So this was going to be a drabble and ended up feeling like it deserved a longer run so it gets its own story! Look at that something new! Oh wow! So if anyone wants to be a beta reader for me for TMM stories that would be helpful! lol Cuz I'm bad at reading over my own stuff! Tell me couples you want to show up in this story!
With her reflection staring back at her, Ichigo shifted her body 3/4th to the right and noted her skirt that swished when she did that. Worried it was short, her pulled and stretched the threads to do as she commanded and somehow lengthen without moving from her hips. "Damn skirt." She found herself missing her middle school uniform in that moment, despite herself. Her returned her attention to the mirror and huffed at her own reflection. She had grown slightly taller, throwing off the measurements she gave the school when picking her new high school uniform. It fit fine when she first got it, but now she was a 2nd year and this would not do.
The style overall was plain as well, skirt and white shirt and a tartan bow tied around her neck, hanging low on her chest. Not at all like the cute uniform she received in middle school, but then again, nothing was like it was back then.
Deciding she looked good enough, Ichigo tied her hair into pigtails and left her room in favor of getting some food. The walk from her room to her kitchen was much shorter than it used to be, since she didn't live in the same house, but small building was cozy and perfect for one. She had more time than she originally thought and decided to make herself a proper meal. The house was silent, excluding the sound of cooking and, making more than she had planned, Ichigo was left with a decent lunch of tamagoyaki and hotdogs in the shape of octopi and a filling breakfast. She thanked herself for the food, cleaned and made her way to the door.
The clock hanging on her wall ticked off the time she would remain being alone, and like most mornings it was the only noise the red head heard. She didn't talk to herself much and she was beginning to wonder if she could cover getting a pet. A cat would be nice, but would that be clichéd. Ichigo laughed quietly, slipping her shoes on in the genkan and opening her door. She turned to look at the small room she left behind and with a sigh she called out, "I'm heading out."
There wasn't a response but there hasn't been in a long while.
Ichigo turned on a heel, locked up her home and headed out, preparing for the long walk to school. She missed walking to school with her friends. She hadn't made any close ones at her new school yet, although she did have people she was acquainted with and people who she would eat with during lunch but no one lived close enough to walk to school with her and no one had stayed over at her house. No one like Moe and Miwa but it wasn't really an opinion to walk to school with them.
The rest of the day went on in a haze. She made it to school before the bell rang, she barely listened in any class, she ate lunch with the girls in her class at her desk and she packed up her homework, changed into her outside shoes and began to walk to Café Mew Mew.
It was still popular amongst the girls her age and was always particularly busy after school and Ryou was expecting her sooner rather than later. Ichigo did live farther than she used to from the cafe and now taking the train had become her new routine, squished between heated bodies, it was the closest she got to people throughout her day but when she did show up for what she thought would be a regular day at the café, she found out she was incredibly wrong.
The first sign that everything was off was actually the sign hanging from the door of the café. Closed? At this time of day? But this is when we get all the customers. Ichigo thought before pulling out the key she had to the café. It was given to her, back when the aliens were a problem, in case of emergencies she could get into the café, but now it was mostly used as another key on her key chain. When she finally got the door open, the red head was surprised, to say the lease. Infront of her eyes, beside her boss, Ryou, were the three aliens she thought she'd never see again. "Ryou?"
"Ichigo, you're here." He sighed, looking exasperated. "You can help."
"Help?"
"Kitten!" Kish called out and floated towards her, a smile plastered on his face. The close contact made Ichigo a little uncomfortable, causing her to take a step back. "You look older."
"You do too." She muttered. It was true, he looked like he had grown in the time he was gone, leaving her to wonder about his race and how their aging worked. "What is going on here?" Ichigo looked back at Ryou causing the green alien to pout, crossing his arms from lack of attention. The blonde shook his head in annoyance and motioned to Pai, the tallest of the three aliens who planted himself firmly on the floor. It had been maybe 3 years since they left, and all of them looked different. Pai didn't seem to get any taller from last time, still towering over the other two and his face looked more mature. Kish grew taller and older and a bit more handsome, she noted. He looks like a proper adult. Or the alien equivalent I suppose.
Tart was the one who looked the most changed. He almost looked like Kish didn when they thought, even going so far as to wear similar clothes. He was taller and older and looked like he had grown even more of an attitude, the youngest of the three floating to the floor and pulling out a seat at one of the many tables in the café.
"We need a place to stay for a while." Pai told her, crossing his arms across his chest. "We have a mission and on the way our ship seemed to have some trouble. I could fix it but it will take a while and we saw this planet on route and hoped for some housing for a few days."
"Why don't you just stay in your ship?" Ryou asked with a roll of his eyes.
"What part of broken don't you get?" Tart finally spoke, his voice much deeper than she remembered. "It's broken, all of our amenities like running water and air conditioning won't work. You want to stay in that for a few days, be my guest."
Ichigo gave a glace to Kish, still floating by her, and the green alien shrugged. "He's gotten a bit… moodier with puberty."
"Ah."
"So, you need a place to stay." Ryou rubbed his eyes with his thumb and forefinger, clearly showing his stress over the situation. "Well you can't stay here, we have customers." With that finalization, everyone turned to Ichigo, who looked, after the few moments of sweet ignorance, held up her hands in defense.
"They can't stay with me!"
"They can't stay anywhere else, Ichigo."
"I don't wanna stay with her." Tart pouted. "She's an old hag. And probably has that other gross human around all the time."
Ichigo sighed, ignoring the sting and tuning the young alien out, all her attention on Ryou. "What about Purin? Can't they stay with her?"
"She busy today. Or did you forget she has 7 brothers and sisters?" The blonde regarded Ichigo with a hard, serious stare. "She doesn't have the room. You should, you live alone." This was becoming a whole conversation she didn't want today. "If anything happens, call me. But they need somewhere to stay so they're completely at your mercy, right?" Blue eyes scanned the room and all three aliens nodded, granted with some eye rolls from Tart and some begrudging noises from Pai. Kisshu seemed perfectly happy catering to her every whim.
The red head knew she was completely defeated. "So I'm assuming there's no work today?"
"Nope. Now get them outta here."
She felt like she could hunch over like a cartoon. Riding the train all the way here only to be told she would now have to house 3 aliens in her small, 1 room home, and then taking the train back with said alien- oh no she wouldn't do that. They looked too… Alien-y! Ichigo turned to the three of them panicked. "How are we going to get to my house?"
"I got ya covered, Kitten!" Kish grasped her arm and she felt the world rush behind her before everything snapped into focus. It all happened in a split second and Ichigo collapsed on the floor, willing her head to stop spinning. "Oh shit, I'm sorry! I forgot you're not used to it."
"'S fine." Ichigo mumbled hearing a weird, whooshing sound she had come to recognize at the aliens teleporting and did her best to hold in her vomit. It was a stomach lurching experience to have the world move very quickly and suddently stop very suddently and snap back into position, almost like a roller coaster with your eyes closed. "Next time, don't do that."
"You killed her, Kish. Now we're going to live?" She could hear Taruto's slightly matured voice laugh at her misery and all she wanted to do was get up and punch him. "Come on, it's not that bad."
When Ichigo was finally able to stand, she shot the smaller alien a glare before turning her attention to getting into her house. When her eyes made contact with the old building Ichigo noted it was her old home, the one her and her parents lived in before she went to high school, the two story home she had lived in all her life, full of the good memories from before she had to grow up. "This isn't my house." She said wistfully, her eyes trained on the building in front of her. She didn't know if anyone was living there now, but the front had a small spot that used to hold her family name plate and for now it was empty.
The aliens looked at each other silently, questioned what to do before Ichigo finally turned and began walking down the street towards the house she had been forced to move into. "Come on, don't float. People will think you're in some weird cosplay. Just follow me." The red head knew her voice was a bit harsher then she wanted it to come across but she didn't care in that moment. All she cared about was getting away from her old house.
"Hey, Kitten." Kish called out, running to keep up with her. "What was that?" Ichigo didn't reply, keeping her eyes focused otherwise she might cry. Kish didn't question anymore thankfully, but he walked beside her and Ichigo found it comforting, albit slightly annoying when she wanted to be alone. She did suppose it was a good way to describe Kisshu, comforting but slightly annoying. The thought caused a small smile.
"How far is your house?" Pai's voice shocked her out of her thoughts. He hadn't really spoken very much since she saw him, which honestly Ichigo appreciated.
"It's not too far now, it's right over here."
The rest of the walk was uneventful, save the people they walked past's confused faces. No one seemed to think anything more than just an odd cosplay, some going as far as to ask for pictures which they all declined politely. (Well… as politely as Taurto could with his new attitude.) But when they finally made it, Ichigo hurried in front of the aliens she was escorting and opened the door for them, letting them pile in before she walked in after, shutting and locking the door.
She she turned on the light, she noticed Taruto was flying and Kish was standing in the living room with this shoes on. The only one she didn't want to scream at was Pai who stood in the genkan, the only one with manners, although he did stand like he had no idea what to do. "Alright everyone stop!" She yelled out, her hands on her hips. Kish and Tart stared at her with blank expressions, wondering what they did wrong. "Everyone stand right here!" She yelled, pointing to the hard wood floor. The two aliens stood in front of her door right next to Pai, both looking terrified. "There are rules to living in my house." The surge of having to tell them what to do was definitely appealing to the former cat girl and she smiled. "There is no flying in or outside of my house!"
"Wait, what?!" Taruto gasped, obviously upset. "Inside here, no one can even see us! Why can't we fly?"
"Because I have neighbors." Ichigo replied in a matter of fact tone. "No flying. Rule 2, now, when you walk into a Japanese home, you take off your shoes here." She said, motioned to the floor. She removed her shoes and placed them in the shoe rack she had bought, making sure they noticed how she wanted everything done. "And after, you put on these shoes." She reached in the shoe rack and pulled out house slippers handing them out to the aliens in front of her. "Rule 3," Her eyes focused on Kish. "No perving out. If you try anything, you will stay in your ship!"
The green alien shrugged, hiding back a smile.
"If I come up with more rules, I will let you know!" She was running out of steam as well as things to say but now all aliens had put on house shoes and were able to walk into her living room easily. When Ichigo stepped into the room, she contemplated the space. It honestly was a small house, the living room and the kitchen almost one room, with a small bathroom and one bedroom. She figured she could push her table to the wall and they could sleep on the floor with a futon, but she only had one… Maybe I should get blankets…
"So what are we supposed to do now, hag?" Tart asked, sitting on the floor, crossed legged, his chin resting on his hand. "Got anything to do."
She in fact didn't. She did now have to ruin out and get blankets for her unexpected house guests now however. "Um… I have a tv in that corner." She said, pointing to the television in the corner. She grabbed the controller on the table and turned it on, immediately catching Tart's attention. It was on a drama program, something she liked to watch as she cleaned her house, and an attractive woman was crying, holding onto an attractive man's hand who she recognized to be a singer in a boy band. "I don't have many channels on it, but there is anime and some dramas."
Taruto didn't really reply to her, he was focused on the screen.
"Hey, Kitten." Kish called out to her, motioning for her to come over to him. Ichigo walked closer, noting Pai sitting next to Tart, telling him he shouldn't watch human garbage. "I thought you lived with your parents, like most humans. What happened?"
His concern shocked her. "It's nothing important…" She mumbled, her eyes diverting to the wall. "Family stuff came up, so my family had to move… it's not a big deal… I just live alone now so I can go to school." When she looked back at him, she pushed aside all the thoughts of her past, her face stern, hoping she looked like she had authoritative powers. "I have to go to the store. You all will be good while I'm gone, right?" She suddenly felt as though she had adopted animals instead of having unwanted house guests.
Kish nodded, Pai didn't really say much of anything except gave her a look as if to say, 'I'm not the one you should be talking to' and Tart… Well, Tart didn't look away from the screen. She turned towards the door and fished out her shoes, balancing against the door and she worked. She could feel someone come up behind her and turned her head to see the green haired alien looking confused. "Where are you going?"
"I have to run to the store. I told you." She replied.
Kish looked like he didn't believe her but she honestly didn't have the time to deal with him now. She only had a few minutes before the store closed and while it was close, she wasn't even sure she'd make it in time. Kisshu watched her leave and even locked the door behind her as she instructed. While she wasn't so sure how much she trusted him in her house, she did appreciate how much the aliens were listening to her.
It was honestly a first. Kish never listened to her when they were fighting. He did whatever he pleased and she didn't blame him too much for it, (he had his mission, she had hers.) but it begged the question of if they would ever truly be friends. Between the kissing her when she didn't want it and trying his damnedest to kill her boyfriend, Ichigo wanted to kick them out and never look back. But she wasn't like that. Because in his last moments, he showed signs of redemption and that was enough for her to try to be his friend.
When Ichigo had stopped thinking, she noticed she managed to make it to the store, all the lights still on. Perfect.
It was all too much to think about anyway. Graduate high school. That's what you should be worried about. Hopefully the aliens wouldn't get in the way with exams coming up at the end of the month. They shouldn't right?
They had only said a while. How long could that be?