Jan 17, 2012.

Hi, reader.

This was the very first piece I wrote for the TMM fandom. I was very new to the fandom, half way through the anime (the dub, I must sadly admit), and it was my first time experimenting with both their Japanese names and a shipping other than Aoyama/Ichigo. I was also still too new and too n00b to know that Song Fic didn't come under the FF net terms and conditions (aka: was not a legit style of writing) - or that it was simply a heinously newbie method of writing. Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Please feel free to chortle at the drabbles of a dreamy adolescent, but do try to enjoy at the same time!

Disclaimer: I do not (and did not) own Tokyo Mew Mew. Nor do I own 'Fly High' by Ayumi Hamasaki.

Let it Soar

Written: July 18, 2007.

Momomiya Ichigo pushed open the door to Café Mew Mew. In a hysteric rush, she arrived in the kitchen, face flushed - breath coming in short gasps, the result of having run the several blocks from her school. Her hair had blown askew in the wind.

hanarerarezu ni ita yo zutto
minarete'ru keshiki ga atta kara

The rest of the mews were there; Minto, Retasu, Purin and Zakuro, already working hard. Well, most of them. It was questionable whether Minto had ever worked an honest shift in her life. She wasn't failing her reputation either, sitting at a table with her mandatory china cup of tea. Akasaka Keiichiro was busy working the ovens carefully, producing his renowned cakes and pastries for the customers eagerly waiting in the Café foyer.

itsu ka mata kono basho e kite mo
onaji sora o onaji you ni miete

The entire restaurant was bustling with the sounds of a busy workplace. Knives and forks clattered against china plates, and comfortable conversation mingled with ringing cell phones and the laughter of merry customers. However, something was missing. Something obvious. Something that often ruined these moments of temporary bliss.

utsukushii to ieru no ka to
boku wa kangaesugita no ka mo shirenai

"You're late, baka."

Ah yes, there it was. Right on cue. The sneering voice of Shirogane Ryou…her blonde haired, blue eyed, self-assured boss. Not to mention confident, self centered, infuriatingly annoying and often cruel. Ichigo whipped around, prepared to defend herself. He was standing behind her, an amused expression upon his usually calm face. It was the calm expression that drove her insane. Not only was he calm when he needed to be; he was calm when he was supposed to be apologising for upsetting the cat-girl, something he had a particular habit of doing. Ichigo had long suspected it was his daily pleasure, seeing her explode.

sukoshi no nemuri ni tsuite mata asu isogou

"Shirogane, I told you yesterday that I can't get away from school any earlier!" Ichigo protested, crossing her arms defiantly. He only smiled in a sneering sort of way. She could feel the heated anger starting to boil up inside her; reminding herself of a kettle on a stove, screaming and blasting steam everywhere when the water reached boiling point.

"Well, I thought I told you yesterday that if you were late again, I'd have to dock your pay," he replied simply.

kowagatte fumidasazu ni iru ippo ga
kasanatte itsu kara ka nagaku nagai

Ichigo could have stamped her feet. This was typical Shirogane. It wasn't her fault that she couldn't get away to the café any earlier, but he somehow managed to make it all so difficult for her. Being the only one who seriously dedicated time and effort to working in the café, Ichigo was not surprised to find her face reddening in frustration. Shirogane knew he would have a heavily failing café without her, yet he consistently looked for anything he could use against her; to dock her pay, keep her longer hours, or generally over-work her.

michi ni natte teokure ni nattari shite
sono uchi ni nan to naku ima no basho mo

"Well, seeing you haven't got anything else to say, I'd suggest you get to work. And I don't want any of your annoying interruptions tonight, Ichigo. I'm too busy to deal with your petty café problems."

Shirogane turned and walked away, heading towards the dark laboratory built below the café…the place where all their Mew Mew work was conducted, far from the prying eyes of the Cynaclons or any presently curious children.

Ichigo's mouth dropped open. The last problem she'd taken to Shirogane was when the piping to the sink had cracked, springing a leak and flooding the entire first floor of the café with dirty water, and that was a month ago. It wasn't often she went to him for help these days.

warukunai ka mo nante omoi dashite
nan to ka jibun ni riyuu tsuketari shita

Without caring how annoyed he would be at her, Ichigo stormed determinedly along the corridor after him, face pulled into an obviously unhappy frown. This time, Ryou would hear her thoughts – no matter what it took to make him listen to her!

The laboratory was dark, as usual…the only light coming from the enormous, bright computer screens on the wall, which displayed maps of various locations around the world, many of which Ichigo had never even heard of before.

Shirogane was standing with his back to her, observing the data updates on the computers. He hadn't noticed her yet.

honto wa ne tatta no ichido mo rikai shinai mama de
subete ga wakatta furi o shite ita n da ne

"I thought I told you to get to work," his voice said suddenly from the darkness, making her jump involuntarily. So much for not knowing she was there…

"So, what exactly are you doing here?"

He'd continued talking without even waiting for her to explain herself. Oh, he was so arrogant!

"Shirogane, I have some problems I need to discuss with you," Ichigo said bravely.

"Don't I know it," Ryou muttered under his breath. Her cheeks felt like ovens; burning pink with anger and shame. Cyclone Ichigo was about to hit Café Mew Mew.

hanarerarezu ni ita yo zutto
minarete'ru keshiki ga atta kara

"Firstly, stop mocking me! I've had enough! Seriously – don't you think you've ridiculed me and been mean to me for long enough now? It's getting tiring and just plain stupid," Ichigo grumbled, arms covered in goose bumps. She had no idea how he was going to react to this sudden courageous outburst – for all she knew he could fire her on the spot, and then she'd be in trouble.

"Maybe if you grew up a little, I wouldn't find anything immature to mock," Shirogane replied simply, not taking his eyes away from the screens before him. This managed to outrage her further. He could have had the decency to at least pay attention to her when she was speaking!

nan da ka subete ga chippoke de
chiisa na katamari ni mieta no wa

"Secondly, I'm sick and tired of being overworked, underpaid and disrespected!" Ichigo continued, building up strength as she went…sort of like a snowball gathering as it rolled down a hill. Shirogane still didn't turn to look at her. Ichigo admitted she'd complained about that before, but now, more than ever, it was really bugging her.

"I work longer, harder and more consistently than all the others. I don't break things, like Retasu, I don't take breaks, like Minto, I don't kid around, like Purin, and I don't have bad customer service, like Zakuro. I do my best here, Shirogane, and for what? Occasionally Keiichiro gives me some left over cake or a biscuit, but that's not enough! I can't continue to work under these conditions…at least be respectful enough to treat me like a hard working employee, not a slave! And at least have the decencyto look-at-me-when-I'm-speaking-to-you!"

aoida sora ga amari ni hatenaku
hirosugita kara datta no ka mo shirenai

Now he was looking at her. His clear blue eyes displayed no warmth – at best, Ichigo could detect surprise and distaste. She held his cold gaze with her own defiance. Without another word, Shirogane walked straight over, stopping several inches in front of her, crossing his arms over his chest. Ichigo's courage faltered momentarily.

"So, you feel…neglected?" he said stiffly. Ichigo could see where this was going. Straight to another argument. As usual.

kimi no tonari ni ita kara ka mo shirenai

"Shirogane, why do you hate me so much?" Ichigo asked quietly, unintentionally changing the subject. His cold expression changed to become surprised. She'd never asked him that before. Actually, she'd rarely considered the idea before. Now she saw it was an obvious reason for why he treated her so badly. He must really hate her guts. When he failed to reply, she continued.

"I mean…I don't see how you can just be so mean to me without having a proper reason for it. Can you at least explain to me what it is you hate so much about me? Am I too happy? Too optimistic? Too bubbly? Too blonde? Too friendly? How can you like the other girls but not me? Or do I just annoy you in general?"

atama de wa wakatte'ru tsumori demo ne
surechigau doko ka no dare ka no koto
furikaette nagamete wa urayandari

"I don't hate you, baka," Shirogane said, looking at her now with rather sad eyes. Ichigo raised one eyebrow skeptically. "And you're not stupid. Or too happy. Just… go and serve some customers, okay?"

"Shirogane! I'm not leaving until you explain it to me. I'm not going to go on like this. It's not fair!" Ichigo said immediately. One look at her face told Ryou the girl wasn't lying. He sighed deeply. This wasn't going to be easy…

nai mono nedari o itsu made tsudzukete iku n darou
sou omoeta no wa kimi ni deaeta kara desho

Ichigo waited patiently and eagerly for his long-due explanation. How long had she been part of the Mew Mew team? She counted mentally. Nearly four years. That was four years of enduring Shirogane's snide comments, taunting, teasing, nasty ways, and frustrating amounts of hard labour. Well, it was about time he came clean.

Suddenly, with no warning whatsoever, Shirogane stepped forward and cupped her chin in his hands, resting his fingers against her soft cheeks. Before she could react, he had pressed his lips to hers in a soft kiss.

subete wa kitto kono te ni aru
koko ni yume wa oite ikenai

The first thing she thought of was Aoyama Masaya. She didn't really know why, as she was no longer associated with him. Their tearful farewell had been over a year ago, now. Ichigo guessed it was because she'd always imagined it would be him, not her blonde boss, kissing her. Everything was possibly starting to make sense in her often befuddled head. There was one person who had been beside her through every ordeal she'd experienced since the whole Mew affair – the forced friendships with girls very unlike herself, being stalked by an alien who obsessed over her, finding it difficult to balance school, work and being a mew, diving into a strained relationship with Aoyama Masaya, her own growth and maturity towards adulthood, and, most recently, the emotional split from her 'perfect boyfriend' (well…emotional on her behalf). That person was Shirogane Ryou. Though she hadn't realised it, Ichigo had found herself growing fond of her irritating boss. She couldn't believe it had taken her so long to figure it out. Although, she reasoned, he didn't exactly make it easy for her.

subete wa kitto kono te ni aru
kimerareta mirai mo iranai

She'd thought it was Masaya she wanted...even though they went their own ways. She'd never really let him out of her heart, hoping he would return to her one day. Now she realised, it wasn't perfect, gorgeous, popular Aoyama she had been pining for. He'd never been the one to listen to her complaining and whining, mourning over bad test results, or cursing long shifts at work. He'd never been there to deal with her frustration at the Cynaclon problem, or her crying because of a silly fight with Minto. Ichigo realised she'd never really been herself with Masaya – she'd changed all her faults to impress him…every time she'd been with him she'd been on edge, hoping he wouldn't discover something about her he didn't like. He didn't even know the real Ichigo!

subete wa kitto kono te ni aru
ugokanakya ugokasenai kedo

But Shirogane had always been there. And he knew exactly who she was. She'd never have to worry about being someone else to impress Shirogane…it was clear he already liked her the way she was. What was that old philosophy?

'A boy only teases a girl because he likes her.'

Ichigo realised she'd figured it wrong the entire time. What she'd mistaken for hatred was really love; a love she'd always imagined impossible. But now she thought about it; it wasn't so weird. Shirogane knew her possibly best of all. That was better than any fake-Ichigo date she'd ever been on with Aoyama. Besides…she'd been able to go on for more than a year without Masaya in her life, but she couldn't imagine surviving more than a day without Ryou.

subete wa kitto kono te ni aru
hajimenakya hajimaranai kara

Shirogane broke the kiss, stepping back, but leaving one hand resting on her arm, like he wanted to be sure he wasn't dreaming… That at any moment he would wake up and it would all disappear, like a reflection in a puddle. Ichigo looked up into his earnest face with emotion-filled eyes. She wondered vaguely what the other Mews would think. She didn't care. A single kiss from Shirogane Ryou had allowed her to open up, and set her feelings free. Whatever this was between her and the blonde boy before her, she had given it the wings to fly, and now she was prepared to let it soar in the wind.

Lyric translation:

I couldn't leave at all, because
There's scenery I've gotten so used to seeing.

Even if I come here again some time
I'll see the same sky in the same way
Maybe I thought too much
About whether or not you could call it beautiful.
After a little sleep let's hurry again tomorrow.

I'm afraid. The steps I can't take
Pile up, and turn into a long, long
Path untravelled; I'm too late.
During that time, I started thinking that
Somehow maybe even this place isn't so bad.
I kept giving myself reasons.

In reality, since as long as I haven't understood even once,
I've been pretending to understand everything.

I couldn't leave at all, because
There's scenery I've gotten used to seeing.

Somehow everything seems small, and
What I thought was a small lump was
The sky I look up at that has no end.
Maybe because it's too wide.
Maybe because I was next to you.

I wanted to understand it with my head, but
I envy looking back at
Someone, somewhere that I missed.

I'll forever be demanding something that isn't there.
I've been thinking like that since I met you.

It's all in this hand for sure.
I mustn't leave my dreams here.
It's all in this hand for sure.
I don't need a predetermined future.

It's all in this hand for sure.
If it doesn't move, I can't move it, but
It's all in this hand for sure.
If I don't start it, it never will.