Um... I seem to have been distracted with my disaster of a love life. But I suppose things turn around and come out for the better. I just need a little more inspiration, I guess. But here you go. You all deserve it after a long wait.
Remember boys and girls, I don't own Tokyo Mew Mew .

(Written on February 5, 2008)
Chapter 16 | Dirty Thoughts

She tried to be reasonable, to sort it out herself in her thoughts, but nothing sane could come up. A hotel, a hotel he said to me! She couldn't believe her ears. Why did she feel so anxious about it though? She started to picture what could arise from such events.

She could almost see what the hotel room would look like. He would ask the clerk for a room on the fifth story with large windows to view the scenery. The carpet would be a dark brown with beige walls to go with it. A round glass table surrounded by two wooden chairs was in the corner just across from the window. In front of the windows laid two cream sofa chairs with another small table in between the two.

Her fingers rose to her mouth as she started to bite on them. The more she thought about it, the more nervous she became. All that was left to imagine was the bed. Her mind jumped past and she could already imagine his entranced expression. She felt more flushed. Her entire face was red, including her ears.

Ryou turned around to look at his Strawberry. He couldn't believe it.

"I see you're thinking dirty thoughts."

He dragged her along to his car. He opened the door and pushed her in mumbling words. He ran around his car jumping in and putting it into motion. He turned his head to smirk at her and drove away.

She held her head low continuing to stare at her fingers. She pondered the idea of asking him whether they really are going there or not yet words were never spoken. And if they were going to one, then it would only mean one thing. 'He would want to...' She shrieked once again, only to be more embarrassed than before.

"I didn't know you were such a pervert, Baka Strawberry. If I knew this before, I wouldn't have done anything."

He snickered to himself knowing he was getting a rise out of Ichigo.

"Ahh!" She shouted out loud, her face still red as ever. "I wasn't thinking anything like that! It was more like, uhh, umm..." She racked her brain for an excuse that would work on Ryou. When it comes down to him, he means serious business so you have to play it right. At least that's what she tells herself. She could hear her stomach growling some more and the idea came through. "We're having a nice dinner at a Hotel! That's all it is, yeah. That's all."

She sighed with relief, believing she had pulled it off. He just smirked and went along with it. "I hope you're in the mood for some Chinese cuisine then."

'I guessed right!' She told herself, feeling proud. She was beginning to feel a lot closer to Ryou than before, even with the intimate kiss from earlier.

"I bet you were thinking those dirty thoughts when you spent the night at the cafe that time..." He smirked to himself, pulling out a pair of sunglasses. "I bet you were going to jump me in the middle of the night too; good thing I was on watch. But then again that really wouldn't explain why you wouldn't take that one shower with me..."

"What? You really did say that?" She shrieked anxiously.

"No, you just have selective hearing. Your perverted mind wants to hear that kind of thing."

She began thinking to herself, remembering every aspect of that day. The first thing that came to her was the small dream she was having of Ryou. She let out a sigh, wondering if her confession was going to be similar to the one in that dream. She called him a baka for he wasn't bothering to listen to her once again. But that wouldn't be the case now; she already knows he likes her. She wanted to tell him how she felt but when would it be the perfect moment?

But that wasn't all that happened that day. She didn't tell her friends who her "mysterious" crush was and that gift... Was it really from a secret admirer or maybe Ryou was just lying to her about it. Maybe now was the moment to reassure herself.

"Shirogane... Remember that gift that was in the girls' changing room?"

"Huh. What are you talking about?" He asked in confusion. Did he really forget all about that?

"The black kitten on a strawberry ornament... You said it was from a secret admirer, but it was from you, right?" She seemed to sound hopeful; wishing so much that it was from Ryou. "Right?"

"Yeah, of course. Who else would like you, Baka."

She smiled to herself, feeling refreshed. As soon as she noticed what he had said last, she couldn't help but to giggle after shouting at him. Looking ahead, she wondered which restaurant they're going to. 'Chinese cuisine... maybe we're going somewhere far. He did say that we were going to be walking; now we're driving somewhere." She could feel herself growing more excited, attempting her hardest to control her cat-like features.

Thirty minutes later and they arrived at a regular parking lot. Ryou parked between two vehicles, opening his door. Ichigo jumped outside after she locked her door. Ryou reached in the back seat grabbing the basket he had picked up from his cafe earlier.

"Where now?" She asked in anticipation.

"We're close, don't worry about it."

She jumped closer to him, smiling so much, grabbing his arm. Ryou, shocked as ever, couldn't help but to blush.

They walked along, arm in arm, the busy streets of downtown Tokyo. Ichigo looked at the stores on her side, wishing she had the money to buy random cute clothing. It was a real shame, she just thought to herself that she'll have to take the Mews down here and go on a wild shopping spree. She could hardly wait for such an activity.

"Stop day-dreaming, Baka." Ryou sighed, knowing that her imagination is always going off in different directions. He wished she would at least focus on him for a little while. He stopped in his tracks, asking her a simple question. "What are you looking at?"

"They have such cute clothing in all these stores, I'm really jealous." She blushed a little bit.

Another sigh escaped, "Heh, figures. We can check out the stores after, alright?"

She squealed to herself with delight. "Okay!"

They walked a little further until they arrived at a local park. Ichigo looked at Ryou with confusion, "I thought we were going to a hotel... Er, I mean a restaurant."

"A hotel, huh? I guess you really did want to book a room for the night then."

Ichigo remained speechless. She wondered if she was the only one thinking of that. 'Why would he say we were going to a hotel then?' She finally understood: he was merely just getting a rise out of her. She felt stupid.

He set the basket on the grass, pulling out a red plaid blanket from it. He laid it on the ground, moving the basket in the center of the blanket. "Well I was serious when I said some Chinese cuisine. Sorry if my cooking isn't that great."

He sat down right beside it, Ichigo across from him. He looked up at her, she was smiling back at him. He pulled out different bowls setting them down. He took out spare bowls and utencils. He waited as Ichigo served herself; he was suprised at the fact that she took a lot more than he did, but then again she was a lot hungrier. You could still hear her stomache growl. They began to eat, talking to each other about the nice scenery. It was such a beautiful day, Ichigo was glad that they could do this outside rather than in a grey dull building. A fresh breeze of air rushed past the two of them, they were feeling more rejuvenated. Ichigo rested her body on the grass as Ryou quickly cleaned up their picnic.

Was now the perfect moment for her confession. His feelings were clear and hers were untold, she glanced over at him. "This was... It was really perfect."

"Oh, don't be silly, Baka. The day has only begun..." He said with a smirk, falling on his back.

'Only begun, huh.' She could see that, it was only thirty after four. It was still day outside, so what could they be doing next. She never thought that Ryou could come up with such activities for a simple date.. But then again, with his confession, it seemed more realistic as the minutes passed by. She wanted to get closer to him but stayed in her place. They stayed there silent as the breeze passed by. Ichigo closed her eyes.

"Ryou, I've been meaning to tell you something..." Yeah, she told herself, it's time to make a move. "I've always been... well, I've always had feelings for you. I just.. I suppose I only denied them because we were always fighting."

Ryou raised his body, moving closer to her. His upper torso was on top of her. His fingers were playing in her hair. "I know. I love you too."

A sigh of relief came out followed by a smile. 'I finally did it!'

"Baka, we've got to go." Ryou said almost immediately, waking her from another day dream.

"Rats!" She said out loud with disappointment.

"What? I said we've got to go." She got up so he could pick up the blanket. He stuffed it into the basket and they were on their way back to the car. She wondered where was the next stop of the day. She looked up at him, only feeling a little nervous. She remembered passing by a hotel on the way to the lot, she kept telling herself that Ryou wasn't that kind of guy. 'We only slept together and that was innocent!' Her face was flushed, remembering that incident. 'I guess I'll just have to wait and find out.'

End | Chapter 16