A Promenade Down Memory Lane
Disclaimer: I do not own Tokyo Mew Mew and I will never do.
I knew what it was like to watch those you loved die. Oh, I knew it all too well. They say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Does that make me insane? I have repeated the same thing over and over in such a monotone, that I no longer knew what to expect when something changed. It was different this time, so very different...
It was the year 1854, puffs of smoke rose into the air as the steamboat moved forward. And then lurched to a stop as we reached the dock and my destination: New Orleans, Louisiana. I had never been here before so I took in my surroundings. New Orleans was a nice city filled with color and people, lots of people. It was diverse, different and loud.
I was immediately greeted by chattering and music. The smell of food wafted through the air as I made my way through the crowd, lugging around a small suitcase. It was different, yes. But that didn't matter I was here for one reason only. I made my way through crowds until I reached the inn I was staying in.
When I walked in I was greeted by even more people. The inn opened up with a large parlor where many people where talking and drinking and just having fun. I didn't have time to do that. Then there was stairs up into the rooms where guests would be staying in. I lugged my suitcase up the stairs, walked down some hallways and I finally reached my room.
It was a relatively small room. There was a bed, a night stand and a table in the corner that was pre-stacked with papers and a fountain pen to write letters, I suppose. I unpacked and put all my clothes into the drawers of the nightstand. I then put a small framed picture on the top of my nightstand. It in was a picture of a red haired beauty I once knew. She was why I was here.
"Ichigo," I whispered holding the picture.
I then put it down and left the room. I was to be a lab apprentice to the scientist Dr. Shirogane. He was expecting me and I had to make it there on time.
I walked up the front stairs to the door of a large house. The scientist I was an apprentice for was working for the owners of this house: the Aizawa's. They were rich Japanese immigrants. This was good because I don't know how to speak English. I knocked on the door and waited at the front of the house. A maid answered the door.
"I'm looking for Dr. Shirogane," I said and the maid ushered me in. The house was huge on the inside. It was lavishly furnished and had grand stairs leading up into the rooms.
"Please wait," she said.
She came back a while later with a man who looked to be about in his twenties. "Are you Ikisatashi Kisshu?" the man asked.
I nodded. "Are you Dr. Shirogane?" I asked.
"Why yes, I am. Welcome to the Aizawa mansion. Please follow me," the man said.
He led me down the long corridor until we reached a room. He opened the door and led me inside.
"This is the lab. We are working on projects that could change the world. So be very careful," he explained.
It was a white sterile room filled with inventions and experiments of all sorts.
"This is what I call a computer," Dr. Shirogane said.
He directed my attention toward the wall where colossal eight foot boxes with flashing lights stood. The boxes were a deep gold. And in front stood a much smaller box in comparison with three different screens flashing a pale blue and what looked like a large typewriter in front of it. And a small bench stood in front of the massive computer for the observers to sit on.
I was baffled. I had never seen something like it before. It was beautiful...
"W-wow how does it work," I asked.
"Well you see it..." he started.
A shrill bell rang out.
"Oh, it is dinner time," Dr. Shirogane said.
And he led me to the lavishly furnished dining room, where a grand table stood with many chairs. At the head sat Mr. Aizawa. Then there was Mrs. Aizawa. And their two daughters: Mint and Zakuro. Dr. Shirogane and I sat down at the table.
"Hello, Dr. Shirogane," Mr., Aizawa greeted.
"How is the project going?" he asked.
"Hello, Mr. Aizawa. The project is going well,"
'What project?' I wondered. Were they talking about the computer?
"This is my new lab apprentice Ikisatahi-San," Dr. Shirogane said.
"Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Aizawa, it's a pleasure to meet you," I politely greeted.
"Oh, how polite you are. It is a pleasure to meet you too," said Mrs. Aizawa.
Then the maids brought out dinner. I don't think I have ever seen so much food in my life. There were plates upon plates of food, enough to feed a whole village, fitting in every food category. As the maids brought the food, a certain maid caught my eye. 'Ichigo...' I thought.
Her red hair was tied in a bun and she wore the typical maid outfit. Despite being in maid's clothing in my opinion she looked as beautiful as ever. I ate my food barely listening to the conversations at the table. For I was too busy thinking about what I was going to do tonight...
After I had said goodbye to the Aizawa's, I snuck around to the back of the house going up the back stairs into the servant's quarters. I had reached a long hallway. I sighed and started walking down the hallways passing various rooms. The hallway was dark and the only flicker of light came from what I think was the servant's hall.
I heard footsteps behind me and I turned around, nothing. I heard it again and walked a little further down the hall. Just in time too because a laser just hit where I was just standing and I heard the sound of the floor sizzling after it had been hit.
I turned to walk out. And I heard the sound of a candle being lit. A soft glow emitted from the candle. And standing in front of me was no other than Lettuce Midorwaka: the mansion's second kitchen maid holding a gold colored ray gun.
"Hey, you're that new apprentice right?" she asked me.
I nodded afraid she would try to shoot me again. She seems lot different than when I last met her. The old Lettuce wouldn't even hurt a fly.
"I'm so sorry! It's just with all the robberies and murders lately and all the other servants being in the servant's hall. I j-just thought you were a thief or something. I-I'm so sorry!" Lettuce apologized.
Okay, that was much more like the Lettuce I knew.
"Hey, hey it's okay. I was just looking for somebody..." I trailed off.
"I can help!" Lettuce exclaimed.
I turned to her surprised by her sudden outburst.
"I m-mean to make up for the almost shooting you," she added.
"No, it's okay. I should be going now," I said walking over to the door.
"Wait!"
I turned around again.
She looked shyly at the floor and said. "I-I'm Lettuce by the way,"
And of course she didn't remember me. But who would it was so long ago.
I might as well start anew.
"I'm Kisshu," I said re-introducing myself.
"It's nice to meet you Kisshu-San,"
I smiled. A sad smile, but a smile nevertheless.
"It's nice to meet you too, Lettuce-San,"
I tried again the next night. I was hoping to maybe get Ichigo this time. Same long, winding hallway as last time, but this time I was greeted differently.
"She said you would come back tonight. Said you were looking for somebody," said a voice. Once again a candle was lighted.
In front of me was Pudding Fong, the mansion's scullery maid.
"Hello there! I'm Pudding Fong. My friend Lettuce said you were looking for somebody. Who is it?" Pudding rambled much too fast for me to actually understand.
"Well, I was actually looking for Ichigo b-b you don't have to," I said trying to get myself out of this situation.
"Oh, Ichigo, some guy is here to see you!" she shouted much too loudly.
Oh, god. I've haven't spent one day without thinking about what it would be like to see Ichigo again. But I have no idea what to say to her. She's not going to remember me.
My thoughts were interrupted by Ichigo walking in.
'Wow' I thought.
She looked as beautiful as ever. Her beautiful red hair was out and she was wearing a long white nightgown.
I was snapped out my trance by her asking. "You needed me?"
I had no idea what to say. I might as well just say it.
"Do you know what a mew is?" I asked. I was prepared for her to start laughing at me or be just plain confused. That is what most people's reaction to Dr. Shirogane's secret project was. This project was to make weapons for when the aliens come. This pretty much sounds ridiculous to most people. It was dangerous and risky. And yet sheer genius. But still dangerous and I didn't want them doing it. Dr. Shirogane told me about it earlier today.
She nodded and said, "That's Dr. Shirogane's secret project, isn't it? There have been rumors going around about it."
I was shocked she actually knew what I was talking about. I had no idea how to go on from there.
I guess she noticed my hesitation because she continued talking, "They are genetically engineered humans. They are weapons. Dr. Shirogane was looking for test subjects for what he called a new experiment..."
"Don't do it!" I exclaimed.
She looked at me weirdly.
This probably just sounded ridiculous but I kept on going.
"You don't have to do it. You could run away or, or…" I stopped. I was just sounding crazy. Right now to them I probably looked like a crazed man talking about things that don't exist.
"Kisshu, is it?" she asked.
I nodded. She didn't remember me...
"Kisshu-San, you can't tell me not to do it. Because Kisshu-San, I've been a Mew for a month now. We all have, even the Aizawa sisters. You know why Lettuce-chan almost shot you. She didn't think you were a thief. She thought you were an alien. I appreciate you trying to help us. But it's too late," Ichigo explained.
'It's too late.' Those words wouldn't stop echoing in my mind. I opened my mouth to say something else. But she was already gone.
"K-Kisshu-San?" A small voice called out.
I immediately recognized it as Lettuce.
"Hello, Lettuce," I said gloomily.
"I-I feel bad about having all this information just dumped onto you. And you look quite gloomy and, and well you see," she stopped and took a deep breath.
"D-do you want to have dinner with me. I m-mean us," she looked back down at the floor.
"Sure, Lettuce-San," I said.
Her face lit up. "R-really? Y-you want to have dinner with u-us?"
I nodded and went to go have dinner with Ichigo, Lettuce and Pudding. They had to sit had to sit at a separate table than the rest of the servants.
"Why are you not allowed to sit with the rest of the servants?" I asked Lettuce during dinner.
"W-well, we're supposed to keep an eye on the food. It doesn't really matter anyway. It's fair; we are the lowest ranking maids," Lettuce replied.
I felt guilty. I got to eat with the Aizawa's just yesterday. And the three of them had to sit at a different table than the rest of the servants.
I felt a need to help them. To escape, to escape from being a mew, to escape from living a life like this. I decided I would help them. Even if it was the last thing I did.
I had a new goal. Instead of trying to prevent them from becoming Mews I would help them as Mews. Hey, just because I'm an apprentice scientist, doesn't mean I don't know how to fight.
Let me just say that we looked pretty awesome as a fighting team. Ichigo had her hair in a bun with curls and was wearing a raspberry dress with a bell shaped ruffled skirt and a lace collar. She wore a raspberry cinched jacket with gold buttons and black lace at the cuffs, ebony lace up boots and striped tights. On her head was a pair of black goggles. Lettuce had her hair in a curled bun and wore a similar outfit but in dark green.
Mint and Zakuro had their hair out and wore cream colored, bell shaped dresses with ruffled collars. They also wore blue and purple jackets with gold buttons and blue and purple lace at the cuffs, cream colored stockings and black lace up boots. Mint had gold goggles while Zakuro had a purple top hat with a black veil and feathers.
Pudding had her hair in a tuck and wore a cream ruffled shirt and a gold jacket with sepia buttons and lace at the cuffs. And she also had cream colored stockings with black lace up boots and she wore a gold top hat with black feathers.
And me, you may ask? Well, let's just say I looked good in green top hats.
We also had good weapons. Ichigo and Lettuce had ray guns. Pudding had throwing knives. Zakuro had a cutlass. I had double khukuri and Mint had a bow and arrow.
We were ready to fight.
My plan was that when they needed it I would secretly help them in battle. When all the fighting was done I would be on my way.
Their enemies were the aliens. Two aliens boys which I had learned that their names are Pai and Taruto. Pai was the sophisticated one who talked all fancy and dressed all fancy. In comparison Taruto was much more laid back. Reminds me of people I once knew.
The most prominent enemy though was the giant automata that these aliens created. They were giant, wind up brass monsters. They looked like a giant windup toy of an animal. And they were programmed to attack humans on sight. They had one weakness though: their windup key.
Today there were five, one for each girl. This included: a bunny, a cheetah, a bird, a wolf, and a rhino. Ichigo being the most powerful out of the Mews had successfully jumped on top of the bunny automation and shut it off and was now helping the rest of the girls.
"I'll take care of the cheetah!" Mint shouted.
The cheetah was incredibly fast. Mint flew up into the air and dropped down onto the cheetah's back and shut it off.
One by one they shut off each automaton until there was only one left: the rhino. It was programmed to charge at every human. Mint tried dropping down onto it but she was thrown off. The same happened to Ichigo.
"I'll do it!" Lettuce exclaimed.
"You don't have to Lettuce-chan and..." Ichigo started.
"N-no, it's okay. I want to at least try," Lettuce protested.
Ichigo nodded sadly. Lettuce took the rhino head on and was immediately charged by it.
"Lettuce, watch out!" Ichigo shouted.
Okay, time for me to come into the picture.
Lettuce was now backed up against a stone wall.
"N-nice little rhino," Lettuce stuttered trying to get it to calm down.
It was preoccupied with Lettuce. So I figured I would sneak up behind it.
Up the stone wall I climbed. And onto the rhino I jumped. This was a bad idea, a very, very bad idea.
That was probably one of the scariest moments in my life. The rhino tried to get me off its back. And I was thrown back and forth against its hard, cold back as I struggled to reach the windup key.
"P-please rhino-San stop!" Lettuce pleaded.
Really, she called it rhino-San? Lettuce was way too polite; the giant rhino attacked her for goodness sakes! And she still called it San.
I managed to just barely reach the windup key. I grabbed onto it for dear life. Turning the key I managed to turn it off. I was forcefully thrown off. And then there was a creaking sound. And the rhino crashed to the ground, lifeless.
"Are you okay?" Lettuce asked worriedly, holding out her hand.
"Y-yeah I'm okay," I shakily responded. The truth was my head was spinning. But I wanted to sound strong. I guess I can scratch secretly helping them in battle off the list.
I grabbed Lettuce's hand and shakily pulled myself up. "K-Kisshu-San, is that you?" Lettuce asked shocked.
"Yup, in the flesh and blood," I joked.
Then she hugged me.
"Oh gosh, I-I d-don't even know what to say," She paused for a moment and then continued. "Thank you so much for saving me!"
She then realized what she had just done and pulled away blushing furiously.
"Hey, it's no problem," I responded.
I continued. "So I guess I should be going now..."
And I was interrupted by Lettuce's rambling "Wait! You just fell off a giant rhino and saved my life. I f-feel like I have to replay you somehow," she paused.
"Kisshu-san, w-would you like to come over and have tea with me?" she said.
I smiled a real smile not a sad smile.
"I would love to," I replied.
Lettuce and I had tea in her room. It was her break time so she had a little time to do this.
The maid rooms were extremely tiny. When I walked in I immediately felt guilty about calling my room in the inn tiny. In order to get to these rooms we had to climb a series of stairs. The servant rooms were located in the attic part of the mansion.
Lettuce shared a room with Ichigo, while Pudding has the smallest room in the house. Lettuce and Ichigo's room had two beds and two little trunks to keep their belongings.
"This tea set was my mother's. Before I became a maid we used have a fine life. Drinking tea and enjoying ourselves. Then my father lost his job. And I became a maid to help our family earn some money. I-I consider this an important job. I f-feel like it's all relying on me for my family to have a good life. I want my little brother to have a nice life," Lettuce said quietly.
"What is your brother's name?" I asked.
"Uri..." she said quietly.
She continued on by saying, "I'm sorry for rambling on like that. It's just that this tea set brings back memories,"
I smiled. "It's okay. I don't mind," I said.
The two of us talked just random chatter nothing important. But she was a nice person to talk to. She would listen and be genuinely interested with what I would say.
"I want to thank you again for saving me earlier today," Lettuce said.
"Really, it was no problem," I protested
"I always find myself in situations like that, where someone needs to save me. I guess I'm not a very good fighter," she said quietly.
"That's not true. I bet you're a great fighter," I protested.
"No, it's okay. I d-don't even like fighting. I feel like we could maybe talk to the aliens. Talk it out with them. Find a peaceful solution, perhaps," she admitted twiddling her skirt.
"Then why do you do it?" I asked.
"Huh?" she looked up. She had gotten lost in thought, I'm guessing.
"Why do you fight? Why don't you tell Dr. Shirogane about talking it out with them," I asked.
"W-well I have already asked him about it. B-but he said he doesn't think it's possible," Lettuce explained.
"Well you should try. We won't know if it won't work until we try," I said.
"W-well I guess you are right. I just wish the mews did more than just fight," Lettuce said.
"Lettuce!" a voice called out.
"I-I'm sorry Kisshu-San I have to go. They need me in the kitchen. T-thank you for having tea with me," she said quickly packing up her tea set and putting it back into her trunk.
She then quickly ran out of the room. I was left sitting on the floor with my thoughts. After talking with Lettuce I felt even more compelled to help them. They don't deserve to live like this. I quickly stood up. I had an idea. I knew how to save them.
I had barely any time left. Their final battle was coming soon and I had spent months planning this. The alien's leader Deep Blue had awakened. And it was time for the final battle. I had been living in New Orleans for almost a year now. It was time.
Lettuce had once again told Dr. Shirogane about talking it out peacefully with the aliens. He had once again rejected her idea, saying that if they could talk it out peacefully they wouldn't be in this situation. My next idea was if we couldn't stop the fighting we had to run away from it. And that is where my plan comes in.
The aliens' main mode of transportation was air ships. That is how they got to earth. The aliens didn't need oxygen like we did even though they were originally from earth. We had found this out from extensive research. We had these little meetings after each battle. And this is one of the things we had discussed.
Airships were much faster than regular ships. And you are probably wondering what this has to do with anything. Well, that is how we are going to escape: airships.
How am I going to get this airship you may ask? I have that covered.
I followed the aliens after they had departed from another battle with the mews. We went deep into the swamps of New Orleans. I climbed through trees going unnoticed until we reached a house. No fancy hideout just an old shack. I watched them go in. I jumped down from the tree I was hiding in and went around the shack. In the water tied to a dock were two airships. I carefully untied the rope holding the airship to the dock and jumped in the airship.
"Hey, you, come back here!" said a voice.
Oh, no.
"Please start, please start," I pleaded.
The air ship started floating off the ground. The aliens ran out onto the dock but it was too late for them. I steered it toward the Aizawa mansion.
"Yes! Yes! Yes!" I exclaimed into the air.
I was so happy. I was finally going to save them.
"I'm sorry Kisshu-San. B-but we have to save our people," Lettuce said.
I had just told the Mews about my genius plan about escaping and how I had gotten an airship. The airship was just sitting there in the middle of the field ready for its passengers to board.
But this is your chance! To escape from the fighting and the work and the..." I exclaimed.
"What about my family, Kisshu-San? They are depending on me," Lettuce protested.
"You can take them with you. We can all leave. I know we can make it. We can get away from this place," I said.
I was a little mad at Lettuce at rejecting my idea. But in reality she had taken the idea much better than Ichigo.
"You expect us to just drop everything and leave our people behind! It's not like that! The aliens want earth not just New Orleans. If we let them have New Orleans they won't stop until they have conquered the world. We are the only thing protecting this world. And we have to keep on doing it," Ichigo exclaimed.
The other mews nodded.
"Ichigo-Onne-chan is right. We can't leave them behind. They need us," Pudding said.
"By abandoning them we are not only putting ourselves in danger but the whole world," Zakuro said.
"Onne-Sama is right!" Mint said.
"Thanks for trying to help us. But we have a battle to fight," Ichigo said. And they all walked away to their final battle, to their doom; except for a certain green haired mew.
"Once again, I'm sorry Kisshu-San," Lettuce said.
"We could go just you and me," I whispered.
Lettuce blushed and said, "K-Kisshu-San I'm glad I became a mew. If I hadn't I wouldn't have met you. I-I really value our f-friendship a-and I'm really glad you tried to save us a-and..."
I kissed her. I don't know what got into me but I kissed her. And she actually kissed me back...
"K-Kisshu-San I-I d-don't know what to say. I-I," Lettuce stuttered blushing furiously.
I was quite shocked by what I had just done but I managed to keep a cool composure when I said, "Lettuce-San, this is farewell,"
"Y-you're leaving? B-but you just got here," Lettuce asked confused.
"I'm aware of that fact. But, my work here is done," I responded.
"W-what work? D-do you mean saving us? W-we'll still be here a-and..." she paused.
"P-please don't leave!" she exclaimed.
I was surprised by her sudden outburst. Wow, what a weird day full of surprises.
"Y-you're my dearest friend. Y-you were the only person who would listen a-and all you cared about was saving us," she smiled and then added, "A-and I k-know you like Ichigo-San. And s-she never pays attention to y-you. B-but please don't take that to heart. I-if that's why you're leaving. Kisshu-san, s-she's engaged, "
Ichigo was engaged? I don't why but that didn't feel so important anymore.
"Ichigo is not why I'm leaving," I said.
"T-then why?" she choked out.
"I told you my work here is done,"
"B-but Kisshu-San..." she started.
"I just want to thank you for everything. You have been such a wonderful friend. You are also my dearest friend," I said.
"Farewell," I whispered and I walked away. Not looking back.
"W-wait d-don't go Kisshu-San! I'll go with you!" Lettuce shouted.
I almost stopped. But I just kept on walking. If I walked back, I would just ruin it. Just like I always did. I was being so selfish, wasn't I? What was I thinking, asking them to come with me, when they had a world to save, asking her to come with me?
I heard footsteps behind me and I met face to face with Lettuce. She then grabbed both my hands and said, "I'll go with you. We can leave everything behind, together."
She smiled a sad smile.
I shook my head and replied, "That would be selfish of me. I want to. I really do. But you have a world to save. And I need to let you go save it."
"Well, you can let me save it. B-but you have to stay here. Okay?" she pleaded.
"But what if it doesn't end well, huh? What if you all end up dying? Then I'll be here. I need to leave before something bad happens. I'll be saving myself from a world of heartache," I said.
"But what if we win? And then you leave us all alone. And then you'll wish you would have stayed a-and we could win. Y-you just have to look on the bright side of things Kisshu-San," Lettuce protested.
And that was it for me. I just broke down in tears in the middle of the sidewalk.
Lettuce hugged me. And whispered, "Kisshu-San, how many people have you seen die?"
"I have seen so, so, so many. E-everyone I have ever loved died. A-and I just thought I could save you all from that. But now I know I have failed. And I just don't want to have to go through it again a-and..." I replied shakily
The way I answered was so shaky I was surprised that it was me talking.
"Shh, i-it's okay. I-I'll make sure we win. Just for you, okay?" she whispered.
I stood up and said shakily, "I-I'm sorry. I-I just can't go through that again."
I started walking away.
"Wait, Kisshu-San! Wait! P-please don't leave me!" she shouted after me.
I just kept on walking. I didn't look back as I climbed into the airship. I didn't look back as I heard.
"Look that's the one who stole it. Get him!"
I just kept on looking forward.
I steered the boat ahead, up into the sky, past all the crowds and the shops and the inn, past the dock and over the ocean.
I didn't look back when I heard the gunshot.
And I didn't look back when I heard her screaming my name, "Kisshu-San, watch out!"
That was the last thing I heard.
So you are probably wondering how I am writing this. Then your next thought probably is: is he alive? The answer is no, no I am not. I have reached my destination: the middle of the park.
Lettuce walked up to me.
"H-hello, Kisshu-San, you were right," Lettuce said.
I shook my head and said, "No, I was not right, because, now I'm here with you."
I held out my hand.
She blushed and said, "Yes, I'll go with you."
She grabbed my hand. And we disappeared into thin air like we were never there...