Eh, well this isn't my best oneshot ever, but I figured I owed you all something for my long absence, and to celebrate my new computer. I own neither Tokyo Mew Mew nor the song Live Like We're Dying by Kris Allen. I appreciate all comments, so please review!
"Ryou, I hate you!" Ichigo suddenly burst, throwing her mop to the floor even though her blond-haired boss was nowhere to be seen. "Ugh! Not only do you make us work during the summer, but we have to come in on a Saturday to get extra cleaning done? You're a friggen slave driver, here, Ryou!" As her shouts tapered into whines, the other Café employees ruefully shook their heads.
"You would think that she would have gotten used to the work load by now," remarked Mint, taking a delicate sip from her cup of tea. "You missed a spot, by the way." She gestured vaguely across the room, smirking at Ichigo's angry face.
"Would it kill you to help out just a little for once, Mint?" Ichigo demanded, sulkily picking her mop back up and going to find the missed spot.
"I'll help Ichigo-oneesan!" Pudding exclaimed, skipping over with a mop and a sunny expression.
"Is Ryou-san even here, yet?" Retasu asked, pushing a stray lock of hair behind her ear and looking at their oldest team member. Zakuro merely shrugged, wiping her rag in rhythmic circles to clean the glass.
"That lousy blond," Ichigo muttered under her breath. "So he's too lazy to come to work when we all have to be here, is that it? We'll see about that!" Minto shook her head with a sigh. Ichigo was always muttering about either revenge or a raised paycheck – neither of which ever came to fruitation. Still, it was amusing watching her try.
Sighing, Minto set down her tea, watching the other girls bustle around the café, making it sparkle in cleanliness. Of course, Ichigo was doing most of the work, what with Retasu slipping on the newly mopped floor, Pudding trying to juggle plates while skating across the wet floors of the café, and Zakuro was working diligently at her job and steering clear of the other girls' catastrophe.
Footsteps sounded in the hallway near the kitchen, and all the girls turned towards the noise. "Ryou!" Ichigo yelled, her face going red in preparation for the upcoming battle.
Ryou yawned, stretching his arms above his head, and looked, puzzled, at Ichigo. "What is it now, Strawberry?"
"One, don't call me that! Two, what took you so long? It's already past noon! Three, what the hell are we doing here when we could be relaxing at home? Four-!"
"Woah, woah!" Ryou interrupted, his hands in the air and a smirk on his face. "Slow down and watch your language. There are little kids here."
"Me, nanoda?" asked Pudding, pointing to herself.
Ichigo ignored her, stepping closer to her unruffled boss. "You think that just because you've given us these superhero powers means that we'll come work here at the drop of a dime?"
Ryou shrugged. "Well, it's worked so far." He turned to walk into the kitchen, leaving Ichigo smoldering behind him. "And you'd better pick up the slack if you don't want me to dock your pay," he called over his shoulder, dodging the mop she threw like a javelin at him.
"Y-you shouldn't let him get to you like that, Ichigo," advised Retasu, putting her glasses back on and picking herself up off the floor for the fifth time already that day.
"I know, I know!" Ichigo started pacing, pulling at her pigtails. "Really, that guy gets under my skin! Like some freaky form of bacteria or something!" Retasu laughed at this, prompting Ichigo to crack a smile as well. "Well, he is!" she insisted, going to retrieve her mop.
After a while, Ryou reappeared in the doorway. "Hey, Strawberry!" he called.
"I told you not to call me that!"
"Anyways, since you want to get out so much, go and buy us these groceries." He held out a list and a credit card. Ichigo made a face, but came to take them. "And if I see a single thing charged to this card from today that is not on this list," Ryou breathed, leaning in close to Ichigo, "I'm taking it straight out of your pocket. Kapiche?"
Ichigo nodded vigorously, then turned and dashed back into the changing rooms. In mere moments, she was back, rushing out the doors in her street clothes and calling, "Smell you later, Ryou!"
Ryou stayed where he was, watching the spot where Ichigo had just vanished. With a small sigh and shake of his head, he turned to go back to his lab. "What?" he asked defensively, catching sight of Zakuro's expression. She merely smiled and shook her head in return, brushing past him to break up the unfolding disaster between the other three girls.
Humming, Ichigo walked briskly home from her errands, her bags in one hand and her cell phone in another. She laughed, cradling the phone against her ear. "No, Masaya, he really said that! Can you believe how much of a jerk my boss is? I mean, it's not only summer, but the weekend to boot, and he's still making us work!"
Masaya's voice flowed smooth and reassuring from the speakers. "Cheer up! I'm sure it can't be that bad. It's not like you're fighting aliens anymore or anything, right?"
Ichigo laughed again, stifling her giggles to scold, "Masaya! We're not supposed to talk about that! What if someone heard you?"
Although she could not see him, Ichigo imagined her boyfriend shrugging. "But I love you," he said, as if that solved the matter.
Blushing all the way to her roots, Ichigo giggled and said, "Me, too! But Ryou's annoying like that. He keeps on going on about how terrible it would be if people found out we were Mews. I swear, that guy can never relax!"
As she chatted with her beau, Ichigo continued wandering around town, paying less and less attention to where she was going as the conversation continued. It was late, but the sun was still shining enough that the lamps had not yet turned on, so Ichigo did not think about it. As frequently happened, she was totally wrapped up in Masaya, ignoring the rest of the world. Unfortunately, the rest of the world had other plans.
"Hey, look, Ichigo," said Masaya eventually, sounding regretful, "I really got to go now. My mother wants me to help her with making the dinner, so I'm needed there."
"Of course!" exclaimed Ichigo. "Go have a nice meal with your family!"
Masaya laughed, and Ichigo smiled in return. "Sure thing. I love you."
"I love y-! Ouch!" Ichigo had just turned the corner, knocking into someone else and dropping her phone in the process. Rubbing her bottom, she looked up to see a snarling man standing over her.
"And just what," he said menacingly, "do you think you're doing? Hmm?"
Ichigo gulped as she saw a group of men dressed in dark clothing seem to magically appear out of thin air cluster around the snarling man, cracking their knuckles, necks, and various other body parts. A bucket of ice seemed to slide into Ichigo's stomach. Fear gripped her and she broke out into a cold sweat. They were not on the open street anymore but in some sort of alley, and there was no other bystander who could potentially help her.
Gulping, Ichigo tried to scramble to her feet, laughing nervously as she said, "Ohmigosh, I'm so sorry about that, I just didn't see where I was going and -" She stopped talking with a gasp as one of the gang crushed her cell phone under his shoe as she reached for it. "Hey!" she cried, indignant. "That was my phone!" Glaring at the men, she crossed her arms and tossed her hair, anger starting to replace fear.
The men laughed, slapping each other on the shoulders, looking around as if they had just heard a funny joke. Ichigo froze as she heard a metallic click and saw the barrel of a gun being pointed straight at her. Scratch that: fear was back.
"Do you even know where you are girly?" the first man asked. He was sneering, now, relishing Ichigo's obvious discomfort. "You're in Black Snake territory. Do you know who we are?"
Ichigo's eyes widened. She HAD heard of this gang: they had been in the news recently for a bunch of murders around the city area. But she never thought she would ever run into them, literally or not. Nodding slowly, Ichigo kept her eyes on the gun. Her mind had gone blank, not thinking as she let her bags fall to the ground. There was no point. She did not even have her pendant; she had forgotten it back at the Café. Ryou was going to kill her for that if she ever made it out of this mess.
"L-look!" Ichigo tried to reason, her hands held up defensively, "I really didn't mean to run into you, honest! It was an accident, and I am deeply sorry for my disrespectful behavior." And she bowed, realizing only afterwards that the sudden movement might startle her attackers and cause them to shoot. She tensed, but nothing happened, save for more laughter.
"You've got a pretty mouth on you when you're faced with death, huh, girly?" remarked the man with the gun. "Whadya say, boys? Should we let her go or not?"
The other men laughed menacingly, crowding in closer. "Aw, boss, couldn't we have a bit of fun with her, first? She'd be a great toy! I mean, she's a right little but-her-face, don'tcha think?" More laugher, but Ichigo did not find anything funny. Were they talking about what she thought they were? And what was a butter-face? "C'mon! Some of us haven't had any action in months!" Yep, they were talking about that.
Angry, Ichigo straightened up, face flushed with rage. "You, you, beasts!" she screeched. "You talk about me like I'm not even here, like I'm just some sort of thing! And how can you talk so calmly about taking advantage of someone! It's against the law, and it's just wrong!" Crossing her arms, Ichigo glared at the gang. "You ought to be ashamed of yourselves!"
"Well, that answers my question." And now the gun was right in front of her face, so close that Ichigo nearly had to go cross-eyed to keep it in her sights. "Too bad you're a little too fiery, girly; you would've been a lot of fun. It's almost a shame I have to kill you, now."
Shit, not back to the killing! Ichigo's eyes flickered back and forth between the cold, dark tunnel of death to the equally steely eyes of the one who wielded it. "No," she whispered, all the fight draining out of her.
The man grinned. "Yes," he whispered, just as softly.
Ichigo started to shake, tears welling in her eyes. "No, no, no, no, no!" she whispered. Images began to flash before her eyes. Her friends laughing as they relaxed in the school courtyard, Masaya at kendo practice, her parents welcoming her home one night.
"I can't die, I'm too young!" No one seemed to care as she continued to see different clips from her life. Here was when she first found out she was a Mew Mew. She gave a little gasp of fear and amusement, tears streaming down her cheeks. Stupid Ryou, ruining her first date with Masaya.
"I haven't even finished high school yet; please." Her voice was little more than a rasp, but Ichigo was frantically going through her memories. Maybe this was all just a terrible dream, and the only way out was through her thoughts…
There was Mint, as obnoxious as ever. All she ever did was drink tea and make snide comments, huh? Ichigo wished she could get paid to do that. When they first met – only after she was in danger, of course – Mint actually was not too bad. She loved her dog and was a fantastic dancer, as well as a determined fighter when the time called for it.
Although, for all Mint commanded attention, she could never get enough of Zakuro. Man, she was practically Zakuro's number one fangirl, but luckily Zakuro took it all in stride. Nothing could ruffle Zakuro, not even when she was attacked on camera, or the first time she transformed, when she had no idea what was going on. She was always there for support and advice, even though she sometimes scared the customers!
And there was Retasu! Her memories were all rapid-fire scenes of Retasu dropping things, breaking things, tripping, falling, things crashing, and general chaos. Poor girl… She really was sweet, always smiling with her big glasses and long braids. Too bad she had not been a bit more graceful. Maybe Mint would teach her, some day.
And of course, to trip Retasu up even more was Purin. Ichigo could not remember a single time she had ever seen that child sit still! Really, the things she came up with were sometimes absolutely ridiculous. But she did it all for amusement, and did not have a mean bone in her entire body. She even made friends with that little midget alien, Tart, or whatever his name was. Ichigo laughed as she remembered how they first met. That was also the first time she had met an alien.
Kish. So many memories, although most of them were just her fighting him, yelling at him, kissing him… Those were good times, although she'd rather die than tell anyone that. Wait! Not really! Still, almost the only times she ever saw Kish was in battle with everyone else. Sure, he had always said that he loved her, but she never believed him. Even when he left, she did not believe him. He was just so, so-!
Speaking of annoying people, number one was always Ryou Shirogane! Seriously! That guy must be out to get her; he always got on her nerves. He never gave her a raise no matter how hard she worked, put her in this saving-the-world mess in the first place, teased her constantly, and was just generally annoying! Like working at the Café wasn't hard enough already.
More memories flashed past, and Ichigo tried to hold on to each one, subconsciously hoping that if she drowned herself in them, she could escape from her reality.
There was her first big fight with her parents – she was late from Miwa's house – and her mother smoothed everything over with cake. There was her first day working at the Café, and the subsequent days. There were some of the more memorable fights against the aliens. There was her first kiss with Masaya. There was her first ever kiss. There was her almost-kiss with Ryou (the creep!). There was the final battle with Deep Blue, when Masaya died and she somehow saved him. Wouldn't someone save her now?
There was still so much she wanted to do! She wanted to make Zakuro laugh more, and to get Mint to loosen up like at her sleepover. She wanted Retasu to be more self-confident, more time to spend learning tricks with Purin, and that goddamn pay raise! And she wanted to say "I love you" one more time to Masaya.
She could see Masaya, now. He was walking towards her, arms outstretched and smile on his face. Running towards him, she started to cry, nearly knocking him over with the force of his hug. Thank God! She got to see him again, before—
A soft voice entered her dream world. "Put your lips around the gun, so you won't miss." She was in two worlds, now. In one, she was in a dark alley, trapped with a gun in her face. In the other, she was in Inohara Park with her beloved boyfriend. Tears flowed nonstop in both worlds as she shakily put the gun in her mouth. She felt her hands be placed on the trigger and bigger, gloved hands wrapped around her own to hold the gun steady.
Ichigo ignored it all, convincing herself that she was kissing Masaya, her arms wrapped around his neck. She could almost feel it: her fingers tangled in his hair, his heart beating a steady rhythm on her chest, his mouth warm against hers. It was almost real; almost, almost! She kissed him more deeply, eyes clamped shut as tears pour down her face, wrapping her arms more securely around his neck, hoping to somehow force this dream into reality. It would have been her dream come true if she did not know deep down that it would be the last thing she knew.
Pausing to take a breath of air, Ichigo looked at her boyfriend only to notice that it was not him. That was not Masaya she was so desperately kissing, but more shocking was the fact that she was glad it was not. A cocky grin and a mess of blond hair were the last things Ichigo ever saw.
Police sirens were wailing up and down the street, waking local residents as the older folk were starting to retire for bed. At the Café, some of the Mew Mews looked outside with vague interest to see where the cars were going, but they were soon out of sight, along with a lone ambulance. It was past closing time, even with the new late summer hours, but none of the girls were ready to go home yet. They were all too worried to leave.
Ryou trotted down the stairs, annoyed that Ichigo was so late returning from the errands he had sent her to run. "Hey, girls, have any of you seen Ichigo?"
"No," Mint remarked scornfully, sipping her tea. "Because surely we're all still here merely out of love for our jobs."
"I love my job, nanoda!" protested Purin, rolling by on a giant ball while spinning several plates. Ryou deftly swiped the plates from her as she rolled past. Pouting, Purin continued, "We all want to know where Ichigo-oneesan is."
Retasu had been hovering behind Purin with a broom and dustpan, and she smiled thankfully at Ryou. "I haven't seen her since she left for the cooking supplies."
"Her boyfriend called about an hour ago, saying that he couldn't reach her cell phone and asking if we knew where she was." Zakuro appeared in the doorway, and her words were greeted by nods from the other Mews. "None of us could reach her either. Anyways, I think you should come see this, Ryou."
Puzzled, Ryou followed Zakuro into the other room. Although it was hard to tell the model's feelings, he could swear that she looked upset. Her face had gotten that curiously blank look it sometimes got when she did not want others to know how she was feeling. He was sure she was just worried like he was about Ichigo being late. That was all there was to it. And yet, why did he suddenly have this weight in his stomach?
"I was watching the news while I waited," Zakuro said, closing the door behind her, "and I saw this." She pressed a button, and the horrific scene on the television exploded with sound.
It was a telecaster standing in front of an alleyway with blood splattered on the walls behind him. He was saying, "I repeat, there has been another death in Tokyo tonight, although those afraid of violent gang activity can rest easy. The deceased was a teenage girl shot through the head, although the murder weapon was found in her own hands. Many are saying it was suicide; however, there were no witnesses around to see the actual event, and it was some time before the paramedics were called."
Ryou balled his hands into fists, muttering, "Yeah, but that can't be-"
The television zoomed in behind the telecaster to show two people drawing a white sheet over a shock of red hair. The telecaster's voice spoke over the scene, saying, "The victim appeared to be in the middle of some evening shopping, and from her school identification card, we were able to discover that the name of the deceased is Ichigo Momomiya. I repeat, the teenage Ichigo Momomiya committed suicide earlier tonight for reasons as of yet unknown. Her parents are being notified by the local police, who-"
Zakuro muted the television again and turned to Ryou. "I know that you loved her. We all did. I'll let you decide how to tell the others." She watched Ryou for a sign of consent, but saw only tears. That was too much for Zakuro, who felt tears of her own traitorously start to fall. Hurriedly wiping her eyes, she left the room.
"No," Ryou whispered, eyes glued to the television screen that only showed more of the carnage. "It can't be true. There's no way." He walked briskly out of the room, his pace quickening as he walked so that he was nearly running as he made his way to the entrance. He did not even notice as the other girls inquired after him as he passed, only to recoil in shock when they saw his tears. Throwing open the doors, Ryou frantically looked from side to side outside, hoping against hope that Ichigo would stumble back, complaining about some dumb accident or another, like being turned into a cat, and that was why she was late… But she was not there.
Defeated, Ryou felt like all the air was gone from his lungs, and he sank to his knees with a crash, still desperately staring at the road, trying to will Ichigo into being. "You can't do this to me, Strawberry," he whispered, crying freely as he leaned against the open door for support. "You aren't that cruel. Please, Ichigo, please. I never even got to tell you," he took a shuddering breath, his vision now completely burred by tears, "that I love you."