In Reverse

Chapter 1

"What do you think?"

"I think it's great!"

"Really?"

"Absolutely! Oh, I'm so proud of you,"

A smile with a hint of surprise grows and sincerity laces his words. "Thank you,"

A pause follows. "Shall we meet at the exhibit then?"

Her own smile reflecting her happiness grows softer. "How can I forget?"

"See you there…Ichigo,"

xXx

With a push of his finger he hits a button with a red label to end the conversation. He reaches over, placing the phone back in its place on the cream colored wall. "Another order for the Butterfly Ring cake," He called, moving over to the arch of the kitchen. "Customer wants to propose to his girlfriend in two days so he'll be over to deliver his ring for you,"

Keichiro straightens, placing the icing tool down beside the half finished cake. "Alright, did he specify his colors or did he just want the usual?"

Silence follows and the older man glances at the boy, noting his slight hesitation.

" He hung up before I could find out, saying something about getting the perfect timing,"

"I see. Well then, just give the man a call," he paused, amused at the twist of the boy's mouth. He suggested otherwise, swallowing a grin. "Or I can just ask him when he gets here,"

"Good idea," Apparent relief showing in sky blue eyes. He lifts a thumb to his lip and shifts his weight to the wall.

Keichiro, reading the boredom in his lines smiles, "Something on your mind, Ryou?"

"Mmm," he acknowledged, moving his hand to shift the blonde strands from his eyes. "What would you do with a million dollars?"

The older man moves to grab the coffee pot, mulling over the question as he pours water into the glass. "I think…," He said slowly, gently setting it back on its stand. He proceeded to pour the freshly grounded, roasted coffee beans into the top of the machine.

"You think?" the boy prompted, loving the way the dark mix seemed to fall richly like a waterfall. It was like watching art unfold before his eyes as the older man made his favorite drink. Years of experience lending grace to his hands.

"That…" The brunette turned to the boy, a smile in his eyes, "I would give it to charity,"

"All of it?" he scoffed.

"All of it," he affirmed. "Why the sudden interest?"

Ryou examined his fingers and shrugged. "The combination of boredom and lack of sufficient funds to sustain my leisure interest?"

"As per usual," Keichirro laughed and pushed the start button on the machine. It let out a high pitched beep and soon the rumble of the brew followed. "Although we both know the solution to your…condition,"

With a tilt of his head, he acknowledged the comment and leaned his head against the door frame. "Indeed. Care for a game?"

The older man declined with regret. "I've got to get started on this cake. Why don't you go to the store, and get me the ingredients?" he suggested. "I've been running out recently and was meaning to go sooner, but I suppose this is another way to stave off your boredom,"

Lips upturned with a quirk. "List on the fridge?"

"As always," sang Keichirro, his back turned away as he returned his attention to the original cake he was decorating. "I'll give that man a call, and then when you return the coffee will be ready,"

"Perfect," Ryou said, already moving to the other side of the kitchen to nab the list. With a quick glance at the sheet he took note of the extra needed items and threw the paper into the trash, already memorized. "Later then,"

"Ah," Keichirro acknowledged and gave a small wave, his back still turned.

xXx

His body went on automatic mode as soon as he started walking away from the pink building. At this Ryou let his mind wander, his thoughts lazily taking a turn from the task to the Mews.

Honestly, he missed them. Ever since they left, each going their own ways, the café was practically silent.

He didn't think it was possible but after two weeks of absolute silence he started to long for their senseless banters and their earsplitting racket. From Purin's circus tricks, Retasu's timid and clumsy ways, Mint's snooty and sarcastic remarks, Zakuro's frank comments, all the way to Ichigo's cute and ditsy antics. Heck, he even missed bickering with her.

Often times Keichiro would find him gazing off, his mind in the past when something reminded him of the girls.

"Look out!" shouted a young boy on skates.

Ryou neatly side-stepped to the left and resumed his pace. His head tilted forward and a ghost of a smile graced his lips. At least he knew the girls were safe. Each of them kept their pendants, and they in turn were able to communicate with each other despite being in different places. Or in Ichigo's case, different countries.

The pink haired girl had kept the small robot with her, and through Masha Ryou was able to keep track of her especially her DNA.

Despite the girl giving up fighting he had begun to notice a small resurface of the genes that he had injected in her long ago. It's energy levels would fluctuate like a wave reaching the shore or sometimes, it would burst with energy and then gently fade away like a tiny firework.

So far it wasn't too much of a big deal to really be concerned about, but still, he monitored her carefully to make sure the genes wouldn't take over her own.

She gave him enough grief over the whole ears and tail appearing thing.

He had also looked into the other girls' DNA through Masha as well, but unlike Ichigo's, theirs' was perfectly stable, remaining dormant until further notice.

A part of him only hoped that they hadn't gotten too rusty in case anything bad would show up, although he wished the world would stay peaceful like this forever.

Reaching the main center of the city he moved briskly, weaving around the swarm of people as they moved like ants across the streets to get to the places that they wanted. He was thankful that he didn't have to wait for the light for his boredom would never allow him to wait.

Once he found the market sign he was looking for he moved towards it and entered the building, giving a small bow and a murmured greeting to the welcomers of the store.

He quickly grabbed a red basket inscribed with the market's store name on its black handles and started on his mentally stored grocery list in his mind, calculating the best prices and the quantity and quality of different brands.

If asked he would say he was indifferent to shopping. He didn't hate it, but he didn't like it either. It was just something that needed to be done, nothing more, nothing less.

On the other hand, it was a lot more fun when he and Keichiro would shop- or rather, Keichiro would shop and Ryou would dump anything he picked up on a whim and put it in the basket. The older man would always complain saying that he was the one carrying the basket and that if the boy put anything more into it his arms just might fall off. Not to mention murdering the budget.

So in memory of fun times he searched the store for anything that would grab his attention.

He arrived at the fruits and vegetables section and noticed that the strawberries and the blueberries were on sale. He knew he needed both but the boredom inside him couldn't help but war with him, trying to get him to just choose one for the sake of his whimsical object of interest.

Blueberries have many health benefits, but strawberries taste better. Blueberries give natural color, perfect for decorating; strawberries attract girls.

He threw in the green basket containing the red fruit, and for Keichiro's sake threw in a bottle of blueberry juice. It looked interesting.

Turning around he accidentally bumped into customer who was reaching for the strawberries. Just as the apology left his mouth he noticed the shock of green hair and nearly dropped his basket. "Retasu?"

The girl in turn was equally stunned and her cheeks quickly turned red from either embarrassment or other he didn't know. She shifted her own basket in her arms and bowed. "It's been awhile,"

He was still at a loss for words at her sudden appearance and could only say, "Indeed,"

Retasu, seemingly noticing the awkward atmosphere, lifted an eyebrow behind her glasses, which he seemed to notice was a slimmer frame than the one she wore back then. "Blueberry juice?"

Ryou gave a blank look and she giggled and pointed to the basket. Just registering the contents his lips quirked into a laugh. "For Keichiro," He stated, lifting the item. "This magical little drink is not only delicious but is also high in antioxidants to help prevent or eliminate urinary tract infections,"

Retasu lifted a hand to her mouth, smothering a giggle. "Oh my, I hope he's alright,"

"Oh, he's fine," he waved off and looked at the little summary on the bottle again. "The benefit list goes on. Hmm, I might just get one for myself if it works on Keichiro,"

This time the girl could not hold it in and a soft laugh left her lips. She shook her head. Boys.

"You know I was hoping to visit now that I'm off school for a little bit,"

He gently laid the bottle back into his basket. "How long are you here for?"

"About a week,"

The both walked around grabbing their needed ingredients.

"That's pretty short of a break," he commented dryly. "Normally you'd get three weeks,"

Retasu shrugged with a smile. "It's alright. I'm happy to see my parents again but I wish everyone was here too," she said referring to the other girls.

He reached for a bottle soy sauce, it's yellow and red wrapper standing out like a beacon next to the dark brown liquid inside. "Yeah, I'm sure they're all thinking the same thing,"

"I talked to Ichigo earlier,"

He gave her a glance, one that did not escape her. "Oh?"

She nodded and browsed through the frozen section, her hands brushing against the ice that had built up at the sides. "She said she is in America now and that she and Aoyoma-kun were holding this event called The Need for Green,"

Ryou snorted inwardly and said, "I bet Ichigo made that name,"

Retasu blinked and put a finger to her chin. "Hm, I'm not sure, but she said that because it was such a big success in Europe to raise the awareness of the state of the planet due to many human's actions-," she took a deep breath and continued. "They planned to host it again in the states,"

"Good for her," He murmured. "You've grown a lot you know,"

Retasu was taken aback. "Eh?"

He gave a small smile and together they reached the registers, having both finished with their shopping. "You used to be so shy and quiet, but now I see an out-going girl reaching for dreams, ready to be heard,"

She blushed deeply. "Really?" She squeaked.

"Mm," he acknowledged and proceeded to unload his basket's contents one by one onto the black, moving belt.

The girl didn't know what to say and was grateful when the boy turned and bowed in greeting to the cashier. The beep, beep sound of the items being ringed up filled the silence between the two, giving her time to recollect her thoughts.

"I'll be stopping by later in the afternoon," she said suddenly.

"Keichiro would like that,"

"I wish to surprise him so don't tell him that I'm here,"

He picked up his bags. "Sure thing. See you later," He waved and walked towards the exit, a lightness in his step replacing the boredom in his feet.

The girl turned back to the cashier and proceeded to put her items on the belt. As she moved to pick up the last item in her basket she paused then lifted the curious thing. A grin lifted her lips and she wondered how it got in there. (For in her hand she held a bottle of blueberry juice).

A/N: Aw, man it's been so long! But I'm glad that this piece is moving along, albeit slowly. I've been away from writing and this fandom for so long that it took me awhile to get into the swing of things. I sure miss having to pull the strings of the characters (who are not mine!) and having them dance in my world.

I would very much like a beta though. I hate looking at my chapters over and over because despite knowing what I wrote I can't help but gloss over some parts thus missing some grammar and spelling weaknesses...

This story originally was going to be 30+ chapters (I don't know what I was thinking back then. Waaaay back then), but after looking through the original again and looking at the plot I've decided to really cut it down and discard the unnecessary and rather redundant parts that seemed to drag the story out.

I don't expect this to be a long story, but then again, I know that sometimes when writing the story would run away from me and turn into something so completely different haha! I do hope though that I can keep this in reign and fisnish this within the year and not, like, 5... -sweatdrops-

Well, until then!

Adieu!