"Ichigo..." he sighed, quietly, the image of candy pink hair and a cute little grin clouding his mind.
"You're not still moaning about her, are you?" Pai inquired, although he know the answer only too well. "It's been ages now..."
And it had. A whole year had passed since the events in Tokyo, since they had met the Mew Mews, and since Kisshu had seen Ichigo. During that long year, they had restored their home planet, and everything had worked out for them. But Kish still wasn't happy.
"Taruto got to stay with Pudding, so why couldn't I be with Ichigo?" he whined.
"That was different, Pudding actually returned his feelings..." Pai replied, a little too much edge in his voice.
It was true, Taruto had returned to Earth to check up on Pudding a while back. After discovering how much they missed each other Taruto decided to stay in Tokyo. Pudding, with her whole family to care for, could hardly leave with Taru-Taru. Besides, the Mews needed her.
Kisshu sighed again, his eyes sad and dull. It had been a long year for him, his hair hung limply around his face, and his amber eyes were no longer bright and glittering. He missed her. He missed her so much...
Ichigo slumped at her desk by the window, staring dazily out at the bright skies of Tokyo, the shadow of a faint smile playing on her lips. Memories. She looked back.
A boy, kissing her. A boy, calling her pet names. A boy, who claimed he was her enemy, yet the way he gazed at her told her that there was so much more to it than that.
"Ichigo! Are you even listening to a word I say?" A sharp voice barked, shattering her dreams and startling her, and black cat ears shot up.
Ichigo crammed her hands over her head, and made out that she was thinking deeply.
"Erm, I don't suppose... You could maybe repeat the question?" She asked, reddening and feeling rather embarrassed.
Sensei looked at her and sighed, looking disappointed. She looked as if she was about to say something, but the bell rang out, loud and clear, and the sounds of people packing their things away filled the silence.
"Ichigo, stay behind, please."
She flopped back down on her desk, leaving her stuff scattered and her bag half open. This was gonna take a while. The classroom emptied, and Sensei sat down opposite Ichigo.
"Ichigo, you were doing so well, you're grades were excellent. What happened? Are there any problems at home, maybe?" She asked, sympathetically.
"N-n-no, it's not that. It's just there's, erm, a lot of work to do, and I've just been really busy, so I'm kind of really tired..." Ichigo murmured.
Of course, there were no problems at home. But Tokyo Mew Mew had been so busy lately, over the last year, disposing of the Chimera Anima that had been left behind, and restoring Toyko since Kisshu and his team had visited. Also, with it being Summer, the café had been busier than ever, and as usual, no one else did any work. Summer also meant exams, so between work and fighting aliens, Ichigo had to cram in some studying. It was not going well.
"Okay, if you're sure... It's okay, you can go now." Sensei told her. "But if there are any problems, you know you can talk to me about it, okay?"
"Yeah, sure, okay. Thanks." Ichigo gathered her things and left the room, letting the door fall shut behind her.
Talk to her sensei about it? No, that would never work. She couldn't afford to let anyone else find out about her little secret. Not only was the stress of being a Mew bothering her, but Masaya and her were no longer together. Things had happened, and they had both gone their seperate ways. But that wasn't what bothered her, she realised she had never really loved Masaya as much as she thought she had, and was glad that it was over. What was bothering her was something else, someone else, who she had probably blown her chances with, and would probably never see again...