It was a normal Monday afternoon, Ichigo had ran frantically down the sidewalks from school in an attempt to reach the café in time, and inevitably being late. Bursting through the door, hands on her knees, gasping for air, she yelped,
"Gomennasai! I'm…"
"Late. It's alright. It's nothing new," said Zakuro with a broom in her hand, sweeping up broken china littered on the floor as Lettuce blushed and apologized uncontrollably.
"Anyway Ichigo," said Mint from her usual seat sipping at tea "we can save at least some of our china if your late, Lettuce only breaks one a day, no where near your record on 15 at once," she said sniggering. Ichigo glared at her,
"At least I do some work Mint, you don't do anything. EVER!" she yelled as she stomped through to the locker room. Keiichiro peered through to the café floor turning to Ryou he chuckled "Well we know Ichigo's here," he laughed as he wiped a plate. Ryou stayed silent merely turning and leaving the kitchen.
"I can't believe those ingrates! I could have stayed with Aoyama-kun for a little longer instead of taking this abuse!" she thought.
She stopped ranting and thought about what she had just said. Since the fight had ended and Aoyama-kun had been stripped of Deep Blue things between the two of them had been perfect, a great weight had been lifted off of their relationship. There were no more fights, misunderstandings, stand-up's and most of all, no more Lies! But if all of this was true then why wasn't she happier.
She walked through to the café floor tying the sash of her apron, grabbing a silver tray from a table went to open up, welcoming a distraction, dispelling her confused feeling.
A large craft hovered above Tokyo completely invisible to the cloud filling the sky, two large yellow eyes looked out over the bay and the buildings. Arms folded across his chest he teleported to the nearest tower and sat on the spire, his green hair contorting in the wind. Kisshu had returned to Earth after having restored his planet to its natural beauty, a magnificent oasis for his people; he was now serving Pai and aiding the ruling of the planet whilst maintaining its natural brilliance.
He pulled out a brass pipe and began to play a melancholy melody that resonated throughout the area, long sweeping melodic phrases that danced above the rooftops and whispered to the leaves of the trees in the park far below. He sat on the spire for god knows how many hours, he had so sense of time anymore.
"So this is where you're hiding," said a smaller alien knocking red orbs back and forward who had just appeared.
"Am I not allowed to be alone Taruto?" he said still staring forwards.
"No you're not, Pai wants you back in the ship," he said as he shifted through the portal he had just opened.
"Fine." He disappeared.
"Kishuu, we're going to see the Mew's. You don't have to accompany us but Taru-taru wishes it," he said smiling at the little one. Pai was now totally different, he had seen what kindness was and now never wished to be out of its presence.
"I can't wait to see her," said Taruto giddily "I'm gonna get her good," doing back flips round the space ship.
"I'm glad," said Pai "Are you coming?" They both looked over to where Kishuu stood, still looking over the city through the clear panels.
"No. I'm not," he said as the other two teleported without protesting. "I can't see her, not yet."
"Everyone! Pai and Taru-taru are here," screamed Pudding as she rolled through the front door of the café with Taurto on her in a piggy back waving their arms as if the were flying. Lettuce ran out onto the café floor from the kitchen followed by Zakuro and Keiichiro who merely walked. Pai walked through the front door and approached the shy bespectacled girl in front of him; he kissed her hand as she blushed uncontrollably.
"It has been far too long," he said looking up to meet her eyes.
"It has been a while hasn't it," she said timidly smiling through her glasses, her green braids swinging in the wind from the open door.
Zakuro turned to Keiichiro, talking over the conversation being shared between Mint, Pai and Lettuce and the shrieks of laughter from Taruto and Pudding.
"Where is Shirogane-san?" she asked
"I don't know. He disappeared this morning."
Chapter 2
Ichigo sat patiently on the bench, waiting for Masaya to arrive; she could no longer call him Aoyama-kun, he had insisted on it. She looked around at the flowers, the birds singing was the real reason she loved spring. March had come and gone and they were well into April, the cherry blossoms that had begun to sprout last month would rain down at any time now as they were over due; it was her favourite moment of the year. Suddenly, breaking her serenity, a familiar ring tone sounded making her jump.
"Moshi-moshi! Masaya, yes I'm here already," she said brightly " Oh…No I understand, you can't let the team down, just try not to hurt anybody to much," she laughed and closed her phone, pink of course.
"Well what should I do now," she thought as she stood up and flattened out her skirt. She had been given the day off, it would be pointless to go back to the café now. She looked up at the cloudless sky, it would be a waste to go home or to the mall so she decided to take in the full beauty of the park. She walked along the footpath winding in among the many trees and bushes that paved it. She turned off the road and walked through the trees aimlessly. She walked peacefully through the trees that were becoming less and less dense, the light poking through the branches becoming brighter and brighter. She squinted as she hit the brilliance of the sunlight, shielding her eyes with her hand.
She was now in a clearing where the grass was shin high and a large Yoshino Cherry tree stood in the centre of the clearing; she walked slowly towards it as the wind rippled against her face. She looked towards the base of the tree where there seemed to be someone sitting, slumped over. She walked a bit faster in curiosity. It was a man, his shorter hair and wide shoulders gave him away, he was reading a small book and turning the pages faster and faster. He had piercing blue eyes and short choppy blonde hair; it was Shirogane!
He looked up at her and held her gaze; she couldn't speak or move and was in a state that could only be described as dumbfounded ness.
"Konichiwa," he said brightly, "What are you doing here?"
Shaken from her daze she suddenly said "Ummm… I was meeting Aoyama-kun,"
"Was?" he said still sitting.
"Well he cancelled," she said
"Oh… I'm sorry," he said unsure and looking back down at his book.
"What are you reading?" she said settling down next to him, peering over to the cover of his book that he was holding up. It had a beautiful picture of a horse almost made of fire.
"A novel by D.J Salinger, an American author, can you read English?" he asked.
"Relatively," she replied hesitantly, she so wanted to look smart in front of him so he wouldn't think of her as an idiot. He laughed slightly as her cheeks flushed bright red.
"Catcher in the Rye. That's impressive if you know the book," he said "Honestly," attempting to make her feel better. She looked up at him smiling happily, her brown eyes twinkling. Suddenly she felt something soft touch her cheek, looking down onto her lap a delicate pink blossom sitting on her rosy skin. She stood up and walked out of the tree's shadow to get a better look at it. The petals danced down in a shower, twisting into a cyclone by the wind, swirling around her. Ryou came over and stood next to her starring at the beautiful being in front of him, seeing the shower of petals fall both from and onto it.
"We're very fortunate, the first viewing of spring most likely," he said calmly. She looked up at him confused, Shirogane was never very interested in cherry blossoms, he had made fun of her last year for suggesting they all go to the festival together; she had made sure never to mention it again. He looked down at her unexpectedly, reaching out towards her face. She clenched her eyes shut as if she hadn't been looking at him and felt her left side tingle. She opened her eyes and looked to see Shirogane centimetres from her face.
"Shiro..gane..-san..," she trembled eyes sparkling, heart pounding. He removed his hand from her hair and smiled.
"There you go, it compliments your eyes," he said shyly. She moved her hand up to her bangs and felt the soft petals of a blossom that he had placed there. She wasn't too sure what to say and looked down shyly also.
"Why are you here? I didn't think you knew what time-off was," she said curtly, blurting out to break the silence,.
"I just am. Why do you always ask so many questions?" he said scorned. She now erupted back as she always did.
"Why can't I ask questions, you mock me for asking for time off and now you won't even give me an explanation? Well FINE!" she said stomping off down the footpath.
"Damn Shirogane, always making me angry. Keiichiro's WRONG! He's the worlds biggest JERK! Baka, baka, BAKA!" she fumed. She turned in to the gate of her house and went to turn her key in the front door, only to find that it was already open and ajar. She walked through the threshold slowly looking around as she did. Something wasn't right here, the house was eerily quiet even though nobody was there, and it sent a tingle down her spine. She checked out every room, looking around cautiously; she tiptoed round the rooms silent enough to hear a pin drop. The hairs on the back of her neck were on end and blood roared in her ears. She wondered if she was still on edge from the incident at the park. Shirogane always knew how to get her riled up. All of a sudden she heard a smash from upstairs and rushed up the stairs holding onto her pendant ready to transform. Running up the stairs she saw light spilling from her bedroom. What was going on, who was in there?