Disclaimer: Still don't own Tokyo Mew Mew... God damn!

Wish On This: Oohhh, kay. Building plot is so boring. Whaaa. Well, read on, chums. This one took oddly long to write for whatever reason.

Ryou awoke quietly. The radio played mildly in the corner of his room.

I'm young, I know,

But even so

I know a thing, or two

I learned, from you

I really learned a lot.

He blinked a few times before lifting himself up by his elbows into a sitting position, to rub the sleep from his eyes.

Love is like a flame

It burns you when it's hot

Love hurts, ooh ooh, love hurts...

Ryou crawled to the end of his bed and reached to the radio, switching it off. He stayed still in that position for only a few moment before returning to a kneeling position. He pushed away the hair in his face and covered his mouth while he yawned.
Lazily, Ryou stepped off his bed and started walking before a burning head rush came on. His head ached for a number of minutes and he sat in front of his closet for a moment, surpressing the urge to groan.
Pound, pound, pound.

What time was it now? Ryou shifted in his seat and looked at the cafe clock. It was at the other side of the cafe and and fuzzy to his eyesight. He squinted. No luck. He clicked his tongue boredly. Whatever the time, the girls would be here soon. That he'd known.
A clique of girls came into the cafe, laughing at something. Probably a joke the brunette had said, she had a proud look on her face. Ryou diverted his eyes from the scene as Keiichiro appeared to take their orders and tapped his fingers. Keiichiro later walked over to the side of the counter Ryou was at. Keiichiro crouched low down, so Ryou couldn't see him and rummaged around for something in the counter cupboards. It was the second time he'd seen him all day. The only words he had said to Keiichiro were "Be back later." before he left for the day.
Keiichiro grunted, annoyed, and stood back up with nothing in hand. Ryou snickered.
Keiichiro glared at him for a moment, but did nothing. Ryou lowered his head and grimaced.

Do something back, you idiot. He thought.

Keiichiro smiled warmly. "Hey, Ryou." Ryou lifted his head and gave a polite smile back.
"Hey." He opened his mouth to say more, but nothing came out as the head rush came back. He clenched his teeth but kept his face straight as well as possible.

No pain, no pain. He said to himself.

"Is something wro-" Keiichiro started, but interrupted himself. "Hey girls!" He called across the cafe and waved his hand in one large swoop. Ichigo, Mint, Zakuro, and Lettuce entered the cafe door. They smiled and waved back, beginning to walk over.
Ryou pushed two fingers to his temple.
Pound, pound, pound.
He twisted his seat around and watched the girls walk over. "Be right back." Keiichiro said lowly and went to the kitchen. Obviously serving the girls who had entered earlier. Ryou's headache stopped and he sighed a breath of relief.

In a few minutes, he'll walk out with food and that happy do-good attitude. Ryou thought, and smirked.

Ichigo stopped with a bounce in front of Ryou.
"Hey!" She said loudly, with a cheerful tone. No homework tonight, I suppose. Her eyes were bright upon Ryou.
"Hey. Finally, you're here. You've got some work to do, you know?" Ryou said, trying not to smile, and came out with a quite smug expression. Ichigo scrunched her nose. She was trying to open her mouth and protest, but something in her mind told her not to, and she became completely frazzled. Mint laughed quietly and Ryou looked at her.
"Hey, where's the others?" He said dryly.
"Oh, they say they can't make it today. Important something or other. But they're gunna make up for the hours." She said boredly.
"Ah," Ryou begun. "Okay. Well. Get to work. Keiichiro isn't going to do this all himself." Lettuce nodded.

40 minutes later, the cafe had 4 more groups of people come, go, or stay and Ryou was still in the same spot.
Keiichiro plunked down on the chair beside Ryou and let out an over-dramatic blow of breath. Ryou tapped his foot in no specific beat. In an anxious beat, maybe.
"Having fun?" Keiichiro asked sarcastically. Ryou smirked at how odd Keiichiro sounded with sarcasm when he was on the job.
"Amazing fun." Ryou said, waving his hand like a magician. "I counted salt, I think there was 43 bits. You should clean better." He teased.
Keiichiro smiled. "Maybe you should clean."
Ryou tried to laugh, but it only came out as a cough. And another, and more. Ryou put a fist to his mouth to cover his mouth. His face flushed as his coughs died down. His shoulderblades hurt from shaking. Ryou felt a hand rub is back softly. Keiichiro's hand. Ryou's body softened.
"You okay?" Keiichiro asked. His hand hesitated on Ryou's back awkwardly for moment before he retracted.
"Yeah. I just," Ryou coughed hard, almost a wheeze. "Just... need air."

The air was cool like the center of an ice mint. It was one of those odd days between summer and autumn, when autumn felt like reminding everyone it was coming. Ryou leaned against the backside of the cafe, coughing.

What the hell? Even his mind sounded thuroughly annoyed. Stop coughing, dammit!

Ryou was coughing so hard now that unintentional tears were forming in his eyes. He slid down the wall and sat on the browning grass. He hunched slightly.
"Ryou?" A voice called. Ryou could make it out, Keiichiro's. "You didn't seem so well, I just wanted to chec-" Keiichiro stopped in mid-speech. "Wow, are you okay?" Ryou's face was red and he felt clammy. That was it. Ryou's lungs couldn't get anymore air. And with one more strain to the stomach, he passed out cold.

With On This: The song on the radio was Love Hurts by Nazareth. I hope you all understood the metaphor of Ryou's headache at the beginning scene.