Tokyo Mew Mew Fan Fiction ❯ A stressful day ❯ A stressful day ( Chapter 1 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: Sai_Saishi
After a stressful day of dealing with mew mews and a busy cafe', Ryou comes home and finds himself being cared for quickly by Keiichiro.
Homophobic people, please, this is a RyouXKeiichiro story, so please don't read it ^-^; everyone else, please enjoy.

Anime/Manga: Tokyo Mew Mew Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Drama / Shounen / Angst / Romance | Type: Shounen-ai | Uploaded On: 05.27.2006 | Updated On: 06.10.2006 | Pages: 4 | Words: 5.4K | Visits: 960 | Status: Completed

So what does everyone think? Read and Review please?
I'm sorry that it is a little iffy, and really sappy there at the end ^-^; It's been a while since I've read TMM, so… I don't really remember much I guess. This is one of my first attempts at writing in fist person and present tense, so if it sounds a little awkward, I am very sorry. … Hm… I didn't intend for it to turn out this way at all, but ah well, I kind of like it ^-^ In any case, please enjoy. (and I am sorry for the darn format, it doesn't stay in my format… so it looks stupid…)
Edit: I fixed a few small errors and made some of the wording better (for now).
 
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I hum lightly to myself as I listen to the teakettle in my hands fill with water. My eyes wander toward the clock to see that Ryou-Chan will be home soon. I can hardly wait, it is lonely not having him around the house on my days off… though I suppose I am getting used to it.
As I set the now full kettle on the stovetop and turn it on, I hear the door slam shut, announcing the long awaited arrival of my love.
I come out of the kitchen to great him in the living room where he has seated himself in a large overstuffed couch.
“Ryou,” I say warmly with a smile as I walk over to be beside him, “welcome home.”
He doesn't reply, merely sitting in silence. He spares me a glance, and I can see the exhaustion in those beautiful blue eyes.
“Is something wrong?” I ask with concern. It is odd for him to look so tired, usually his eyes are full with such life and energy that it's difficult to think that he could possibly ever get tired.
He sighs, a very disheartening sound, “No.”
“What's the matter?” I sit beside him, not taking my eyes off of him for a second. He looks slightly pale, and disheveled.
“It's just…” he sighs, “Ichigo…”
Ichigo is it? I should have guessed. Of all the girls he knows, he likes her the best. His thoughts constantly center around her, he loves her. I can't blame him; she's a sweet girl. “What about Ichigo?”
“She's so…” he groans in frustration, “Frustrating!”
“How so?”
“Everything she does! At the café' she never does any work because she's always daydreaming about Masaya, and on missions all she does is wine because she doesn't want to fight…!” He complains.
I can tell that he had a rough day, and it wasn't just Ichigo. Three missions in one day, and running the café'; today was probably busy there because it's Saturday, the most busy day of the week. I smile softly, “Is it just Ichigo?”
He frowns and looks away, “no…” he grumbles.
“A busy day,” I state.
He nods, still looking away.
In the kitchen, the teakettle whistles loudly. He should have some tea, it will help relax him a little, “The water is boiling, I'll go make you some tea.”
He says nothing as I stand and leave the room.
 
In the kitchen, I retrieve his favorite mug from the cupboard. It is decorated with small black cat heads. It was a gift to him from Ichigo on his birthday last year. I smile at the memory of how beautiful he looked as he watched the mug fondly when she left that day. The tea pot continues to screech out it's alarm as I pull a tea bag from the box already on the counter; Chamomile, just the thing to help a person relax. I lift the kettle and tip it into the cup before setting it down on a cool burner. Before I bring the tea to him, I pour honey into it; Chamomile is always better with a little honey.
As I come back into the living room he looks toward me.
“Thank you,” he says when I hand him the mug. He blows on it gently, and sips at it only to pull it away quickly as it burns his lips. He leans forward and sets it on the coffee table, licking his upper lip.
I can't help but chuckle, he's so cute… If only he knew.
He glares at me, but he doesn't look threatening. He still looks incredibly tired.
“Keiichiro,” he says after a few moments. He waits until I respond with a yes before he continues, “Why is everything so hard when you're not around? More Kirema anima show up than usual, the girls don't listen to me, there are a lot of customers at the café', and Mint always takes her tea breaks when we need her help the most!”
Do so many things really go wrong for him when I'm not there? “Perhaps I shouldn't take days off then.”
His eyes widen, that was evidently not the response he had hoped for.
“No!” He exclaims, “You earn your days off! Don't stop taking them, you deserve them.”
My heart flutters, he's so sweet. He wants me to have my days off despite how hard they are on him… that's one of the many things he does that force me to love him… if only he could love me back. “Alright,” I respond softly.
He sighs, and looks away from me. I can see from the way he moves that his body is tense. The want to alleviate him of his stress is overwhelming to me. My hands reach out, gently landing on his shoulders and I begin to massage him.
He groans as his blue eyes close lightly; He likes it. I smile at the expression of pleasure on his face, so beautiful…
After a while of quiet, I speak, “You're muscles are tense.”
He gives a soft `hn' in response.
“What you need is a hot bath to help relax you.”
“What I need is a nap,” he mumbles, giving another soft moan.
“A nap would feel nicer after a bath.”
He nods slightly, it doesn't seem that he really cares.
“I'll go run a bath for you,” I tell him as I release his shoulders.
His sapphire blue eyes fall on me as I get to my feet. He looks a little disappointed, perhaps because I stopped. “It'll take a few minutes, so drink your tea.” I watch as his eyes drift to the forgotten mug on the table, and he leans forward to pick it up.
I leave the room shortly afterward and walk into the pale yellow bathroom. Kneeling beside the bathtub, I begin to draw water. Once it becomes warm I plug the drain and Watch as the porcelain becomes distorted slowly by the rising water. As it fills, I pull a small clear bottle of a pink liquid from the cupboard and pop open the lid. The soft sweet scent of flowers drifts from the opening, and I pour a little of the liquid into the water; he will most likely complain about being treated like a kid by me again, but I figure that a bubble bath is one of the more relaxing ways to take a bath.
Once the tub is filled I come back into the living room. Ryou is still sitting on the couch where I left him. He looks up at me expectantly.
“The bath is ready,” I inform him, and step out of his way as he rises from the couch and crosses the room. After he steps into the bathroom I hear him groan. “A bubble bath?” he calls from inside.
I chuckle; he's even cute when he complains.
A tap on my shoulder draws my attention to the angel behind me, “why a bubble bath?” he demands, blushing slightly.
“They're relaxing,” I reply matter-a-factly.
He frowns, not receiving the answer he wanted from me for the second time today.
“You should get in before the water gets cold.”
He leaves me again for the bathroom, grumbling something about being treated like a child again. Another chuckle forces it's way out of me as I collect the discarded mug from the table and bring it back into the kitchen.
I set it into the sink beside a few other unclean dishes from breakfast this morning. I gasp as I realize I haven't made dinner yet, Ryou must be starving by now! A pang of guilt strikes me, and I quickly busy myself boiling a pot of water and collecting uncooked spaghetti and other ingredients for the meal.
 
As the spaghetti boils and the tomato sauce simmers, I recall that there are no towels in the bathroom. I had taken them all out earlier this morning to be washed.
I leave the cooking food to cook by itself for a few minutes while I go and get a fresh towel for Ryou.
After acquiring a soft towel from the drying room, I head to the bathroom. I knock lightly on the door and wait for a response, but after a while none comes. He must have his head under the water. Well, I figure he won't mind if I come in and leave the towel for him.
I reach forward and grasp the doorknob. The door pushes open easily, as it always does.
Blue eyes widen in surprise as I enter. I pause, having not been expecting him to be out of the tub so soon.
He is beautiful. A muscular and well-tanned angel, given more of an angelic look from the wet strands of blond hair that cling to his face.
A blush stains his tanned cheeks, and he draws back. I shake my head amusedly, but divert my eyes to make him feel a bit more comfortable. It's funny how shy he is; I've seen his naked form before so he shouldn't be as fearful.
“I brought you a towel,” I offer the dark blue cloth to him, and he takes it quickly and raps it around his waist. My eyes return to him and find that he is still blushing. I resist a chuckle, not wanting to make him feel any more embarrassed than he is now.
“Dinner's almost ready.”
“Thanks,” he says, turning his eyes away from me.
He still looks tired, but the bath seems to have helped: at least his muscles aren't as tense now. “Go lay down, I'll bring your meal to you.”
He nods, “okay,” and walks past me, trying to keep his eyes anywhere but on me. His cheeks are still red. Is he truly that embarrassed that I saw him? I shrug off the thought and walk to remove the drain plug in the tub. I don't wait for the tub to drain; instead I go into kitchen and put together a plate of spaghetti for my love.
 
A gentle knock on the closed bedroom door is all the warning I give to announce my arrival. I wait for a response this time, I feel bad for embarrassing him so much in the bathroom. I hear him call out to me that I may enter, and I carefully push open the door.
He sits on his bed, dressed in light blue silk pajamas. He looks stunning, more angelic than he usually appears. My heart flutters at the sight, though he wears them every night. I gave these to him on the same day he received the mug from Ichigo. Seeing him wearing them always makes me happy.
He gives me a questioning look, and I realize that I've been staring at him. This time it is my turn to blush, and I quickly cross the room to him and offer the plate of food.
A grateful smile graces his face, and he takes the offered plate, “Thanks Keiichiro, I'm starved!”
I sit on the bed beside him and watch him silently as he eats. As usual, he doesn't appear to notice as he eats the food as quickly as he can with out choking.
It warms my heart to see him eating the food I make so happily. I would give anything to see him happy forever, even let Ichigo have him. I feel a pain strike into my heart with the thought. In truth, I don't want her to have him, and I know she will never have him either because she has Masaya. As comforting as this thought is, it pains me almost more so than the thought of Ryou loving someone else. I know that he loves her, and I can only imagine how it hurts him to know she has someone else to love; it hurts more than anything to know that… and I don't want him to feel that hurt. I know he feels it though. I catch him watching Ichigo and Masaya sadly as they go off on a date or flirt with one another. He looks so sad when he watches them… I wish so deeply that I could pull him into my embrace and make it better, but I know I can't.
“Keiichiro?” he asks, his voice laced with concern.
“hm?” I answer automatically, and bring my unfocused eyes into focus on him once more.
“Are you okay?”
I nod, “Yes, of course.”
He looks at me skeptically, “are you sure?”
Again I nod, giving a warm smile, “yes, I am quite sure, why do you ask?”
He frowns, “What were you thinking about?”
I wince at the question, not wanting to answer. The truth is untellable, but it hurts to lie to him. What do I tell him? The truth might hurt him more than a lie would, he'd know how I feel about him… and I don't want to risk that.
“What were you thinking about?” he repeats when he feels I have taken too long to answer.
“Nothing really,” I reinforce my smile assuringly, but he does not look convinced, instead he looks almost hurt.
“Nothing? But you looked so sad, like you were going to cry,” he sounds disappointed in me.
I shake my head, “It was nothing.”
Blue pools of concern hammer at my conscience mercilessly. I don't want to cause him concern… he looks so sad when he's concerned… it doesn't suit him. “Don't worry about it.”
At last his eyes return to his half eaten plate of food, which he stares at for a long while.
“If you are done with that, I can take it.” I offer.
He shakes his head, but says nothing else. His concerned expression has now slipped into hurt. Oh please, please don't look so sad. My heart aches, and I want to draw him into a hug. His eyes turn back to me, and he sits in silence watching me with those hurt orbs of crystal. Oh god, please don't look at me that way, it hurts…
I turn my eyes away quickly, biting my lower lip. How could I make him look so sad?
“Keiichiro,” he says softly, “please?”
I shake my head, as much as it hurts to see him so sad now I will not tell him. If I did, what would happen? He could be so disgusted with me that he leaves… I couldn't bear that… or maybe he would feel guilty… I didn't want that either.
The bed shifts as he leans over and I can hear the plate of half eaten food clunk softly on the wooden nightstand. Has he lost his appetite because of me? I don't bring my eyes back to him to find out, I know that he still bears that unbearably sad face full of hurt.
Again the bed shifts as he moves, and wraps me in his arms. What is he doing? I turn my eyes to him quickly, and gasp at how close his eyes are to mine.
“I'm sorry,” he whispers, and before I can reply his soft lips cover mine. I feel overwhelmingly dizzy as strange warmth overtakes me. My mind races, what is going on? I don't understand… have I died? Or am I locked in a dream, tucked snugly in my bed in the room beside Ryou's?
He draws back slightly, releasing my lips. All I can do is stare at him in wide eyed disbelief. His eyes are still sad, “please,” he says softly, “don't look so sad ever again…”
I continue to stare at him, my mind unable to grasp what he was saying.
“You're beautiful when you're smiling,” he says in the same soft tone as before, “but when you're sad, it's like watching an angel die.”
No response forms in my mind as I continue to watch him in stunned silence.
He frowns at my silence, and releases me to return to his spot on the bed. My heart screams as his expression becomes hurt once more, “I-I'm sorry…” he mutters, turning his eyes away from me.
He's sorry? But what for? For… for the kiss? Is that why he is sorry? Finally I regain control over my senses. “No,” I say softly and crawl across the bed, “no, please don't apologize.”
I wrap my arms around him and pull his strong form against myself.
After a few moments he speaks, “will you tell me now what you were thinking about?”
I hesitate; he just kissed me a moment ago… could that mean… that he feels the same way about me as I do about him? It's not possible; the kiss was merely an act of kindness from a beautiful angel.
“I was…” I start, giving another slight hesitation before continuing, “I was thinking about you.” I pause again.
“I make you sad?” he sounds hurt again. I wince, inwardly cursing myself for pausing there.
“No,” I correct quickly, “you could never make me sad, Ryou. I was…” Again I paused and this time he waited for me to continue, “I was thinking about… You and Ichigo.”
He pulls back slightly to look into my eyes, “Me and Ichigo?” He sounds surprised, “why?”
“I was thinking of… how I could help you win her heart,” I explain. His eyes widen, but I continue before he can speak, “You watch her and Masaya so sadly when they're together… I don't like it when you look so sad. I can see how much you love her, and I wish I could do something… anything to help you…”
He cuts me off quickly with a startled exclamation of “No!” He sits up fully, pulling entirely out of my arms, “No! Keiichiro, you have it entirely wrong!”
I pause at this; I have it wrong? How so? I throw a questioning look at him, but say nothing.
“I don't love her.” He states firmly.
“Then why…” I start, but he cuts me off again.
“I don't love her,” he repeats. He leans forward and captures my lips in another kiss.
I can feel my heart race faster than it had been as I close my eyes and accept the kiss. When he draws away, my heart is torn apart for the hundredth time today. Clear drops of water cling to his long eyelashes, and his sapphire eyes glisten with unshed tears, “I love you.”
I feel for a moment as though my heart has stopped beating. Surely, I must have pleased one god in this universe for him to send an angel to my dreams to take the form of Ryou and say such a thing.
I shake my head; I know this is no dream. The day must have been more stressful for Ryou than I thought. He can't mean what he said, can he?
“Don't shake your head…” he says, his voice slightly choked. Why is he crying? Have I caused it? “If you don't like me the same way, I understand, just tell me you don't love me. I can see it in your eyes, you're uncomfortable with it.”
I am shocked, how could he think such a thing? That I wouldn't love him back… hell would freeze and the oceans would dry up before I stop loving him!
He turns away from me, and I can hear that he is crying. “No,” I whisper as I once more wrap my arms around him, “Don't cry.”
He says nothing as he continues to cry.
I pull him closer, so that his ear is only centimeters away from my lips, and I whisper softly for only him to hear, “I love you too.”
He gives a sob, and twists around in my arms so that his face is buried in my chest. I move my hand in gentle calming circles over his back as more sobs continue.
“I'm… glad,” he says, muffled by my shirt.
“Hush,” I whisper to him, “You've had a rough day,” I carefully lay down with him, “you should rest.”
He nods, giving a small sniffle.
“Good night, my love,” I whisper into his damp blond hair.
“Good night, Keiichiro,” he responds in little more than a whisper.
Soon, his breathing evens out into a relaxing rhythm induced by slumber. He snuggles against me, and I smile. My Ryou-Chan is at last in my arms as he should have been a long time ago, and he has finally relaxed after such a stressful day.
At last, I begin to drift into slumber as well, praying that I will not wake up to find that this has all been no more than a dream.
 
Fin.