A/N: Sorry it's taken longer than I expected to get this chapter out - I'm still learning the ropes of posting here! I was considering reposting the story because of the missing disclaimer but the problem has been fixed. Phew!
Thanks to everyone who reviews, they make me smile! )

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1.

Chapter 5 – Heartless

The next day, everything seemed perfect, from the birds chirping merrily in their nest outside her bedroom window, to the sun which was shining over Tokyo, spreading warmth over the people working outdoors. However, Ichigo was impermeable to all of this as she walked along the path to the café. Her face looked tired and splotchy and her shoulders were slumped forward. She felt terrible and looked like she hadn't slept all night. She wandered into the café and went to change without looking at the clock. For once, she didn't care how late she was.

'Let Ryou Shirogane try me today,' she thought to herself. 'Just let him try.'

After changing quickly into her uniform, Ichigo went straight to work. She took orders, swept the broken china off the floor after Pudding's tricks backfired and washed the dishes, all without stopping to chat, reprimand or even flash a her trademark smile to her fellow Mew Mews. They exchanged concerned glances as they met up in the kitchen.

"She looks terrible," Lettuce whispered, watching Ichigo take an order from a customer. She didn't seem to be paying any attention to him as she scribbled on the pad. Her eyes were glazed and she was staring at the stairs.

"What happened to her?" Mint asked the others, a touch of concern disguised in her otherwise haughty voice.

"She went to meet Masaya yesterday," Lettuce supplied. "It was something important. She hasn't talked to any of us this morning though so I don't know what it was about."

Zakuro shook her head slowly. "Poor kid just got dumped."

Lettuce and Mint gasped. "No way!"

"Why – " Pudding started, but she stopped speaking as the door opened and Ryou came in. Seeing all of the girls huddled in the kitchen, he simply raised an eyebrow at them. The girls took that as their cue to get back to work and hurried out of the kitchen, just as Ichigo wandered in.

"Good morning, Ichigo-oneechan," Pudding said timidly as she raced out of the swinging doors. Ichigo nodded at her and tried to smile, before noticing the person in front of her staring at her in a discomfiting manner. She knew she was in for it.

"Ichigo, I wanted to talk to you," Ryou said, indicating she should sit down.

She remained standing and waited for him to speak, not breaking her gaze.

His face hardened as he spoke. "Ichigo, you showed up 20 minutes late for work today. Your work has been sloppy and irregular. The customers are complaining you are not bringing their orders fast enough or when you do, you bring them the wrong order. What the hell is going on?"

Ichigo stared defiantly at him. "I had something on my mind," she replied in a bored tone. She knew he wouldn't care about her break-up even if she told him. In fact, he would probably laugh.

"Apparently." Ryou said, feeling a spark of annoyance at her insolence. "I will be docking two hours worth of money off your pay."

"Two hours!" she screeched. "What for?"

"For bad work," he replied smugly. "I don't pay you to do a half-rate job."

"Last time I checked, you barely paid me enough to do the job in the first place and now you want to take away what little you do give!" Ichigo said hotly.

Ryou threw his hands up in exasperation. "Not this again! I'm not giving you a raise Ichigo, no matter how many times or in how many ways you ask and especially not today, when your performance in your job has been mediocre at best!"

"My job? I didn't even apply for this stupid job in the first place!" she yelled back at him.

"You don't have a choice!" he hissed, aware that the patrons outside had fallen silent and a few were beginning to whisper about the raised voices coming from the kitchen. "This is what you are destined for –"

"Thanks to you!" she screamed at him. "You and your stupid experiments ruined everything I had! This project cost me my social life! Thanks to you, I lost my boyfriend! Well, I won't take it anymore," Ichigo hissed, ripping off her apron and throwing it on the floor. "I QUIT!"

Two hours had passed since Ichigo has stormed out of the café and Ryou could still feel the eyes of the patrons and the other Mew Mews boring into him as he had come out of the kitchen. He could still hear the shocked whispering following him as he ran up the stairs. But more clearly of all, he could still hear her.

"Thanks to you, I lost my boyfriend!"

So the dreamboat had left her. No wonder she had been so upset. No wonder her work had been so poor. The one thing he had dreamed of for so long had finally happened…and he had gone and turned the situation into his worst nightmare.

"I QUIT!"

Why couldn't he control his emotions around her? What was it about her that drove him over the edge?

There was no point asking the question when he already knew the answer. Frustration. Utter frustration. He wanted to know what she felt about him. He needed to know she cared.

"Our café seems to have received a lot of publicity today." Ryou looked up to find Keichiiro in front of him, the older man's kind eyes shining. "I think your little shouting match could be heard a few miles away. Even Minto is working now."

Ryou bowed his head in shame. "I'm sorry Keiichiro."

Keiichiro grinned. "That's the funny thing Ryou – I don't actually recall hearing your voice in the argument." Ryou glared at his feet but said nothing.

"Ryou, I'm not worried about Ichigo's departure," Keiichiro continued, more serious now. "What she said was true enough, but she has a good heart. She will not want to leave the people of Tokyo in danger, as they will invariably be if she quits the project. At the moment, I'm worried about you."

Ryou looked up as his mentor continued speaking. "I can see that you can't control yourself around her. I know your feelings for her are as strong as the last time we spoke, but acting like this won't give her any indication of that." Keiichiro smiled wanly. "You need to show her you care about her feelings. If you keep arguing with her about everything, she will leave one day…and never come back."

"How do you know that time is not now?" Ryou said miserably.

"Because we need her here and she knows this. You are going to ask her to come back," Keiichiro replied. "Not now though – in a few days. Let her have some space and time to grieve over the end of her relationship first."

Ryou nodded. He could do it. He would do it. He would get his strawberry back.