Escape, Chapter Two

Yay! Finally, Chapter two! Whoo hoo! XD This story, I hope, might be a little more than 10 chapters, probably. I still haven't decided so we're just gonna have to see. By the way, sorry it took so long to get this chapter up. I was being too lazy to type it. .

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Ryou sat on his bed, staring out the window. He still couldn't believe what he had done. He sighed, putting a hand through his hair. "What's wrong with me!? I actually kissed her!" He shouted out to himself. "I feel like kicking myself now!" He glared at the floor below him as he crossed his arms.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door, which surprised him. "Come in..." He mumbled, not wanting to stand up and open it himself.

The door opened and in walked Keiichiro. Ryou sighed, knowing he would talk to him about Ichigo, which wasn't what he wanted at the moment. "What is it, Keiichiro?" He asked, laying down on the bed.

"Don't worrt. She's just as confused as you are..." Keiichiro replied, walking to the window.

Ryou chuckled, as he stared at the ceiling. "Why am I not surprised? That dumb strawberry is always confused."

Keiichiro turned his head to Ryou and smiled. "Yet you just can't stand to be without her, can you?" He asked, though he already knew the answer.

Ryou sighed, staying silent for a few seconds, as he sat up. ".....No.....I can't...." He stopped, realizing what he was saying. "You know what? Nevermind what I said. I don't know what came over me."

"Ryou, you should really start talking about your feelings for her. If you keep them locked inside any longer, you're gonna get hurt. You have to tell her!" Keiichiro said.

"Keiichiro! I can't tell her!" Ryou blurted out, without realizing it. He shook his head, turning away. "It wouldn't make a difference if I did anyway...She has a boyfriend that she's crazy about! How can I compare to that!?"

Keiichiro looked at him, sadly. He knew how much Ichigo loved Masaya, but he didn't want to see Ryou hurt by it. "Ryou.....One question....if she had no feelings for you, whatsoever, then.....why did I see her kiss you back?"

Ryou stopped to think about what he had said. He realized he was right and began to wonder. 'Why did she kiss me back? She could of just pushed me away and slapped me. Yet she....why did she do it?' He thought, staring at the ground. "I....I don't know...."

"Ryou," He said, in a serious tone. "That's why you have to talk to her. You have to find out what her feelings for you are. It's the only way that you'll figure out what's really going on between the two of you...." Keiichiro sighed, hoping Ryou would listen to him. He decided not to wait for an answer and walked out of the room.

Ryou laid on the bed, again, and stared at the ceiling. "Ichigo, you baka strawberry.....What have you done to me? I've never ever been this confused in my life. I must have gotten it from you...I think I'm even getting worse than you!" He tried to study the texture of the ceiling in order to take his mind off of her, but no matter what, she was still on his mind. (The ceiling wasn't much help as he realized there wasn't a really interesting texture on there) He sighed, closing his eyes. "Oh god, Ichigo...I love you so much....."

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Ichigo licked her fingers, removing the cream. She stared at the strawberry cupcake in front of her. Cream was all over the place and the strawberries were a bit mushed. To tell the truth, the cupcake looked just plain horrible. But Ichigo smiled, licking more cream from her finger. "I think it looks pretty good!" She exclaimed, with excitement.

Ryou stepped down the stairs and into the kitchen. "Keiichiro, when are you going to open up the ca--?" He stopped, seeing Ichigo standing there. "Oh, sorry. I thought Keiichiro was here."

"Oh...." She replied, nervously. She grapped a cloth and began whipping leftover cream on her hands, as she turned away, being too nervious to stare at him. "He left a while ago. He'll be back soon though."

Ryou spotted the cupcake on the table and stared at Ichigo strangly. "What the hell is that?"

She smiled. "It's my strawberry cupcake! Keiichiro asked me to help make some sweets!"

"That's supposed to be a cupcake!? Is it even edible?" He asked, sweatdropping. He walked closer to her, keeping his eyes on the cupcake.

"Of course it's edible! Why wouldn't it be!?" She glared at him, before sighing. "Alright. I know it may look a bit strange, but it tastes really good!"

"Only a bit strange? That looks nothing like food!" He shouted out, raising an eyebrow at her.

She grabbed the cupcake and handed it to him. "Can you at least try it? If it tastes bad, you can take it off my paycheck or something. Just test it out!" She insisted.

"Hmm...." He said, in thought. "There's a possiblility that I might fall over dead, but I guess I'll give it a try. Afterall, I have nothing to lose...." He took the cupcake and stared at it for a few seconds. He gulped, before taking a small bite.

Ichigo watched impatiently, waiting for his opinion. "Well?" She asked, hoping she had done a good job with the creation of her cupcake.

He slowly chewed, trying to study its taste. It was sweet and almost breath-taking which began to remind him of Ichigo herself. He swallowed the food with his eyes closed.

"Ryou?" He heard her say as he opened his eyes again. He gave her a small smile. "It's....pretty good...."

Her eyes went wide as she jumped up, hugging him. "Oh really!? Thank you so much! You see!? I told you it was good!"

Ryou looked shocked, as she put her arms around him, forcing him into a hug. He blushed slightly, as he hugged her back. "Yeah....though it looks like exploded fruit, it has a good taste to it, I guess."

Ichigo realized what she had been doing and quickly moved away. "I'm sorry! I'm just relieved that it tasted good. I though it would've been horrible!"

He sweatdropped, looking at her. "You mean.....you weren't even sure if it tasted good? Then why were you telling me that you swore that it was good?"

"Well...." She gave him an innocent smile. "I needed someone to try it....and you were the only one around.....and like you said, you had nothing to lose, so....."

His eyes went wide. "Is that why you asked me? I see....Have the guy that no one care about, test it out? Because if it doesn't taste good or something goes wrong, everything will still be ok, cause he's got nothing to lose! It wouldn't be such a big deal because Ryou was the one who tasted it and no one cares about him!" He shouted, suddenly becoming angry.

"No! That's not what I meant! And don't say that! There are a lot of people out there that care about you!" She replied, loudly, not sure of what to tell him.

Ryou laughed, looking away for a second, before turning to her again. "Really? Is that so? Please tell who these people are, because from what I know, there is no one that cares about me!"

"Ryou! That isn't true! Because I care about you!" Ichigo shouted, quickly putting her hands to her mouth, as she gasped. She didn't mean to say that out loud. She wasn't even sure if she had meant it.

He stared at her, confused, unsure of what she meant by that. "Ichigo....what are you talking about?" He asked, stepping closer to her.

"....Um.....Ryou.....I....."She began, staring at him nervously.

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::dramatic music plays in background:: Dun dun dun!!! This is the end of chapter two! Whoo hoo! Two chapters completed! Next up.....Chapter 3! XD Now for the "To Be Continued" Speech! ::cleatrs throat:: ......What did Ichigo mean by what she said? Does she really care about Ryou? Is Ichigo a good cook? Why does her cupcake taste good yet it looks horrible? Where did Keiichiro go off to? How come the girls still aren't there? WHY isn't Cafe Mew Mew open yet!? All these questions will be answered in the next chapter of "Escape"! Though, the cafe mew mew question was supposed to be answered in this chapter. I really do wonder why it hasn't open....x.x