A/N: Well...this is a short and (hopefully) sweet two chapter story based on Ryou and Retasu! Hopefully, it won't be too sappy! Please, no flames! This is my first TMM fanfic so be nice (smile). Oh and, forgive me for the Ichigo and Masaya stuff! It's just for now, I SWEAR! I like her with Kish, I SWEAR I DO! (Dodges tomatoes). Oh and, there is a tiny bit of Ryou and Ichigo stuff to, you know, add a hint of realism. Also, sorry if some things seem... OOC! I just did it so it could fit the plot! This was originally supposed to be a one-shot but I realized that it would be too long for a one-shot so, I divided it into 2 chapters only! Enjoy!
God Called In Sick Today
"You missed a spot..." A blonde man retorted, pointing effortlessly towards a tiny speck on the Café's tiled flooring.
A girl with dark, rich crimson locks quickly made her way towards it, mop at the ready. Hurriedly, she began to wipe away at it with exuberant speed until it had completely disappeared and left behind a spotless tile.
"There, finally fini-" She was just in the middle of wiping away the sweat that had formed on her forehead when a petite girl with glamorous dark hair, sitting at a table, asked, "Where's my tea, Ichigo?"
"Oops! I'll get it!"
Ichigo responded quickly and ran into the extremely girly decorated kitchen, making her way towards the teapot that was boiling and whistling rather ferociously. Grabbing it carefully, as not to get burned, she began making her way towards her lazy raven haired friend, watching her step as to not spill anything. Unfortunately, right before she walked out of the door, she had come in contact with something green that knocked her off of her feet and before she knew it, she was going down along with the green blur!
Crash!
"NYAAAAAAAAAHHH!" Was all she managed to screech as she experienced the harsh and sharp pain in her head and her back as she collided with the floor, the green fuzz falling right on top of her.
Ichigo also experienced a sharp burning pain in her right hand as she felt it come in contact with the spilt bubbling hot tea on the floor. She winced at the pain and fought back a few tears, biting her lower lip eagerly to quiet down her screaming.
"What the heck happened now, Ichigo?" The platinum blonde man walked into the kitchen carelessly, hardly noticing the mess of humans in front of him but paying more attention to the broken teapot that lay beside them.
Slowly and cautiously, a tall girl with dark green braids stood up on her knees, getting off of Ichigo and rubbing her head in pain.
"Can't you do anything right? Sometimes I wonder why the hell I even HIRED you!" The blonde cried exasperated, sighing as he turned his back and walked right out of the kitchen without so much as a glance towards the injured employees.
"Ah! I-Ichigo-san! Oh dear! What have I done! G-gomen nasai! Oh, GOMEN NASAI, ICHIGO-SAN!" The green haired female shrieked, tears nearly forming in her blue eyes.
She managed to pick herself up off of the limp body of her friend and save her glasses, which now had a crack in the left lens. She then grabbed Ichigo's shoulders and began to shake her still form to wake her up, crying out her name as she did so.
"Ichigo-san! Ichigo-san get up, please! I'm so sorry! Please get up!" She cried desperately, tears gently gracing her pale complexion.
"Ugh...I'm alright, Retasu...Just a bit...dizzy..." Ichigo managed to moan softly as she picked herself up from the ground.
She began rubbing her temple quickly, closing her eyes as the pain seared through her head. She then began to gently lick at her wounded right hand, purring occasionally in pain.
"Oh, Ichigo-san! I'm so sorry! I'm such a klutz... I can't do anything right...If it weren't for me, you wouldn't be in so much pain! Gomen!" The green haired girl got up, bowing her head in silent apology, eyes falling closed behind round glasses.
"Nyah! Don't worry about it, Retasu! I'm fine! See?" Ichigo smiled and jumped up high into the air, stretching her arms and legs enthusiastically.
"Ichigo! Where the heck is my damn tea?" An angered cry was heard from outside of the kitchen and Ichigo groaned while Retasu stifled a small giggle amidst her tears.
"It never ends, nyah!" Ichigo complained, bending down to pick up the shattered pieces of china from the floor.
Retasu had grabbed the mop from outside where Ichigo had left it, and began to swab away at the green tea that was spilled along the tiles and broken china pieces. As Ichigo continued to pick up the pieces, being careful as not to cut herself, she saw a roll of white bandage fall down beside her. Looking up to see where it had come from, she stared up to meet a sharp icy gaze lingering on her. She felt her faceredden as she noticed the same blonde male standing and staring at her with uncaring sky blue eyes.
"Try not to hurt yourself next time or I'll start taking out the damage money from your pay." He stated coldly before making his way back towards the dining area.
"Why that little ungrateful, mean, bossy, RUDE, arrogant son of a..." Ichigo cursed under her breath, shaking her fist at the area in which he had once stood.
"Ichigo, I thought you were supposed to be doing the cooking, na no da! Keiichiro-oniichan said he'd be out late tonight, and we need to fill out a few delivery orders by tomorrow morning, na no da!" A bubbly small blonde haired girl came hopping into the kitchen, staring eagerly at the busy red head.
"What? How am I supposed to cook! I'm not nearly as good as Akasaka-san! Can't anyone else do it?" Ichigo whined, getting up to throw away the shattered china pieces.
"Sorry, na no da!" And just like that, she bounced out of view, leaving behind only her trademark smile.
"Don't worry about it, Ichigo-san! I'll do the cooking! After all, I owe you one after what I did..." Retasu stated politely, putting the mop away and making her way towards the pile of dishes in the sink.
"Thanks, Retasu! I appreciate it!" Ichigo smiled gleefully at her green haired comrade.
"Ichigo, for the last time, WHERE IS MY TEA?" An outraged voice roared from outside the kitchen.
"Oh, for crying out loud, why don't you go make it yourself!" Ichigo yelled back, growing tired of the pressure that was being put on her.
"Ichigo this...Ichigo that...WHY DO I HAVE TO DO EVERYTHING AROUND HERE? I WANT A RAISE!" Ichigo cried furiously at no one in particular, scaring Retasu and causing her to break another plate.
"Ichigo, if you want that raise, you better get your butt outside and shovel the snow on the pathway. It's piling up and some customers have begun to complain." A man's voice responded without even a single shred of emotion.
"Why can't Minto do it? All she does is sit on her lazy fat butt and squawk to me about her damn tea!" Ichigo angrily argued, grabbing the roll of bandage and making her way out of the kitchen, leaving Retasu to finish up the dishes.
There she was met with a disgruntled Minto and an exhausted boss. She sat down on one of the many chairs and began to gently wrap the white bandage around her aching hand. Not once did she bother to look at Minto to notice her deep and ferocious glaring or the impatient aquamarine eyes from her bossthat were watching her rather intently.
"Ichigo, you're such a ditz! How dare you accuse me of such nonsense just because you can't do anything right!" Minto yelled, infuriated by her red headed co worker.
"Oh, shutup for once, Minto! Just once!" Ichigo fought back, still busy wrapping the bandage around her hand.
"WHY YOU!"
And thus the start of another fight had begun.
"Don't you ever tell me to shutup! Now do your job and get me MY TEA!"
"NO!"
"Ryou, as a loyal worker and customer, I demand that you fire her immediately..." Minto stated blandly, staring at the blonde while pointing in Ichigo's direction.
"That idea is beginning to sound good. I believe I told her to go shovel the snow and, would you look at that, the snow is STILL THERE." Ryou shouted impatiently, staring outside of the Café's window.
"Oh God, both of you at once now? Why can't you leave me alone! Can't I at LEAST put on a bandage because of the burn I got from getting Minto's DAMN TEA!" Ichigo retorted, fuzzy cat ears forming on the top of her head.
"That was what the crash was about? You spilled the tea? You MORON! Do you have ANY idea how much the tea and that china teapot cost? Wait, of course not! A lowlythird classperson such as you would never understand the value of antiques." Minto fought back, closing her eyes as if to be dismissing Ichigo completely.
"Excuse me? You don't NEED to be a rich spoiled BRAT to understand the value of things!" Ichigo was now standing on her feet, fists clutched in anger and eyebrows furrowed in ferocity.
"Hah, as usual! I'd expect you to be jealous of a person like moi. After all, I AM better than you at everything." Minto cackled cruelly and turned her gaze once more to Ryou.
Ryou remained silent however and simply leaned on the wall, sighing in annoyance.
"Nyah! That was uncalled for, Minto!" Ichigo shouted, pride a little bit hurt from Minto's insults.
"Oh, would you both just shut up!" A smooth, yet annoyed, female voice rung out in the café as Minto, Ichigo and Ryou turned their heads to look at whoever had spoken.
There stood an elegant and tall woman with dark purple hair, staring angrily in their direction. Almost immediately, Minto's expression softened and she smiled enthusiastically in her direction.
"Of course, oneesama! Just to let you know, it was all Ichigo's fault! She started yelling! If I had known it would have bothered you so much, I would have told her to keep quiet!" Minto assured the tall and gracious girl, glaring venomously in Ichigo's direction who was looking rather bewildered.
"Why you little liar!" Ichigo roared, shaking her fist at Minto and throwing occasional glares in Ryou's direction.
"Ichigo, do I have to tell you again?" Ryou spoke, eyes closed and not meeting with the fiery red head's.
"What!"
"GO SHOVEL THE DAMN SNOW! And throw some salt on the ice so that the customers don't slip." Ryou'scold blue eyes came alive with anger as he glared at Ichigo.
"WHY DON'T YOU DO IT?"
Ichigo had finally grown tired of all the bossing around and decided that this time, she was simply not going to listen to Ryou, Minto or anyone for that matter!
"Because I'm your boss and you are my employee and if you want your pay this week, I suggest you get out there and shovel!" Ryou cried, pointing his finger in the direction of the Café's entrance.
"No." Was Ichigo's final reply as she sat back down and continued tending to her wounded hand.
At this, the whole Café grew silent, other than the sounds of Retasu dropping pots and such that is. Even Zakuro seemed rather shocked at Ichigo's disobedient behavior, while Minto just stood there, mouth agape in complete awe.
"And why the hell not?" Ryou spoke through clenched teeth, his patience wearing lose.
"Because I don't want to and besides, I have other things that I need to do. Like go home and take a shower so that I am clean for tomorrow's date with Aoyama-kun. So, why don'tYOU zip up your cleavage-showing top, put on a jacket and run along outside to shovel the snow and put salt on the patches of ice, nyah?" Ichigo responded, her eyes transfixed on her bandaged hand.
"I am not going to shovel the snow. It's not my job. It's YOURS. Plus, it's freezing out there and I don't have a winter jacket because I have yet to go out and buy one. So go shovel the snow NOW or else..." Ryou threatened, anger in his voice.
"Or else WHAT?" Ichigo fought back, finally meeting with his ice cold blue eyes.
"Or else...you'll have to come in for work tomorrow instead of going out with your pathetic little Romeo." Ryou smirked casually, noticing the effect his statement had on Ichigo.
"Don't you EVER make fun of Aoyama-kun! He is more of a man than you ever will be! He wouldn't be arguing with me about this! As a matter of fact, he'd probably go out there and shovel the snow himself just to make me happy! So don't you DARE take out your anger on him just because you're afraid of a little cold weather!" Ichigo bit back, face turning as red as her hair as she fumed out her anger and rage.
There was an odd silence as Ryou has just stood there, eyes and face completely blank. No one dared to make a move and even Retasu had refrained from dropping any more pots and pans. Completely flustered, Ichigo grabbed her coat and scarf, changed into her boots and stomped out of the café, mumbling curses under her breath.
"I'm LEAVING!" Was her final response as she slammed the door to the café shut, disappearing into the snowy atmosphere.
"It's getting late. I should be heading out too. You know, before the snow storm hits. I'll see you tomorrow, Ryou." Zakuro broke the silence as she too grabbed her stuff and headed out.
"Um, yeah...I just remembered. My brother was supposed to help me out with my homework. So I, uh, better get going too. Bye, Ryou." Minto stuttered, grabbing her things and disappearing as well.
And just like that, the Café was completely empty except for Retasu and Ryou. Carefully and silently, Retasu came out of the kitchen, flour all over her apron and her face, and looked towards Ryou. For a mere second, she almost could have sworn she saw hurt marked in those aquamarine orbs. But it had disappeared before she could reassure it. What with a blow like that, she only expected an ego like Ryou's to suffer miserably. Especially when it camefrom Ichigo. Though she had been busy in the kitchen, she was sure not to miss even a single part of that argument.
"Sh-Shirogane-san? Umm...I'm almost done baking the order for tomorrow so, I'll be out soon, unless you would like me to do the shoveling." Retasu spoke softly, staring at him with worried eyes.
"That's fine, Retasu. Don't worry about it...Just make sure you're here tomorrow...You know how this place gets onFridays and especially with Ichigo taking a day off..."
He seemed pained but he didn't dare show it and he didn't seem the least bit angry at Ichigo, even after all she had said to him. Retasu shrugged it off as she disappeared into the kitchen once more, going back to add the rest of the icing onto the remainingcakes and pastries.
She listened carefully as Ryou made his way upstairs to his bedroom, the stairs creaking with each step he took. Retasu, however, continued working on thecakes she was currently making, not even glancing at the clock to notice how late it was. After all, she only had onemore to go for the night anyways and she was aching to go home and sleep.
"Retasu? Do me a favor and don't lock up after you leave! I'll do it myself!" Ryou cried from the top of the stairs; Retasu flinching at the sudden outburst of noise.
"Umm...hai, Shirogane-san!" Retasu replied, not quite sure why he would even say that.
After she heard his bedroom door slam, she continued to work away at the final and last cake, the crack in her left lens slightly bugging her. But Retasu was quick to brush it off and quickly became more occupied with wrapping up the pastries in a lovely pink box. As soon as she had finished, she turned her head to glance towards the cute clock on the wall, reading it carefully.
11: 45 PM
"Oh, my!" Retasu gasped, hastily grabbing her coat.
Clumsily, she put it on and then opened the door to the Café, finally heading out and wrapping her jacket tightly around herself to shield her from the strong wind and snow. Closing the door behind her lightly, she began making her long and excruciating journey home.
- - - - - - -
"GOOD MORNING, ONEE-CHAAAAAN!"
An ecstatic bubbly small blonde came hopping out of the Café doors, jumping right on top of a startled green haired girl, causing her to fall back into a pile of white fluffy snow.
After a few seconds of being plummeted into the snow, Purin finally had decided that it was time for her to get off of her disgruntled green haired friend. Retasu slowly sat up, and began to cough up some of the white powder that had fallen into her mouth from the impact. She then wiped away the snow that was caught in her glasses and her face.
"Good morning, Purin-san." Retasu said softly with a smile as she carefully got up, wiping away the snow from her jacket and placing her glasses back on.
Despite the mild pain in her leg, Retasu practically pretended like it was nothing and began making her way into the Café along with an overly hyper Purin. Retasu removed her snow covered jacket and quickly made her way into the kitchen to prepare the food that was soon to be ordered by the hundreds of girls that would be barging in.
"Where's Akasaka-san?" Retasu asked politely to the three girls who were in the Café.
"Oh, he left a note saying that he wouldn't be back until our shift is over. Said something about grocery shopping or whatever. Why?" Minto was the one to respond, sitting at her usual table with her usual cup of tea in hand.
"Oh, nothing I was just curious...Because without Ichigo-san around, it's really going to be difficult. Akasaka-san is usually very helpful in times like these..." Retasu replied, a little flushed.
"We'll live..." Zakuro replied without even a shred of emotion in her voice.
With this, Retasu began helping Purin set the tables as Zakuro turned the 'CLOSED' sign around to 'OPEN'. It wasn't very long before they heard the bell ring, signaling that their first customer of the day had arrived...
- - - - - - -
"Phew, I'm exhausted!" Retasu sighed, leaning back against a wall as she wiped away the sweat forming on her forehead.
Purin was too busy cleaning all the spills at an abnormal speed while Zakuro was finishing up in the kitchen. Minto had, surprisingly, decided to help out that day as she took orders and even cleaned up. Retasu figured it was probably to impress Zakuro since she never acted that way when Zakuro wouldn't be working. The final customer had left only moments ago and Purin had turned the 'OPEN' sign to 'CLOSED'.
Everyone seemed rather exhausted, except for Purin of course. Nothing could wear down that hyper and enthusiastic child. She was still happily mopping away at all persistent messes with as much energy as she had only that morning. Retasu looked up to glance at the clock before continuing to wipe down the tables.
9:42 PM
It was getting late and the snow had piled up outside again. Fearing that Ryou might get angry, she grabbed her jacket andshovel and headed outside of the Café. She shivered, tugging her jacket tighter around herself as she felt the chill of the wind come in contact withher warm body. She could hardly see in the dark but thanks to the moonlight, she managed to see all she needed to and began to shovel away at the heavy amounts of snow.
As she shoveled, she made sure that there wasn't any hidden ice so that she wouldn't slip. Being a klutz by nature, it was hard enough for her to avoid any embarrassing accidents without trying.
"There, all done." Retasu said to herself.
"Retasu?"
A soft manly voice traveled towards her lonesome figure.
She quickly looked up and saw a tall man in a heavy black jacket carrying a bunch ofshopping bags in his hands as the wind fiddled around with his long and gracious brown ponytail.
"Ah, Akasaka-san! You're here!" Retasu chirped happily, waving at the older male.
"How come you're shoveling the snow this late?" He asked quizzically, his deep eyes traveling towards the shovel in Retasu's hand.
"Huh? Oh, well I figured Shirogane-san might want it done since Ichigo-san wasn't able to do it yesterday." Retasu replied sheepishly, a blush engulfing her pale face.
"Ahhh...yes. Of course, how could I have forgotten? Is Ryou up and about, then?" Keiichiro asked, staring intently into Retasu's ocean blue eyes.
"Well...I haven't seen him all day, actually. Why, what happened? Is he alright?" Retasu replied, her face knotted with worry.
"Well it's actually a long story, so why don't we go inside and talk it over? Besides, I might as well inform the rest of the girls." Keiichiro spoke softly, making his way to the Café doors, shopping bags still in hand.
Retasu was quick to follow, dragging the shovel in behind her and almost tripping over her own two feet again. As they both entered the Café, all the girls greeted Keiichiro and immediately attempted to help him with the bags.
"Oh, girls it's quite alright. These ones aren't for the Café, actually. So just take these bags and the rest I'll take upstairs to my room. Thanks a bunch." Keiichiro smiled softly as he handed them a bag each filled with things for the Café.
"Alright, have any of you even noticed that Ryou isn't here?" Keiichiro asked, his face becoming blank as each girl looked at each other and merely shook their heads.
"Okay, I guess that he STILL hasn't taken the medicine then...That boy never listens to me." Keiichiro sighed and shook his head as he plopped down on a chair, putting the remaining bags down onto the floor.
"Why? What's wrong with him, Akasaka-san?" Retasu questioned, taking Keiichiro's jacket and placing it on a hook.
"Thank you, Retasu. Well, it happened yesterday night. I was coming home from my errands in the middle of the night and in the middle of a blizzard, I might add, when I had spotted an abnormally large lump in front of the Café covered in snow completely. Naturally, I walked towards it to see what it was. I uncovered some snow and I saw a fewstrands of blonde hair. For some reason, there was Ryou sitting on the floor, a shovel gripped in his hand and frozen completely. It was quite a bit of trouble uncovering him and dragging him inside without leaving a trail of snow behind. He told me later that he had gone out to shovel the snow in the middle of the blizzard and in only his measly pyjamas! Of course, now he's lying in bed with an absurd fever and an even more painful cough. Since he just won't drink the medicine I brought him, I doubt he'll be getting better any time soon. Sad, isn't it?" Keiichiro finished, standing up and picking up the shopping bags from the floor.
"This is ALL Ichigo's fault! If she hadn't been so darn stubborn, none of this would have happened!" Minto concluded, huffing angrily as she crossed her arms.
"Ichigo?" Keiichiro asked, staring at the girls and waiting for an explanation.
"Well, I guess Shirogane-san forgot to mention that little bit...Him and Ichigo got into...another little argument over shoveling the snow and Shirogane-san brought Masaya into the picture, so Ichigo-san got upset and left. For the record, it was my fault...I shouldn't have listened to him and left the door unlocked. Then he wouldn't have gone outside." Retasu found herself explaining as she stared at the floor.
"Retasu, it isn't your fault. Knowing that boy, he probably would have gone out there anyways, whether you locked the door or not.Well, I came back actually to ask you girls of a...rather large favor..." Keiichiro's voice was fading and he was giving the girls an irresistible pleading expression.
"Sure, Akasaka-san. What is it?" Retasu was willing to help out in any way she could, still feeling slightly guilty about her actions.
"Well, I know that you girls are off tomorrow to do Christmas shopping but...you see I'm kind of busy tomorrow. So busy that I won't be able to make it home until later in the evening. However, thisboy here really needs to be taken care of like a child otherwise he'll never get any better. So, I'd really like it if one of you girls could come bytomorrow and 'baby-sit' the littlekid here..." Keiichiro concluded, looking desperately at the four girls that surrounded him.
"Sorry but I have too many appointments tomorrow! With ballet and all, I'm really finding it hard to do any Christmas shopping. So I can't." Minto spoke, smiling apologetically at Keiichiro.
"I have a major shoot tomorrow for a high class magazine cover. I'd beblasted by themif I didn't show up..." Even Zakuro managed to say this with a hint of sympathy.
"Sorry oniichan! I have to put up the Christmas tree with my family tomorrow, na no da!" Purin replied, her hands playing around with Retasu's long green braids.
Retasu and Keiichiro watched each and every one of them begin to leave, waving goodbye and giving Keiichiro a good luck to boot. Keiichiro closed the door behind Purin and sighed deeply.
"This is...bad..."
Retasu thought about it for a bit. She was trying to think of a reason why she might not be able to make it as well. But looking at Keiichiro, she felt her stomach take a flip in guilt. She couldn't leave Keiichiro hanging like that.
"Akasaka-san? I'll do it."
---------------------
A/N: Okay, so this is going to be continued in the next chapter! However, this is only a 2 chapter story! So sorry for leaving you all hanging but...the humor is all in the next chapter :D! I hope you guys liked it! I have a few translations as well for those of you who hate it when I include japanese words in fics :D I'm sorry if they aren't exact...I translated them myself :)
Translations:
Gomen-nasai: Very sorry
Oniichan: like brother
Oneechan: like sister
oneesama: more respectful than 'oneechan'
-san: shows respect (like Mr.,Mrs.)
Hai: Yes
na no da: Don't really know what it means :P It's just something Purin always says at the end of her sentences in the manga hehe...