Disclaimer: I don't own Tokyo Mew Mew.
Summary: The aliens are back after a year and bring trouble with them. Ichigo and Pudding are in for an adventure.
I was very young when I imagined this so, if the plot is weird, sorry.
Warnings: Character death, references to yuri/shojo-ai and teenage pregnancy. Use of American ages but Japanese names. Pudding is 15.
A.N.: This fic used to be M but I think that it's unnecessary. There will be only two occasions where it might shock you, so… (I'll just give a warning beforehand)
Any mistakes you see you can tell me about it and I will correct it (it would be good if you did, so I can improve my English). Thank for putting up with me (deep bow).
Chapter 1
Time passes by at an amazing speed. Most of us doesn't notice it. We are too busy living our rushed lives. It's rushed because time passes fast. Our lives are too short. There is just too much to be done and we don't have time. And along the way, we forget important things.
Time is cruel and waits for no one. It passes too fast for our little bodies to handle. So how do we stop the time? We can't. Time doesn't stop. How can we slow him down? We wait… times slows down for those who wait for something. Like living in an alternative reality...
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One year. Since Deep Blue was defeated a year passed. Was the world back to peace? No, of course not.
Mew-Aqua allowed the healthy grow of all living beings. But sometimes, it would pile too much and cause an unnatural growth. Those animals or plants would be very scared and try to attack everything in reach. It was now Tokyo Mew Mew's job to capture those creatures and extract the excess of Mew-Aqua. It was a good thing that people had accepted them and would not try to interfere in their work.
And life passed normally for the five girls. They would go to school, work in the Mew Café and live their everyday life. Which included fighting abnormal creatures every other day.
They were living happily. As happy as five girls employed by a slave driver could be. Right? Almost.
Two mews were having an especially hard time. Even the others found that life seemed to be escaping from them. Pudding wasn't in her energetic self. Her stunts diminished with time and she was seen seating around more and more often. Ichigo wasn't hungry anymore and the only thing that would make her cheer up were her dates with Masaya. Ryou tried everything he could come up with to help them but there seemed to be nothing physically wrong with the girls. Their DNA had proven to be too instable to allow a proper study. They seemed to be vanishing slowly.
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"Ichigo." Masaya softly squeezed his girlfriend's waist as he circled her with his arm. "I know there isn't much I can do but… You know you can talk to me, right?" The red haired girl meant to give her gentle boyfriend a reassuring smile, but was so tired that all she managed was a weird failed attempt.
Ichigo knew that everyone around her was concerned at some level. She hated being trouble to her loved ones but lately, everything bad felt worse and nothing seemed to have color anymore. In all this, she had found some relief talking to Pudding. She took some more time to show the symptoms but eventually she reached that point too.
Ichigo knew it was selfish, but she felt better knowing that she wasn't alone.
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Pudding had made a vow early in her life to be a happy and cheerful girl for her brothers and sister, so that they never felt the sadness of their mother's absence. But recently, she was having a great trouble doing so. Sweets seemed to have lost all their sugar and her performances were becoming harder and more tiresome each time. Keeping a smile had become impossible.
Naturally, given her nature her symptoms were, unlike Ichigo's, immediately spotted. Shirogane had barely left his lab in the first few weeks. He was troubled by a possible epidemic among the Mews. But after a few months and none of the others having shown any symptoms, that theory was discarded.
She thought about that reunion weeks ago. The Café was closed that day and she had run into Ichigo by chance. After a bit of talking they agreed that they felt better at work were they had their hands, and minds, occupied. They had been walking a bit when they stopped by the Mew Café and were stunned to see Mint walking inside.
Without any of the others noticing, they sneaked inside and eavesdropped a lot of shocking things.
"I think it's best if they remain clueless about this but…" Shirogane had been leading what seemed like a regular Mew meeting. Zakuro, Mint, Lettuce, Keiichiro and Masaya were present.
The blond fidget a bit and seemed to be having trouble speaking. Keiichiro stepped forward and gently squeezed his shoulder before taking over what Shirogane had been trying to say. "When we were studying Pudding-chan and Ichigo-chan we stumbled upon a horrible truth…" He sighed deeply looking completely miserable. "Pudding-chan and Ichigo-chan… If it keeps like this… they will have less than a year to live. Maybe just a few more months…".
All the agitation and questions inside the lab passed aside the two girls that had left long before.
Did the matter concerned them? They didn't know. Ichigo had said that her mind felt clouded about that kind of thoughts. Pudding didn't knew. But it didn't particularly concerned her. What did was the fact that she didn't. Her brothers and sister needed her. Even if now they had Sensei to help.
And with those thoughts she found herself looking at the starry sky once more.
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The Café was closed earlier than usual. And everyone promised to meet in the park later that night. The gang had been trying to find things to do together. Lettuce said that they should spend time together. They all agreed to fast with her. None knew that the two Mews already knew. They didn't bother to tell. There was absolutely no need.
That night they were going to have a barbecue. Ichigo's parents were being very adamant about her getting out more to get some color on her cheeks and to spend more time with her friends. Ichigo didn't bother to explain them. She had told them about her job as a Mew and understood that they could be very dense sometimes. There was no need to upset them. She was somewhat grateful that Shirogane hadn't told them anything yet. Maybe it was better that way.
Pudding had also told her siblings and Sensei about the Mews. They had all been very acceptant about it. Sensei had been taking care of her siblings a lot more lately and helping Pudding around the house. She practically lived there now! The girl had a feeling that she understood at some point that something was wrong and what it meant. It saddened her but she felt better to know that her brothers were in good hands.
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"Akasaka-san! This is great!" Mint couldn't help drop a bit on her manners when such goodness was involved. Everyone nodded eagerly. Keiichiro had surprised them once more with his culinary skills.
"Ichigo, shall we sit a bit?" Aoyama gently supported the red haired girl. The pink mew nodded meekly letting him guide her to the designated spot. "The night looks so beautiful! And the air… It's so fresh and clean! Nature is definitely good for the soul!" Masaya said, trying to amuse the girl in front of him. The sky? Yes… it was pretty. Ichigo look up eyeing the billions of light spots displayed before her. She had this sense of déjà vu. Lately she had been observing the sky a lot. But tonight… Away from the city lights, the sky looked like a painting. Not a single cloud in sight. Somehow, she was feeling better. Like most of the times she would gaze at the sky.
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Mint wasn't happy about this predicament. In spite everything, the mood was still very dull. "Argh!" Everyone jumped in surprise. Mint magically produced a microphone from behind her and approached Zakuro. "One-sama! Sing for us! Come on! We need to party!" They stared at each other for a while. Zakuro was truthfully astonished and Mint was starting to think she was mad. It was good Lettuce who saved the day, clapping and cheering for Zakuro. Reality crashed down for the purple mew and she quickly reached for the micro.
The night was filled with songs and laughter. Even Ichigo and Pudding were able to have some fun. Even if it was a bit off season they went with karaoke afterwards. Who would guess that perfect Akasaka-san was a terrible singer! It was near midnight when they started packing things.
"Pudding, don't just stand there! Help us!" Mint yelled while drinking her tea and watching the others work. Despite everything, Mint was being very affected by this. She refused to treat her friends differently just for the sake of some months! She thought that acting like normally was the best. Sometimes, just to make Ichigo spark again she would tease them on purpose, like now. She was waiting for Ichigo to yell at her for being a hypocrite, but no such thing came.
The other were used to that type of consideration Mint had towards them and were also surprised when Ichigo didn't answered the blue mew. "Ichigo?" The pink mew was standing behind Pudding, both with their gaze fixed in the firmament as if waiting for something to happen.
Masaya placed his hands on Ichigo's shoulders. "We should be going…" But they refused to move like in a trance. "What should we do Shirogane?" Several options were discussed no to gentle until Lettuce yelped loud in shock. She was staring at the sky, her mouth wide open. They all turned to see what was going on.
The sky was no longer splashed with light dots. Instead, long white strips soared through the night blue. Like if the billions of stars were falling down from their posts.
"I didn't knew there was going to be a meteor shower today!" Shirogane frowned deeply. "I never heard about it either." Keiichiro had also thought it was strange.
But fortunately for both it all ended minutes after without any incident. "My! That was gorgeous!" "Yep! It was super-nanoda!" "Nyan! It was so romantic, ne Aoyama-kun?" The two mews kept talking cheerfully leaving their friends dumb-struck. "Hm… Ichigo, are you feeling okay?" Masaya held his girlfriend's hand looking very concerned, but the red-head only laughed. "You know… I think I never felt so good!" "Pudding-chan… You feel fine too?" Lettuce nervously watched both her friends. "Don't worry Lettuce-onechan! Pudding feels very nanoda!".
Shirogane kept a stern face until they returned to Tokyo and dropped the girls home. Once back in the Café he immediately went to his lab to investigate. Drumming his fingers against the keyboard like a skilled pianist he quickly surfed through the digital information looking for abnormalities. After hours of research he slammed his hands against the poor machine, in frustration. Nothing! Nothing indicated that a meteor shower had just passed them!
"Coffee?" Keiichiro appeared from the shadows standing faithfully behind Ryou. The blond muttered some grateful words before swallowing the hot drink. "I just don't get it!" The older of the two squeezed his companion's shoulder in sympathy. He too felt nervous. "Calm down, Ryou. Anger disturbs logic."
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That morning, Pudding felt better than she did in months. Happily, she greeted her siblings before turning to make a huge delicious breakfast. "One-chan! You look very cheerful this morning!" "Pudding feels more Pudding than pudding-nanoda!" That moment Sensei came in to start breakfast. She was surprised to see the blond girl so merry that day. "Ah, Sensei! Good morning!".
Same was happening to a red-head in the other side of Tokyo. "I heard the bell! It's Aoyama-kun! I'll be going now!" The cat girl chewed down her fourth toast before running to the door. Her parents only waved her in shock.
The couple strolled through the streets, Ichigo humming joyfully. "You look great this morning, Ichigo!" And more healthy, Masaya added in his mind. The pink mew smiled brightly before skipping eagerly to the Café.
Everyone watched in awe as the two girls changed into their work outfits. It felt like the last few months had just been a nightmare. Lettuce sighed deeply. "This is all very strange." Mint just shrugged her shoulders but Zakuro appeared to be tense as well. "I wonder were Shirogane is?" "…Here." The six coworkers in the Café turned at the voice behind them. Ichigo started screaming and pointing. "Ghost!" The blonds eyebrow twisted in annoyance. "Who's a ghost?".
Everybody could tell that he had put an all-nighter. His skin looked paler and huge black circles hung under his eyes. He looked like a hollow soul. "Oh, My! Are you okay?" Lettuce hovered around him throwing concerned pleas that made the blond smile kindly.
"Unfortunately we were unable to anything about last night." "Akasaka-san!" Everyone chorused. The brunet's appearance wasn't better than his boss. "It was like it didn't existed!" Shirogane huffed in frustration. "The problem with humans is that they never see the most obvious things!" "But that was what worked in our favor anyways wasn't it!".
Slowly, as in a trance, the Mew team turned to watch the newly arrived visitors than floated above their heads. "Of course, if there is no evidence of something's existence, it's most safe to assume it doesn't." Pudding was the first to recover from the shock and quickly bear hugged Taruto. "Taru-taru! You can't imagine how much Pudding missed you!" Instead of pushing her away as per norm, the alien looked pleased by her reaction. "I think I have a very close idea." He chuckled awkwardly.
"If it never existed what was it?" Pai landed in front of the blond, who was very much shorter than the alien. "A distraction for humans like you. Thanks to it, we managed to land on your planet, perfectly undetected." Shirogane was opening his mouth like a fish out of water lacking a good comeback.
Ichigo noted that Kishu hadn't spoken a word since he arrived. He looked very depressed and for a moment she had the strange need to hug him. What! Bad Ichigo! What was that! She was dating Aoyama-kun!
Stepping forward, Zakuro cleared her throath. "And so… Why did you come back?" She wasn't one to stretch unnecessary talks.
Taruto softly dethatched himself from a very sticky Pudding before turning to Pai. "Tell them!" The tall alien looked disgruntled, crossing his arms over his chest. "Hm! It's your problem. Solve it yourselves!" The brat puffed his cheeks in annoyance. "We'll have to take the crap later! Besides! You explain things better!" Eyeing a more and more depressed Kishu from the corner of his eye, Pai finally sighed in defeat. "Fine…".
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A.N.: Enough for today. Read the next chapter to know the extension of problems Ichigo and Pudding got themselves into.
"Taruto softly dethatched himself from a very sticky Pudding before turning to Pai." Try reading it aloud, it sounds funny. A the before Pai would change the all meaning. And now I'm hungry! Bye Bye for all of you who managed to reach this far! See you soon!