Alice asks Ryo to join her to study in Japan. There's something he can't seem to let go of, though, but he can't figure out why.

"Hey, hey, Ryo. I wanted to ask you something."

Alice sat with him in the pub, waiting for him to close up shop and wrap up for the night. They were no longer kids now--so many years have passed since their first meeting. Ryo already functioned as Alice's aide for all intents and purposes, and he lived with them in their home. But out of habit, he still came to the pub to work almost every day. It was probably the one thing you could never make him stop doing, as if he had some sort of attachment to the place.

"What is it, miss Alice?" he asked her.

Alice buried her face in the palm of her hand, and looked thoughtful. Ryo could already tell that something seemed to be the matter. Alice usually charged right in and demanded whatever was on her mind--if she was taking time to think, he knew it was probably something more serious.

"...Ryo. Would you move to Japan with me?"

Oh. So that was it. Ryo had recalled Soe asking him the exact same thing a few days ago. "You want to study in Totsuki, huh? Your dad asked me a few days ago."

"Oh? And what did you say?" Alice asked, with interest.

"...I said I'll think on it."

Alice's face fell again. It was rare for her to look quite down, and the expression alone made Ryo feel awkward. He casually shrugged. "But it's not like I'll have a choice anyway when you insist on dragging me halfway across the world, though," he said. He was almost positive that that was how things were going to turn out.

Alice pouted. "Ryo, I'm not going to force you! I'm not that cruel. I know this is a big choice to make."

Ryo seemed surprised that she was saying this. Alice looked around the entire pub thoughtfully. "This is all you've ever known, isn't it? This is where you grew up. And we're asking you to leave it all behind, to go to a country you've don't even know if you've been to…"

Most of Ryo's memories have been founded in Denmark, only muddled together with some vague memories in Japan, a japanese father who talked to him in the language, and smuggling into a boat.

"...I can understand if you say no, even if I don't want you to," Alice said. "Japan must have some hard memories for you."

"...Let's not talk about it, miss," Ryo said, finally getting up, and walking out the pub. Alice followed him as he closed the store and locked the door, a ritual he'd been doing daily for years now.

He tried to imagine how it would be, to leave it all behind.

Soe was insistent that he go. The school was owned by the Nakiris, so money didn't matter. Living conditions did not matter. He was by all means being paid to be there, with an allowance and most of what Soe's family had at his disposal. It seemed like he was a Nakiri himself, to an extent. The servants now mostly treated him as an equal to Alice.

Alice was already packing her bags. He would peek into her room at times, and she would be occupied trying to stuff, and re-stuff, her luggages with clothes, and writing down notes about what kitchen or lab equipment she wanted in her room in Japan. Ryo could tell that Alice was determined to do this. This was why she went to Denmark to begin with--so that she could grow into her own and go back to Japan someday, to show up her cousin.

And she did accomplish so much. She's racked up so many awards in molecular gastronomy. She was different from the girl who first walked into his pub many years ago.

"Ryo, don't just stand there, help me pack up!" Alice noticed him, to his surprise. "If you see a lady struggling, you have to go and help, you know!"

"Oh. Sorry." Ryo walked in, and tried to see where he could be of assistance.

"If you could just close the zip on that one--" Alice said, pointing to white luggage with bunny prints. It was overflowing with clothes.

"I can't possibly close that!" Ryo said. "Aren't you packing way too much, miss?"

"Middle school and highschool is some six years," Alice said. "I've gotta be prepared!"

"You'll outgrow most of those in six years," Ryo pointed out. He knew the struggle all too well, with how quickly he outgrew a lot of clothes as he grew taller. "You could just go shopping in Japan."

Alice paused what she was doing, as if only realizing what Ryo said. "You're actually right about that, Ryo," she said. She went back to the bunny luggage, and started tossing stuff out of it again.

"Don't toss everything so recklessly." Ryo picked up all the clothes she chucked to the floor. Cleaning up after her like this had become part of his duties as her 'aide', or whatever Alice called it.

"But six years is a long time, isn't it?" Alice suddenly said, as if to the air. "No wonder you don't want to go with me."

"I didn't say I wasn't going with you," Ryo said.

"Then you're going with me?" Alice looked up to him, her eyes sparkling with hope.

Ryo shrugged. "I haven't decided that, either."

Alice pouted. A few days ago, she'd been more gracious, telling him to think things over, but the day of her flight was drawing nearer, and she was becoming more impatient. "Geez, make up your mind, Ryo! Don't leave a girl hanging like this. Girls are supposed to be the indecisive ones."

Ryo quietly picked up Alice's clothes, wondering himself why he was being so indecisive. Cooking was all he knew, and ordinarily he would jump at any chance to improve his skills. It's not like he was afraid of moving, or change. It's just...

"...That pub is gonna close down without me," Ryo said all of a sudden.

Alice paused, noting the change in his tone of voice. It seemed he really cared for that place after all. "It's unlike you to be so sentimental, Ryo," she pointed out. "I know you love that place, but it's not like you own it or anything. The staff will go on without you, and you don't have any responsibility for them."

Sometimes, there could be a cold streak in Alice, and Ryo knew it. She wasn't much for idealism, even if she romanticizes a lot of things about an "ordinary life". Even her cooking sometimes had a cold, emotionless streak in it that Ryo couldn't quite describe. He could only say that Alice had a goal--and that was to improve her cooking so she was better than Erina. She hardly cared for sentiment as long as she got there.

"...You're right," Ryo said. While he played a big role in that pub, he was--and still is--a kid. He had no sort of money or ownership involved in it. The owner only entrusted much to him since he showed that he was capable, but at the end of the day, he was still an employee. He spent much of his childhood there, and if he was completely honest, it was not a good one. His days in those kitchen were hell, a constant bloody battleground to be able to prove his worth. There were plenty of days when he almost collapsed due to overwork. He couldn't figure out why it caused an ache in his heart to think of leaving it behind.

He looked up to Alice, who was looking back at him expectantly. And then he realized why.

That pub was where he met her.

That was the place where little Alice walked into one day, and for some reason, decided that a foul-mouthed boy from a portside pub should be her aide. She got on his nerves at first, but then he noticed that slowly, that kitchen that had been hell for him suddenly changed into something else. It was a battlefield between him and Alice where they honed their skills, but at the same time, it was also a sort of playground where they grew together, making a lot of good food and good memories.

...It was fun, and Alice made it fun. It was never the pub. It was Alice.

"What's wrong, Ryo? Is there something on my face?" Alice asked. Ryo hadn't realized he had been staring at her the entire time.

"Oh. It's nothing, miss," Ryo said. He contemplated quickly if he should tell her everything that he'd realized during that silence. But he knew Alice well enough now. If he told her that, she was never going to let it go, and speak of it as if he realized he couldn't live without her.

"Did you just realize you were gonna miss me if I left without you?" Alice said. Ryo was right--if he said what he'd been thinking earlier, she was definitely going to tease him about it.

"Don't flatter yourself."

"Because I'm going to miss you," Alice suddenly said, surprisingly straightforward. "If you don't come to Japan with me, I'll…" Her face suddenly turned red, and her eyes looked glossy, as if she were holding back tears. "...I'm going to write you letters even if you don't ask for it! And you'd better damn well reply, okay?!"

Ryo was taken aback. Alice hasn't picked up a pen to write a letter since she'd tearfully given up on writing to Erina, after years without response. He knew it was a bit of a difficult thing for her to do or say.

"There's no need to say stuff like that, miss," Ryo said. Alice couldn't quite tell because her eyes were a bit teary, but it looked like he was smiling softly at her. "...We'll go to Japan together."

"R-Ryo!" The tears came out like a waterfall now, as Alice jumped up and tackled him in a hug. "Ugh, I love you, you dummy!"

Ryo felt himself gasp, wondering if he heard her right. But then she pounded a fist onto his chest, and said, "My god! I hate you! Don't do that to me again! Make up your mind faster next time!"

Ryo stood there, confused. She just said she loved him and that she hated him in the same breath. Alice really was something else.

"Ugghh, how dare you make me cry like this!" Alice started wiping away her tears with her hands. "Ugh, I'm so happy!"

"...You're crying. And you're mad. But you're happy." Ryo said. "...Who's the sentimental one now, Miss? How are you gonna hold up in Japan without me?"

Alice was rubbing her face now, and trying to regain her composure. "Ugh, I don't know. I'll just find another guy and hope it takes less than two years for him to agree to be my aide."

"I never agreed to be your aide. I just agreed to call you 'miss'," Ryo pointed out, but he was relieved to see Alice looking cheerful again. "Would you help me pack my things as well, miss? I don't quite know what to bring for Japan."

"Of course, Ryo!"

Alice proceeded with packing the rest of her belongings, with a bit more pep and excitement than Ryo had seen her with when she was packing before. She was all smiles, talking to Ryo about Japan, and the Nakiri Mansion there.

Her smile quietly assured Ryo that he was making the right decision.

a/n: younger Ryo and Alice are precious babies T.T Reviews appreciated!