disgust. "Eww, it feels like I just kissed mud. Yucky!"

Ryou laughed at that, "That's entirely your fault. I hadn't in any way forced you to kiss me. Besides, you're don't exactly taste any better either. That was probably the worst kiss I've ever experienced. Makes me never want to kiss you again."

"Hey!" She complained, but she was still struggling to stop from giggling. "Oh, good, that way, I can win this bet and you'll have to start paying me. Your choice, really," she said, knowing that he would end up kissing her, despite what he said. She said nothing to him about what she had thought about it. Truthfully, if he did stop, she'd actually be kind of disappointed. "Is it weird that I'm actually pretty comfortable right now?"

Ryou put his hands behind his head, staring up to the sky. "Well, we're in a park, laying on the mushy, wet dirt, getting soaked by the sprinklers. I would say that it's pretty weird," he admitted, nodding his head. "Although, I guess you're right. This doesn't feel so bad, actually."

It really wasn't so bad. Despite the mess that was occurring at the moment, it actually felt pretty relaxing to just lay down there without worrying too much about everything else that was going on. Ichigo liked this feeling to just take a chance to breathe, and not to be concerned about what everyone else was thinking.

This was different than when she was with Masaya. Whenever they were on a date or something, she would just end up spending most of it, worrying about making a mistake or whether she wasn't looking pretty or saying the wrong thing or doing something that would make him not like her anymore. Here, however, she felt so comfortable, just sitting there next to Ryou, covered in mud and getting soaked. It made absolutely no sense, but she didn't mind it so much.

She laughed in her head. This had in no way meant a thing. She still wasn't convinced that she was sprouting feelings for Ryou in any way. Sure, she was comfortable being around him, and didn't end up worrying about every little thing, but he was still ... well, he was Ryou. And that was reason enough to find this whole situation silly. She still loved Masaya, despite the fact that he had broken up with her, and that wasn't going to change. She'd fix things with him tomorrow, and everything would just go back to the way they were.

Then again, if she was so concerned with fixing things with Masaya, why hadn't she agreed to talk with him on the phone? Sure, she had wanted to just relax and see how things were with him. But if she loved him, why would she even want to see what life would be like without him? She should have known the answer to that already; she'd be completely broken and miserable. Yet, if that were the case, why wasn't she miserable right now?

She sighed. She was over-thinking again. "You're doing that thing again," she heard Ryou say.

She turned to him, confused. "Huh? What thing?"

"That thing where you drift off and start talking to yourself in your head," he stated. That was just silly. She did not talk to herself in her head. And that was not what she was doing now. "Don't look at me like I'm crazy. You know it's true. You're doing it right now." She was about to comment, but he continued, "No need to cover it up. You may have me figured out, but I have you figured out just the same."

She blinked. He was admitting that she had been right. It was the perfect time to start posing in triumph, but she decided to just stay still and not flaunt it. "I don't ... I don't do it all the time, alright?" She figured she could admit it as well, but not all the way either.

"If you say so, Ichigo," Ryou sighed, just as Ichigo picked one of the flowers from the grass. He peeked at it briefly, before looking back up at the sky. "That's a ... syringa reticulata," Ichigo blinked at that, making him chuckle slightly. "It's Japanese tree lilac."

Ichigo did not cease blinking. "And since when are you such an expert in the flower department? Sounds kind of girly of you, don't you think, Ryou?"

He sighed again, closing his eyes. "My mother loved flowers, that's all. She worked in a flower shop, she was always working in the garden, and well, it was her most favorite thing. So I guess I just ended up picking up a few things, and I learned a bit about them from that."

She smiled. "She must have been wonderful."

He nodded. "She was," he replied, reopening his eyes to look back up the sky.

Ichigo looked back to the flower in silence for moment before she spoke up again, "Do you know the meanings?" She asked, looking back over to him.

That wasn't exactly Ryou's place of expertise, but he did know a few things here and there, so he figured he could tell her something here and there. He looked back over to her, taking a deep breath, "Lilacs are sort of like roses where they represent love and whatnot, only with lilacs, the love isn't just primarily based on passion and that deep romance. It's more calm, sweet, and real," he paused, thinking about it further. "With lilacs, it's about everlasting love. It's basically saying, "Even if the Earth would stop turning, I would never stop loving you"."

She stared at Ryou, not quite sure of what to say to him, when suddenly, she began to giggle. "You know, Ryou, you could really pass for a girl. Grow your hair long, put on a skirt, and you're good to go."

Ryou just looked at her. "Is that so?" She nodded in response, as he put his hand to ground, and then touched her cheek, leaving a bit of mud on her face.

"Eww, that's gross!" She shouted, laughing, as she attempted to wipe it off.

"Touché," he muttered, standing up from the ground, immediately going into attempt to wipe off the dirt from his clothes. Too bad he chose to wear white pants. Poor guy. "So you gonna stay down there all day or are you gonna give up your dignity and asked me to help you up?"

She sighed, holding her hand up in the air. This caused him to laugh, but he took it into his own and pulled her up on her feet. He dirtied his white pants, but she had a skirt on. Now her skin was all icky and muddy, which was probably worse than the pants.

Still, it was strange to believe it, but this whole situation didn't seem so bad. Normally, she'd be crawling with utter embarrassment and would probably hide out in her room for days before she would dare to show her face again. After all, she was a complete mess. She had been a mess, plenty of times before, but she was a walking piece of filth this time around, and she had to admit, she smelled pretty awful now. Mud had the tendency to do that to a person.

But she wasn't actually feeling too awful about this. Somehow, with Ryou, he had made this whole thing fun, which was a strange thought, considering Ryou was the complete opposite of fun. Then again, he was a guy full of surprises. Whenever she made a judgment about him in her mind, he'd go right out there and prove her wrong. Even if he denied certain things and pretended not to care, Ryou definitely wasn't a bad guy.

She was actually beginning to like the idea of having him as a friend.

"So, I don't know about you, but I am definitely getting back to the café this time. There is no way that I am going to stay out here, looking like this. I am going to get back and take the warmest shower I possibly can. I'll probably never step near a sprinkler system ever again, either."

"Yeah," she agreed. "Take a shower, Ryou. You smell pretty bad."

He raised an eyebrow. "Oh, really? At least I have perfume on, so there's some decent smell. As for you, you smell completely disgusting," he said, even though the perfume comment wasn't something that would normally help his "cool-ness". Still, he chuckled as he said it.

"Actually, Mr. Shirogane," she began, attempting to go into scientific mode. "The mixture of the perfume and the mud and dirt probably just makes the smell ten times worse for you. Your best bet would be to hurry home right now before people begin to fear you."

He sighed, which showed that he knew she was right. "I would have been back at the café right now, if you hadn't been in your little rant fest before about the perfume and the tough guy speech and all," he said, as he shoved his hands in his pockets and began walking in the direction of the café.

Then again, it wasn't entirely her fault. He went along with her switching places idea and he was the one who stood still to listen to her ranting. So basically, they both got themselves into this. But really, it wasn't so bad. After all, she was standing in the middle of Tokyo, drenched in mud from head to toe, smelling like ... who knew what, and she still managed to feel good about herself. Talk about something weird.

"You gonna be okay, walking around, looking like that?" She asked, with a grin.

Ryou groaned, shrugging his shoulder. "I'll live, I guess."

"You've been having fun today, haven't you?"

He stayed quiet for a long minute. " ... meh."

She giggled. She took that as a "yes" in Ryou speak.

-End, Part XI.

Haha, that was just so awesome. Looking back, I think I did ended up actually liking this chapter. :D Truth be told, it didn't turn out so bad, considering I started writing it with a blank mind and writer's block. Then again, I did beat up on people to help me come up with ideas for it, so yeah, couldn't have done it without them. :3

So, as for the flower knowledge. Me? Yeah, I know nothing, zip, zero, nada about flowers. So I just went wikipedia crazy and surfed through a bunch of websites to research names of flowers in Japan and the meaning of flowers and whatnot. Must admit, though, it's all kind of interesting. But yeah, I would never ever be able to memorize any of it, so it'd be a complete waste of time to try to learn all of that. For me, at least. If you like flowers, it's quite fun, so go all for it:D

Next chapter? Err, it's called "In a Good Mood", so just try to make your guesses from that, if you want. No other hints for you all though. Why? Cause I'm in meanie mode, that's why! Bwaha! Err, but if you be nice little people and review quick, I'll be a dear and give it to you quickly. So hurry, hurry, and review away, my loves!

So now then, here is everyone's favorite part of every chapter! The cliff-hanging questionnaire! Yay! So then! WHAT are people going to think about the stinky couple walking down the streets of Tokyo? WHEN will some real-time drama start for this darn story? WHO thinks sprinklers are darn fun and just loves hopping around in them despite the risks of tripping into the mud and getting all yucky? WHY was Ichigo such a big ol' meanie in this chapter (ooh, maybe Ryou's rubbing off on her)? WHERE is dear old Carmen Sandiego (maybe she's at the end of the rainbow!)? And HOW in the world did I manage to write an entire chapter without having a clue what I was doing when I started it? Because I'm cool like that, that's why:D So yeah, just ask these pointless and useless questions in your head over and over again, until I can provide you with chapter 12 of THIRTY KISSES!