Putting out Fire
This story was written for iTaffy.G's Spring and Summer Pairings Contest. Hopefully, this counts as getting it in on time, but if not, hey, enjoy the fic anyhow! The same goes for if this doesn't properly qualify for the contest. You'd think that I could stay within the guidelines of a contest that's only requirement is that entries contain a pairing, but you would be underestimating how accidentally contrarian I can be.
Much like "The Anatomy Lesson," this story was inspired by a drabble I did for the 100 Morbid Themes challenge last Halloween, and, also like "The Anatomy Lesson," the original drabble is neither required reading nor really set in the same universe as this fic. Both the drabble and this story are very loosely based on the 1942 movie Cat People. More specifically, it takes its title from the song David Bowie wrote for the 1982 semi-remake. I suggest looking the song up on YouTube for atmosphere. Just make sure you get the version from the movie (which was also used in Inglourous Basterds), 'cause the version off Let's Dance kinda sucks.
Also, oh man, you guys. I still appear to have some unresolved issues with Ryou. Not Kish, though. I think I have a pretty okay grasp on Kish. XD
Disclaimer: Tokyo Mew Mew belongs to Mia Ikumi, Reiko Yoshida, and Kodansha Ltd. "Cat People (Putting Out Fire)" was written and composed by David Bowie and Giorgio Moroder (respectively) for MCA.
"You think I should do what?" Momomiya Ichigo gasped. The broom she had been using to sweep the kitchen fell from her stiff, surprised hands with a clatter. Shirogane Ryou gave her a look as though he'd simply suggested that she take out the trash.
"Just one date," he said mildly. "I think that should be enough for him to realize that the two of you are completely wrong for each other. Then you can go back to saving the world without worrying about being sexually harassed by the enemy."
"Are you seriously saying that the best way to get Kish to leave me alone is to encourage him!?" Ichigo sputtered, still frozen in place. "And what'll you do when he kidnaps me and takes me back to his planet?"
"You're being irrational, Ichigo. The other aliens wouldn't let him run away in the middle of an invasion, and if things start getting hairy, you have your pendant and Masha. The girls would be there in minutes. Not that you need them to take care of Kish. But fine," he sniffed, turning up his nose. "You're the one who asked for my advice. If you don't want to take it, that's your choice."
o()o
"I can't believe I'm doing this," Ichigo muttered for what felt like the millionth time. The sun was beginning to set, and she hoped that, unlikely as it seemed, she had been stood up. Maybe Ryou had known what he was talking about, and Kish was all bluster, too scared to try and have a civil date with the girl he'd been harassing for weeks.
Something rustled in the tree above Ichigo and Kish plopped down next to her on the park bench. She shrieked.
"How long have you been up there?" she demanded shrilly, drawing her light jacket closer around herself.
"Just long enough to scope out the area," Kish replied, grinning wide enough to show his inhumanly pointed teeth. "Pai was convinced that this was a trap, but I told him 'Nah, my kitten's just beginning to come around. She'd never do anything like that to me.'"
"It's not a trap," Ichigo said as naturally as she could manage. Being this close to Kish made her skin feel like it was trying to slink away, and she wanted to go with it. "But if you or your buddies try to do anything to me, I can have the other Mews here so fast. Okay?"
"Of course, Kitten," Kish said. "I would never do anything to hurt you." He leaned in for a Kish, but Ichigo scooted backward, and his lips met nothing but air.
"No," she said firmly. "I don't know how they do things on your planet, but around here it's considered impolite to treat a girl like that when you barely know her."
Kish pulled back, looking genuinely surprised. "So how does earthling courtship go?" He wasn't trying to kiss her any longer, but he was slowly inching closer to her. She backed up until she felt the bench's metal arm thud into the small of her back.
"W-well, we usually go out to eat, or take walks, and just spend time getting to know each other before we do anything physical." She tried to think of specific examples, but she doubted that the kind of dates Masaya took her on were universally applicable, and the way Kish's knee was bumping up against hers was making it hard for her to think straight. What the heck had Ryou been thinking when he convinced her to do this?
"Earth courtship sounds boring!" the alien declared, running a spidery hand up Ichigo's thigh. He pushed himself up, caging her between the bench and his lean body. "Let me show you how we do things on Zarmina." He mashed his lips against hers before she could turn away, and wrestled both of her wrists into one of his hands. She was well and truly trapped, then, unable to reach Masha or her pendant, or even to scream out her transformation phrase—she didn't want to think about what would happen if she tried to open her mouth.
Ichigo's body shuddered harder and harder even as she tried to squirm out of Kish's grip, and the feeling of her skin crawling intensified to an almost unbearable level as Kish continued to attack her mouth. His free hand groped roughly at what passed for her breasts, ripping at her blouse. Without conscious input, Ichigo's body bucked violently enough to throw Kish off of her. She spasmed, limbs twisting and bones cracking.
The next thing she knew, she was lying on prickly grass in the dark, and Kish was nowhere to be seen. Shakily, she got to her feet, swearing that the alien bastard would pay the next time she saw him. One of her legs hurt like hell when she put weight on it and glancing down, she saw that her lower thigh was bleeding sluggishly from a long cut.
When she limped out onto the path, there Kish lay, bloody and unmoving. Ichigo grabbed her pendant, in case this was some kind of trick, but left Masha on her phone, in case she was in the kind of trouble that the other Mews couldn't fix.
Kish was obviously and unmistakably dead. He was covered in punctures and lacerations that made it look like he'd been mauled to death by a wild animal. The wounds were clotted with sticky, undried blood, but none of them were bleeding any longer, and from the stiff, broken way the alien was lying, Ichigo could tell that he wasn't going to get up.
One of his swords lay beside him. Its blade was splashed with blood—red blood, not the strangely-hued stuff covering his body—but it obviously hadn't been enough to save him. With a sense of creeping dread, Ichigo's hand sunk down to the wound in her thigh.
o()o
In Mew form, Ichigo's leg hurt considerably less, and she made good time back to the café. She detransformed and pounded on the back door, praying that Ryou or Keiichiro was still awake and not too wrapped up in whatever it was they did in the basement to open the door.
When Ryou opened the door, Ichigo nearly fell onto him, she had been leaning on it so hard. He took in her whole sorry appearance with a luminous gaze: her disheveled hair, her panicked, red-rimmed eyes, her torn shirt. His gaze lingered on her wounded thigh, but he didn't say anything.
Ichigo stumbled inside and leaned against a counter, fighting to catch her breath and keep from crying, trying to think of a way to explain everything she'd seen without sounding like a lunatic.
"Is Kish dead?" Ryou demanded, nearly invisible in the dark kitchen.
"Y-yes," Ichigo gasped, eyes bulging. "How did you...did you kill him?" Suddenly, this didn't seem like a very safe place to be either. Ryou let out a short, mirthless laugh.
"Of course I didn't kill him. I've been here all night. From the look of it, you killed him."
Ichigo's world spun. She lost her grip on the counter and toppled to the floor, landing badly on her injured leg. "B-but I didn't...I fainted, and—"
"And turned into a large cat and killed him, yes. It seems to be an unfortunate side effect of infusing feline DNA," Ryou said matter-of-factly. "Or not-so-unfortunate, in this case, as your episode may very well have saved the planet. But in the future, you'll have to refrain from getting romantically involved with humans, I'm afraid."
"But Masaya and I..." she protested weakly, unable to fully process what Ryou was telling her. "I've never..."
"How physically intimate have you and Aoyama-kun gotten?" Ichigo blushed hot enough that she thought she heard her cheeks sizzle.
"Masaya is a gentleman. W-we've never done anything more than kiss. Not that it's any of your business!" Having something sensible to be indignant about refreshed her somewhat, and she managed to clamber back to her feet.
"Ah, well, that's why, of course. If you were ever to get physically intimate with him, you would kill him."
"But..." Ichigo said in a tiny voice. Killing Kish had been traumatic enough, and she had hated him. Masaya...she would never be able to live with herself if she hurt him.
"If you don't want that to happen, you should break it off with him soon. It's not fair to string him along when you know you could never really be with him." Ryou's voice never wavered, nor did his gaze, which Ichigo shied away from. Nonetheless, she could feel it burning into her, and though she wanted to be mad about it, all she could feel was drained. That was probably for the best, she considered. Who knew what else could trigger a transformation into a giant cat?
Ryou! Ryou knew! Ichigo whirled to face him.
"You knew that this would happen!" she yelled wildly, pointing a trembling, accusatory finger at blue eyes floating in the darkness. "You didn't think I could get Kish to leave me alone! You just wanted him to try and rape me so I'd kill him!"
"I didn't know for sure," Ryou replied, still keeping the same level tone. "It was a distinct possibility that you would indeed talk him out of his infatuation with you, in which case you would be less distracted in combat and therefore improve our chances. But yes. I've known what you were capable of from the moment I met you."
"Well, good for you," Ichigo spat, fighting the irrational urge to bare her teeth and hiss. "I'm the one who'll never be able to have a boyfriend, but I'm glad you're one step closer to driving the aliens away."
Wordlessly, Ryou strode out of the darkness into the dim light of the kitchen windows. He pulled down the collar of his turtleneck and bared his neck to Ichigo. He had a Mew mark. She nearly lost her balance again.
"My DNA wasn't compatible; I didn't even get powers. So please, spare me the pity party." Ichigo threw her arms around him, and he tensed. It occurred to her that this was probably the first unexpected thing that had happened to him all night. "What are you doing?"
"I'm still mad at you for doing this to me and for not telling me," she said, her voice slightly muffled by his shirt. "But it's better to be lonely together, don't you think?" Lurchingly, Ryou put his arms around her and returned the embrace.