Omigosh, I accidentally labeled both Ch.7 and Ch.8 as Ch.7(really hope that makes sense)! Oh well, an easy mistake to fix.

I am really proud of myself right now for writing this much! This is the most I've ever written in a fanfiction(this is my second ;) and I don't plan on ending it any time soon!

Once it does end, I plan on making either a Inuyasha fanfiction, or a fanfiction about Zakuro.

Thank you to all my readers and an extra special thanks to my reviewers!

This is my favorite and probably longest chapter ever!!! Oh my God it even made me cry(I'm such a sap ;;).

Now for the hopefully enjoyable Ch.9!!

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The sun shined through the windows of Ryou's room. Ryou's eyes slowly opened, he had recovered from his fever at last. He looked to his side expecting to find Ichigo, but it was just an empty spot. He got up and began walking down the stairs, "Hey Ichigo! You still here?!"

Ichigo walked out of the kitchen and toward him, "Yeah, I'm right here, what do you need?"

Ryou scratched his head, "Actually, I just wanted to thank you for...you know...what you did last night, using your body heat to help me recover, I didn't know you were that smart." They both blushed.

"It was no problem Ryou, and I'm really sorry about making you come out so early in the morning to rescue me." She smiled.

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that. I wonder who made that hole and got you trapped in it. Did you happen to see who it was, maybe even a little hint?" Ryou asked curiously.

Ichigo thought hard for several seconds, "No, we shouldn't worry about it though, it was probably some bratty kid trying to play some joke on me." She grabbed her coat, "I better be going, I have big plans for today!" She began walking out the door.

Ryou blinked, "Big plans? What are you going to do today?" An expression of worry covered his face as he looked at her and thought to himself, "Please don't say the name Masaya..."

She giggled, "Didn't I tell you last night? After Masaya came by to explain things to me, he said that he would make it up to me by taking me out to dinner at a restaurant! I can't wait! It's gonna be my first date with him since he came back!" She waved goodbye to him and ran out the door yelling back, "Thank you for all the comfort you have given me while he was gone, I promise to make it up to you!" She soon disappeared from his sight.

Ryou waved goodbye with a fake smile, "I should have known." He sat down at the nearest chair and yawned, "I'm still tired, maybe I'll go back to sleep for another hour." As he walked up the stairs, a figure began to appear in front of him.

"You idiot! You ruined my whole plan! I made that hole so that Ichigo would be trapped in it and I would be the wonderful hero to save her and we would live happily ever after!" It was an angry Kish.

"Kish! That was you?! Didn't I tell you to go home and leave us all alone!"

Kish laughed, "Oh well. I'll forgive you this time. At least it worked out for you. You got to sleep in the same bed with a naked Ichigo, must have been great for you. You don't know how much I wished that I were the one with the fever in your place." He snickered at the sight of Ryou's red cheeks after he had said that.

Ryou turned his face away from Kish to hide the blushing, "You were spying on us!" Kish just snickered even more. This made Ryou even more angrier, "Besides, if you had taken my place, Ichigo would probably let you die before getting that close to you!"

Kish pouted. Ryou smiled seeing as Kish didn't know what he could say after that. Kish just smiled and turned around, "Ichigo will be mine! Not yours or that stupid, ungrateful boyfriend of hers. You'll see!" He disappeared leaving Ryou standing there proud of what he said to Kish.

Ichigo played with the food sitting on the plate in front of her as she looked up at the sky. Masaya and her were at a small restaurant for a date. She sighed and continued staring off into nowhere. She thought to herself, "Something's wrong, what is in my head that's bothering me so much?"

Masaya watched her from across the table in confusion. She had been doing the same thing since the date first began and it was making him kind of worried, "Ichigo? Is there something wrong? You've been staring at who knows what and playing with your food ever since you got here. What's on your mind?" She didn't answer, she was too distracted with whatever she was thinking about to even hear him. He blinked and waved his hand up and down in front of her face, "Uh...Ichigo?"

She shook her head and then looked at him, "Oh. I'm sorry, what did you say?"

Masaya stared at her blankly for a moment and then repeated, "What's wrong? You haven't even taken a bite out of your food. Are you still mad at me?"

Ichigo rapidly shook her head, "Oh no! Of course not! It's nothing, I'm just thinking." She took a huge bite out of her food, "See! Nothing to worry about!" She laughed nervously as he stared at her. She looked down at the table, "I'm sorry."

Masaya leaned over the table and kissed her on the forehead, "Don't apologize. I was just a little worried about you, that's all." He sat back in his chair and smiled, "You know that if there's anything on your mind, you can always talk to me about it. I'm here for you."

She returned his smile and stood up, "I'm finished eating now, so we can go now if you want."

He nodded, "That's sounds good. Let's go then." He took her hand in his and pulled her close to him as they began to walk."

Ichigo leaned against his shoulder, "I'll at least try to have fun," she said in her head as she tried to smile and make herself look happy. The look in her eyes revealed that there was something bothering her. Masaya noticed this, but he didn't say anything fearing that he may upset her. She stopped, "I know what it is now. I know what's bothering me." Her pink eyes began to fill with tears. She looked into Masaya's worried eyes and opened her mouth, "Masaya..."

Masaya smiled, "It's okay Ichigo, you don't have to say it, I know that you no longer want to be with me."

Ichigo blinked several of the tears away, "Masaya, but...how did you..."

Masaya put his hand on her cheek, "I could see it in your eyes Ichigo."

A few tears fell to the ground. She looked him in the eyes, "I'm sorry."

He smiled, "It's okay, but that doesn't mean I'll stop loving you. I'll try my best to win your heart again."

She took out a handkerchief and wiped away her tears, "Thank you." She ran the opposite way of Masaya as he watched her with a smile.

It was11:30 p.m. when she saw the cafe in front of her. A calm smile came across her face, "Ryou..."

She ran through the doors where she say Ryou standing. She took a moment to catch her breath and walked up to him slowly. "Ryou, there's something I need to tell you." Ryou just looked at her. She took a deep breat and continued, "Ryou, I..."

He put his finger over her mouth stopping her in the middle of her sentence. He then took her hand, "Please, let me take you somewhere." She nodded in agreement. He smiled and they both ran out of the cafe hand in hand. They soon found a forest.

"Ryou where are you taking me? Why don't we slow down a bit?"

He laughed, "We can't slow down, we have to hurry."

She continued following behind him. She looked toward the dark sky and watched the stars go by, "So many stars!"

"We're there." Ryou said as he tried to catch her breath.

She took her eyes off the sky and found herself by a small, calm pond surrounded by trees. There were less trees in this part of the forest and at that time of night is when the fireflies danced over and around the pond. She looked around the area in amazement and surprise, "Oh my God."

Ryou sat down against a tree followed shortly by Ichigo. He looked into her shocked eyes with a smile on his face, "So, what do you think?"

She began crying.

Ryou's smile faded away, "Ichigo, what's wrong?"

"Ryou!" She jumped into his arms and put her lips against his.

Now it was Ryou who was surprised. Everything was suddenly slow motion to him, the tears falling behind Ichigo as they began to fall to the ground, and the fireflies dancing around them. He thought to himself, "Is this a dream? If it is, I don't ever want to wake up." He put his arms around her and they both fell to the ground. The light from the moon, stars, and fireflies reflecting from the pond shown against them as they shared their first true kiss together. Their lips separated and Ryou opened his eyes. He looked at Ichigo. Her eyes also slowly began to open. Tears fell freely from her face. The light reflecting from the pond hit her face revealing each and every feature. Ryou stared at her beauty in awe. The fireflies flying behind her completed the image. He couldn't move nor speak. He smiled and put his hand on her cheek, "Ichigo, I love you."

Ichigo sat in between his legs and leaned against his chest, "Ryou... I love you too..."

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::Wipes away tears after reading chapter over::

I love this chapter! It is my all time favorite! This is a time where I need ideas because it's hard to think of something to write about after writing something like that!

I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I did! Please review and come back for the next chapter!

gumgumgirl: "Tokyo Mew Mew Genius." Has a nice ring to it lol. Thank you so much for your encouragement! I am really glad you like this story!