WARNING! This fic contains mention of rape and shoujo-ai. This is NOT a Mint/Zakuro fic, though. Read if these concepts do not offend you.
Flying Solo
Chapter I- Departure
Mint couldn't believe it. She stared down at her dress. She really couldn't believe it, but there was proof. It was torn and dirty from running.
You'd be surprised how small Tokyo can seem. It was almost as if, if you were a tourist or someone who spent little time in the city, how you can melt away and be a part of the crowd. It would seem, if this were the chance, that you could be a nobody in Tokyo, there were too many people in the city for you to be noticed. But if you were Mint Aizawa, at this current time, it seemed that every time she turned a corner, every time a person passed her, every time she walked by a store window, she saw somebody she knew who wanted to "help" her. Or she saw somebody she knew who wanted her to be punished for something she didn't do. Or it was some complete stranger who recognized her and suddenly thought that the poor girl was the most disgusting thing on the face of the Earth.
Mint had been framed for an awful crime involving a popular model, Zakuro Fujiwara. Every detail of what everybody except for the bird-girl believed was so horrible but so believable. Yes, Mint didn't seem like the aggressive type, but she wasn't exactly Miss Constantly Nice. Yes, Mint didn't seem the type to go after Zakuro, but she did appear to idolize the model. Yes, Mint didn't seem the type of person to do that to somebody, but what if she really was the kind of person to do that?
To take away every little bit of innocence Zakuro had? To knock Zakuro into a coma? To traumatize the teenager for life? Psychologists thought that if Zakuro made a full physical recovery from the supposed Mint Aizawa attack, there was a good chance she would stop talking, have trust problems with everybody, and have problems with relationships.
The story was horrible, disgusting, and offensive. Mint couldn't believe people thought she was like that! And to Zakuro? What part of "role model" did people not seem to understand? She could never think about Zakuro like that. It disgusted her.
But not more than what had actually happened.
Mint shuddered. She would not think of it.
"Mint! There you are! I've been looking all over for you!" Once again, Mint shuddered. Ichigo. Great. It wasn't that Mint hated Ichigo, she didn't, but sometimes that girl could get on your nerves. But wait, scratch that. There was a definite feeling of hate in Mint's mind now towards the sugary pink girl running towards her. And that was just how the cat-girl's voice sounded-sugary. Way, way, way too sugary. Fake sugary.
"Mint, wait up! I think we should talk." Ichigo caught up with the girl, trying hard to ignore the people who, after recognizing Mint or realizing that everyone else was trying to walk as far away from the supposed criminal as possible, avoided the girls. "Mint, I don't think what happened to Zakuro was your fault."
Mint almost gasped. What? Really? Thank the heavens for Ichigo! "Y-You mean it? You believe me?" Mint tried to keep from hugging Ichigo for two reasons. One, it really, really would not help her image and two, Ichigo could be lying or meaning something else.
"Yeah, Mint, you're like, one of my best friends!" Ichigo smiled, though it was strained. Mint lost some confidence in Ichigo. This could be either just because they were friends, or that Ichigo was faking it all together. "Besides, you were probably confused or something. You confessed to Zakuro but she freaked, right? You probably didn't know what you were doing. When I first became a Mew, I couldn't think around Masaya, and you probably couldn't think when Zakuro said no."
"What?" Mint screamed. So much for not hating Ichigo. "You think that I did that to Zakuro?"
Ichigo leaned backwards. "Mint, I know it's awful, but you can get over it. Zakuro will get better, and there will be another guy, or girl, out there for you. Or maybe she'll fall in love with you too!" Ichigo smiled, holding out her hand. "You have friends at the cafe. I know, because you're different, that it seems that everybody hates you. We can help you when you go to court or something. It's going to take some getting used to for us, since you're like...one of those people and all, but we'll try really hard to accept you for who you are!"
Mint scowled. "Are you done?"
Ichigo tipped her head in confusion. "What? Are you mad? Oh no-did your parents throw you out?"
Mint's eyes narrowed. "Yes. And I didn't do it. I don't feel that way for Zakuro! Why do people think I do? Who do you trust more, Ichigo, a stupid reporter or me?"
"Um...well, I'd say you, and I mean it, but the thing is, Mint, you really adore Zakuro. I mean, you always hang around her; you pose with her when we battle kirema anima, and you were crushed when she didn't want to become a Mew. Mint, I know there's a lot of prejudice against people like you, but if you're serious about this, it's okay. We'll still like you, and help you find another Zakuro. Or we could play matchmaker! For you and Zakuro, when she's out of a coma!" Ichigo giggled.
Mint glared at her. "Ichigo. I didn't ra-I didn't to that to her. I don't even love her. I'm attracted to guys, not girls. But I was there. I don't really know what happened, but somebody else was there too."
"Mint...come back to the cafe. We can sort this all out later." Ichigo grabbed Mint's arm, but the other girl pulled away.
"No! I won't go! Nobody believes me! Whoever it was framed me! I didn't do it!" Mint screamed. By this time, Mint could see other people from Cafe Mew Mew. All coming towards her.
"Mint, it's okay. I know it seems like everybody hates you, but we can help you through this. It's okay to love somebody, even if that somebody is more like you than some people think is right." Keiichiro soothed.
"Yeah! You and Zakuro together...it's disturbing, but we can get over it! After, you know, you get counseling. Raping her when she rejected you, that's bad." Ichigo finished.
"Get away from me." The assembled people stared at her, and so did the passers-by. "I can't take this anymore."
Then Mint ran. She ran faster than she thought she could ever run. All she had to do was keep running. People would move out of her way. They were disgusted with her; they didn't want anything to do with her. So it was easy.
So easy to lose yourself with the running. Just running. And not knowing where you go, as long as it's far, far away.
But after awhile, Mint found herself in a park. It was almost peaceful, especially since it wasn't very full.
So, since there was a general absence of people, Mint found a bench. A rather secluded bench, tucked among the trees and hard to spot. The girl sat down on it, drew her legs up to her chest, and cried.
"Hello?" Mint opened her eyes, but didn't look up. She just stared at her legs, still damp with tears, and tried to identify the voice. It was a man, and very masculine. His voice was scratchy, and sounded tough. There was also something strange about it, it sounded like a shriek or a caw of a crow, possibly, and sounded young. Like a man in their early twenties.
"You are Mint Aizawa, correct?"
Mint didn't say anything. This was probably some person from some court, come to take her away for questioning.
"No. I'm nobody." Mint whispered, after awhile. "That's who I want to be, nobody. They can't frame a nobody."
"I am assuming you are talking about the verb 'frame' as in 'to manufacture false evidence against an innocent being to make that being appear guilty of a crime', and not 'to provide with a frame, as a picture'. In that case, you most likely are Mint Aizawa. You are famous from the supposed rape of Zakuro Fujiwara. You are also famous, but under the alias 'Mew Mint', for being a part of the bio-engineered group called 'Tokyo Mew Mew'. You were the first Mew to find a Mew Aqua, and used its power to defeat a giant moth monster that threatened to spread a toxic powder from Tokyo Tower." Mint gasped. Who was this person? "That is correct, is it not?"
Mint sat up, slamming her battered shoes against the soil below the bench. She noticed it was nighttime, but there was enough light to see the park, and anybody in it. The only problem was, as far as she could tell, there was nobody in it. She was the only person, and other than her, the park was empty.
"W-Who are you? And where?" Mint asked warily.
"You are looking in the wrong direction." For the first time, Mint noticed the voice came from above her. Slowly, she looked upwards, and into a bird's eyes.
The bird nodded, and flew down to rest on one of the slats of the wooden bench, settling down to the right of where Mint sat. She noticed he was relatively big, and was a blue-gray color for most of his feathers, and the color varied in different areas of his body. On his neck, the feathers fanned out in a sort of spike pattern, and they made him look sort of menacing. He had sharp yellow eyes, and a large beak akin to those of predatory birds. But was she was drawn to was the talons of the bird, which were sharp and huge.
"What are you? Some kind of bird?" Mint asked, in a slight state of shock.
"Yes, I am a genetically engineered Harpy eagle-human hybrid, slightly like yourself. However, the only human traits that have been evident in testing and in the field are the ability to speak human languages and regional dialects, and the ability to digest foods in the human diet. Other than that, no special powers have been found. Unlike you." The eagle nodded. "So, Miss Aizawa-"
"You can call me Mint." Peeped the girl, in a slight state of awe. Somebody like her? Really like her?
"Right then. Mint, would you like to know my name and ID?" Asked the eagle, bowing his dark grey-blue head.
"Yeah, sure."
"My ID in the labs is Experiment 827. However, they named me Kumotaka." Kumotaka's words had a hint of humility. "I asked to be given more than an ID number, but the scientists were not very creative. They named me after the weather; it was overcast that day, and what I am. 'Cloud eagle' is what they came up with."
Mint smiled for the first time in awhile. "At least your name sounds cool. My parents named me after a plant. 'Kumotaka' sounds…exotic or something." Mint sighed. "Kumotaka, do you know anything about what happened recently to me?"
Kumotaka tipped his head, and hopped closer to Mint. "Yes, how you were framed for what happened Miss Fujiwara. After studying you and your behavior before and after the event, I have concluded you are not to be blamed."
"How do I know you aren't lying?" Mint asked, not looking at the eagle.
Kumotaka thought for a second. "I cannot think of any proof. I am sorry. But I did come with an offer you might be interested in. Do you want to stay in Tokyo, with no home and people who think you are a twisted-minded juvenile criminal?" Mint shook her head. "Have you ever heard of the town 'Moriyama'?" She shook her head again. "That is where the Shiroyama Bird Laboratories are located. It is a small town on the Japanese Alps, on one of the sides of Utsugi-dake. It was created not long ago, and there are not many people there. There is only one elementary school, one middle school, and one high school. Many birds stop by there, near the laboratories, so it is an ideal place to study them."
Mint blinked. "Your point is...what?"
"If you wanted to, you could come live there, at least temporarily. You know you are innocent, but the crime did happen. You could live there until you are proven innocent. Because if it happened, somebody had to be responsible for it. Only you, Doctor Shiroyama, and I would know who you are really. The others would know you as a fake name and identity."
"I don't know, it seems-" Mint was cut off. She could hear shouts of her name in the distances. "Let's go. Now. Mew Mew Mint Metamorphosis!" Very quickly, she changed into her secret identity, shivering slightly from the drop in her internal temperature as the small blue dress materialized on her body. After checking her wings, she looked at Kumotaka. "I don't know for how long I can fly, but I want out of Tokyo. Can we please go now?"
It was an hour after Mint and Kumotaka started to fly away from the park in Tokyo. They hadn't spoken yet in their flight, and they had already passed the boundaries of the city. Looking behind her, Mint stared at the lights of the city in the nighttime.
"Mint?" Mint glanced at her friend. Yes, her friend. So far, from what she had gathered about him, he was her only friend. He believed her.
"Yeah?" Her voice was a little breathy, as she wasn't used to flying. It was a physical activity, and her wing muscles weren't in top shape.
"How are you doing?"
"I'm okay." Mint nodded to herself. She had to believe that. "I'm going to be okay."
Because nobody would know about Mint Aizawa in Moriyama. They would know another girl, and that other girl would not know Mint Aizawa.
And that other girl would be okay. She had to be okay. Nobody would ever frame that girl of anything.
And Mint would become that girl.
She had to.
Author's Note/Disclaimer:
Hi everybody! Thank you for the reviews for Graduation! I'm still getting used to how to upload these fics, so please bear with me! Here is a different story I got the idea for, a sort of anti-Mint/Zakuro fic. I had multiple ideas for Tokyo Mew Mew projects, and this one seemed fun to do. It is sort of dark, but not really. And I hope the rating T is high enough. I don't want to make it M. The other projects were more "new Mew" fics. So, please review! I hope you like "Flying Solo".
Disclaimer: I do not own Tokyo Mew Mew and its characters. It belongs to Mia Ikumi and Reiko Yoshida. However, Kumotaka, the town of Moriyama, and all of the Moriyama residents are my own creation. But the mountain is real. And the mountain range.
