WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS. DO NOT READ UNLESS YOU HAVE READ OR SEEN ALL OF TOKYO MEW MEW.
Hey, readers. Okay, just a bit of FYI before you start; I know the ages were different between the Japanese and English dubs, but I still want to alter them a bit. So Ichigo, Mint and Lettuce are 15; Pudding is 12; Zakuro, Ryou and Amaya (my OC) are 18; and Keiichiro is the eldest at 22. I'm also going to call the aliens by 'Kishu', 'Pai' and 'Taruto', as opposed to 'Kish', 'Pie' and 'Tart'. I think their original Japanese names sound cooler. Also, this fanfic starts around the end of episode 16 (the part where Lettuce falls in love with a guy at the library, then finds he loves the receptionist).
Fly on,
NitnatRide
Chapter 1: Me Again
Ichigo's POV
I think I might drop off to sleep here.
"Come on, Ichigo," Mint's prissy bossiness cuts through my wonderful rest. "No slacking off work until the whole place is done."
"I'd like to see you do some of it," I growl, muffling my complaints with my arms, folded around my head against the table, so she doesn't start at me.
"It's okay, Ichigo-san," Lettuce encourages, her soft voice much more pleasant to listen to in my current state. "There's only a little bit more floor to clean, and then we can all go home."
Yes! Home, where my room is, where my bed is!
"Alright, then," I push myself up, wanting to climb into bed as soon as possible.
The café was really busy today, and we've all been run off our feet – with the exception of Mint. We all just want to go home, I expect, but we've got to get the café cleaned up first, and it'll be quicker if we all do it together.
Just as I pick up the brush again, the door chimes, and footsteps sound inside the café. We all look towards the door, and Lettuce smiles in apology to the newcomer.
"Oh, I'm sorry, but we've already closed for today."
"Oh, yeah, I know," a female voice says kindly. We peer closer at the girl.
She looks to be about Zakuro-san's age. Her dark, rich, chocolate-brown hair tumbles in incredibly soft waves, swept back in a high-ponytail that tickles just above the middle of her shoulder-blades. Her pale skin contrasts hugely with the colour, and her lips are turned up at the corners slightly, almost unconsciously, giving the impression that her smile is there almost all the time. The colour of her eyes is something I've only seen in grass; grass in high summer, where its hue is the most vibrant.
Her attire suits the summer season too; her lilac-coloured trousers flare out at the bottom over her white sneakers, and the colour goes really well with her black T-shirt with deep purple photos scattered on the design. Across her back is a large rucksack, and a wheelie bag sits at her feet, her hand around the handle.
Not exactly a cute outfit, but she suits it.
"Um," she smiles again. "Keiichiro works here, right?"
"Akasaka-san?" I say. "Sure, he's back in the kitchen." I point in the direction I mean.
"Thanks," she smiles gratefully at me, before walking to the kitchen.
The others and I look at each other, then make a silent unanimous decision and follow the mysterious girl.
She stops outside the kitchen, peering over the half-doors and smiling at Akasaka-san, who stands by the furthest wall, drying the last of the dishes. The girl's expression is weird; she seems relieved, like seeing Akasaka-san has just made everything alright. We stand in awkward silence, totally aware that she knows we have followed her. Finally, she speaks in nothing above a whisper.
"Keiichiro."
Even though I thought he wouldn't hear, he turns towards us at the door, his brown eyes settling on the girl. They widen slightly, then his smile follows suit.
"Amaya," he responds in the same tone. (Her name means 'Night Rain', hence the name of the chapter. Also, it's pronounced 'Ah-mah-yah'. Just thought I'd clarify that, because I know someone called Maya, but her name is pronounced like the month May.)
The girl – Amaya, apparently – smiles in return, then pushes through the doors as Akasaka-san quickly sets the dish and the towel down, striding over to Amaya as she drops her bags on the floor ready for his embrace. She's just over half-a-head shorter than him, and I gasp as I realise, when Akasaka-san bends his head over hers, their hair colour is almost a perfect match…
They release each other, and Akasaka-san smiles at her before turning back to us.
"Girls, this is my younger sister, Amaya," he explains, confirming my theory. "She's the same age as you, Zakuro."
"Ah, Fujiwara Zakuro," Amaya-san says, approaching Zakuro-san and offering her hand. "It's nice to meet you. I hope you'll see me as a friend, as opposed to the hopelessly addicted fans that I'm sure you're used to."
Zakuro-san smiles slightly, accepting her hand and shaking it once. "We'll see."
Amaya-san doesn't seem ruffled by her ambiguous answer at all, and merely smiles at the model/actress.
"Amaya," Akasaka-san smiles at his sister, "these are the girls I've told you about, from the Mew Mew project."
He introduces us each individually, telling her about the animals we have been bonded with, and Amaya-san shakes our hands. Mint, Lettuce and I stare up at her, glancing at each other to see if anyone has any idea as to why she's here now.
Footsteps from around the corner break our concentration, and we all turn to the doors again. Shirogane appears around the corner, looking bored and annoyed that we're not working.
"What's going on?" he demands calmly, his eyes closed and his hands behind his head. "You guys aren't finished yet."
I scowl at him, about to scold him for making such a poor first impression on Akasaka-san's sister when I noticed her expression; shocked and disbelieving.
"Shirogane?" she asks, her tone incredulous as Akasaka-san just smirks at her.
Shirogane opens his eyes and drops his hands, frowning at Amaya-san, obviously trying to figure out how she knows him. But he stops, peering closer at her before he blinks in surprise, his mouth opening slightly.
"Amaya?"
She just laughs then smiles at him. "Long time, no see."
"That's an understatement," Shirogane answers, and his tone confuses me, his face unreadable. "Five years, right?"
The two of them share a look. "Yeah," she responds, her voice matching his. "That's right."
He nods. "Good to see you again." His expression suggests he's anything but; he's not even smiling. If I had to use one word to describe how he seems to be feeling, it would be 'disorientated'.
"How come you're here?" Lettuce asks, trying to make it sound like general conversation rather than the burning question that has been on all our minds.
Amaya-san beams at her. "I'm coming home."
"Oh, you've been away?" Mint asks.
"Kind of," Akasaka-san answers, slightly hesitantly. He looks to Amaya-san, and she sighs then shrugs once, almost saying 'what have I got to lose?' silently. Akasaka-san begins to explain. "Six months ago, my sister moved out from our family home to live with her boyfriend."
"Awww, that's so cute!" I sigh dreamily, thinking of living with Aoyama-kun. Through my day-dream haze though, I see Shirogane, who has been looking down and acting bored since greeting Amaya-san, flick his eyes back to her at the mention of a boyfriend. What's up with him?
"Then," Akasaka-san continues, "I got a call from our mother a few days ago, to hear that Amaya was coming home."
A confused and awkward silence spreads across the kitchen, and I look to the others for ideas, but they seem just as clueless; if they were happy, why is Amaya-san coming here and leaving her boyfriend? If they were happy…
"Ohhh," Shirogane says suddenly, drawing the vowel sound out as he realises the same thing I do. He straightens up, pushing himself off from the countertop he was leaning against, looking directly at Amaya-san. "You okay?"
This girl is full of smiles, but her next one seems tighter than the others before. "The million dollar question," she muses. Shirogane raises his eyebrows slightly, but says nothing; he's not the only one to have noticed that she didn't answer his question.
A stray lock of her hair frees itself from her ponytail and drifts across her face, and she raises her hand to brush it aside. At that moment, both Shirogane and Akasaka-san stiffen, staring at Amaya-san. Or rather, staring at her shoulder. She looks back at them curiously, silently asking with her amazing eyes the reason for their actions. Shirogane is the one who reacts; he walks slowly over to her, his eyes never leaving hers until she starts to drop her hand from her face. They flick to her upper arm. Shirogane's gaze rises to her eyes again as he carefully peels back the short sleeve of her T-shirt, bunching it up on her shoulder…and exposing the bruise that I had initially taken to be shadow, four lines clearly tracing where someone had grabbed her. Forcefully.
The other Mews and I glance at each other, shocked, but Akasaka-san, Amaya-san and Shirogane seem calm. Or they're not going insane anyway; it's easy for some people to appear calm on the outside but be furious and torn on the inside. Amaya-san grimaces at first, ashamed and disappointed that she hadn't fooled her brother and Shirogane, but then straightens her spine and raises her head, deliberately pulling her sleeve back down and staring back at Shirogane, almost in defiance.
A silent conversation – or battle – passes between them, blue on green, for a good few minutes before we're all startled out of this tense silence by a phone ringing. By the look on Amaya-san's face, it's hers, and she slowly pulls her phone out of her pocket before looking down at it, checking the caller ID. As she sees who it is, she looks back up to Akasaka-san, and he stares down at her, his eyes unbearably sad, and nods.
"You can answer it," he says, "then put it on the countertop here."
She flips it open, presses a few buttons to put it on speaker, then places it on the counter.
"You're on speaker," he informs the person on the other end of the line. "She's here."
"And just who am I talking to, then?" a deep voice answers, practically growling. I can just imagine the owner of such a voice; a beast of a man, both physically and in terms of character. He's raising his hackles because he's heard another male's voice answer the phone of his now ex-girlfriend, and he's getting possessive. I scowl, even though he's not here to see my disapproval.
Akasaka-san responds casually to this Alpha male, but choosing his words and his tone carefully, as is natural for the sweet-natured poet.
"It's Keiichiro," he smiles, as if greeting an old friend, but there is a hard glint in his eyes that I've never seen before. Then, he drops the bomb for the Alpha male. "Amaya's brother, remember?"
The silence between our group and the Alpha male stretches to breaking point, and I think I'm going to scream before we hear a slight rustling then the hang-up tone. Akasaka-san leans against the countertop, over the phone, and closes his eyes and smiles. This smile is different from his usual kind smile though; it's satisfied, in a grim and dark way.
Shirogane, watching this, folds his arms and turns his mouth up at the corners. "You know, I'm pretty sure I taught you that smile."
Akasaka-san opens his eyes, his grin growing wider and more like his own, then winks at Shirogane, who smirks in turn.
"I'm sure he learnt from the best," Amaya-san teases, her eyes sparkling and her smile genuine once more.
Shirogane chuckles, allowing the back-handed compliment. He turns to leave, but seems to think twice and face Amaya-san again.
"Amaya," he calls softly, still smiling.
She had been smiling gratefully at her brother before, but quickly looks towards Shirogane at his voice. They stare at each other some more, seemingly comfortable with silence between them, before Shirogane suddenly steps forward, wrapping one arm around her waist and one around her shoulders, pressing her face into his chest. Her face betrays the fact that she's just as shocked as the rest of us.
"It's good to see you," Shirogane whispers, a lot more enthusiastically than the first time he said it.
Amaya-san smiles again, her eyes closing in contentment as her arms encircle his torso, bringing him closer, too. "You too…"
They separate and gaze at each other again.
"…Ryou," Amaya-san beams.
The Mews and I look at each other, shocked by Amaya-san's use of Shirogane's first name; they obviously knew each other before now, but I had no idea they were this…familiar with each other. Amaya-san used Shirogane's first name, and I never thought I'd see the day when Shirogane hugged someone. They must have been really close when they knew each other, five years ago.
Could Shirogane…?
No, no way, my mind immediately gets rid of that idea. There's no way Shirogane would let someone get that close to him. The closest person to him that I know of is Akasaka-san, and even then they seem more like project partners than kick-back-and-relax-together friends.
Shirogane begins to walk out of the kitchen again, and speaks to Amaya-san with his back turned. "You'll probably want a job if you're staying here, right?"
"Sure, that would be nice," Amaya-san agrees, obviously wondering where he's going with this.
"Don't bother looking," Shirogane sounds like his old self again. "You start work here as of the day after tomorrow; that'll give time for you to unpack, get settled at Keiichiro's apartment, and for your uniform to be tailored."
"Uniform?" Amaya-san frowns.
He looks over his shoulder when he's at the door, grinning. "Yeah; you'll be wearing one of those."
Amaya-san's face morphs into a horrified expression as he points to our dresses. His grin widens as he continues.
"This also means that…I'm your boss."
Amaya-san just stands in a daze, staring after him as he exits around the corner, hands behind his head again with his gleeful grin. After a few seconds, Amaya-san breaks the silence, calling after him.
"Have I ever told you how much I hate you?"
Shirogane's laugh echoes down the corridor in response.
Amaya's POV
After the café is locked up, Keiichiro takes me home. When I inquire about Ryou's method of getting home – I don't know if he drives or not – Keiichiro tells me that he has a room above the café floor, and any groceries he needs for food are kept in the café's fridges. I frown at the thought of Ryou being so alone and isolated for so long, but keep my introspections to myself.
The car journey to my new shared apartment is fraught with silence, and I have a feeling that Keiichiro is nearly driving himself crazy speculating about what Rick might have done to me these past six months, but I'm not going to breach the subject and give his creative imagination any fuel.
When we reach his apartment, in a quieter part of the city, my brother uses my distracted staring at the modern-looking building to grab my rucksack, brushing off my protests when I realise his actions. I sigh, then take my wheelie bag from the boot of his car and follow him into the building as he unlocks it. Up two flights of stairs then first door on the left, Keiichiro welcomes me to my new home.
It reflects my brother perfectly; on the light but warm beige walls – with the dark, polished oak-wood panelling underneath – a mix of poems he's written and science awards are pinned, some framed. The large oak bookshelf directly in front of me is a neat array of old and new poets and compilations alongside textbooks on the breakthroughs in science, mainly in genetics and archaeological findings.
With the bookcase in front of me, there is a four-and-a-half foot distance between the front of the bookcase and the front-door side of this short corridor area. It opens into a large square area two feet to the left of the front door, at least ten square feet. A leather corner sofa sits in the laterally middle of the area facing a flat-screen TV, on a rug placed a little more over to the wall with the front door. That obviously serves as the living room section of the area, while the table against the furthest left wall – which isn't a wall at all, but an entire window looking out to the city-lights – indicates the dining area. As we walk further into the apartment, there's a door to a room – most likely a bedroom, at the other end of the wall with the front door, against the window-wall. Another similar door is mirrored on the other side of this large area, and at the back of the area on the opposite side to the window-wall, a small but clean kitchen gleams, speaking of all the amazing concoctions my brother has probably whipped up in there.
Keiichiro walks straight to the bedroom at the back of the area, placing my rucksack on the bed there. The walls are of the same theme as the rest of the apartment, another door leads off through the right wall.
"We've both got en-suites," he informs me, "and that's yours, through the door."
I smile gratefully. "Keiichiro, this is amazing. Thank you."
He turns his kind eyes to me. "There's no need to thank me. I'm just doing a brother's duty."
I grin at him before throwing my arms around him and burying my face in his chest. He wraps me in his own embrace and presses his face into my hair, swaying back and forth with me slightly. With a brother like Keiichiro – one so warm, welcoming and approachable all the time – I've always considered him my sanctuary, should I ever need one. And he's been there, without fail, any time I did need one. The warmth and love I've always received from him, even now, springs tears to my eyes, but I blink them back and breathe deeply to open my suddenly tight throat, before Keiichiro thinks I'm crying about Rick, for whatever reason.
After a few minutes, once I'm sure I've composed myself, we release each other, and Keiichiro smiles at me again.
"I'll leave you to get settled while I cook us dinner," he says, then leaves the room and closes the door behind him.
Sighing in happiness as I look around the room, taking note of the empty bookcase on the right of the back wall; the bare desk in the middle of the back wall under the window which is now covered by curtains; and the mirrored-door double-wardrobe against the left wall. Flopping down onto the bed just to my left, which is placed in the middle of this wall and faces the window, my line of sight is limited to the ceiling while my mind floats above it.
It was a shock to see Ryou today, after all these years; not seeing someone over their puberty years has the biggest impact on reunion. His sunshine hair still hovers in his eyes in that stylish mess that he gave up trying to tidy as a child. But, appearance-wise, that's almost the only thing about him that has stayed exactly as it was; his stunning aquamarine eyes sparkle with maturity and darkness that was only hinted at when he was thirteen, as does his smile; his face is more equally proportioned with his features, with his jaw and cheekbones more angular, instead of the babyish effect he had before; adolescence has made him more proud of his body, as he shows off his – I'll admit – well-developed muscles in his tight-fitting sleeveless black top.
His character has half stayed the same and half changed. I remember the bossy and stubborn tone he used when telling the girls to get back to work, and the holier-than-thou attitude that I'm very familiar with. I suppose that's inevitable when he developed an IQ of a hundred-and-eighty-plus before he hit puberty. But now it seems to stem from more than his intellectual superiority; he seems to be saying 'I know more than you because I've seen what real life is. I've seen the stuff you hear about but you really have no clue what it's like.'
That being said, I remember his laugh. His laugh, too, seems darker, but less affected than other parts of him. It's like he finally lets go of his sadness and pain enough to produce the happy sound. From all those days I spent with him before, I recall the times when he was chuckling at me when I was trying to figure something out or understand some complex scientific theory that he was explaining to me; or when he was snickering, taunting me as we chased each other around his extensive garden; or, sometimes, when he was laughing with me at something I'd said, or something we both found amusing or fun…
Either way, I'd wanted to make him smile or laugh as much as possible when I was younger, and I vow to do the same now.
I'll make him happy again…even if it may ultimately be for someone else.
Even if he doesn't feel the same.
ЖЖЖ
I jolt awake, alarmed to feel the restraining hands from my dream – Rick's hands – are here, too. Glancing around wildly, I sigh in relief when the hands are my brother's, holding my arms now then smoothing my hair out of my face when I've calmed down enough. The moon- and city-lights beam through the window, even through the curtains, and the digital alarm clock I set before I went to bed tells me it's almost three in the morning. That'll explain why Keiichiro is in his pyjamas, rather than in his clothes and waking me up to start the day.
Flushing in embarrassment and guilt – despite the cold sweat coating my body – I realise the reason he's in here; I must have been making noises in my sleep. I'd been dreaming that I was trapped in a room with Rick, and all the doors and windows that were in the room disappeared before I could get to them. It was the single most terrifying thing I've ever experienced.
Keiichiro's expression breaks my heart as I look at him again; his eyebrows are pulled together and his eyes are painfully sad. His desperation to help me is obvious within them, a trait we both share; our emotions are easily recognisable in our eyes.
He doesn't even seem annoyed that I've woken him up at this hour, and his selflessness breaks the dam of my emotions. I push back the covers and crawl over to him. Leaning against him in his embrace, I surrender, and begin to sob.
Sorry for that slightly rubbish ending; I couldn't think of any other way to end it. Anyway, I hope you all like it. Also, I'd like to make an apology to all faithful readers who are still waiting for updates on my other fanfics; I know I shouldn't have started another fanfic, but whenever I get an idea I have to write it down. And I can never resist the temptation to upload it. My apologies.
Fly on,
NitnatRide