Understanding and Comfort

Dear readers,

Thank you very much for all of your attention that you paid to this story so far. Seeing that someone actually came to see and read it totally made my day. No kidding! Thank you for your review DrDark7. I truly appreciate it!

I will try and not disappoint you with the plot and my writing abilities (o)/

This chapter is crucial for understanding the relationships between the individual characters and their line of thinking. That being said, I want to reassert that this is a Kishigo story. So do not let this particular chapter misguide you in any way. And yes, Ichigo cheated on Masaya, but did you guess with whom?

Enjoy and review!

I do not own Tokyo mew mew.

"So did you end up telling him or not?"

Ryou Shirogane was sitting at his desk, moving his fingers nimbly across the computer keyboard, with only occasional sobs falling in rhythm with his continuous typing.

He had been listening to Ichigo's love ordeals for more than an hour and he still could not figure out whether her emotional situation had been resolved or not. Furthermore, his task at hand proved likewise more challenging than he had expected. For a genius as himself, such a state of limbo naturally felt slightly bothersome and puzzling. Ryou decided he rather did not like it.

He needed to lift up his energy levels a little. He eyed the kettle precariously sitting on his desk warily before realizing his dire need for coffee. One cup should suffice to sharpen his mind to its usual standard, the second would take care of the rest, or so he thought.

Turning around, Ryou reached out for the object and stopped midair, as he finally took in the sight of the auburn-haired girl in distress whose existence he had only partially acknowledged until then. A very much crying auburn-haired girl.

Judging by the situation, he immediately corrected his calculations.

Scratch that, let's make it three cups. Three at the minimum.

Ryou internally groaned. He reclined in his chair in exasperation and pinched the bridge of his nose before he spoke again.

"Ichigo, we have talked about this already. If you are unhappy about your relationship with Masaya, you've gotta tell him. Have you seen yourself in the mirror lately? You look like death."

"Well, gee Ryou. That makes me feel much better," she scowled before bursting into some even more profound and uncontrollable sobs. It took every ounce of Ryou's character not to get up and hug her. He knew he couldn't. He could not save her, Ichigo had to do it herself. Giving her more physical comfort at this moment would eventually turn against him and he knew it all too well. He already screwed up once and did not feel like screwing even more.

It did not make him feel any less sympathetic towards her whiny face though.

He sighed, "Look. I know that it is hard. But Aoyama is not the only guy in the world. Besides, don't you wanna talk about that with the girls? I can't fathom why you would rather confide in me of all people than in Lettuce for instance."

"I-I can't. The girls rea-really like him," Ichigo's voice kept cracking, as she struggled with much effort to answer his question. "I-I am the one who…who ruined us. I-I cheated."

Ryou crossed his hands over his chest; he could not deny that. Albeit he would lie if he said he did not understand the reasoning behind her actions. He looked into the distance, for a moment engrossed in his own thoughts. Eventually, he decided to counter her logic.

"I am pretty sure you can, Ichigo. If it makes you feel any better, you can even mention with whom you cheated. I do not really care. I strongly believe that you have every right to end that relationship if you feel that way yourself. The opinion of other people does not matter. And, I'm also positive that the girls will support you no matter what. You're the Mew Mews after all. Now wipe your tears and stop crying already."

Her lips curled slightly upwards and she wiped her eyes with the back of her hand as instructed. It was the first semblance of a smile he had seen on her face in the past few weeks. A real one, that is.

"Thank you" she whispered, extremely grateful for a friend like Ryou. Despite everything that had happened between them, he had managed to look past that and remain his usual stoic and distant self but deep down she knew he was still also the caring Ryou; the one who was concerned more than anything with the girls' well-beings and far more than he would be willing to let on. She sincerely loved him for it. Both as her friend and as her boss.

"You're welcome." Ryou nodded and finally grabbed the kettle with the sole intention of pouring himself some more coffee. He thanked his stars, since the container kept the liquid warm enough for him to actually enjoy the drink. After a big surge of caffeine, his chair swiveled back to the screen, and Ryou wordlessly resumed his typing on the computer.

This simple action was not lost on Ichigo. She got the hint almost immediately and knew that their conversation had officially finished. It was Ryou's way of expressing himself; after all the years of working with him, she learned at least that much.

She wiped the last tears off of her face and turned around to start ascending the stairs from the basement. When she caught Ryou's voice from behind her, she startled and briefly turned back to face him.

"Oh, and Ichigo," He was perched in his chair, with a small smirk plastered across his face.

"Yes," Ichigo tried anxiously, hoping for some more understanding and comfort. They said that if you bang your boss, you get some sort of leniency, right? Maybe she would get a day off? That prospect immensely thrilled her.

Nonetheless, his next words made Ichigo realize that any leniency was completely out of question as far as Ryou was concerned. Regardless of their circumstances, he was still the same jerk at work after all.

"This," he gestured with his hands between them, "was a one-time thing for a stress release. You offered, I conceded. I told you from the start that I don't play favorites. So now it's time you made up for all your slacking around. Start with mowing the yard and dusting the attic."

She internally screamed at her own stupidity.


"Big sister Ichigo, do you have a minute na no da?"

Ichigo just finished cutting the grass. She had also somewhat miraculously managed to dust the attic, mentally cursing Ryou with every single wipe of her cloth. He was such a jerk sometimes! And a slave driver too! Ichigo was so preoccupied with her own thoughts that she happened to register Pudding only upon bumping straight into her tiny body in the café hall.

"Oh, Pudding. I am terribly sorry. I did not see you at all. Are you okay?" Ichigo crouched and checked the little blonde girl with worried eyes.

"Of course I am, na no da. There is nothing stopping Pudding the Great!" Pudding beamed with a wide grin from ear to ear. Ichigo must have given her some credit. No matter what adversity Pudding faced, she never stopped smiling. Was it the youth or her innocence? Ichigo wished for a moment she could have become a child once again too. Life would have been way easier that way. That thought itself made Ichigo's heart sink a little but she masked it well behind her cheerful facade.

"Ok, I'm glad. Now, if you excuse me, there is some trash I need to pick and take out." Ichigo replied and excused herself. As she was passing the monkey girl, Pudding suddenly grasped her wrist and stopped her in her tracks. Ichigo looked at Pudding with questioning eyes and it did not take her long to come to the conclusion that the trash would have to wait a little longer. She only hoped Ryou could not see her slacking around on the surveillance cameras.

"Yes," Ichigo asked expectantly, as, for some unknown reason, Pudding had a difficulty starting by herself.

"I was wondering, Big sis Ichigo," Pudding stalled, shifting her weight from one leg to another, "when does Masaya leave for London? I would like to throw him, I mean, to you BOTH a farewell party na no da. You are such a perfect couple! You really are!" Pudding screamed and hopped all over the place, her excitement back in place. The same, however, could not be said about Ichigo.

Her blood suddenly turned cold and she could practically hear Ryou's encouraging words echoing in the back of her mind.

The girls will support you no matter what. You're the Mew Mews after all.

Ichigo was petrified. On one hand, she craved ending that charade which was gradually but effectively depriving her of the last bits of mental sanity; the other half of her brain though screamed at her that after such a long time of pretending there was no other way besides keeping it going. The truth was she was sick of that; of lying to her closest friends and of lying to Masaya too. She could not even tell him today, as she had correctly predicted. Even though she was extremely close to confessing at this one moment when they were served the desserts, Masaya quickly pulverized all of her efforts when he once again expressed his undying and, above else, pure love for her.

She wanted to stab herself with the fork. Hard.

For obvious reasons, she could not bring herself to delude him after that, her conscience gnawing at her profusely. She felt like the most horrible person in the whole universe. Additionally, there were also two horribly wrong things about his love declaration; she was definitely not pure, at least not anymore, and, furthermore, even if he loved her, she was not sure if she even loved him back. Why did she lead him on then? Was it desperation?

But Masaya was not standing in front of her now. He was not ogling her with his brown puppy eyes. No, now it was Pudding that Ichigo was talking to. A close friend, and a Mew Mew just like her.

The girls will support you no matter what. You're the Mew Mews after all.

Ichigo took a deep breath and braced herself for the impact.

"Pudding, there's something I wanna talk to you about."


"No way, you cheated on Masaya? And with RYOU? You must be joking!" Mint exclaimed, too shocked to process what she had just heard.

Ichigo did not blame her. She did not blame anyone. In fact, if somebody had done such a thing, she would have had a hard time processing that piece of information as well. She was a bad, bad girl to the bone. She knew it.

"Mint, that is enough," Zakuro admonished. "Ichigo's personal matters are none of our business. That includes her love life."

"No, it's ok, Zakuro. I get it. I can see how my behavior was completely inappropriate," Ichigo slumped further down in her chair, wincing slightly.

They were now sitting around the white Café Mew Mew table, with everyone pretty much engulfed in their own thoughts.

When Ichigo decided to tell Pudding about her not so perfect relationship with Masaya, it had not dawned on her that she would be instantly confronted not with one friend but with the whole group of girls too. But maybe it was for the better. She at least did not have to repeat the story over and over again. In a way, she was grateful to Pudding.

"What I have hard time understanding is, Ichigo, why you did not tell us earlier? We could have helped you. We are your friends." Lettuce nervously pushed her glasses up her nose and shot a worried look in Ichigo's direction.

Still slumped, with her head down, Ichigo exhaled sharply.

"I just did not want you to hate me. Or think badly of me. I was lost and felt like everything I do is yet another mistake. I already made a few, I did not want to make more," she finally managed. And it was true. Ichigo was way more scared of her friends' judgement than anything else. This irrational fear proved detrimental to her psyche. It was for the same fear that she could not tell Moe or Miwa, or even her parents. She did not want to talk about her problems on the line to strangers and Keiichiro, despite him being the sweetest guy in the world, also seemed like a bad option due to his high bar of morality. That basically left Ryou as her only remaining choice.

"Pudding does not hate Big sis Ichigo, na no da! She never has! Ichigo is a friend," Pudding immediately shouted, her eyes filling with tears, as the little girl started to understand the gravity of the situation.

"I agree, Ichigo. We are here for you. Always were and always will be." Lettuce squeezed Ichigo's hand affectionately.

"You, idiot" This time it was Mint that exhaled in exasperation before getting up and standing right above Ichigo.

Ichigo ventured to meet her gaze and gasped when she saw the dark-haired girl on the verge of crying. She also gasped, as Mint's palm made a quick contact with her left cheek. The burning sensation pulsed through Ichigo's whole body and it was not unlike the one she had experienced during their battle with Deep Blue. It heavily reminded her of the bond that the two girls shared and Ichigo's eyes suddenly watered at the memory.

"How could you say that! We are friends, you idiot! You could tell us anything, ANYTHING. You hear me? Even if it is silly, stupid or weird. We are here for you, Ichigo. Get that through that thick head of yours!" Mint burst into tears before hugging her in the process.

Ichigo glanced at Zakuro who gave her a nod and smiled softly.

Ichigo replied with a smile of her own, as she put her hands around Mint's still very crying form. She did not remember when was the last time she had seen Mint so emotional. But Ichigo was glad that she was today, it only made her value their friendship more. And, Mint was right. In the retrospect, Ichigo really felt like an idiot for not telling them any sooner. Being fearful was not among her arsenal of cat characteristics after all. She scanned the room around her and finally felt the weight of the matter lift off of her chest. She should have never doubted her friends, because unbeknownst to her, they had been on her side from the very beginning.

"Thank you, guys. I think that thanks to you, I am finally strong enough to tell Masaya."

And, that she did.