Coffee

Disclaimer: I don't own Yumeiro Patissiere. Sigh

She woke up very early on Saturday morning. Rumi called at exactly six, reassuring her once again, about the meet-up.

"Its going to be fine!" She had said.

She spent the next hour preparing. She took a long hot bath, braided her hair, picked out a pink dress that reached her knees, and cleaned her white shoes. She decided to come leave 30 minutes earlier. She waited five years. Can't miss this opportunity, can she?

She took a walk to the cafe. It wasn't that far, and she wanted to kill time. She arrive ten minutes before 8. By then, the butterflies in her stomach were already appearing, and she was going frantic. She sat at a table for two, and waited patiently.

At precisely 8 am, the birthday boy arrived. He strode over to her table, and then took a seat. There was some uncomfortable tension between the two. Silence.

Neither said a word. Ichigo looked hard at the table while Kashino was looking from side to side.

Ehem. They turned around and saw the waitress. She was about to take their order. She had no idea why these kids were taking so long, and being impatient in the morning wasn't good.

"What would you like, dears?"

"I want hot chocolate, please." Ichigo had never quite grown accustomed to coffee. She raised her eyebrows at Kashino, and then averted her gaze.

"I'll have a coffee, creamer and sugar please." The waitress seemed satisfied with this answer, so she left the two alone.

Ehem. It wasn't the waitress this time. It was Ichigo. "So.. So why did you want to meet up with me? You'd better start talking soon, because I have much better things to do than sit here and play mind games."

Of course she was lying. She'd rather have him here and say nothing than go to a boring meeting. He held her gaze, and then blinked.

"I called you here to say sorry. I wanted to apologize for leaving you guys so suddenly five years ago. I didn't really give an appropriate goodbye." He was rambling, but at least he was talking.

"Why me? You could've called Hanabusa or Andou." She was curious, yes she was. But she was also hopeful. Hopeful that he hadn't given up on her. On them.

"I came to you because, well, I didn't really tell you things I should've told you five years ago. And I regret it."

Her heart was beating so fast, she almost forgot to breathe. Inhale, exhale.

"Things like...?"

He was about to say something.

"Things like," he paused, "my feelings for you."

Her heart practically stopped. She couldn't find her voice. She shut her eyes, and then willed herself to speak.

"I never thought you had feelings for me." She mumbled, bitterly.

"Well, you thought wrong." He told her softly. He held her gaze for what seemed like an eternity.

She couldn't speak again. What was she supposed to do? Tell him about her feelings?

"I had things to tell you too, you know. But then, you left all of a sudden, without telling even one of us where you went. I was heartbroken." Her voice was so close to breaking."And I thought that you didn't want to be with us anymore. That's what I've been thinking these past five years. Why did you leave anyways?"

He caught sight of a glistening tear down her cheek, before she wiped it away hastily. She sniffed. Great. She's crying.

"That's one of the things I wanted to talk to you about, too. I received a call from my uncle in Paris. He was in his deathbed, so he told me to take care of his business. I inherited his money, Ichigo. That was a big thing, since my parents took away all my credit cards that time. And now, I'm setting up a branch of the business here in Japan. So, that's why I came back."

The impact of what he said hit her hard, which caused her to sniffle louder. "You couldn't write emails or letters?"

"I did! But then, you guys had either moved houses, or changed emails. Everything I sent was sent back to me. I was so confused, so I told my uncle that I had to go back here. But then, I didn't even know where you guys lived. So I stayed there for five years. Happy?" His voice was gentle and sweet. He was sincere.

Ichigo nodded. She stood up from the table, her chocolate mug only half empty. Kashino followed suit, and then he stepped towards her. He wrapped his arms around her, and then hugged her tight. It took about two seconds for her to react, but he was glad that he did. She smiled, and then hugged him back. "I've missed you."

End.

A/N: Thanks for reading this story! :) Please check out my other stuff. Haha. Review, please. :