What is this!? After only one day, I already had more than 20 reviews for chapter 13! This is insane! My story can't be all that great. oo Still, I'm kind of flattered by all of the reviews. And surprisingly, I got a lot of good feedback on the last chapter. Despite the fact that it was very Masaya-centric, people were quite impressed with how things turned out, and people liked Masaya, too. Although, some were still kind of raged at his presence.
New story stats: 110 favs, 104 alerts, and 373 reviews. Whoo! I swear, if all of these reviews keep coming at me like this, I'll end up at 400 reviews in no time. Although half of the reviews are just threats from you all most of the time. You all can really get vicious, can't you? Although some do contain presents for me! Thanks for that! -clings to her new ryou plushie-
So, for this chapter, is is called "Radio-Cassette Player" and yes, it is a random title, but I don't pick the titles, so I can't really explain that too much. And on a side note, I don't think anyone will dislike this chapter. It isn't one of those that tends to frustrate readers with random ex-boyfriends and bad cliffhangers. So read, my friends, read!
XIV. RADIO-CASSETTE PLAYER
This is not a coincidence
And far more than a lucky chance
But what is that was always meant
Is our ribbon in the sky for our love
-'Ribbon in the Sky' by Stevie Wonder
During his shower–cue the fangirl squeals–Ryou did a lot of thinking. Back in the laundry room, he had become so hopeful and thrilled with thoughts that perhaps he actually may have a chance with Ichigo that he ended up just falling apart the minute Masaya appeared due to the bizarre time paradox thing of him being in two places at once.
And well, that really sucked.
So in the shower–squeeeeeals!–Ryou reconsidered these thoughts, and realized that luck never was on his side. He lost his parents at such a young age and he lost his chances at being with the girl he loved. Talk about bad luck, eh? So basically, he figured that with London Boy back in town, he was pretty much doomed for life without any chance of something good actually happening for him.
He had stayed upstairs for some extra time after his shower, knowing that they had quite some talking to do, and eventually decided to come downstairs where he found the tearful Ichigo all by herself.
And that was when he had his "omgwtfbbq" moment.
It's not everyday that as soon as you feel life is over as you know it, the person you love tells you to kiss them and goes ahead and grabs her, despite their numerous comments of how much they want to murder you so.
So, while, yes, he had given up on ever having a real chance with Ichigo, he couldn't help but feel ... err, giddy may not be the correct word, but he felt something among those terms about that thirteenth kiss. Lucky 13, right?
And thus, it all brings us back to the here and now, where the two are quietly staring at one another after their kiss which lasted longer than a strip of Wrigley's Extra sugar-free gum. Of course, still leaning over, Ryou's back was quite in pain, so he broke the awkward silence by standing up straight.
Actually, it just took the awkwardness out of it; the silence was still there. He attempted to open his mouth to say something, but instead, just shut it close again and turn around, beginning to walk away.
As soon as he did, Ichigo got up from her chair to follow him. "Ryou, wai–ACK!" She screamed, as she came crashing onto the floor below.
Ryou winced as he heard her body hit the floor, and turned around to examine the mess. Seeing her laying flat on the ground, he rolled his eyes, kneeling down next to her. "You alright down there?"
"Oww, I'm ... fine," she muttered, rubbing her forehead. "Gosh, that was mighty random," she said.
He shook his head, not believing he was still witnessing Ichigo's idiocy. "Not really. I should have expected it. You are so accident prone, Ichigo," he told her, holding out his hand. "Need help?"
"No," she said, not moving from the ground for a moment. But finally, she sighed, and grabbed his hand, as he pulled her up. "Oww, oww, oww!" She cried out, when she put her two feet flat on the ground. Looking down, she noticed a scratch on the side of her leg. "I think I got cut."
He examined it, slightly confused. "What the heck did you cut yourself with? There's nothing sharp around!" He told her, believing that this was what was random. These things could only happen in some idiot fanfiction story, he thought.
"I don't know," she muttered, as she began to hop on one leg. "Bandages are in the kitchen, right? Whoa!" She almost fell once more, but kept her balanced, as she went on hopping in the direction of the kitchen.
Ryou sighed, watching her. "Ichigo, sit down, I'll get them."
"No, no, I got it!" She said, hopping through the kitchen doors out of sight. "Whoa! Oww!"
"Idiot," Ryou said, outloud, finally following her inside the other room. When he stepped in, he saw her hopping across the room, going through the drawers. "Ichigo, what are you doing? Sit down. Gosh, you're acting like you broke your whole foot, it's a small cut."
"I told you, I got–oh, look! Lollipops!" She said, quite excited, as she continued to go through the contents of the drawers. "Whoa, this looks ancient. What is this?" She asked, holding up an object.
Ryou walked over closer to her to get a better look. "Oh, that? Keiichiro's radio-cassette player."
She blinked. "Those things still exist? Does he not know what an iPod is?" she asked, looking quite disgusted with the object in her hand as if it was a dead beetle or something of the sort.
"He seems to like it."
"If you say so," she said, throwing it back in the drawer. "Hey, look, sporks!" She said, fascinated once more with the objects she was finding, as if she had just opened a treasure box. Then again, Ichigo did get fascinated quite easily by pretty much anything that came her way.
Ryou leaned against the counter. "–are a figment of your imagination."
She giggled. "No, foons are!"
He thought about that. "--a gene splicing experiment gone wrong between a fork and a spoon?" He shook his head, thinking about it further. "Wait. It wouldn't be gene splicing, because forks and spoons do not have genes," he said, getting into his scientific rant mode.
"You don't know that," she told him, not looking up from her search.
"I'm pretty sure they don't, seeing as how they are manufactured."
Ichigo looked up at him, and tilted her head. "Have you ever watched them while they were manufactured?"
He shook his head at her, crossing his arms. "Not really. I have a life."
"Do you really?"
"Yup."
Ichigo went back to her search, looking through yet another drawer. "If you have a life, then I'm just a contorted foon."
"Sarcastic, much?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Maybe," she said, sighing as she shut the drawer quickly. "Darn it, where are those stupid bandages!?" she shouted, becoming quite frustrated. She then saw Ryou reach into the drawer behind him and pull out an item which he tossed in her direction. She caught it, realizing it was a box of bandages. "You knew where they were the whole time and you didn't say anything?"
He smirked, shrugging. "It was fun watching you attempt to take things into your hands."
She shook her head at him, annoyed as she hopped up on the edge of the counter, taking out a bandage from the box. She brought her cut leg closer to her body to try to place the bandage but the angle was making the situation kind of difficult.
As she attempted to figure out how she would place the bandage, Ryou stepped over to her and took it from her hand. "You're so stubborn, you know that? First of all, you have to kind of clean it up first before you place this," he said, taking a cloth and wetting it under the sink. He then lightly pressed the wet part of the cloth against her cut. "Really, I don't know how you'll ever survive on your own."
"Hey, that's a bit mean, don't you think!?" She complained, crossing her arms. "You know that I'm not entirely stupid. Why do you always have to pick on me about that?"
Putting the cloth to that side, he examined the cut to make sure it was clean. "Well, you have managed to save the world. I guess I can give you some credit for that," he said, making her frown, although he looked at her with a smirk. "I know you aren't stupid. But then again, I'm not complaining every second you call me mean."
"You are mean," she said, as he began to place the bandage on her cut.
"I'm not that bad, Ichigo."
"Is that what you think?"
He tilted his head and stared at her. Sure, he teased her a lot here and there, but he wasn't like the devil or anything. Was he? He sighed, looking away. "I don't mean what I say, you know."
She blinked, just looking down on him. "Then if you don't mean what you say, how can I trust what you just said?" She asked, with a grin.
He looked back at her, and shook his head. "You're an idiot, Ichigo," he muttered, this time making her giggle. "There, all done. You're all fixed up now. Although it really wasn't that big of a cut, you baby," he said, beginning to walk away, but stopped when he noticed she wasn't moving. "What now?"
"Help me down?"
He rolled his eyes. "What are you, four? You can do it yourself."
"Pleeease!"
Ryou groaned, walking back to her, as she took out her hand for him to take. He just stared at her, before a smirk formed on his face. Instead of taking her hand, he brought both of his hands on her waist and lifted her up in the air. "Whoa! Ryou! Ryou! Ryou! What are you doing!? This is high! Put me doooown!"
He chuckled. "You really are a baby," he said, bringing her down to the ground. "That's what you get for not doing it yourself." He then turned and began walking again, but once again stopped.
"Gosh, I hate you, Ryou," she muttered, but was ignored, as Ryou took her hand and began dragging her. "Whoa, what you doing now?!" She questioned, as he took her up the stairs and into his room. "O-okay, your bedroom. We're not doing anything here ... right?" She gave him a scared look, before he just rolled his eyes at her and took her over to the window. "You aren't gonna throw me out through there, are you!?"
"Darn it, Ichigo, you really do talk too much," he said, opening up the window. "As much as that idea thrills me so, no, I am not throwing you out the window. I just want to show you something," he told her, as he climbed out the window.
She blinked, watching him. "You gonna jump? That's what you wanna show me?"
"Just follow me and shut up, alright?"
She leaned out the window to see him climb up the wall outside and get onto the roof. Her eyes widened, watching him. "Uh, monkey boy, you want me to climb up there?" There was no response, leaving her to sigh, and slowly climb out. "Well, alright," she said to herself.
She grabbed onto a pipe that connected to the wall, and gulped, slowly climbing out the window. It made her wonder how Ryou managed to do this so quickly, but figured he had done this multiple times before, so was quite an expert in doing this. Letting out a whimper, she brought her feet outside, holding tightly to the pipe, opening it wouldn't break off right there.
She took a deep breath, and hesitated to look down, knowing the action would just freak her out. But she was in a kind of difficult position, and couldn't figure out what she was supposed to do next or how she was supposed to climb up. She was just about to open her mouth to call Ryou, when suddenly his hand appeared in front of her. "You are so slow. Come on."
She bit her lip and took one of her hands off the pipe to take his, and in one swift swoop, he brought her up onto the roof. "Whoa, that was ... what are you doing going all nuts, climbing out windows, and jumping on roofs? I could have died."
He rolled his eyes, sitting down, leaning back on his elbows. "Stop exaggerating. And I usually take the door to get here, but I figured going through the window would be much more exciting for you."
She blinked. "Door?" She asked, as he pointed to a hidden door on the ground of the roof that must have led somewhere back inside. She groaned. "You jerk." He said nothing, looking out past her. Wondering what he was looking at, she turned around.
It was a beautiful scene. Being high up there, one could see over the trees and see far out into the city. The sun was high up, hiding behind the clouds at this moment, making the sky look peaceful and simple. Everything was so pretty now, it made Ichigo wonder how much more beautiful it was when sunset came. "This is ..."
Ryou nodded, when she trailed off. "Beautiful, yeah."
She sat down next to him, not taking her eyes off of it. "You come out here often?"
"Everyday," he answered.
"You come out here with Keiichiro or something?"
He shook his head. "I've never brought anybody here," he answered, sighing. "You're ... you're the first."
Ichigo blinked, looking over at him, but he said nothing. She stayed quiet, and looked back to the clouds, when suddenly an idea formed in her mind. "Oh, that's perfect!" He looked at her confused, as she hopped up and ran to the door. "I'll be back in a quick minute! Hold on!"
He just watched her disappear, not saying anything. It was then he regretted telling her about the door. It would have been quite entertaining, watching her struggle to get back through the window. Oh well.
Ryou sat there in thought. Nothing unusual, considering he usually was in thought. And his thoughts were not unusual either. They were about Ichigo. Of course.
That kiss from earlier was still a wonder, and he still thought about its possible meaning. Apparently, things were over with her and Masaya meaning he had a chance again. But did he, really? Just because Masaya was out of the picture, it didn't mean that she'd go running to him now. Especially not this soon.
He still figured he was kidding himself thinking Ichigo would possibly feel the same. But either way, it was best not to dwell on it–though he probably would continue to anyway. Still, he had to just try to enjoy the rest of the day with her and not worry about any "feelings" that may or may not be there.
The most important thing was to enjoy the time they spent together.
He sighed. Gosh, that was a cheesy line.
It was then that Ichigo came rushing back onto the roof, this time with Keiichiro's radio-cassette player in one hand, and her iPod earphones in another. "I've been so curious about what he has on here. Though I wasn't going to put those darn giant earmuffs on my head, so I switched the earphones to mine. Plus, this way, we can both listen."
She sat next to him, putting an ear piece in her ear and then placing the other in his. "Okay, this is it," she said, slowly pressing the play button.
There was a silence in the air as Ryou and Ichigo listened to the music that played in their ears. They simply looked at one another, not saying a word as they listened. However, in no time at all, Ichigo let out a chuckle, and not long after, so did Ryou.
"Oh gosh, is this Stevie Wonder?"
He nodded, still chuckling. "I believe it is."
Ichigo giggled. "I must say, this isn't so bad. Keiichiro's a bit old-fashioned, but he seems to have a good taste in music," she said, as she began clapping. "He deserves an applaude." She then began moving side to side to the music, singing, "Signed, sealed, delivered, I'm yours."
He couldn't help but laugh when she sung. "Please don't sing, Ichigo."
"Oh, you find that funny, do you?" She asked, continuing. "Here I am, baby Signed, sealed, delivered, I'm yours."
Ryou had to bite his lip to stop, and even then, he could not cease laughing. He lay down, rubbing his forehead, avoiding to look at her to keep from laughing even more. But even when the laughter died down, he couldn't seem to take the smile off his face.
Seeing this, Ichigo, herself, smiled, as she lay down next to him. In silence, they both continued to listen to the music that played in their ears, looking up to the clouds above them. Eventually, Ichigo spoke up, "A bunny."
"Hmm?"
She pointed above. "That cloud, it looks like a bunny."
Ryou sighed. "What is it with girls always thinking clouds look like girly things? Looks more like ... a tiger or something."
"We do not always think they look girly! What about you, never thinking they look like girly things?"
He rolled his eyes at her, pointed to a different cloud in the sky. "That looks like a butterfly. There, a girly thing."
"Now you're just saying that."
"Did you ever realize how frustrating you are, Ichigo?"
"I could say the same for you."
That silenced him, as he just looked at her, knowing she was right. It was the first time she had him without something to say in response. " ... Whatever, Ichigo."
She giggled. "Whoo! I got you! That means a point for me!"
"We're keeping this tallied?"
"As of now, we are."
"Idiot."
She was about to respond back, when she suddenly gasped. "Oh! This song! I love this song!"
Ryou just watched her hum the song, happily, not really knowing the song himself. He had to admit, it did sound quite nice though. Before now, he never did actually wonder what it was that Keiichiro listened to on his cassette player, but listening to it now, it didn't seem so bad.
Ichigo continued to hum, as she quietly began singing again. "So long for this night I prayed that a star would guide you my way to share with me this special day where a ribbon's in the sky for our love."
Ryou closed his eyes, listening to Ichigo sing the song, ignoring the sounds that came from the city. It suddenly became so peaceful in that instant. Complete silence, aside from Ichigo's voice. He could barely even hear the music that was playing from the earpiece in his ear.
"From now on, it will be you and I, and our ribbon in the sky, ribbon in the sky, a ribbon in the sky for our love."
As he continued to listen, he couldn't tell if he had fallen asleep or not. Everything had seemed to fade away except for the song. There was complete peace for a long moment, until suddenly, he felt a flick on his nose. He twitched, hoping it would just go away, but the flicking continued.
His eyes blinked open, and Ichigo's face seemed to appear before him. She had a smile on her face as she flicked his nose once more. "Awake now, sleepyhead?" She asked, with a giggle.
It seemed he was, but his mind still seemed to be off in a dream, and he felt so far away from reality right then. He stared up at Ichigo, before he took her face in his hands and brought her down to kiss her.
Dream or reality, Ichigo didn't protest, and it continued for a quick instant, before Ryou pulled away.
"I guess so," she said, causing Ryou to blink repeatedly.
It was then, he remembered where he was and what had been happening. Letting go of Ichigo, he scooted back to sit up, shaking his head. "Sorry about that."
She shrugged, chuckling slightly. "It's alright. You looked like you really needed a nap," she responded, although he had actually apologized in regards to the kiss, but chose to say nothing about that. She hopped up. "I guess we should get back in now," she said, taking a few steps.
Being wide awake now, Ryou jumped up, seeing what Ichigo was doing. "Wait, Ichigo, don't walk there, there's a–!"
But it was too late. Stepping on a broken piece on the roof, Ichigo slipped, falling forwards off the side of the roof. Ryou rushed forward to see what had occured, and saw Ichigo dangling off the side of the roof. "Okay, this is really not cool! Ryou! A ltitle help here!?"
He began to rush forward to help the girl, but in that instant, he, himself, forgot about the broken piece, and slipped on it himself, falling just as Ichigo did. However, he did managed to grab the side of the roof and was stuck dangling just as Ichigo was, right by her side.
"And I'm the idiot?" She said, glaring at him. "At least you knew about it. You should've warned me, you know!"
"Warn you? I was about to when–Ichigo, this isn't exactly the greatest moment to be arguing about this!"
She groaned again, taking a deep breath. "Well, can't we just ... like, jump or something? Don't cats always land on their feet?" She asked, quite proud of herself for thinking fast in a moment like this.
"Yeah, when they land on the ground. There's a giant rose bush under us. It's a bunch of leaves, thorns, flowers–it's not exactly ... Wait, we can jump."
"In thorns? I don't think so."
"Ichigo, we don't exactly have a–"
"Ah!" She shouted, trying to grab on tighter. "My fingers are slipping–ah!" Suddenly, her hands let go of the roof, as she began to fall downward, but immediately, Ryou managed to grab her arm in time.
However, Ryou's hand wasn't enough to keep grasp on the side as it began to slip as well. "Ichigo, I need you to hold on to me. Quick!"
She didn't hesitate as she managed to wrap her arms around him, holding on tightly, as finally, Ryou's fingers gave out and let go of the roof. Ryou held onto Ichigo, while she screamed, as they descended down the side of the café, down into the giant rosebush below. However, as soon as they landed, their bodies rolled off the plants and landed down below into–
"Mud," Ryou muttered, with a groan, still holding onto Ichigo. "This is just–"
"Peachy," Ichigo finished, letting out a slight whine.
Ryou sighed, just as he saw something that seemed to be falling from the sky. He squinted his eyes to try and see what it was, but just as he formed an idea, the object landed right on–
"Argh, my nose!" Ryou groaned, as a huge pain formed in his nose. He grabbed the object and held it up to see that it was–
"Keiichiro's cassette player," Ichigo said, looking at it. The object, thankfully, seemed to be in perfect condition, after it had been saved by Ryou's nose, which may have been broken at this moment.
He could even hear the music still playing from the earpieces. "Very superstitious, ladder's 'bout to fall."
Ryou just groaned.
-End, Part XIV.
I had so much fun writing this chapter. xD I had the idea for that last part for a while now, and I've been dying to write it. There's a lot of ideas I had for this chapter, but there were too many, so I just took a few and decided to leave some for another time. It was meant to have a more serious theme, but I decided to make it something fun, and I really liked how it all turned out.
The next chapter is quite a big event. One? It's chapter fifteen, which means that the completion of this chapter would mean that Thirty Kisses will be halfway done. That is like mega-time huge, so it should be such a great thing. Two? It'll be a big thing, cause I've had the idea for the entire chapter since I began writing this story, and I've been waiting so long to get started on it, so I'm extremely excited for it. Three? Well, let's just say, it'll be the start of something you'll all like.
So now you have something to really be looking for. It's called "Perfect Blue", okay? You'll see the result of that title. Bwahahaha!
Wee! Cliff-hanging voice! WHAT are Ryou and Ichigo going to do now that they're gotten themselves soaked in mud again? WHO agrees with me that Stevie Wonder is SO FRIGGIN' AWESOME!? SQUEAL! WHEN will I actually finish up this insane story now that I'm almost done? WHY do I choose to frustrate Ryou's life so much in this story? WHERE is my good friend Carmen Sandiego and why does anyone even care? HOW long will it take me to update next time? The answers will–or will not–come in the following and half-time chapter of the infamous story, Thirty Kisses! YIPPEE!