Ryou gazed at the back of the fleeing redhead, a mixture of puzzlement and anger swirling in his brain. What was her problem? It was only a few plates; obviously he didn't really mind a couple of breakages... With a sigh and a shrug, he decided to let her cool off. She would come crawling back soon enough, stammering her apologies and begging for his forgiveness...which he would of course grant like the gracious boss he was. Ryou jumped slightly as a crack of thunder boomed outside, leaving the remaining customers ominously silent. What an idiot, he cursed, running off into a thunderstorm. Baka! Shaking his bangs out of his face, he slowly returned to the shop floor, greeted by the sight of Retasu picking up shards of china from the floor.

'Let me give you a hand with that' he sighed in exasperation, bending to help Retasu retrieve the shards. He suddenly froze however, his eyes widening in confusion. 'Retasu,' he breathed, 'why is there blood all over the floor?' He could see the scarlet liquid dotted on the floor and smeared on several fragments of the porcelain. Retasu looked at him quizzically and murmured quietly, 'You didn't notice? Ichigo-san cut her arm when she fell. It looks pretty bad, is she patching it up in the back room now?' Ryou's heart gave a lurch as he realised what a mistake he had made that afternoon. 'She, er, she left,' he stammered, his tone heavy with guilt. He lowered his head and muttered, 'I yelled at her and she quit. I didn't even notice she had hurt herself. Damn it! Now she's run out into a thunderstorm as well!' He squeezed his azure eyes shut as the guilt and fear threatened to consume him. Retasu sighed and shook her head sympathetically at him. What a mess he had made...

Patting his shoulder in an attempt of comfort, she said softly 'I'm sure she will be fine Shirogane-san, you know she has a short temper...Maybe we should just leave her to blow off some steam?' She smiled kindly at him, but her smile soon dissipated when she caught a glimpse of the look on Ryou's face. His eyes blazed with fury, a fury that he was directing inwards. How could he be so impossibly stupid?! He had sworn to protect Ichigo, all of the Mews in fact, but hadn't he just banished Ichigo, leaving her at the mercy of the elements? What kind of a man did that? 'No,' he said, his voice trembling, 'No. I'm going to look for her...I have to apologise...I have to make sure she is okay.' Ryou hauled himself out of his crouch and shrugged into his leather jacket, the furious look of self-hatred still evident on his face. Without another word he left, his shoulders slumped dejectedly as he walked into the onslaught of cold rain.

Retasu could not help the feeling of pain that washed over her at that moment. How long had she pined after Shirogane-san? Every waking moment spent hoping he would glance her way, throw her a kind smile and several words of praise...The way he made her heart melt as he fixed her and the other Mews with his piercing blue gaze... However, Retasu now felt like her heart had been immersed in icy water as the sudden realisation of the true meanings of Ryou's glances hit her. Those soft smiles and sparkling eyes that often flashed across the cafe floor had never been intended for her; she had been deluding herself. Looking back with fresh eyes, she could now see how his world revolved around her bubbly friend Ichigo. Those secret smiles that she had thought were hers was all a lie, a childish dream, a stupid fantasy. She could see it now. See how Ryou smiled when Ichigo was a klutz and he thought nobody else was looking...how he lit up from within when he teased her and battled with her verbally...she could see the way it pained him to watch her with Aoyama-kun and how it shattered his heart when Ichigo told him he was evil and that she hated him. She could see it all now. A pained gasp escaped from her lips as she realised that Shirogane's unrequited love for Ichigo meant that her own desire for him would forever remain unfulfilled. A silent tear trickled down her cheek as Retasu gave up on the only man she had ever loved; a man who would never be able to love her back.

Meanwhile, the rain had only increased in aggressiveness, if that was even possible. Ichigo shivered as she ran through the trees, mud splattering up the back of her legs as she desperately fought to put as much space as was humanly possible between her and the dreadful Shirogane. Scalding tears threatened as she remembered his cold words earlier. 'A weapon,' she moaned, coming to an abrupt halt as both her heart and her ragged arm gave an unexpected twinge of pain. She remained frozen for what seemed like an eternity as the rain tricked through the canopy of leaves overhead, seeping into her hair and darkening it so that the silken strands matched the blood that was still steadily trickling out of her arm. She couldn't run anymore, she didn't have the energy. Unable to summon the will to move another step further, Ichigo slowly slid down to the wet soil, her back scraping against the rough bark of a towering oak tree. She clutched her sore arm to her chest as wracking sobs overcame her, shaking her tiny frame with their force. She couldn't believe that she had quit, but she had too much pride to remain in a position where she was taken for granted and not even deemed valuable. Shirogane had referred to her as a weapon...not a girl, not a Mew, not even a baka, but a weapon! Did he not see her as a person? Did her involvement in his twisted Mew Project lower her to beyond the rank of a human? Did he just see her as a lowly creature that existed solely to do his bidding? That arrogant fool, what right did he have to view her in such a way...at that moment in time, Ichigo truly hated Ryou Shirogane with every fibre of her mutated being.

She didn't know how long she cried. To her it seemed as though the tears ran in a never ending flow, all of the hurt and betrayal she felt seeping out of her tear ducts with each fresh wave. Eventually though, her tears began to ebb, their salty trickle replaced by the rain drops as Ichigo Momomiya forced herself to let go of her agitation and regain whatever shaky poise she had left. She felt numb with both shock and cold. Her brain felt muddled and heavy and all she wanted to do was go home and crawl under her duvet with Masha. However, her stubborn limbs refused to move, and in the back of her mind Ichigo dimly acknowledged that this was not a good sign. Her arm was still bleeding, and she knew she must have lost a lot of blood by this point. She really needed to move...but try as she might, she could not coax her body to rid itself of its current state. Why do I even care? Drifted across her mind as she leant her head back against the trunk, it's not like anybody even cares where I am. I may as well just stay here. Ichigo felt oddly calm as she decided not to move a muscle from where she was resting.

Her tranquillity was soon shattered by a crash of thunder followed by a blinding burst of lightening. Her cat ears shot up as she shrieked, trembling from the sudden scare. Her fear was made all the more real when she heard a wrenching crack above her head. Her ears flattened against her skull as she looked above her head, only to see a huge bough hurtling towards her. Ichigo barely had time to scream as the branch crashed into the ground beside her, missing her by inches. Her fragile psyche could take no more. She swayed dazedly and then collapsed, the grass rushing towards her face as the darkness claimed her.