Yes, an update at last!

I've been meaning to update this for awhile now, but I just haven't had the time. Unfortunately, this chapter is a bit short. I originally wanted to include a second part to this which I will probably add as another chapter later on. Or, I might just add the rest of it to this chapter afterward. If I was a better author, I'd probably wait til I had the second part before posting this up, but I just couldn't wait!

Sorry for the short chapter, but I hope you enjoy it anyway!


Unspoken Words

Chapter 28: Pleasant Dreams, Harsh Reality

"Ryou" Ichigo sighed contently. Her arms and legs were entangled in the bed sheets- evidence of the intense movements from the night before. A peaceful expression swept her face, the kind that came from a good night's rest after a long, strenuous day. Snuggled under the covers, the girl remained lost in the comfortable world of sleep.

"Ryou…" She hugged the duvet closer, oblivious to the fact that the object of her affection was much softer than it should have been.

"Hmm." She muttered with her eyes still closed. Her arms wrapped against the fluffiness more tightly, remembering the warmth of that body. A smile adorned her lips as the redheaded girl thought fondly back. Her mind played the scene over and over again. Although she had it memorized down to the smallest detail- from the expression of Ryou's pleading face, his uncertain voice and then expression of surprise and hope, to the way the dim light of the lamp was cast against the wall- the events she had permanently etched in her head still evoked the same amount of excitement and euphoria as when she had experienced it in person.

A sharp ringing echoed in the room, causing the disoriented girl to stretch her arm over to the side of the bed and to pat the covers randomly. The sound reverberated in her mind, reminding her of the faint tinkling of bells.

"Get my toothbrush will you? It's in the paper bag." Ryou called from inside the bathroom.

Ichigo walked over to the bed, grumbling slightly at the lone brown paper bag that sat at the edge. She grabbed it, still muttering at Ryou's lack of consideration over her feelings after having gently pushed her away from her advances, before tearing it open.

What she saw inside immediately softened her expression.

"Well?" Ryou leaned against the entrance of the bathroom with his arms crossed. Smiling, he asked "Where's my toothbrush?"

Half teary eyed, Ichigo ran up to him with the bag still in hand before hopping onto the slightly surprised man.

"I love it! In fact…

I love you Ryou."

"Well Ichigo, don't you think you should be telling him that and not me?" Ichigo's eyes shot open in alarm before darting around frantically to find the source of that voice. She nearly gave a yelp when she realized that her phone was plastered against her face.

"Mint?!"

"Yes, Ichigo." Mint sighed. "It is I, the one who always seems to be responsible for waking you up."

"Why did you call? I thought you made us stay in separate rooms specifically cuz you don't want us to wake you up when we make breakfast." Ichigo said groggily, leaning against her knees as she was still quite unaware of her surroundings.

"What the heck are you talking about Ichigo?" Her best friend clearly sounded annoyed. "Make breakfast? Why would I have you make breakfast? And what do you mean us?"

"Well you said – " But no sooner had Ichigo begun speaking again when she finally registered where she was. The apparent pink glow of the room should have been obvious enough. "Mint…why am I in my room?"

"Ugh, so it really was that bad, huh?" Ichigo heard Mint sigh on the other line.

"What was? What are you talking about?"

"I should have figured the moment I heard you say 'I love you Ryou.' You would barely admit that you like him as a person. And since when do you call him Ryou anyway?"

"Wait wait wait wait, what?!" Ichigo jumped out of bed, scanning her bedroom for some sign, any sign, of exactly what was going on.

"Ichigo..." an exasperated whine escaped from Mint. "It's a good thing I decided to call to check up on you. We went drinking last night and you were completely wasted."

"ME?!" That wasn't right. Ichigo Momomiya did not drink.

"Yes, Ichigo. I know your whole abstinence thing but seeing how heartbroken you were over Aoyama-kun, it was understandable. And we all said we'd get you home safely so you could drink to your heart's content. We just thought it might be good for you to let it all out finally. We didn't know you'd go that far."

"But…but…" Ichigo groaned, pressing a hand against her temple. "Wh-what about the mall?"

"Oh, don't you remember? You said you weren't feeling up for it. Do you know how hard it was to get you out of the house to go drinking even? But Akasaka-san was somehow able to do it. It really is handy to have an older guy around to buy the alcohol."

"Wait what?! Now this is just ridiculous Mint. Keiichiro doesn't drink, and he wouldn't encourage us to."

"Ugh, Ichigo. I know you must be in denial over what had happened yesterday, considering you did do all those things to Shirogane-san, well, or you really have forgotten because you had too much to drink, but just think about it. Don't you have a pounding headache right now?"

"Yes but – " But that's because of you!

"Exactly. And you can confirm everything with Akasaka-san today when you come to work after school."

"But we were at the mall yesterday! I know we were. You bought me a bunch of stuff. We even had a sleepover…" Ichigo trailed off, voice growing more uncertain by the moment.

"What are you talking about Ichigo? Did the alcohol get to your head that badly?"

"No…It just, it happened! I know it all happened!" The redhead grasped the phone tightly.

"Ichigo…"

"All those things must have happened."

There was silence for only a brief moment, though in Ichigo's opinion, the suffocating silence dragged on forever. Mint remained quiet on the other line as if waiting for her to continue speaking, but for some reason, Ichigo could form no more words.

"What exactly do you think happened?" Her best friend's voice was soft and seemed almost gentle, but there was the slightest hint of irrepressible interest in her tone.

Everything. Ichigo opened her mouth to speak, but remained mute.

Sighing, Mint lightly pressed forward. "I've told you what happened Ichigo. If you don't believe me, just check for yourself. Do you have any of the stuff you think we bought yesterday?"

She scanned her room for the bags and groaned in disappointment. There were no signs of anything from her tiring trek the day before. Nothing at all.

Had she imagined everything? Had she really gotten so drunk that she couldn't think straight anymore? Maybe that explained her sudden 'revelation' of her feelings for Ryou.

She shook her head violently, practically scrambling her brain over her thoughts. Even if the everything had been fake, there was one truth in that dream. Her feelings for him. Even if she wanted to, Ichigo couldn't forget the emotions flooding through her body when he had reached in the paper bag and pulled out that chain to wrap it snugly around her dainty neck. The moment the strawberry shaped bell tinkled against her skin as his deft hands left the chain and surrounded her body was no short of being one of the happiest moments of her life. And then, the soft breath teasing her cheeks as he spoke to her with care and love…

Ichigo's eyes widened. "The necklace!"

"Necklace?" Mint's voice sounded oddly surprised.

"He bought it for me yesterday. I just have to find it…" She frantically scrambled across her bedroom, looking high and low for the chain.

"Isn't it a bit quick for Shirogane-san to be buying you jewelry?"

So distracted with her own thoughts, she had not even heard Mint speak.

"You've finally said it, Strawberry." He was beaming. His cerulean eyes seemed to twinkle with his smile, leaving the girl breathless. "I love you too Ichigo."

"I'll never take this off, ever Ryou!" She chirped, hopping up to give him a hug around the neck.

"Baka." He spoke, half mocking. "You need to shower don't you?"

She stuck her tongue out at him. "You're the baka, baka! I'll keep it on then too!"

"Well, it might not exactly be waterproof you know. It might rust or something." He mused jokingly.

"You jerk. What kind of cheap imitation gold is this?" She flashed him a smile, barely able to speak the words without letting the smile split apart her face. "Not that I care. I'd be happy with a simple red ribbon if it came from you."

"Hm?" Ichigo muttered, still quite in a daze.

"I said, stop being ridiculous! You can't find it because it doesn't exist."

"It does!" She growled menacingly. "It had to have happened. It felt way too real to have been a dream."

"That's how all dreams are!" Mint groaned, entirely annoyed. "I don't want to seem mean, but you're clearly in denial about all the things that happened yesterday. And if you actually do believe the things you're saying, you must have dreamed it all."

Ichigo's lips trembled slightly. "D-Don't you w-want me to be happy?"

"Of course I do Ichigo! But what does this have to do with you being happy?"

Everything. She bit down on her lower lip, fighting off a sob. "WHY are you so against me being with Ryou?!"

"What?" Mint yelped. "With Shirogane?! Since when did you want to be with Shirogane-san?!"

Ichigo groaned, slumping down against the floor. Mint really has no idea. And this realization only confirmed exactly what Mint had been telling her all along, that none of those things had actually happened.

"Ichigo, are you there? Did I hear correctly when you said you wanted to be with Shirogane-san?"

"Ughh." The redhead groaned, knocking her forehead against her knees.

"I had no idea Ichigo, I'm so sorry. I want you to be happy, I really do. I just don't want you to be delusional to do it."

"UGH." Ichigo groaned yet again. Was it really so delusional to believe that Ryou could love her?

"Look I didn't mean it like that. It came out the wrong way."

"There's no wrong way for things to come out of your mouth Mint. You just say what you think." Ichigo muttered inaudibly.

"I just meant…" Mint paused, trying to find the right words. "It's not like you don't have a chance with him."

"I never said I didn't!"

"You just need a little help and I'll gladly help you Ichigo. But you'll have to let me know exactly what you dreamed about."

"Eh? Why?"

"To help you of course! I need to know what in that dream made you suddenly realize you love him and exactly what it is about him that you like. Maybe you don't actually love him but think you do because you like something about him."

"That's stupid Mint. You think I'd think I loved someone if I didn't?"

"Aoyama-kun."

"…I did love him."

"Sure. Anyway, I'm not here to debate about that. Just let me know what happened in that dream of yours. You've got me curious about it."

Ichigo delved into her bed, sinking her head into the pillow as she let out a scream. That was the last thing she wanted to talk about if it had only been a dream. Disappointment would only shatter her heart again if she let herself, even for a second, indulge in those thoughts.

Everything that had happened, all those moments when she felt so indescribably happy, even those heart-wrenching moments that only made the happy ones even better, they were all a figment of her imagination -probably a result of her over active, intoxicated mind. How could anything that ridiculous have happened anyhow?

She heaved a deep sigh, expression falling with the heavy exhale. Her auburn hair was sprawled limply across her pillow, face still hidden as she eased away the stinging pain in her eyes.

"I…I'll see you at work Mint."

"Ichigo, are you okay? What's wro-" Without listening to another word, Ichigo hung up. It had taken so much effort to get the simple words out. She wouldn't be able to last a second longer if she had to speak to Mint again after discovering what had really happened.

I love you Ryou. She confirmed the words she had spoken so carelessly in her dream. "I-I love Ryou."

Her chest tightened with pain. Ichigo clasped a hand over it, trying to quell the deep sinking feeling. Something was caught in her throat, and she forced it down.

She loved Ryou. She had always loved Ryou.

All it had taken was a night of drunken revelry and an alcohol induced dream to realize it. All it would take was a few thousand more of those drunken nights to forget.

And it all starts from today. The girl winced, still hiding in her bed. It'll be a long day.

But she had no idea exactly how long.


I probably seem so evil at this moment...

But no worries, this is ultimately a IXR fanfic! And it is sadly coming to an end soon! (I've been saying that for awhile, haven't I?)