I am SOOOO sorry it took so long! I honestly have no valid excuse for the wait other than school started and I'm a master at procrastination…; Either way, I'm sorry for the over a month long wait! Almost two months actually…Oo Sorry about that…Please enjoy the (extremely late) chapter!

One Sided or Not Chapter Six

The first thing Ichigo said when she woke up probably wouldn't even qualify as a word.

"NYA!"

Oh yes, Ichigo Momomiya had forgotten to turn on her alarm clock and was going to be late for work, on Ryou's birthday no less.

"Well this is a lovely way to start the day. Yesterday ended suckily and today begins suckily, just my luck!"

Ichigo raced around her room getting ready and trying to wake herself up, she grabbed the small wrapped box for Ryou, ran down the stairs, shoveled some food in her mouth and just like that, she was gone.

---

"Of all days for Ichigo to be late," Mint said while daintily sipping her tea, "It's Ryou's birthday, the least she could've done was to get here on time. It's really quite rude."

Zakuro stopped setting up for a moment and walked over to Mint. "Speaking of rude, you should being helping to set up. Being late is one thing, be lazy is another," She motioned to Pudding and Lettuce behind her, attempting to set up. I say attempting because, frankly, they were getting nowhere.

Mint immediately put down her tea and stood up, "Of course Zakuro, I'll gladly help," And so, for the first time, Mint actually did some work. I can assure you; this day was eventually marked on the calendars of everyone at the café, except for Mint's of course.

Suddenly the doors flew open causing Lettuce to drop her plate and everyone else to turn around and see what the commotion was. Ichigo was standing there, panting like a dog. Once gain, very odd considering her cat genes…

"How late am I? What did I miss? Did I get here in time? It wasn't my fault I swear I forgot to turn on the alarm clock. Okay, so maybe it is my fault but things were hectic last night and--"

Ichigo stopped her rambling abruptly when she saw Mint holding a dish she was about to set down on the table. After a moment, a twitching and sweatdropping Ichigo spoke once more, but this time much slower and much, MUCH, quieter.

"I swear things just keep getting weirder -twitch- and weirder,"

Mint took the hint, "Well gee, that's very polite. Either way, you're ten minutes late you missed part of setting up the café, and no, you didn't get here on time; but that's a given."

Ichigo sighed, "Well, it could've been worse…I guess…" Ichigo's mood plummeted. The only reason she hadn't been moping before was because she was late, now she had no reason not to mope. She started to set up for the day, putting down chairs, washing tables, setting plates, but she couldn't get her mind off Masaya. She kept thinking she might feel better after work when everyone gave Ryou their gifts, but somehow, she doubted it.

"Wow talk about mood swing," Mint said, once again sipping her tea now that Ichigo was there, "Once second panicked, the next relieved, and now down in the dumps. Sometimes I worry about that girl," Mint looked down at her cup and noticed it was empty. "Ichigo, be a dear and get me some more tea," Well she did say sometimes…

"Sure Mint," Ichigo sighed and went into the kitchen. Mint waited a moment; "Does anyone have any idea what's wrong with Ichigo?"

Everyone was silent. Maybe Mint cared after all.

"I might know, na-no-da," Everyone looked at Pudding, "I saw Ichigo talking to Masaya in the mall yesterday, she looked kinda shocked, na-no-da,"

They all looked at each other, "Y-you don't think…" Mint stuttered, "Actually, I do. It would explain a lot." Zakuro waited for everyone's reaction. "Oh…"

Lettuce said, "Poor Ichigo…"

Just then Ichigo walked out of the kitchen, Mint's tea in hand. "Here,"

"Oh, um, thanks,"

Ichigo looked at her funny, since when did mint thank anyone, for anything? Oh well, best not dwell on it. She had better things to dwell on anyway or worse rather…

---

"The café was fairly slow today, wouldn't you say so Ichigo?" Mint looked over at the exhausted redhead who had just collapsed on a chair.

"Humph," Ichigo snorted, "Work is always 'fairly slow' when all you do is sit around and drink tea." Mint just sighed. "Either way, we have to attend to the matter at hand. We all need to give Ryou our presents. So come on now Ichigo, just go get him."

Right on cue, as always, Ryou came walking into the room. This time, however, his clothes were less attention grabbing, just a black shirt with black pants and a thin chain connected to the front and back pocket.

All the girls looked at each other, "Uh, happy birthday Ryou,"

After Ichigo spoke there was a quiet chorus of "Yeah, happy birthday," and things like that.

Ryou was a little surprised, how did the girls know that today was his birthday? He figured Keiichiro must have told them.

"Here," While Ryou had been pondering, no matter how short that time may have been, Zakuro had walked up to him, a box in hand. "I couldn't think of much of anything to get you so I hope this works." Ryou gave her a nod and opened the box, inside was a vest very similar to his old one but nicer and with a silver zipper. "Thanks."

One by one each girl gave their present to Ryou, a box of tea from Mint, A recipe for dark chocolate mousse from Lettuce, and some tarot cards from Pudding. Keiichiro had entered in the room while Lettuce was giving Ryou her present, he simply said happy birthday because, as well as he knew Ryou, he had no idea what Ryou would want, and he figured Ryou probably didn't want anything anyway.

The last person to give their present to Ryou was, of course, Ichigo. After seeing all the others' presents she felt silly giving him hers. She rubbed the back of her head and gave a nervous laugh. "You know how I told you I needed my check early for Masaya's birthday present? Well actually, I needed it for yours..." 'Well,' Ryou thought, 'that was a little bit of unnecessary sadness now wasn't it?'

"I know it's corny," Ichigo continued, "but I couldn't think of anything else. Things had gotten a little…confusing at the time. Either way I hope it works." Ryou took the little box from Ichigo's hand and opened it. Inside was a red dog collar, just like the one he used to wear; with the dark half of a yin-yang attached and written on it was "Forever."

Ichigo pulled out a necklace that had been underneath her top, "See I have one too it says 'Friends.' It one of those friendship necklaces, you know? You put both halves together it says 'friends forever,'" Ichigo crumpled her brow, "That was an annoying rhyme…" She looked up at him, "You had been acting really strange and you looked really sad and lonely so I decided to get you a present that would represent unity. To remind you that you had people you could count on."

Ryou was still looking down at the collar. "Forever." That's what it said, forever. He had people that cared about him even if wasn't the way he wanted them to, they still did.

Ryou looked right at Ichigo and cracked a small almost unnoticeable smile. "Thanks." I say unnoticeable because everyone noticed, not just his smile but his voice, it was different. Different than what it used to be even before the change. It sounded soft and kind, happy even. Ryou looked at everyone and nodded his thanks before heading back up to his room; the same tiny smile still on his face.