Afternoon Tea

I've never seen an alternative reality fan-fiction which sees other characters as the leader of the Mews. Sure, I've seen stories where original characters have taken up the role, but never one where an existing character has. For this story, Mint is going to be the leader – not because she's my favourite character, but simply because her personality is very different to Ichigo's, and there would definitely have been a different approach taken to saving the world. That aside, I hope you all enjoy reading 'Afternoon Tea', and remember to comment!

White Snow Buds Tea

"White Snow Buds is the rarest white tea, hand harvested in small quantities in the Fujian province of China. In early spring, each bud is picked together with one leaf and left to dry. White Snowbuds has distinctive, silvery leaves and buds and a subtle, delicate, clean and refreshing taste."

"She lied," Mint murmured under her breath, as she roamed the museum in her best dress. "I can't believe that good-for-nothing lied to me!"

Becoming agitated, Mint was becoming increasingly aware that she was about to be humiliated in front of her whole class. She could see it now; that liar, Tonae Hitori,telling everyone that Mint Aizawa had jumped at the chance to meet Zakuro Fujiwara in a boring museum, and didn't even check to see if the idol was even in the area.

"She's here," Mint promised herself, pausing and taking a breath. "She's definitely, definitely here! I even pushed back my afternoon tea time till later. She has to be here…"

Mint continued her walk, and then entered another part of the museum. Once again, her hopes had been raised, until she scanned the crowd, and didn't see Zakuro Fujiwara anywhere. Instead, there was a flustered red-head desperately trying to keep up with her date, who had moved on to see the wolves exhibit.

"Masaya, wait for-" she called.

Mint had seen it coming. Suddenly, the red-head tripped up, and landed on her date's lips, blushing scarlet. Oddly enough, the date wasn't embarrassed; instead he led the conversation that followed into one about wasting tissues. Beginning to feel for the redhead, Mint decided to step in.

"Please," she greeted. "Use this."

As she bent down to hand the flushing girl her handkerchief, Mint also gave her a gracious smile, which not long after was replaced with a sneer. Really… this girl was pathetic. After that, Mint walked off, once again in search of Zakuro Fujiwara.

Although just before she turned the corner, the redhead's date said something: "Beautiful! See this? This hankie is made from recycled fibres!"

Mint snickered to herself, but then her mind wandered to something more important. She had been around every display… unless Zakuro was going in an entirely different direction; it was likely the idol never stepped foot in the museum.

So, Mint turned around – she retraced her steps, and found herself outside.

"Wow! What a cute café!" someone exclaimed. Mint remembered that voice, mainly because she had heard it just a few moments ago, but also because it had an annoying ring to it. Smirking slightly, Mint followed the redhead she had seen previously, who appeared to be lost in her thoughts, and didn't dare make a sound, until the girl began to giggle. She was thinking about her date.

"Oh…" Mint sighed. "True love can be so difficult…"

She made it appear as if she hadn't meant to be heard, but really all Mint wanted to do was tease the girl until she snapped. Even if she couldn't find Zakuro Fujiwara, she could have gained something from the trip.

"It's none of your business!" the girl proclaimed, stubbornly, a look on her face which suggested Mint was not wanted.

Annoyed at the redhead's tone of voice, Mint folded her arms. "He must be so dense," she said bluntly. "It's so obvious you have a crush on him."

The girl suddenly turned to face Mint, looking angry. "Have you been spying on us or something?!" she demanded, glowering with rage. Her face was red, once again, almost as if she was shocked someone would realise within ten minutes of meeting her.

"Well… you too are more interesting than the displays…"

"What?! You've been nothing but sarcastic and rude and-"

"You're really starting to tick me off!" another voice finished for her, although this voice did not come from someone sharing the same conversation. Turning around, both Mint and the redhead noticed a group of girls, notably one with glasses sprawled on the floor, her pretty face full of fear.

"I-I'm sorry, but I brought the coffee like you asked me to…" her small voice said, managing to gather enough courage to speak.

"Why would we want hot coffee when it's scorching hot outside?!" another girl countered, with her voice full of malice.

"B-but you said 'hot coffee'…"

"We changed our minds! Figure it out dummy!"

"I'm really sorry!"

Mint began to inspect her fingernails. "They must be from Okumura Daifuzoku Junior High," she told the redhead half-heartedly. "They shouldn't bully her at the museum…"

"They're ganging up on her!"

Suddenly, a small, but able body flung itself in front of the bespectacled girl. An obviously determined girl in a Chinese outfit with shorts spread her arms wide and bravely said: "Pick on someone your own size!"

Although Mint could not hear the murmuring that followed, she was able to see everything that was going on. As if the girl clad in yellow had rehearsed everything, she began to dodge the girls, jump around and even landed on a lamppost, from which she teased the bullies, as if she belonged to a circus.

"W-wow…" Mint spluttered, admitting that even she was impressed.

"Stop screwing around!" one of the bullies yelled in agitation. She realised that no one was there to protect the girl who was still on the floor, thankfulness evident in her eyes, so she picked up a cup of hot coffee, and was about to throw it over the girl, when an arm reached out of nowhere, snatching the bully's hand.

The redhead had broken into a run at this point, as the cup hit the floor. The bully recoiled in pain, and everyone had a good look at who had stopped her from throwing the coffee.

Zakuro Fujiwara.

Mint froze up, as the bullies ran, far from sight. The glamorous older girl and the acrobatic younger girl were far too much for them.

"Are you alright?" the redhead asked desperately, catching up to the others. Mint could hardly follow. "You didn't get hurt did you?"

"I'm OK," the bespectacled girl promised, standing up, and bowing to them. "Thank-you so much! I didn't mean to cause trouble."

"No worries," Zakuro Fujiwara said simply.

"It was fun!" the blonde girl exclaimed, arms wide.

"I'm glad you're OK," the redhead stated in relief.

Now they were all closer to her, everyone finally got a good look at the girl they had saved. Green hair tied into a plait, grateful green eyes and a dusty uniform she was now trying to fix. "I'm slow, so people get mad at me," she admitted. "I'll have to apologise to them later…"

The redhead now looked horrified. "Apologise?! For what?! They were the ones being mean! Don't you think so?"

She turned to look at Mint, who had her hands clasped together, her eyes on Zakuro. "Uh huh," she muttered. Then, "I want to be just like her…"

Before the redhead could even respond with a slightly confused look, Zakuro spoke up. "I better get going."

"See ya!" the youngest girl said happily.

"Huh?!" Mint blurted out.

"Wait-!"

The floor began to shake violently.

"What the-?!" Mint yelled out, looking at the floor, while holding onto the ribbons in her hair.

"An earthquake?!" someone squealed. Mint didn't recall who it was, because the next thing she knew, everyone's eyes were on the café. They had all turned to look at it abruptly, and then there was a flash of light.

"No!"

"What's this light?!"

"Does this feel like a regular earthquake?!"

This was no earthquake, Mint felt like telling everyone.

Suddenly, she blacked out, and found herself standing in complete darkness. A small blue light was the only source of light, and after a while, Mint realised that it was a blue lorikeet. She knew that it was a dream, but couldn't bring herself to comprehend it. It was almost as if she refused to admit it was a dream.

When the lorikeet approached her, Mint instantly held her hands out, as if she was about to embrace the creature… but it completely ignored her. It didn't stop, instead it just few straight towards her.

Mint closed her eyes. It's going to hit me! But it didn't, instead, she felt as if the lorikeet had sunk into her chest and Mint withdrew in horror. Was she dead? Did the earthquake kill her?

No… she understood now… she was merging with a blue lorikeet. The feeling was indescribable, but it didn't last long. The dream began to fade, and Mint's eyes opened up.

She was in her house. Her bed, to be exact. Still dressed in her best dress, Mint was still trying to let it sink in that she had collapsed in front of the café, and woken up in her bed. How on Earth had she gotten here?

Mint's grandmother suddenly opened the door. "Ah! Mint-san. How are you feeling? You've been out for a few hours…"

"Huh?" Mint's head snapped towards the window. The curtains were closed, although it was obviously dark outside. "W-what?"

"You don't remember? You were found with four other girls outside the museum after the earthquake. Well… get some more sleep, and I'll wake you up in the morning."

The lights remained on, and Mint began to change for bed. "That dream…" she murmured. "Was so weird…"

Little did Mint know that the events that unfolded outside the museum would one day turn out to be the first battle Tokyo Mew Mew ever fought.

Kyah, this is only supposed to be the prologue, yet its five pages long and over 1700 words. I'm amazed. I really didn't expect it to get that long. It should be noted that I found it ridiculously hard to write this. Mint doesn't know Ichigo, Lettuce or Pudding's names yet, so I simply had to refer to them as 'the redhead', 'the bespectacled girl' and 'the girl clad in yellow'. It got old after a while. So anyway, each chapter is going to be named for a type of tea. This tea was White Snow Buds… I've never tried it before, but it sounds delicious (oh, and… um… no, I'm not like Mint, but I did end up being her when I took the quiz at the end of Tokyo Mew Mew Volume One (that's why I picked her for this)). Maybe one day I'll make one for Zakuro, Pudding and Lettuce (obviously in that order, I like Lettuce, although sometimes I can't stand her).