A/N: Of all the chapters, this one was the most difficult to write, so I hope it makes sense. Thanks goes to Tarlia for trying to help me out with it and to my reviewers for making me smile! XD

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1.

Chapter 7 – Breaking the Habit

Ryou was lying on his bed, staring absently at the ceiling. He had been so close to getting Ichigo back to the café, that much he could tell. But how close was he to getting her? That was something even his sharp cat senses could not help him figure out. He sighed and closed his eyes, listening to the sounds around him. The reassuring hum of the computer. The sound of Keiichiro shouting…huh?

Ryou bolted out of his bed and out of his room. From the foot of the stairs he could hear Keiichiro asking the patrons of the café to leave, as the café had to close unexpectedly. He knew what this meant. There was another attack and all the girls had to go. He hurried down the stairs in time to see the last patron disappear out the door and the café was silent.

"Ah Ryou," Keiichiro said, sounding frayed. "There's been a Kimera Anima sighting in the city. The girls just left, but they'll need Ichigo. Please go to her house and tell her the situation, then both of you go to the city. Hurry!"

Ryou nodded and ran out of the café, retracing his steps back to the Momomiya household. He knew Ichigo had asked for time, but unfortunately there wasn't any. There was no point arguing with Keiichiro when he was in a mood like this. Besides, Ichigo wouldn't leave her friends in danger.

Would she?

He reached the house in minutes and knocked on the door.

No answer.

He frowned. This was odd. Ryou knew that if she was going out, she would take more than an hour to get ready, yet she hadn't looked like she was going out when he came to talk to her an hour ago.

"Hello?" he called out. "Ichigo?" He waited for a minute before calling out again, the desperation beginning to show in his voice. Still no one came. Either Ichigo had become very good at ignoring him or she was gone. Either way, she would not be able to help the girls. They would have to be a team of four for this fight.

Ryou jogged away from the house and towards the city. He had tried to get her. Now all he could do was watch the girls fight and hope for a miracle.

Ichigo sat down at the booth in the Downtown Café, feeling an odd sense of déjà vu. Not even ten days after her breakup and she was here again. She ordered a bottle of Coke and sat back, watching the talk show on TV and waiting for Masaya.

He had called her this morning, right after she came in from her conversation with Ryou, asking if she could come down to the Downtown Café for a drink. "I still want us to be friends, Ichigo," he said in his calming voice. Of course she agreed. He was still a nice person…although this revelation didn't explain why he had been shying away from her for the past week in school, or why he had to choose this particular café. Still, she had nowhere else to be.

At that moment, a different face popped into her line of view and smiled at her. "Good morning Ichigo."

She returned the smile as Masaya sat opposite from her. "Thanks for agreeing to meet with me," he continued. "I thought it would be good to catch up again." His face melted into a worried look. "I also wanted to make sure you weren't hurt by our last meeting."

'Last meeting?' Ichigo thought to herself. 'That was our breakup, not a business meeting!'

"I'm fine Masaya," she replied. "I understand why our relationship had to end and I'm glad that it ended peacefully."

'Actually, I'm glad it ended full stop,' Ichigo added to herself taking a sip of her drink so that Masaya wouldn't see the silly grin on her face.

"Well…" Masaya said in a nervous voice, which made Ichigo look up, the straw dropping out of her mouth. "It doesn't have to end."

She squinted at him. "What do you mean?" she asked curiously.

He looked down. "I miss you Ichigo," he admitted. "All I've done this past week is think about you."

Ichigo's mouth dropped open. "But…you said you liked another girl?"

"I do!" he replied earnestly. "But I can't stop thinking about you." He looked into her eyes. "I think we should have another chance at our relationship."

A few weeks ago, this scene would have melted her heart, but now she was immune. She felt nothing and she was wiser. She knew it wasn't right for her to go back to him when her heart clearly was no longer his.

"Masaya, that can't be right," she said soothingly, trying to solve the situation before her. "How can you like another girl and want to be with me?"

He fiddled with the napkin that had been placed in front of him. "I don't know."

She sighed. He was not making this easy. "Ok…you know, the reason you can't stop thinking about me may be because we only broke up a few days ago. If you give it time, you will feel better." Ichigo was struck by a sudden thought. "Have you talked to the other girl yet? Told her how you feel?"

"I have talked to her," he replied slowly. "I told her how I felt about her."

"And?" she prodded, when he did not elaborate.

"She didn't want to be with me," Masaya mumbled.

Ichigo couldn't believe what she was hearing. "So that's it! You want me back just because she didn't want to go out with you?"

"No!" Masaya said loudly; people turned in their seats to look at them. Masaya's cheeks reddened and he lowered his voice. "No it's not like that."

"Then what is it like? I'd love to know."

He ignored her sarcasm. "I know our break up was rather sudden, Ichigo, and I wanted to give us another chance -"

"Knowing that you didn't have one with the other girl."

"No!" Masaya sounded slightly frustrated now. "Listen, why do you have to be so difficult? I mean, I like you, you like me, this should work!"

"Perhaps I don't like you," Ichigo whispered.

There was silence.

"What did you say?" Masaya finally asked.

"Masaya, I-I like someone else." There. She had said it.

His mouth fell open. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I just did!"

"I mean before. When I was breaking up with you!"

"What would have been the point in that? We were over. What would have been accomplished?"

"I would have known the truth!"

But Ichigo wasn't listening anymore. She was staring at the TV as if in a trance. The talk show had been interrupted by a news flash and it wasn't good news.

"Trouble in Tokyo City today as a monstrous creature attacks pedestrians and cars alike. A small group of unidentified citizens, who we believe to be the group known as the Mew Mews, are attempting to control the creature, which is -"

"And now you're not even listening!"

"Huh?" Ichigo replied, snapping out of her trance. "Oh, sorry. My phone just buzzed." With that excuse, Ichigo fumbled in her bag, her heart racing. She knew what was going on. Her fellow Mew Mews needed her and she had to decide whether to answer the call. She bent over her phone and pretended to be reading an SMS, before letting out a shocked gasp.

"What is it now?" Masaya asked, sounding exasperated.

"Emergency down at the café. I have to go." She arranged her face into what she hoped was an apologetic look before remembering Masaya's feelings about the café. Too late.

"The café again! It's always the café!" Masaya let out a bitter laugh.

"Now is not the time –"

"That was the problem, Ichigo. There never was time. I pity the guy who you like," Masaya said scornfully. "He'll have this café job to compete with! The job that tore us apart!"

Ichigo glared daggers at him. "Well, maybe this guy will actually understand what responsibility is and accept that I am taking some!"

"You don't have to though!"

"Oh, but I do," Ichigo's voice had gone low. "I will continue to because I am needed. They need me. And I need them." She stood up. "Those who love me understand. Now I know you aren't one of them."

With that, Ichigo walked out of the café and to the battle she knew she had to join. After all, it was her destiny.

A/N: I'm sorry if Masaya seems slightly OOC! I probably shouldn't have to put this in an author's note (cringe) but I'm not sure it came out well in the dialogue. The reasoning behind his odd behavior is he's just tired of being played around by the girl he liked for so long and being rejected by his new crush certainly didn't help matters. After all, there is a limit to what a guy's patience can take.