Hey everyone! Yes, here it is- Chapter Two. May I just say that this is my first ever multi-chaptered fic? :D Since True Colours (very graciously, I might add) extended the deadline to June 28, this may be a bit of an early-bird entry... ah well. Frankly, I'm surprised I even got it up this quickly. I've been insanely busy, but I really can't complain because we're all sort of going through it, right? *sighs* Exams... good times.

Constructive criticism welcomed with open arms and sugar cookies!

Again, good luck to all the other contestants! ~

Today, she walked to work. The idea had seemed more appealing to her ever since the Battle, since the trees and flowers had sprung up in new and odd places and the air seemed deliciously fresh every morning. Strange, the things that stood out to her now. Wasn't she missing an interview for this? Or something? Who knew? There could always be another one, anyway. But this morning was more real and full than any of the photos, or the fashion shows had ever made her feel. These feelings... maybe that was why she had kept coming to work here.

Upon arriving at the Café, she was nearly knocked over as Pudding flew by on roller blades and seized her around the waist as a human brake.

"Ah, Pudding, gently. My ribs are still healing up."

"Sorry, 'nee-sama!" the blonde girl cried happily, not looking overly apologetic, but still happy to see her.

"Nice roller blades," the model said, voice coloured with amusement.

"Thanks, na no da! Pudding's been practicing all morning, and she's only broken seven-"

Zakuro cut her off, sensing a lengthy, albeit interesting, story coming on.

"Sorry, Pudding, but have you seen Ryou around?"

"Oh, he's upstairs on the balcony, na no da!"

"Thanks, Pudding," Zakuro said, and she headed towards the stairs at the back of the building.

"Hey Ichigo, wanna see my new tr-" The sound of smashing dishware rang through the café. Fortunately, there weren't any customers yet present to witness the display of perpetual craziness this café brought with the same enthusiasm each day.

"Ah! Pudding, that's the eighth one this morning!" the exasperated redhead cried, looking as flustered as ever. Yet, if broken plates were the most they had to worry about now, things had to be looking up.

Zakuro swept up the stairs, leaving the conversation behind her, and growing even more eager- for what? She couldn't explain it, but something had changed in her. The battle had left her broken, but she had been put back together in a way that made more sense. And the person who had helped to form this new, feeling heart… Well, she wanted to at least be with him, even if she wasn't sure exactly what he meant to her.

Every morning since the Battle, before work, she had come to visit Ryou. She hadn't said much and neither had he, but there was a deeper understanding between them now. She had mostly just let him work in silence, and hadn't stayed long, but had more often than not encouraged him to take a break for a while. God knew, he worked too hard. He had helped save the world, but still he felt compelled to study and analyze and over-think everything. Yet, Zakuro knew that he was doing what he loved, and it wasn't a burden to him now. Today he was on the balcony instead of the dim, dank basement; that had to be a positive sign, right?

She emerged onto the terrace and spotted him immediately, sitting with a laptop. The young woman gave an inaudible sigh.

He heard her approach and gave a smirk, closing the screen halfway and setting the computer aside.

"Hello, Zakuro," he greeted.

"Hello, Ryou," she replied. "Nice day to sit outside, hm?" she added with a little emphasis on outside. He didn't miss the hint, and responded in the same candid and puzzling manner as he always did.

"I know you think it's a waste of time for me to always be fiddling away on the computers downstairs, but it's important work. Even now that you Mews have done your job."

She shook her hair slightly and sat down next to him. "I know it's important to you."

He gazed at her, ever inscrutable, and she felt her heart jump a little. Yes, this was what she came for. To sort out these feelings, to spend more time with the man whose piercing eyes seemed to see everything about her more clearly than she ever could.

"And you… have things that are important to you too, right?" he probed, more open than usual this morning.

Zakuro slid her gaze out to the treetops of the park. Some things she knew would be of greater importance to her now -such as her friends, like Minto and Lettuce, who were actually talking amicably on their way up the path, and Pudding and Ichigo, whose argument still drifted up through an open window- but some she was no longer sure of.

"You have a great career that you're in the midst of. Now that the Mew Project is over, you can focus on it."

She tilted her face to view him through her lashes, and she saw that this was both a statement and a question. He wanted to know, and he wanted her to know.

"Ryou, I think I might- I might quit." Zakuro surprised herself with this bold disclosure, but as often is with self-revelation, it made more sense when the words rang out instead of floating unconnected in her mind.

"Really?" he asked, unperturbed.

"Yes. Different things are important to me now. I want to make a difference in the world, but modeling, dancing, singing… all feel a bit emptier to me now. As if there's somewhere else I'd rather be." She met his eyes, and attempted to gauge his reaction to her intrepid, open words. They hadn't been this honest since that dusky evening, over a month ago. To tell the truth, she hadn't been this honest with anyone for a long time. She had always hidden behind cryptic words, and this new sincerity felt like healing rain on a dusty battlefield.

Ryou stretched lazily, sun glinting off his tousled hair. He smiled, genuine but still snarky as always, and brushed a lock of hair out of Zakuro's face.

"So, what will you do?" he asked. He was almost unfazed by this; could it have been that he had sensed her restlessness? He at least had been witness to the recent change in her.

"I don't know. I've always been smart, so I'll find something."

"You will." They sat in silence for a moment.

With a trademark half-smile, Ryou leaned in slightly and asked, "Tell me, are you any good at bio-quantum physics?"

Zakuro considered this and replied, "Well, I did have a private tutor for seven years." And she had been observing some of his work over the course of the Mew Project; she had wanted to know what she had been involved in, but over time she had come to find the work rather… intriguing.

"So…?"

"Naturally, I excelled at it." She may have been humbled in the past, but there was no way to separate her from her self-confidence. Her future, recently turned again so hazy, was beginning to clear. Zakuro found herself hoping that Ryou, somehow, would be a part of it.

"Hm… perhaps you'd consider an apprenticeship, then? How do you feel about studying endangered species?"

Zakuro brought her gaze level with his and gave a true smile. "I think that would be… very interesting."

His face was disconcertingly close now- why did she get the feeling that this was somehow more than a business proposal? Her thoughts were tangled and her heart beat faster for those ice blue eyes-

"Did I ever tell you," she said quietly, half oblivious to her own words, "how much I love your eyes?"

Ryou's lips parted, and she saw the surprising tenderness in those brilliant blue orbs before her eyelids fluttered shut. He leant in to kiss her; it was surprising, unhurried, and understanding at all once. Zakuro brought her fingers up to his silky hair, and in the clear morning light, she decided that this made more sense than ever.