The Virus Of Life, a tokyo mew mew fanfic

Disclaimer: I do not own Ichigo or Kisshu. They belong to the creators of Tokyo Mew Mew.

I do not own the included lyrics, either: they belong to Slipknot, who belongs to Roadrunner Records. The lyrics were taken from their 2004 album, Vol. 3: The Subliminal Verses. The song title is "The Virus Of Life."

I can see you but you can't see me

I could touch you and you wouldn't even feel me

Wait a second and you'll settle down

I'm just waiting 'til you really let your guard down

You flex your hand in the air before you, almost seeing her in your palm, crushing her with your fingers. In the dappled light beneath the tree's canopy, you crouch silently: she sits beneath you on the bench, stretched out in the sunshine, her hair dancing about her face and a smile tickling her lips. You feel a grin creep onto your own.

So vulnerable…

You're relaxed, you're sublime, you're amazing

You don't even know the danger you're facing

If I'm quiet, I'll slide up behind you

And if you hear me I'll enjoy trying to find you

But here, even with all your camouflage, you can be seen too easily. If you shift to release the cramp in your thigh, someone might catch a glimpse of your ashen skin from behind the leaves. If you reach a hand down to brush her shoulder, she might scream and alert those around you to your presence. Here is too public, you must wait longer.

Your muscles itch with the insatiable urge to just swoop down and take her.

I've been with you all day

I'm trying to stay calm

I'm impatient and it's really hard to breathe

I'm going to empty you and fill you in with me

All of a sudden, she stands and begins to walk away from you, a bounce in her stride and a smile of her face. The little flying robot, Masha, chatters away at her shoulder. You grin, feeling narrow canines slip over your bottom lip, and leap into flight, keeping to the trees.

Just keep the violence down

Not yet - don't make a sound

Oh God I'm feeling it

It's reaching fever pitch

She turns and cuts through the trees, giggling at something the robot has told her, and you follow eagerly. You feel your hands twitch when you speed up to hover above her: you could just grab her now, couldn't you, and she wouldn't even have time to struggle…but, you realise, you have always found that the most amusing part of this situation is seeing her afraid.

It's the one time you really have power over her, and you revel in it every time.

My skin is caving in

My heart is driving out

No mercy, no remorse

Let nature take its course

"Ducks!" she exclaims as she breaks through the tree cover to run to the edge of a pond, in which feathery earth creatures paddle over to beg for the bread in her pocket. "You want something to eat?"

You come to rest in the crook of a branch, your back against the tree trunk and your legs hanging freely down. Now that there's no one around, you don't need to worry about being seen. The only thing to make sure of now is that she doesn't run. You are alert to her every movement, watching her laugh when the ducks nudge her hands, her eyes brighten when three small ducklings dart from the reeds; seeing her red, red hair reflect the sunlight and the breeze tease her skirt.

Watch me - bring me to my knees

Waiting - I am your disease

Lover - set my symptom free

Covered - you can't stop me

You chuckle softly when she almost tips forward into the pond. Then you realise your mistake when her shoulders tense, hair eyes fizz with anger and she whirls around with her fists clenched, glaring. "Kisshu!"

"You certainly took your time to notice me," you sigh, raising your eyebrows and appearing casual. Your muscles, however, are taught and ready to spring if she attempts to run away.

"Leave me alone," she hisses, ears flicking out and flattening against her hair with feline rage. You laugh.

"Just pretend I'm not here." You feel your jaw muscle spasm as your excitement builds. The hunt is on.

But still, you must wait for the perfect opportunity….

Wait, no –

Wait, wait – no –

Wait, not yet – no…

Wait, waitShe becomes exasperated, rather than fearful, and rolls her eyes. "Don't you have other things to do, Kisshu?" she enquires, folding her arms and resting her weight on one hip. "Don't you ever tire of this?"

"No, and no," you reply, and grin maliciously. "Don't you tire of this? Why don't you just come with me, koneko-chan?"

"Not interested. Go abduct someone else."

You kick yourself up into the air, floating so your toes barely brush the tips of the grass. "I'm telling you, it'll be paradise. Better than anything Aoyama-kun could provide," you say in your most wheedling voice. "Imagine, you and me, no fighting."

"I prefer to imagine you and me fighting, me winning, and your head on a pike. Now go away!" she shouts, and you fly forward abruptly to cover her mouth. You narrow your eyes, your face inches from hers and whisper, "Keep it down!"

"Why?" she mumbles into your palm. "Afraid someone might see you, alien boy?"

I'm sweating through my veins

I'm trying to hold on

It's unbearable, it's almost worse for me

I'm gonna to tear you apart and make you see

MAKE YOU SEE!

You don't reply, only give her a warning glare. You hand tightens on her face and you excite when she flinches and you see that flicker of fear in her eyes.

"Ichigo, come with me," you command, the pleading, persuading tone in your voice now gone. "We're leaving now. There's no need to pack: I have everything you will ever need."

"Get off me!" she snaps, breaking free of your grasp and stumbling back, hands clenched, her eyes aflame. Her tail springs to view, puffy and erect, displaying the height of her anger. "I am not going anywhere with you, you creep!"

You are even more surprised than she when a smile springs to your face, revealing your long, pearly white canines. "I beg to differ," you reply lightly. You reach for her hand again, only to have her wrench it away.

"Go away!" she thunders.

"It's all right if you're shy, koneko-chan," you purr, still advancing. You see that delicious glimpse of fear on her face when she realises you are backing her into the pond. The ducks scatter when her heels brush the edge of the water. "I understand."

Watch me - bring me to my knees

Waiting - I am your disease

Lover - set my symptom free

Covered - you won't feel a thing

You can't stop me!

"I'm not shy," she barks. She is up to her ankles in water by now. "I just don't like you. At all."

"Again, I beg to differ. I've seen the way you look at me: you want me, don't you?" you chuckle. She looks horrified, and, for a moment, you feel the urge to hit her. Forcing a calm expression onto your face, you work your jaw and walk ever closer. She is within reach when she trips and falls backward into the water.

This is the virus

THE VIRUS OF LIFE

It gets inside us

The crisis, the knife

This is the virus

The virus of life

This is inside us

The crisis, the knife

It's now that you pounce, while she flounders amongst the pond weed, trying to get to her feet before you latch your clawed hands onto her narrow wrists; when you succeed in this she screams and buckles beneath you, trying to shake you off.

"Got you," you murmur, a malicious grin finding its way onto your triumphant face.

"I win, koneko-chan."

It's almost time to play

It's time to be afraid

I can't control the pain

I can't control in vain

"No!" she shrieks. "Let me go!"

She brings her knee up swiftly, slamming it with extreme force into your spine. A white-hot bolt of pain shoots from your tailbone to the nape of your neck and your eyes roll back into your head. You groan and release her, momentarily disarmed.

For Ichigo, a moment is enough: she's on her feet before you know it and running full pelt to the shore.

Oh God I'm ready now

You're almost ready now

I'm gonna raid it now

I'm gonna break it down

"Oh, you bitch," you sneer, feeling the rage you've fought so hard to control spring from its cage and take over your mind. Near blind with anger, you teleport so you're hovering before her, long-fingered hands held taught like the claws of a bird-of-prey. Your lip curls in a feral snarl and you teeth hang dagger-like from your blood-red gums. "That's enough."

Something in you gut twists gleefully when you see that spark of fear in her eyes ignite and she staggers backward away from you, trembling. "Leave me alone," she whispers, but for the first time today this command is said without malice. Her lower lip quivers and she bites down on it to make it stop.

"Please, Kish."

You ignore the tear that trickles down her cheek and offer her your hand. "Take it, now. Let's go."

I see you in the dark

I see you all the way

I see you in the light

I see you bright as day

"NO!" she thunders, clenching her fists. You see that her fingernails have elongated and curved inward, like the claws of a cat. "I WON'T GO WITH YOU!"

"Shut up!" you order her angrily, slashing at her face with your own talons. She ducks to avoid the blow and kicks out at your stomach; her foot connects solidly with your belly and you drop from where you hung in mid-air: your mouth hangs wide-open and you gasp for breath. Before you can rid your vision of the black petals that have bloomed before your eyes, she's on top of you, her hands around your throat, squeezing.

"I hate you!" she sobs. "I hate you I hate you!"

The black petals expand and speed up until they become thousands of little black beetles scurrying over your line of sight.

I wanna touch your face

I wanna touch your soul

I wanna wear your face

I wanna burn your soul

Her hands tighten over your windpipe and you struggle for breath, writhing and bucking beneath her, too weak to throw her off. You work the muscles in your throat and her face contorts in disgust when she feels them grate beneath her hands: your eyes bulge and your tongue squirms and the light is fading out of the sky…

You try to force words out of your dying lips, but they come out as poly-syllabic, animalistic grunts. You become less and less aware of her presence and your limbs slow in their flailing dance of death…

Watch me - bring me to my knees

Waiting - I am your disease

Lover - set my symptom free

Lover - you don't love me

And all of a sudden you can breath again and the weight that is Ichigo is lifted from your torso; the bugs before your eyes disappear and the sky is blindingly blue. You lie in the shallow, murky pond water, dragging in great lungfuls of air greedily. You throat aches and you're sure that there are indigo bruises blossoming on your ashen skin but you can't stop gulping down air like a parched man in a desert would gulp water.

"I-chigo," you gasp, your eyes searching for her. When they find her standing on the pond's shore, you smile crookedly, creepily. "You rotten bitch. You strangled me."

She does not glare or spit a retort. She only stares hollowly, her hands slack by her sides.

"Next time I'll kill you, Kish," she murmurs and her voice is empty of any threat, but her words chill you to your bones. "I swear to you, I will."

And then she whirls around and disappears into the trees, leaving you staring at the clouds that race over the cerulean sky.

This is the virus, the virus of life

You make no effort to chase her; instead a wide grin spreads over your face and you tuck your arms beneath you head. A giggle bubbles painfully up form the depths of your belly.

"Next time you won't have a chance to," you call after her, knowing all too well that she won't hear you but feeling vengeful all the same. The giggle climaxes toward hysterical laughter and you let it come.

The thought of taking her, really taking her, like a captor may take a hostage, puts down roots in your mind and the thought takes a hold on you. You clamp down on your laughter and your grin becomes an ominous smirk.

THIS IS THE VIRUS, THE VIRUS OF LIFE!

"Not a chance," you murmur again, you voice low and threatening. The smirk stays plastered on your face even after you teleport into nothingness.

Not a chance.