Disclaimer: I do not own Tokyo Mew Mew

Title: Opening Up.

Warnings: Maybe a slight bit of OOCness, characters ages have been changed ; so they're roughly all the same age apart from Akasaka-san and Ryou who're slightly older of course

Author: Mairi. (Dark Winged Angel Mairiel).

Proof Reader: Kaoru Saotome

Summary: Ryou's attempting to make his move on Ichigo. How will Ichigo react, and will she confess her feelings to Ryou?

Pairings: Ryou x Ichigo.

Chapter 6 – Confessions

Ryou waited outside the path that led to Ichigo's house. He still had a couple of minutes to go before he was due to arrive. He looked up as the door opened; a smiling Ichigo emerged from the other side and closed it behind her. She walked up to him before greeting him with a slightly hyper hug.

"Good morning Shirogane-san."

"Good morning, Ichigo," Ryou replied, returning the hug.

They walked down to the park first of all. They weren't going to go to the cinema right now, so they decided to leave it a while; they had a lot of time.

"It's quite a nice day, nya?" Ichigo said, her smile getting bigger by the minute; she was clearly in a much better mood than yesterday and it made Ryou smile.

"Yeah, it looks much brighter than yesterday did, don't you think so?" he replied, gazing up at the clear blue sky. Ichigo nodded in agreement and took a seat on the nearby bench. Ryou sat next to her, a little closer than he'd expected.

"You know I've gotten over that moron already? Some would think it's pretty strange for one to get over Aoyama so quickly," she said. She wasn't lying, and she had to let Ryou know somehow that Aoyama wasn't going to be on her mind anymore.

"Really, is he that popular at your school?"

"Yeah, he was really popular."

"I see. So when do you want to go see this movie?" he asked, trying to work out a good time to tell her how he felt.

"Should we go at midday? We could head to the café straight after it," she suggested.

"Yeah that's fine." He now knew he'd have to do it within the next couple of hours, unless…

"Ichigo," he began, looking away from her to hide the blush he could feel spreading over his face. Ichigo looked up to the blonde boy next to her.

"Yes, Shirogane-san?"

"Would you like to… uh, have…dinner, with me…this evening after work?" He sighed inwardly as soon as he'd finished, relieved to finally get that question out. His blue eyes shifted to the side, looking down at Ichigo. He noticed the red colour coming onto her cheeks and smiled. He found that very cute of her.

"Ye-yeah, I'd… lo-like to," she stuttered. She hadn't seen that one coming.

'Did she nearly say 'love to' instead of like to?' Ryou thought to himself in bemusement.

"Okay, would you like to go anywhere in particular? I could walk you home again too… if you'd like me to, that is."

"Oh, I don't know of any good places, you can decide on it, and yes. You could walk me home again Shirogane-san," Ichigo replied timidly. She could see that her cheeks were getting red; her eyes were drawn downward from the colouring. She was blushing so much that she covered her face with her hands. Ryou couldn't help but chuckle lightly, placing a hand gently on her head and petting her hair.

"That's so cute of you, Ichigo."

"Nya, I can't stand it when my face goes a scarlet-beetroot colour beyond all reason, nyaaaaa…" she whined, accidentally falling onto him. Ryou left her there for a moment. his hand still stroking her hair gently. She'd be over her embarrassment soon, so he took the time to look around at his surroundings. The fountain was pretty interesting. He watched it briefly before turning his attention back to Ichigo, who'd now sat upright again. The bright scarlet-beetroot colour had faded into a gentle baby pink colour, which he thought suited her.

"So, what should we do in the meantime Shirogane-san?" she asked, her smile taking over again.

"We could take a walk around? Shop a little bit if you like?" he suggested, standing up and turning to face her.

"Both sound nice really, if that's okay with you."

"Of course it is. I say we go for a walk first."

"Sure."

They set off for their wander, deciding to go off to a large pond nearby before doing anything else. Ichigo sat down once they got there, being a little thirsty; luckily there was a vending machine near by that did snacks and drinks. Ryou went off to get them both a drink while Ichigo relaxed on the bench, then the unexpected happened. He happened to walk by with yet another female. Maybe when Ryou sorted him out the other day he had managed to get the other girl to break up with him, she mused. It brought an amused smirk to her face to see him; still, after a moment she turned away in dismissal. Aoyama happened to notice her after a minute or two; he was still determined for her to forgive him and go back with him. However, Ryou happened to be on his way back when he spotted the idiot - hadn't he learned his lesson yet? Making sure not to make a scene just yet, he quickened his pace back to the red-haired girl and sat next to her. From the corner of his eye he saw the boy freeze on the spot, staring at him. Ryou glared up at Aoyama from underneath his bangs, looking dangerous for a split second until he returned his attention to Ichigo, who'd turned to face him too.

Ryou couldn't help himself now, he had to do this. Apart from it driving him nuts all day, he wanted to hint his feelings a little more to Ichigo; he leaned in towards her and brushed his lips against hers briefly before pressing down lightly and pulling away with a wink, handing her the can. Ichigo was still blinking like a cute little lost kitten; she could swear that her face had just turned scarlet again. She smiled gently up at him before looking up at Aoyama, whose face expression was priceless at that moment, and she couldn't help but laugh out. Ryou smirked beside her and turned to face Aoyama himself, giving him a 'what the hell are you gawking at' look.

Aoyama eventually took off, with his female companion looking rather depressed; only when he'd gone away from them did he realise that he now had no second chance with Ichigo.

'That was pretty funny,' she thought to herself now that she'd calmed down a bit, 'but I wonder why Shirogane-san did that… does he… like me?'

She could clearly hear her own heartbeat thumping and before she knew it, her ears and tail had popped out.

"NYA!" she squealed as quietly as she could as she tried to hide them. Ryou laughed lightly, took off the over-sleeveless coat he was wearing and put it over her head.

"Are you thinking about something, Ichigo?" he smirked, wondering if he should go for it now instead of waiting for later. Yes…now seemed like a good time.

"Well, I am now."

"Oh? And what would that be?" he asked, his smirk growing into a playful grin. She looked up at him; he hadn't really noticed it either.

"How come I didn't transform into a cat when you kissed me?" she asked. That nailed him; now that he thought about it, she should have transformed into a cat when he did that.

"Maybe the Iriomote Wildcat genes have subsided a little and aren't taking over as much," he said, briefly thinking it over. Maybe he should try it again just to make sure…no, all this probably felt like a test to her. He had to do it now, instead of later.

"Ichigo," he began, the blush from earlier returning to him. Ichigo glanced up at him waiting for him to continue, her heart inexplicably beating fast again.

"I…I lo-love, you," he said, hoping now that she wouldn't run off or do anything that indicated that he had upset her. Instead, she was staring at him, her mouth opened slightly as thought she was about to say something.

'Come on, Ichigo, say it damnit! You've been thinking of him non-stop and now he's right there in front of you, confessing his feelings for you, and you're sitting there like a statue!' she thought to herself furiously, trying to force the same sentence out of her mouth.

"I love…you too, Shir-"

"Ne, call me Ryou," he interrupted, before she could complete the last part. Ichigo went a shade brighter, something she hadn't thought possible.

"Aa…I love you, Ryou." Ichigo could now feel her heartbeat getting faster, as though it could burst out her chest at any moment from the sheer force of it; her ears and tail were still out, so at least she didn't have to worry about them popping back out. Ryou felt his heart swell and begin to beat more strongly than he'd ever felt. He'd done it. He had finally admitted his feelings to her and she'd accepted him. He wrapped a hand around her waist and pulled her to him gently; as he leaned his head down to hers, their lips brushed together again. He pressed up against her lips again, this time with a bit more pressure. Ichigo eagerly responded in kind. The kiss was fiery and passionate, for all that it was their first together; they'd both been holding back a lot of emotion. Ryou broke away after a moment, his blush deeper still – but there was a smile on his face. Ichigo smiled back, lost in a daze.

'Hell, he's hot. I should have been interested in Ryou from the start!'

"So," he said, drawing her into a warming hug. "Shall we go and catch that movie, then head to the café?"

"Yeah, let's," she replied, snuggling up to him.

Getting up, they headed in the direction of the cinema, holding hands. Ryou was feeling happier than he'd ever felt, and so was Ichigo.

"Ne, Ryou."

"Hm?" he asked, looking down to her. She had that cute look about her again. The one that appeared before she was about to ask him something. This time, however, it was mixed with a maturity and beauty he'd never noticed before.

"Are we still going out to dinner later on?"

Ryou's smile broadened as he nodded to her; he wasn't going to say no to that. He'd be treating today as their first official date.

Owari.

Wooooooooo 6 chapters, I'm impressed o.O normally I would have given up on the 3rd or something due to my lack of ability for writing up ideas ahehehehe, but nupes I have completed it. Anyhoo I hope you, the reader, have enjoyed the story as much as I enjoyed writing it. ) Many thanks to those who've reviewed it, it's very much appreciated!

And also thanks to my loving boyfriend who takes the time to read over it and makes sure that it makes sense o.O; (You've got a ton more of chapters coming your way love xD )

- I've still to think of a few ideas for the sequel but it will come soon hopefully.