Me: HIYA PEOPLES!!!!

Chi-Chai Monchan: Oh boy, what're you writing about now?

Me: Well you'll just have ta read it ta find out!

Chi-Chai Monchan: Ta?

Me: Yeah! Ta and confuzzled!

Chi-chai Monchan: Whatever.

Ryou: Roll story!

Chi-Chai Monchan: Where'd you come from?

Ryou: Up there (points to hole in ceiling).

Chi-Chai Monchan: Ohhh. R&R!

It was a sunny sumer day in Tokyo and the weather seemed to match Ichigo's mood perfectly(notice I said "seemed"). At Café Mew Mew, there were only five people downstairs. Ichigo who was sweeping the floors while humming, Minto who was still drinking tea even though the weather was warm, Pudding who was actually serving a customer for once, the customer, and Keiichiro. Zakuro was at a Summer Line photo shoot and Lettuce had gone on vacation with her parents.

The only sounds in the café were and Ichigo humming and the doors closing behind the customer that had just come in. "Bye! Thank you for visiting Café Mew Mew Na no da!" Pudding called as the guest exited. The soft tap-tapping of footsteps could be heard coming down the stairs.

When Ryou had reached the bottom, he saw Ichigo sweeping the floors, Pudding sitting criss-cross on top of one of the tables with her chin in her hand, and Mint chatting with someone on her phone. "Wow. It's like a ghost town in here. Have we had any customers yet?" "One." Pudding replied, not moving from her position at all.

"I guess everyone is outside today enjoying the weather. I guess we can close up shop early today. Go ahead and go home, girls." A glimmer of happiness showed in each of the three Mews' eyes. Ryou chuckled a bit and walked back upstairs. "WOOT!!!!!!!!" Pudding cheered, jumping up from her sitting position into a hand-stand, then somersaulting off of the table. Ichigo and Mint couldn't help it and started giggling.

Pudding looked pretty funny sitting on the ground grinning with her fist in the air. "If it's okay with your guardians, I have received permission from my maids to have a small sleepover with you two. Do you want to come?"

Mint invited. Both girls nodded an excited yes to the blue haired girl. "Great! I'll inform my maids. Would you like me to drop you both home?" Pudding agreed to the second invitation too, but Ichigo denied it, coming up with a small lie.

"Um, I can't. Shirogane assigned me, um..uh, l-lockup duty. Sorry! I'll just walk to your place Mint." "Whatever you say Ichi. Let's go Pudding, the limo is waiting." "YAY, LIMO!!" Was the last they said before exiting through the heart shaped doors.

As quickly as she could, she stacked all of the chairs on the tables and made sure the floor was clean. She locked the cash register, closed the blinds, and switched the OPEN sign to CLOSED. She wasn't really sure what she was doing but she ran upstairs and

knocked on Ryou's door. Knock, knock, knock! "Shirogane? May I please come in?" Ichigo managed to get out in a small voice, tears threatening to fall. She heard a shuffling noise then heard Ryou call back to her, "Yeah. Come in the door is unlocked." Ichigo took the doorknob in her shaky hands and pushed it open just wide enough for her to slip in. "Hey Strawberry. What do you-- are you ok?" Ryou turned around in his computer chair to see Ichigo standing by the doorway with a single tear running down her very red cheeks. "N-no!"

Ichigo stuttered and sat on the bed, bringing her knees close to her chest, tears cascading down her face. Ryou got up and sat next to her. "Hey, talk to me. What's wrong?" Ryou said. Although he can seem like an antisocial slavedriver most of the time, that doesn't mean he can't be nice occasionally.

Ichigo looked up at him with teary eyes as he moved one of the wet strands of hair from her face. "Why...are you....doing....th-this?" Ichigo said in between gasps of air. Ryou was puzzled for a moment, realized what she actually meant, then answered her with the most honest answer he could give. "Because I care for you. I may seem like a bully but I do that because you and the other mews are the closest things I've got as friends, besides Keiichiro. And when I have friends, I don't like to see them hurt. Now tell me what happened."

He said, wrapping his arm around her shoulder and hugging her for a quick second before letting go again. "Okay. I'll tell you. I was out in the park taking a walk, due to the very nice weather. There, I saw Masaya kissing another girl. I tore off the bell he gave me and walked over to them. Then I gave her ..." Ryou noticed that Ichigo said 'her' as if she was describing a sewer rat covered in boogers. "...the bell. Then I turned around and told Masaya it was over. D-did I do the right thing?" She turned to him with still wet eyes. He wiped tear away from her face and hugged her once more, but a little bit longer.

"I think you did. Do you want to go to lunch to take your mind off it?" Ichigo looked at him and grinned. "I would love that!" Ryou smiled and got up, extending his hand to help Ichigo up. Ichigo grabbed it and got up too. "Wait, I need to change."

"Uh, you're not going to change in here, are you?" Sarcastically, he replied, "Of course I'm going to change in here. Right in front of my female employee. Shyeah right! You can be such a ditz sometimes you know that?" He said, flicking her nose and grabbing shorts and a t-shirt from his drawer

"Owee! Wait! Shirogane! I need something to wear!" Ryou thought about this for a moment. "Wait, don't you have your clothes you wore here before you changed?" Ichigo shook her head 'no'. "I walked through a sprinkler by accident about two minutesbefore I got here. I was planning on them drying throughout my shift but we closed up early. And yes, I was soaked to the bone." Ryou pondered this for a while then lit up, apparently having an idea. "Wait here, I might have something for you." Ryou changed into his clothes then ran downstairs.

He was down there for a while and Ichigo was starting to get impatient. Just as she was about to march downstairs to see what was taking so long, Ryou appeared holding a pile of clothes. Then he held them out to her, smiling a bit. "I'm not supposed to tell anyone this, but let's just say that Keiichiro knows how to sew very well."

Ichigo grinned and took the clothes from him and ran into the bathroom. A couple minutes later, she ran out squealing. "Eeeee! I LOVE IT!!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Ichigo came out wearing a white tank top with bright pink polka dots and pink lace around the edges. She also was wearing jean shorts and pink high tops. " Where'd you get the high tops? Keiichiro didn't give me those. He only gave me ankle socks." Ryou asked. Ichigo grinned again. "I was wearing these all day! I would never leave home without my pink high tops. Now are we going to go, or what?" Ryou rolled his eyes and opened the door, letting Ichigo out first.

"So where are we going to eat?" Ichigo asked, the two of them strolling past many shops and restaurants. "I dunno. You choose." Ichigo pondered this for a moment, then thought of something fun they could do. "Okay, how about we play a game?" Ryou stopped dead in his tracks, "What kind of game?" Ichigo smirked, knowing she would win this one. "A guessing game. You have to guess the answer to my question, and if you get it right, I'll pay for lunch and never bother you for a raise again." Ryou knew where this was going. She wanted something.

"And what if I don't get it right?" They continued along the rows of shops. "If you don't guess it correctly, then you pay for lunch and I get to take you around to five places of my choice, your treat." Ichigo smiled devilishly, her question was so simple, but indeed hard to guess her answer.

"Deal. Okay, what's your question?" Ryou said, thinking this would be easy. "Wait, you have to promise that you will be faithful to my little game. Pinkie swear on it." Though Ichigo was already thirteen years old, she had a childish soul. So to her, pinkie swearing was a formal way of promising to something.

Chuckling a bit, Ryou agreed and locked pinkies with the little strawberry. They let go and Ichigo started her question. "Good. Now here's what you must answer: What is my favorite food?" Ryou thought about it.

'She's trying to fool me. I know she loves Strawberries, but is that considered a food? No, it's a fruit.' Ryou thought, answering his own question. He thought back, trying to remember what Ichigo normally had for lunch when she worked on the weekends. Then, he remembered the first time she came up to his room to ask for a raise. She gave him rice balls. "Um, I think I've got it." "Okay, shoot." Ryou inhaled air and hoped he'd get it right. "Rice balls.....?" He said, tilting his head to the side slightly, which was abnormal seeing that he normally acts like Mr. Cool.

Ichigo burst into fits of laughter, once again confusing the poor blonde. "Sorry Ryou!........ You...... you just......look...REALLY.....funny when...you're....confused! AH HA HA HA HA!!!!!!" Ichigo said through her giggling outbursts. Ryou looked a bit annoyed and thought of how to get revenge.

They were near one of Ichigo's favorite places, the park. So he picked her up bridal style and set her down in an empty area and started tickling her. She laughed even more and soon was pleading for him to stop. " Stop! Please Ryou! (more laughter)" He soon stopped and grinned.

"Payback!" He said, shoving a finger at her playfully. When they realized the position they were in, Ryou on top of Ichigo with his hands at her sides, they blushed madly and rearranged themselves so they were next to each other. Then he remembered Ichigo's game. "Strawberry?" "Hmm?"

Ichigo was now laying on her back, hands behind her head. "What was the answer to your question because apparently I got it wrong." Ichigo sat up, smiling at Ryou. "Teriyaki Chicken bento boxes." He was astounded. "Seriously? Well that was easy! I could've just guessed my favorite food too!"

Ryou got up and, again, extended a hand to help Ichigo up. She, again, took it but didn't let go. "Um, Strawberry? You can let go now." "Nuh-uh! You might run off! Oh, and your hands are cold. Mine are extremely warm and it's scorching hot. Let's go!" Fortunately, Ichigo ran in front of Ryou so she couldn't see his face getting red. And not because of the heat.

Eventually, they found a place to eat and were now on their way to Ichigo's next destination. And Ichigo was still holding Ryou's hand except now, they were next to each other and looked like a real couple. (Awwww-ness!) "Ryouuuuuuu! I'm tiiiiiirrrrreeeeeddddddd!" Ryou stopped and turned to look at her.

"And?" Before he could ask her what she was doing, she walked behind him and jumped on his back. "ONWARDS PEASANT!!!!!" She called, sticking her index finger in front of them, almost making an annoyed Ryou tip over. "Wait, where are we going?" Ichigo smiled. "I'll direct you. Now, GO FORWARDS PEASANT!! ~Nya!" "Will you quit calling me a peasant, baka!?" "Nope!" "UGH. Why me? Why, oh, why me?" Grinning, Ichigo laid her head on Ryou's back and wrapped her arms around his neck.

This time, she was the one to blush.

Me: Please review! Chapter 6 of Clueless also soon to come!

NOTE:

If some of you are wondering why I deleted the story Happily Ever After?, it's because that was supposed to be a oneshot and I didn't feel like finishing it. All of the characters were just too OOC to me. Sorry! Maybe I'll finish it another time and re-post it.

Monkey-chick227