A/N: Thank you reviewers. Yes, this is going to be a Ryou Ichigo POV thing. So it goes back and forth. Anyways I'm glad most of you guy's liked the last chapter. Here's this one. HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
Disclaimer: I do not own Tokyo Mew Mew.
…Chapter three Ichigo's POV…
Zakuro smiled softly and then said, "Sounds like it would be nice."
"Nice?" I exclaimed and gave Zakuro a funny look.
She nodded and crossed her legs elegantly. Sipping her tea she said in a quiet tone, "You should be flattered."
I stared at Zakuro for a while, "I'm not. Ryou embarrassed me, I'm just glad I got out of there while I could. He probably would've expected an answer or something."
"You didn't answer him?" Zakuro eyed me and set down her small cup.
"No," I looked away from her, "I just left, rushing out the door without any warning."
Zakuro didn't respond to that and kept staring at me. I fidgeted under her gaze. It was uncomfortable and I bet she knew that, that's why she kept doing it.
"You're not going out with Ryou tonight?" she asked.
I narrowed my eyes at her, "No, that's why I came to see you. Are you listening to me? Zakuro?"
She looked out the restaurant window and set her chin on her propped up hand. Was she daydreaming or in a trance? I wondered and watched her.
"Zakuro?" I called her name again.
"Hmmm?" she hummed.
"Are you listening to me?" I asked.
"I am Ichigo. I'm just distraught that you didn't respond to Ryou. It would've been a nice change. You know, since Mint has Masaya and everyone else is busy." Zakuro explained.
"A nice change?" I scoffed, "Ryou is my boss. He's a total jerk and lowlife. He hasn't changed since I first met him. I would never date him."
Zakuro sat back up straight in her chair, "He has changed, Ichigo. I mean he asked you out in front of everybody. Sure that probably embarrassed you but did you ever really think that he really wanted to take you out for the night? He could've been saving you from boredom or loneliness."
I rolled my eyes and leaned back in my chair, "Well, I have plenty of other things I can do tonight."
Zakuro nodded, "And so do I. I need to leave Ichigo. I have a meeting with my agent. I'll see you at work later." Zakuro stood up.
"Maybe you should go get your jacket and cell phone from the café. I won't be able to get a hold of you tonight if you don't have it with you." Zakuro suggested and walked out of the restaurant. I exhaled a deep breath; she was just looking for a way to get me to go see Ryou…
… Dangling my hands out the window I watched as the evening sun turned bright red and began to set. The cool breeze danced around my fingers and I set my chin on the windowsill. I had been on the floor in my bedroom, looking out the window ever since I got home from seeing Zakuro.
My parents had left earlier that day to go out. I didn't know when they'd be back but whenever the phone rang, I ignored it. I didn't feel much like getting up to answer it or talking to anyone. What obviously had been on my all day was what Ryou had asked.
"Ichigo, will you go on a date with me tonight?"
Those stupid words haunted me and ran through my mind all day. I couldn't get rid of them or him. That big dummy, I was thinking about him every second all day. The breeze flowed through my window again and pushed my messy hair out of my face.
But what really got me worked up was that whenever Masaya and I got into a fight, he would come straight to my house and try to apologize but Ryou didn't. Well we weren't really in a fight and he could've tried calling me. But if Ryou cared about me, why didn't he come?
"Humph!" I mumbled and sat up, "Does he even care?"
I stood up and walked down the stairs. I looked at the phone that sat in its cradle on the counter and hoped it would ring. I leaned on the counter and waited. Minutes passed and still the phone didn't ring. I snatched it out of its holder and glared at it.
"Ring, why don't you? Ring!" I shook it slightly.
RING! It chimed as if it had heard my pleading. Though when it rang it startled me and I almost dropped it on the floor.
I grabbed it with two hands and pressed the talk button, "H-hello?" I answered almost too quickly.
"Hey honey, how are you?" My moms voice asked over the phone. I sighed, almost disappointed.
"Oh, hey mom." I said and kicked my legs over the counter.
"Well don't sound too disappointed." She laughed, "Is something bothering you?"
"No, mom." I lied.
"Okay well I just wanted to make sure everything was okay." She said.
"I'm fine." I said in a bored tone.
"Don't throw any wild parties, wink, wink."
I rolled my eyes, "Okay I get you mom. No wild parties."
"For your father's sake. He got in a fight."
"With who?" I sounded shocked.
"Oh, the elevator. He just couldn't shut the doors. Well, that's your father. Anyways I got to go. You father is trying on underwear and I want to see how it looks on him." Mom laughed again.
"Okay bye mom." I hung up.
"Who tries on underwear in the mall?" I asked myself and jumped off the counter.
An hour passed and I began to pace. I walked around the house in a complete circle. Every two seconds I would pass by the phone to see if it would ring it's pretty little tone. I growled in anger and turned it on. I needed to call someone to get Ryou off my mind or to keep me busy.
I dialed Zakuro's cell phone number, but there was no answer. She was probably still off with agent or manager. I sighed, "Okay I'm getting a little pushy how about a nice walk?"
I ran upstairs and changed out of my spaghetti straps and shorts and put on jeans and a black long sleeved shirt. Lazily tying my hair into ribbons, I grabbed my house keys and rushed out of the door.
...My walk turned into a jog and I found myself running all the way to the Mew Mew Café. I ran through the park and down the dirt road to the café. Then I stopped, slamming straight into some person's back.
"Hey watch it." The person grumbled.
"Sorry," I gasped, breathing hard from the lack of air.
"Move it!" Another person said and shoved past me.
Soon I was surrounded my people, walking every which way. What was going on? I wondered as another guy shoved me. "Oh god!" I thought and let out a groan, "It's market night!"
Market night was basically the night when little booths came out to sell their stuff. Kind of like the mall butoutside. Everybody in god's name went. It was always so crowded. I was pushed and shoved and even stepped on a few times. It was going to take me a little while to get to the end of the park and to finish heading towards Café Mew Mew.
As I got closer to the end of the park, I thought of what I was doing. What was I doing? Going to the café? To do what exactly? I hissed in a quiet tone to myself, "Oh yeah, to see Ryou. And to ask him what? If he cared about me?"
Well there wasn't much time to turn back and head home because as I got to the end, a huge Great Dane was staring at me a little funny. The old woman, who obviously owned him, sat there talking to another older women. The Great Dane licked his mouth and stood up.
"Oh, how nice." I thought, "A little old woman owns this cute, HUGE Great Dane. And I just happen to still have some cat genes in me." That was true. Even though I didn't fight Kish and his crew anymore, I still hadn't rid of those cat genes. I grinned sheepishly at the dog and slowly backed away.
He barked once and then again. I looked down at the leash he was attached to and laughed. I was safe. I started walking away and then heard the Great Dane bark again. I turned to smile at it when I noticed the leash handle the old woman was holding, was now off her wrist and on the floor.
The dog almost looked like it was smiling evilly. I laughed awkwardly and backed away. He barked again and took a step forward.
"Oh shit! Oh shit!" I cursed and ran as fast as I could. The dog, of course with all its instinct chased after me.
"Fodo! Fodo!" The old woman shot up and yelled.
Yeah, like I was going to outrun Fodo here. I screamed in uttermost terror and ran to the nearest tree. People around me stopped to see what was happening. A black Great Dane chasing after a girl with red hair was probably the funniest or interesting thing they had seen all day. Since it was getting dark, I had a hard time seeing the tree in front of me. But slamming into it made it easy for me.
I grabbed the nearest branch and pulled myself up. I inhaled and exhaled heavily and watched as Fodo jumped up by the trunk and barked. He jumped down from the trunk and barked again, circling the tree.
The old woman shuffled next to the tree and grabbed Fodo by his collar. He stared up at me and barked frenziedly. The old woman hushed him and looked up at me, "You can come down now sweetie."
"I think I'll keep my distance." I called down to her a little shakily.
"Oh, Fodo wont harm you. He just wants to play." The old woman flicked her wrist.
"I have a pet cat and I'm sure that's why he chased me. Besides it's nice up here. All branchy…with bugs." I lied and flicked an ant off my hand.
"Whatever you say deary." The old woman led her dog back to the bench.
Too embarrassed to walk by all the people who just saw me, I jumped out of the tree and decided to take the long way home. I practically stared at the floor the whole way. My feet scraped against the gravel on the sidewalk. I crossed my arms as the breeze got more violent and became more like wind.
"Ichigo?" I heard my name and gasped softly looking up.
"R-Ryou?" I asked and stared at the blond haired boy.
He gave a small smile and I looked around, "What…what are you doing here?" I asked.
"I live here." Ryou cocked an eyebrow. I turned to stare at Café Mew Mew. "Oh!" I thought. The light shined through the windows but the sign in the front said "CLOSE."
"I hadn't realized I was walking past here." I said. Ryou walked closer to me and my heart rate sped up.
"Well, um, do you want to, I don't know, come inside for some dinner or whatever?" Ryou rubbed the back of his head. I stared down at my pants. They were ripped and dirty. I bit my bottom lip, knowing I probably looked worst going up.
"Uh, no." I responded.
"Okay, see you later then." Ryou waved and started heading back inside the café.
"Ryou, w-wait!" I stopped him. What was I doing?
Ryou turned around and looked at me, "Yeah?"
"Do y-you care for me?" What was I saying? This seemed so oddly familiar.
"Huh?" he cocked his head to the side, "Well, yeah. I do care for you."
"No! Do you like me?" I asked more quickly, staring at him.
There was silence for a very long time. My face was burning up so bad. I didn't even like Ryou as more then a friend so why was I asking him. I tore my eyes away from him and waited.
"N-no." He finally answered. I shut my eyes at his answer and swallowed.
"I'm sorry?" I pretended not to hear him.
"Not as more then a friend, Ichigo. I'm sorry." Ryou said. I heard him that time and it hurt more then the first.
My stomach dropped and it hurt to talk but I finally spoke up. I smiled and looked at him, "Okay, just wondering." I said.
He looked a little tense, "O-okay."
"I'll see you at work tomorrow." I turned away and began running home.
"Ichigo," He called my name but I ignored it. I was half way down the street when I stopped and rubbed the tears from my eyes.
"I never liked Ryou more than a friend, so why am I so upset." I asked myself. I walked the rest of the way home and opened the door. Mom and dad were still not home and I wasn't very hungry, so I trudged upstairs. I changed out of my clothes and put on my pajama's. I dropped to my knees and stared out the window, dangling my hands out it.
The wind brushed against them and tears slowly rolled down my cheeks. I leaned my chin on the windowsill and watched the tree branches outside my window lean to the left.
Why had I suddenly felt so lonely? Masaya was gone. Mint was gone. Lettuce, Pudding, and Zakuro were never available. And now the one boy that I think I had feelings for rejected me. A staggered sigh escaped my lips and I shut my eyes letting the tears roll out of them.
How nice was loneliness?
...To be continued...
A/N: Whoo, this was one of the longest chapters I've ever written. Well at least 7 pages long on Microsoft word. Anyways, Ichigo has now been rejected how will Ryou feel about Ichigo's question though? You'll have to find out in the next chapter. There will be more jealousy with Mint in the next chapter too. I went over this like 9 times and fixed all my mistakes so if I missed any please excuse me. Happy Holidays!- KTHM