Escape - Chapter Four: The One With The Realizations


Greetings, fellow friends. This is another update for Escape, yes. Sorry I'm taking so long. But, hey! I've been pretty busy you know. Anyway, I really don't know where this story is going. I originally had it all planned out, but, uh...I don't think it's going too great. And what the heck will I do about Masaya? Make him fall off a bridge? Make him confess that's he's really a girl and he marries Francis? Just stick him in a pickle jar? ACK!Feel free to send in suggestions.


Also, I realized that I might have gone a bit out of character with everybody, especially Ryou. It's really hard to write as a serious, mysterious character like Ryou. I made him pretty obvious and all lovey dovey in a way. x-x Ichigo seems to be pretty off, too. I mean, she's easily giving in to everything that's happening with Ryou. Maybe she should've fought it all a bit. Either way, this is my story, so nya. I'll just keep it the way it already is, but I'll try to get Ryou back to normal.
"I-I-I...u-um..." She stuttered. "I...um...I need to know..."

He blinked, before he moved closer to her and put a hand on her chin. "Ichigo, what is it you want to know?"

"Ryou..." She started, taking a deep breath. "Why did you kiss me?"

He took a step back away from her, as his eyes grew wide. 'Why is she asking me this? What is she expecting me to tell her? That I love her and all that I wanted was to be with her? And that the reason for the kiss was just a way to show her how I feel? I don't think so! I mean, it wasn't exactly all a lie, but...wait! What am I saying? Of course it's a lie! Well, I guess I do love her, but...I know I'm not supposed to...' He kept thinking in his mind, fighting with himself about the truth of his feelings.

He really didn't have an answer for her. At least, not one he could say outloud. On the outside, he stood with a straight face, with a calm expression of thinking. On the inside, he was struggling, nervously, hoping he wouldn't give a stupid reply.

"For what other reason would I do it? I was keeping you from getting lazy and deciding not to do anything. Apparently, I've done everything else to get you to work, so this was my only choice left. That's all." He spoke with confidence, hoping she wouldn't sense the worry he was feeling. He didn't want his true feelings to be revealed, because he felt they weren't meant to become real.

But Ichigo was disappointed. She knew Ryou didn't reveal much, but she at least expected a more reasonable answer. Was his reason really just to get her to work? She kept her thoughts inside, though, and decided to let him hide his feelings for that moment. "Okay, I understand. I guess it sort of actually worked, nya?"

He smirked, crossing his arms. "And hopefully, it taught you a good lesson, you baka strawberry. If it put some sense into that small mind of yours, I won't have to do it again."

Suddenly, she blushed, putting Ryou in confusion. 'What if I want you to?' She thought, before turning a few more shades of red, as she heard her own thoughts. 'OH MY GOD! Why would I WANT him to? I mean, I don't want to kiss him again! Eww! Cooties!'

Ryou noticed her face turn red and raised an eyebrow, as he smirked again. "What's wrong with you? Are you upset that I might not do it again?" He joked, with a chuckle.

The comment forced her to blush more than before. 'Can he read minds or something? Ugh! Why am I so red? Once again! I repeat! The cooties!' She argued in her mind about the thoughts that were storming through her mind.

Still, Ryou once again noticed. He also couldn't understand her reason for blushing so much. 'Is she sick or something? Cause I didn't say anything.' His smirk went away as he tried to figure her out. "Ichigo?"

She gave a nervous laugh, shaking her head. "N-no! Of course not! W-w-why in the world would I wany you to kiss me again?"

He sighed, giving a small smile. "You're such an idiot, you know that?"

"Well, you're just a big meanie! And I am not an idiot! I'm just...um...I'm...just...sick! Yeah! I'm sick!" She complained, faking a cough.

"Yeah, I'm sure you are. Either way, you're still gonna get back to work. No excuse will get you out of doing that, just so you know."

Ichigo's eyes went wide. "What? After everything that's happened, you're still gonna just make me work?"

"First of all, what's 'everything'? We simply kissed once. Not a big deal. And nothing else has happened. Second, of course you're going to work. You still work here, don't you? I would have fired you already, but I really can't afford to lose any employees."

She pouted, but made no other complaints. He was actually sort of right, considering that just because they kissed, there was no real reason for getting off of work.

She motioned towards the door, getting ready to walk out, but he grabbed her hand, pulling her back. "Wha?" A blush appeared on her face again, as she stared down at his hand, which was holding hers.

He finally realized what he had done, but he didn't let her go. "Ichigo...?"

She blinked countlessly for a few minutes, unsure of what exactly he was doing. "Um...yes?"

"What...um..." He closed his eyes, sighing, having slight trouble trying to speak, which wasn't a common sight with Ryou. He took a deep breath, opening his eyes. "Can I ask you a question?"

"You just did."

"You know what I mean, you idiot."

"No, I don't."

"Yes you do, idiot."

"No, I don't. And I'm not an idiot."

"If you don't, then you're obviously an idiot."

"Oh, shut up and tell me what it is already."

He looked straight at her, though this time, he didn't have the expression he usually wore. Now his glance seemed warm and gentle, which wasn't too Ryou-like. The scene itself made Ichigo blush for what seemed like the fourty-second time that dat.

"What would you...what would you do if I kissed you again?"

She froze, eyes growing wide. 'WHAT?' How can he ask me that?' She couldn't talk now, for her voice got caught in her throat. 'I can't lie to him, I know. But there's is no way I can tell him the truth either! Wait, what truth? The truth is I'm in love with Masaya and that's it! But if he were to kiss me again, then I think I'd...'

"I'd kiss you back." She answered simply, though she couldn't believe her answer after she spoke. 'Did I just say THAT?'

Now Ryou was the one to turn a deep shade of red. 'Hold on! She's kidding, right? I mean, I expected a slap in the face or maybe even a kick in the shin, not to mention a long lecture, but THAT? There's no way she meant that."

"Wha...? But why? I mean, you just...but you...can't just..." He was completely speechless. He really couldn't figure out a way to respond. Afterall, he hadn't even seen that answer coming.

She bit her lip, looking away. Maybe it was wrong of her to say that. Maybe she should've just blacked out or something that would've kept her from saying anything at all. "Well, I dunno. That's just what, um...I really don't know..."

Ryou smiled, as he took her hands and kissed her forehead. "You never know anything, do you, you baka strawberry?"

She looked up at him, pouting. "That's just rude, you big meanie! And just so you know, I'm not as stupid as you seem to think! And I'm not just a baka..." She trailed off, as he moved closer to her. "...a baka...strawberry..."

He raised an eyebrow. "Trust me, Ichigo, you really are a baka. But nothing personal, so don't worry." He leaned in, kissing her softly. It wasn't as strong and deep as the first one, but instead sweet and precious.

For once, she didn't blush, and instead, she went up on the tip of her toes to reach his height and kissed him again.

He had taken her actions by surprise, for he didn't really think she'd really do it. Still, he kissed her back, feeling as though this had been a once-in-a-lifetime moment. He loved her, and though there was a possiblity that she returned no feelings for him, this was as good as it was going to get.

Doing something he hadn't done in a long time, he put his hand on the door handle and locked it. Knowing how bad his luck was running lately, he wouldn't be taking any chances that he might get interuppted once again.

She had heard the door being locked, though she didn't mind. What was really bothering her was her own feelings. She didn't seem to be thinking about Masaya or any of her feelings for him. For some reason, all she cared about was having Ryou with her at that moment and sharing this time with him. 'I don't know what this all means or if there's even a way I can understand it all, but I might actually be in lov'

Her thoughts were interuppted, when Ryou slowly pulled away from her. "Ichigo...I can't do this. I mean...you're with Masaya. You're in love with him and you two are together." He whispered, trying his best not to look at her. "So this probably isn't the best thing to do right now, you know?"

Ichigo couldn't understand it. How was it possible that Ryou was worried about her relationship with Masaya when she wasn't even thinking of him? For some reason, her only concern was being able to be with Ryou. "Um...yeah. You're right. And um...maybe I should go now. Hopefully the cafe will open soon and I can get to work."

Ryou nodded his head, as he unlocked the door, not saying much. "Yeah..."

"And...I'm sorry for this."

"...Sorry for what? Nothing happened, you baka. So, hurry up! I'm this close to cutting off your pay for the day!" He replied, bringing back his old self, as he opened the door and walked out.

Ichigo felt a tear drop from the corner of her eye, but quickly wiped it away, shaking her head. 'Why am I feeling his way about him? I'm in love with Masaya! Masaya and I are together and there's no way that Ryou's going to get in the way of that! Because I can't possibly be in love with Ryou...right?"

Snapping back to reality, she chuckled to herself, muttering on how ridiculous this day had been. "You just need some rest, Ichigo. That's it." She told herself, out loud. "Though asking Ryou for a day off is totally out of the question."

Ichigo went downstairs to the main area, though she saw no sign of neither Ryou or Keiichiro. She sighed, wondering where they had gone now, just before she heard giggling from the kitchen. It was definitely not Keiichiro nor Ryou, considering the world would be taken over by aliens before either of them recieves a high pitched voice, so Ichigo just guessed that it must have been the other girls.

"They must all be here already..." She said, before walking into the kitchen. As she had gone, Ryou appeared from hiding behind the stairs. He stayed silent, contemplating his thoughts about the day's events.

"Ichigo!" said a voice from behind him.

He jumped up to find Keiichiro, arms crossed, looking back at him. "Keiichiro? Don't scare me like that!"

"Oh...I thought you were Ichigo."

"Oh, really? What gave me away?"

Keiichiro shook his head. "Funny, Ryou. You aren't the type to get scared of simple things like this. Seeing you jump about three feet in the air, I really could have mistaken you for Ichigo."

"Please, don't compare me to that darn kitten."

"You're a kitten too, you know."

"No, I'm a cat. I'm not a kitten."

"Ryou..."

Ryou sighed, giving no other response. Speaking of Ichigo, he realized there was no way he could look at her face to face again.

"You didn't tell her, did you? But you did kiss her, didn't you?"

Ryou looked at his friend in shock. "How in the world would you know, anyway? Are you spying on me?"

Keiichiro sighed, giving a frown. "I know you too well, Ryou. You aren't one who's honest with your feelings."

Ryou turned away, seeing as how he might've been right. He really did have problems with his feelings didn't he? "Keiichiro...?"

"Hmm? Yes, Ryou?"

"I tried...I really did."

"...I know. I understand how hard it is."

"She's with someone else, though." He said, honestly. "It wouldn't work out anyway. She's happy with him, you know. And I can't just confess to a girl who's in love with someone else. She loves him. She really does."

"Does she really? Strange how she'd kiss someone she didn't love, even when she was with someone else."

"What's that supposed to be?"

Keiichiro just smiled. "Why don't you try figuring this one out?"

"...I hate it when you're smarter than me."


Ichigo stepped into the kitchen, expecting to find four lazy/clumsy/crazy/calm girls standing around, getting read for work. But instead, she found all four girls staring at her, curiously with sparkling eyes. "Oh god...what happened? Did a chimera anima eat everyone and replace them with you hypnotized numbskulls?"

Mint gave a chuckle. "Oh, Ichigo, we know exactly what you did..."

Ichigo's eyes went wife as she gave a nervous laugh. "Haha...you're kidding, right? I mean, I'm sure whatever happened, we can work it out..."

"Ichigo..." Mint muttered. "You sneaky little girl!"

Ichigo jumped. "Ahh! I swear it wasn't me!"

With that, Pudding bounced over to her cheerfully. "You kissed him! Oh, yes you did, na no da!" She hugged Ichigo tight. "Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!"

Ichigo turned a deep shade of red, almost fainting. "Whaaa? How do you know about that?"

"Well, you did do it out in the open." Lettuce noted.

"You guys were watching us?"

"It was actually difficult not to when you were right in front of us..." said Zakuro, calmly, though Ichigo was now panicking.

"Way to go, Ichigo. You've made yourself quite a mushy queen!" Mint added, as Masha floated up.

"Mushy queen! Mushy queen!"

"You guys! This really wasn't intended! I mean, it just happened out of nowhere!"

Lettuce blinked. "Ichigo, what are you so woried for? We're actually quite happy for you."

"Happy? You're happy for me?"

"Isn't this what Ichigo wanted, na no da?" Pudding leaped up, still smiling.

"Wanted? Well, not exactly, actually..."

Mint's eyes went wide. "Not exactly?" She asked, crossing her arms. "Wasn't this like your dream come true or something?"

"Dream come true? Really, I have no idea what you're all talking about! I mean, I admit, it wasn't so bad, but this wasn't supposed to happen. I mean, how can I just kiss Ryou?"

The girls froze, as their smiles disappeared.

"You...did what?" Mint asked with shock.

"Um...kiss Ryou? I mean, wasn't that what you were just talking about?"

"No, we were talking about you and your boyfriend."

"Didn't you kiss Masaya after work yesterday?"

"You kissed Masaya, yes, na no da?"

"When did you kiss Ryou?"

"WHAT?" Ichigo screamed, falling over.

"You mean to say that you kissed Ryou too?" Mint asked with curiousity.

"Um...no?" Ichigo answered, chuckling nervously.

Pudding hugged Ichigo again, before jumping around in circles. "You kissed Ryou! Kiss! Kiss! Na no da!"

Mint snickered. "How lucky can you be? First you have Masaya. And now you have Ryou too!"

"You don't need to say it like that, Mint!" Ichigo complained, wondering what exactly she had gotten herself into. "And besides, there is nothing even going on between me and Ryou anyway! I mean, sure, we kissed once, but...well, twice, anyway...but that doesn't really mean anything, okay?"

The rest of the girls stared at her in utter surprise. "Twice?" They questioned in unison.

Ichigo quickly shut her mouth, realizing she was getting herself into more trouble. Why couldn't she just stop talking already? "T-t-twice? No! Of course not! Why would I kiss Ryou twice?" It was pointless to deny it. Ichigo had always really been a bad liar, and she was always easily figured out. Even this time, she was pretty obvious.

"But Ichigo, what about Masaya?" Lettuce asked, being in confusion along with the rest of the girls.

"I'm still with Masaya! What even happened with me and Ryou was just an accident!"

Zakuro stepped up, shaking her head. "It's easy to see a lie in there. Some things we say and some things we do may be accidents created by simple mistakes. But...kissing a boy is never an accident. And seeing as how you kissed Ryou twice, that shouws that it isn't just some clumsy mistake..."

With that, Zakuro walked out, leaving Ichigo to contemplate once more with earlier events. If it wasn't just a mistake, then what exactly was it?

"Ichigo! That is so not fair!" Mint shouted, causing her to return back to reality.

"Nyaaa?"

"Why is it that you're always the one getting advice from her? Do you realize how lucky you are?"

Lettuce just smiled. "That is so cute! Ichigo and Ryou must be in love!"

Mint snickered yet again. "Love? Ha. Even without love, Ichigo gets to kiss Ryou whenever she wants."

But Ichigo wasn't listening to what they were saying. She had other things to worry about. "I'm...supposed to love Masaya. Nothing was supposed to happen with Ryou. I didn't plan any of this..."

Mint sighed. "Ichigo, nothing in life is ever planned. Did you plan to become a mew mew? Did you plan to meet any of us? Did you plan to save the world?"

"She's right..." Lettuce whispered. "We didn't plan to become mew mews, but look at us now. It might be the same with you and Ryou."

Ichigo sweatdropped. "You comparing becoming superheroes to falling in love with Ryou? Oh, please! Sure, I didn't plan on being a mew mew, but falling for Ryou can totally be canceled out."

Pudding gave an evil grin. "Maybe you were like destined to fall in love and be together! Na no da! But, if you don't want to, you can take this hate pill that's been in my family for ages and you can hate him again!"

The girls looked at Pudding with blank faces before deciding to ignore the comment.

"I think..." Ichigo began, not looking straight at the girls. "I think...that I was to do it. I think that...I want to be in love with Ryou."

Mint stared in surprise. "Are you serious? You really want this? See? I told you this would happen! Pudding, you owe me 25,000 yen!"

Pudding just kepy bouncing around happily. "Pudding owes Mint nothing, na no da!"

"PUDDING!"

But as the other girls continued to argue, Ichigo paid no attention to them. Had she really just said that? Did she really want to fall in love with Ryou? But what about Masaya?

"Good morning, girls." Her thoughts were interuppted as Keiichiro stepped into the kitchen.

"Oh! Oh!" Good morning, Keiichiro!" greeted Pudding, who hopped around on the kitchen tables.

"Is the cafe opening yet?" Mint asked, crossing her arms impatiently. It seemed like work was never going to start.

Keiichiro took a moment to think about this. "Not just yet. I think we should wait a little longer before opening up."

Ichigo's eyes widen in disbelief. Still not opening? This was the longest morning she had ever experienced.

"Fine, I'm going to have some morning tea." Mint muttered, walking out of the kitchen.

"Pudding is going to try some new tricks!" She cheered, rushing out.

Lettuce rushed after her. "Wait up, Pudding! You're gonna break the tables!"

Thus, that left only Keiichiro and Ichigo alone in the kitchen.

"I should probably go keep the girls out of trouble." Keiichiro noted, as he began to step out as well, but Ichigo stopped him, before he could leave.

"Um...wait!" She shouted, feeling as though she could talk to him about what she had been feeling lately.

"Oh, is there something you need, Ichigo?" He questioned, in confusion.

"Um...well...there's something that I realized and wasn't sure what to think of it."

"What is it?"

Ichigo hesitated to speak, making sure this was how she really felt. "I'm...I'm in love with Ryou..."


That took FOREVER! Chapter 4 is the longest chapter I've written so far and I never want to write it again! Ever! Now this leaves me to write chapter five. And I have no idea what to write for it. But I'll figure out something. Don't worry. But who knows when it'll be up? Bah. But anyway...Is Ichigo really in love with Ryou? Will Ryou finally be able to tell Ichigo the truth? And what will Ichigo do about Masaya? And is there going to be a third kiss? Why won't Keiichiro open the stupid cafe? Ack! X-x