Ok!This chapter is dedicaced to Gaby, ltlangel3a,and My knizou!!!congrats,girls!!!! And thankyou jack.s.evilguinius for reviewing!!that was really nice of you!!!! and thanx to everyone that reviewed!!all of u are super great!
ok, on with our story-(don't forget that next chapter is dedicaced to Zakuro-chan and Lady Neko Ninja. Enjoy guys!!!
Off we are...
Ichigo held on tight the concrete pillar at the corner of the room while one of the maides readjusted her corset,tightening the laces in the back. Ichigo would let now and then small hisses and whimpers of pain as the laces were pulled too hard.
She closed her eyes and bit her lower lip as the maid did her final touch. "There," she said,smiling proudly at her work. "I finished tightning your corset,Miss Ichigo." Ichigo nodded without looking at her.A scream was weighing at the bottom of her lungs as her silence was more and more frequent.Boy,she hated it all;the pampering ,the questions, the respect-everything. It was like living a silent lie. A venomous lie. A lie that can make you lose more then your mind. An inimaginable lie.
Ichigo's inside threatened to explode with enmity as the maides practically dragged her inside the esthetical room at the end of Kishu's second appartement.
It was a beautiful room painted in a sweet pale pink and a honey-ish color that made Ichigo grin despite her mood. There was a white curtain separating each specific space-a space for nails, a space for the face , a space for massages and a space for hair.
Thousands of accessories and various choice of products layed on glass levels all around the room. Ichigo secretly smiled as her eyes traveled everywhere.
"Good Morning ,Miss Ichigo."
Ichigo's eyes snapped towards the source of sound. A tall,thin woman was standing near a sink used for dyeing hair,smiling.
She had her black hair in a long braid and was wearing a very,very sticky knee length leather purple dress.Two other female cyniclones with the same outfit were standing behind her.
"Good Morning Miss Ichigo.Please take a seat." she greeted, pointing to the chair near the sink she was standing by. Ichigo sat down as the woman turned on the light bulbs tracing the oval shaped mirror in front of her client. When the lights were on,Ichigo looked at her clear reflection and noticed how her previous trip to the grand bathroom changed her appearance and made her natural features look more charming and grown-up.
"So hello my name is Ms.Euphoria,international proffessional for hair and cosmetics program.Pleased to meet you." She extended a firm confident hand towards Ichigo who looked at it doubtfully before extending her own and both hands met for a slobby shake.
"So today's session will begin by overlooking your hair and fixing it according to your face so you would like more a woman than a girl." Said the prof, lifting Ichigo's strawberry red hair in her hands and inspecting them. The voice of the woman was like a sing-song with a french accent. It was sweet and it was apparent she was really certain of her work.
"First, said Ms.Euphoria, cupping Ichigo's chin and still lifting her hair."We've got to make your innocent but yet provocative features more apparent so it can give you a rather sensual expression.Then,we will make sure your hair and your face combine." She stated,letting Ichigo's hair fall. "So, she armed herself with gloves, Let's begin!Oh,by the way you won't see yourself until we're done." Ichigo nodded and with a last sigh, Ms.Euphoria began her oeuvre...
Three hours later...
"That's it!" Exclaimed Ms.Euphoria, beaming wildly in triumph and wearing her gloves off."You can look!" She spinned the chair in which Ichigo was sitting in so it could be facing the mirror. Ichigo's jaw dropped. She blinked a few times.What she saw in the mirror was...not her.
Her hair was dyed in a wealthy golden collor and was long,reaching her waist. Her usual bangs were still there. There was a little glint of sunsetty orange filling her huge cinnamon eyes whom were fixed to be sensually slantish and her lips were naturally pulpous,giving her a cute aspect.
Technically, she was beautiful.Extremely,strikingly,superlatively beautiful. The maids around her clapped cheerfully. But what Ichigo heard was vague.The sound was blur. In fact,she heard nothing at all.Her new physical appearance sure did impress her but scared her just as much. She was no more this sweet looking school girl but a full grown woman. She feared that this new change could be more than physical and would turn out to be subjective.
As she was dozing off, the maids dragged her towards a hall she had passed many times but never actually tried to enter. They were murmuring excitedly to themselves,skipping in cheer. When they reached the very end of the hall, they opened a door,revealing a sight that made Ichigo's eyes pop.
It was a closet. But it was waay more than a closet. It was a high-technological mini mall.
Glass escalators and elevators were everywhere. "There are at least fifty levels here.Jewelry,accessories,clothes...everything is here." Stated Ms.Euphoria,comming next to Ichigo. "Prepare yourself.The queen wants to meet you at five.Be on time." She said, making her way out.Ichigo slightly nodded before being greeted by the woman in charge of the closet.
"Welcome to your personal clothing system ,Miss Ichigo." The woman before her stated."Hello my name is Torika-Unami.I'm in charge of filing your matters.This-she said ,pointing to a another cyniclone approching.-Is your own personal stylist. He is in charge of designing clothes that may suit you to the perfection."
Ichigo nodded again,amazed by the area."Okay.This is a plan of the place,telling you what each level is corresponding to.I still have some of your saphire jewelry to store.I will join you later.Enjoy." With these words, Torika-unami was gone behind a door.
"Follow me Miss Ichigo." Said the Stylist .He was a tall cyniclone dressed in many colors,had deep black eyes and an arabian beard,wore a rich yellow and a red turban, and was holding his hands in his sleeves.
He lead her and a the maides inside a glass elevator that had the buttons shine a blue fluorescent light and that were very sensible to hard pushes. The elevator automatically closed and the stylist brushed his finger lightly on the number 48. The elevator began to vibrate steadily before zooming up.
Ichigo closed her eyes hard as the elevator's speed increased,turning from left to right to up to down (much like the one in "charlie in the chocolate factory".) without stopping. She opened one her eyes slightly to see how the maides were reacting and discovered with an ultimate surprise that their eyes were shining with anticipation.
"Weird." she thought. After a moment, Ichigo was nauseated and held one hand on her mouth,so she could prevent herself from puking while she clutched her stomach with the other.Boy,when this ride is going to end!
"We arrived,Miss Ichigo." came the Stylists' voice. Ichigo opened her eyes slowly as the elevator stopped. It was facing the most colorful alleyway Ichigo had ever seen. Still clutching her stomach, she dragged her feet out and leaned against the wall,panting.
Her new blond bangs were slightly rippled and wet while her face was paler than ever.Her heart was beating loudly in her chest as each of her pants were becoming sharper. The stylist put a hand on her shoulder."Are you alright?" he asked. Ichigo nodded before looking up.
"Gomenasai I-I I don't..."
The stylist's eyes shone amusingly.
"You remember me of the first time I set foot here." he chuckled."It took me all the luck not to vomit on my master's robes. But I got used to it ,you see.I've been working here since the age of eight."
Ichigo's eyebrows rose in astonishment. Since he was eight years old?
"Yes, he sighed,answering her silent question. "I've been working here since I was eight.My family's fortune had worn out on battles and rich conflicts.Since then,we've been poor peasants working to gain our breads. One day the last queen went furious since her stylist had done such a poor job on her new wardrobe,so she set up contests to all the villagers,giving them fabric and a model. I stole one from a governor's daughter, and surprisingly...I won."
"Amazing." Whispered Ichigo softly,staring at him. "Yeah." He breathed. "I saved myself from cold and hunger. That was the least I could do. Served everyone right. No young child has the right to suffer from the consequences of it's parents mistakes...or any other." Ichigo felt a pang of guilt and an immediate need to vomit at these words. How many poeple suffered from her decisions? One million?One billion? let's say...one Gazilion? Yes.That's probably that much.
And still...she just couldn't figure out how she, the author of all those problems,could stay in better conditions then them.Thousands were dying every passing second and between those thousands were her friends...Ah yes,her friends. The Mew Mews.They must hate her by now... That is..if they are still alive.Yup, no doubt,they would hate her. Really hate her,more like a traitor than someone foolish. A traitor.Yup,leaving her world behind seemed so betraying although she'd never done it and never intended to.Ichigo loved Earth and couldn't possibly imagine giving up the planet of her childhood and her subjectivity.No,of course not.She was fondly devoted to it and it was her primary concern. But now...but now she didn't know how to feel except deeply sunken,strangled and stabbed.Chockingly stabbed.
"Miss Ichigo?"
Ichigo snapped back to reality and looked up to see the stylist,his eyebrows knitted in concern.
"Y-yeah?" she croaked,finding her voice.
"Are you alright?" he asked,extending his hand to help her up.Ichigo blinked. "Yeah..."She whispered softly taking his hand to stand up. "I'm alright." She said clearly, brushing invisible dust from her white bathrobe.
"So I guess we could continue?" He asked politely,replacing his hands in his sleeves.Ichigo nodded and started after him;pursued by the giggling maides.
The hall they passed had the highest ceiling all painted with the most somptuous colors and furnished with the most unusual fabrics and accessories. the walls were covered with what seemed sketches and designes of famous clothing. Ichigo gazed and noticed that every square inch of the hallway were made of saphires of eighteen karats.
"Wow." she gasped in amazement. The stylist smiled down at her. "Beautiful isn't it? it was redecorated in a real rush once Master Kishu changed his mind in taking you for his wife instead of Laramia,one of the most beautiful persons in this planet. I guess you met her,didn't you?"
Ichigo pondered for a while."what is this beautiful lady with grey eyes and black hair?" she asked. The stylist nodded and seemed rather pleased."Yes,that's her." he said, arriving at a door covered in a gritty silver material. "Here we are." he, said opening it.
What Ichigo saw made her squeal in delight and cup her face from pleasure.
The inside was beautiful and it's decoration was especially designed to cheer anyone up.
"Kawai!!!!"she exclaimed as her eyes wandered to every corner of the room. There were billions kinds of fabrics of any shape,of any kind and of any color in every covering centimeter of the room.
The stylist smirked in triumph. "Welcome to your styling center Miss.Ichigo.Every thread in every of those fabrics belongs to you." he said. Ichigo's jaw dropped as she stared at her belogings. No that's a joke.
"So,you don't mind if you I take away your bathrobe and make my measurements?" The Stylist asked,folding his sleeves. Ichigo nodded,her huge eyes still fixed on the fabrics. "Yeah."She gasped, "Do as you please."
The Stylist chuckled and nodged his head towards her at the maidens who immediately scrambled to their feet and rushed at Ichigo.
They quickly untied the satin belt of the bathrobe before getting it of completely, revealing the only thing Ichigo was wearing. The corset.
She blushed hard,making her cheeks almost sting from pain. The stylist was standing there,still starring at her with a sparkle of interest shimmering in his arabian eyes while one of his hands grabbed his chin in a detective manner.
"Mmmm...Perfect.Absolutely perfect." he said, approching her and taking her chin in his hand.
"Just perfect." he sighed. Ichigo blushed harder.
"Stand there and wait two seconds while I found what I'm searching for." He said, jogging towards a pile of dark colored fabrics. Ichigo could hear him mutter things like "perfect", "just perfect" all the way to the pile.
Ichigo stood there,waiting as she could hear the brushing on the smooth textures being shoved from left to right. She glimpsed at the maides who looked like they'd stop breathing. Sure they were weird,but Ichigo just couldn't find a way to blame them for that. That was their nature,and contradicting it would be really useless.
"I FOUND IT!!!!"
Ichigo's eyes snapped towards the source of the sound to find the stylist, beaming from ear to ear, and holding a dark green in one of his hands while the other grabbed a cream-sunflower yellow. "You will look like a goddess in these, just trust me." he said, winking.
Ichigo shrugged and lifted her arms as the stylist wrapped the green fabric around her waist.
After a few minutes of observation, he snapped his fingers and instructed the maides to blindfold Ichigo.
"WHAT? WHY?" she bellowed.
The stylist winced in confusion. "Well, so it could be a surprise." he said nervously,as the maides blindfolded Ichigo with a black fabric.
"Don't worry it would take less than half an hour, I promise."He said,arming himself with a pair of scissors.
Ichigo's nostrils flared but her mood calmed down. "chill,Strawberry." She instructed herself "Just keep on smiling and relax."
20 Minutes later...
"That's it!!!You can look now!!" Ichigo heard the Stylist's boom in excitment as her blindfolder was untied.
He held a deplaceable mirror infront of her so she could stare at her breathtakingly gorgeous reflection.
Ichigo slowly opened her eyes,awaiting for the best and for the worse.When she would open her eyes,she hoped she wouldn't find someone completely different starring back at her.
Her eyelashes faltered hesitantly. But after inhaling deeply,her eyes slowly opened and what she saw made her scream.
The dark green fabric was covered in crystals,circling little saphires that shone and the yellow sunflower-ish creamy colored fabric was covering her breasts,folded to form a bra, while the sleeves were in the dark green colored fabric , in the exact same shape of her sleeves in her transformation. Her elbow length gloves were in the yellow fabric.
She was wearing a upside-down crown shaped gold necklaces with arrow-pointing-down shaped earings. She was...more beautiful than she ever was.
"How do you like yourself?" asked the stylist. Ichigo kept gawking at her reflection, her eyes as huge as saucepans. "Ms.Ichigo?"
"It's...I...I don't recognize myself anymore." she said darkly. "Not that it isn't beautiful. It really is, it's just that I'm not used to this kind of pampering." she added hastingly,noticing the smile on the stylist's face,fade away in disappointement.
"Oh." he said, "Don't worry. You'll learn how to appreciate it."
"I can hardly doubt it..." thought Ichigo somberly, dragging her satin high heels on the silky floor.
"There is still one hour before you meet with the queen. What about lessons on how to talk and how to sit?" Said the stylist,clasping his hands nervously.
"Yeah,"said Ichigo absent-mindedly, "Why not?"
The stylist nodded approvingly. "That it settled then. You'll have half an hour of learning and half an hour eating your lunch. You must be starved."
Ichigo blinked. This last comment made her realize how hungry she actually was. She hadn't eaten since she had been captured and a few hours before that and now her stomach was growling in protest.
She clutched it. "Settled with me too."
He smiled. "Great. follow me to the learning room."
"And one and two and three and four and one and two and three and four and one and two-that's great Ms. Ichigo! And one and two and three and four-Okay that's it!"
Ichigo stopped,her face red and panting. Surely,it took alot to walk infront of a queen because it's been exactly half an hour Ichigo was practicing walking and dansing with four books piled on her head.
"That was a good job,Ms.Ichigo." said the dancing teacher, a tall woman dressed in fuchia sweatpants. She clapped cheerfully as Ichigo sat to eat her lunch served on a table at the far corner of the room in which were seated the stylist and one of the dance teachers.
"Make haste, miss.Ichigo. The queen hates waiting and the way to her appartments is quite long.
Ichigo nodded as she bit hungrily her lamb pilau. Ten minutes later ,the table was cleared and Ichigo was escorted down with three maides and the stylist.
They descended the stairs that Ichigo saw for the very first time and started off to a victorious golden colored hallway that had heavy peackock bird statues with all the . With the beautiful feathers stretching neatly at their backs. The alleyway was carpeted in an angry red and furnished with the finest jeweled curtains. Gold torches were very common.
At last,after fifteen minutes of walking,the little group had arrived at a cyan colored doors,sculpture designs decorating the frame with a huge swan head At the very top.
"Here we are." whispered the stylist,readjusting his clothes. "Remember," he instructed,addressing Ichigo. "Your steps must be graceful and you should bow as soon as she sees you-do not look up until she addresses you" he turned and held his fist ready to knock. Though he stopped a second and looked back at Ichigo. "Talk SOF-TLY,she is such a calm lady"
Ichigo nodded and watched as the stylist inhaled deeply before knocking twice gently.
Ichigo straightened her back and her clothes before the door opened. She hadn't to wait long before it eventually did.
A maid opened the door lazily before letting them in. Ichigo looked down at floor before stepping in,breathing a new fragrance of lavander.
"Miss will please wait for her Majesty. The time she dresses up." Ichigo nodded,glancing around. "I will wait."
The maid gave a quick nod before hurrying behind a blue door. "I need to go." whispered the stylist,stuck at the door. Ichigo nodded and sat on a blue couch at the end of the queen sized bed,running her hands comfortingly on her thighs.
The queen's room sure deserved it's name. It was at least ten times bigger than the one of Kishu's and had the most unusual but yet beautiful decoration.
The walls were made of aqua-marines and so was the floor. The furniture were made of shady colors of the ocean,that,whenever touched,gave a different twinkle of blue.
The queen sized bed had blue-greyish curtains at each size that stretched from the ceiling.
Well,the ceiling had the shape of the upper part of a crystal that had all the colors streched to make a flower,with a huge diamond swan that was soaring it's wings t embrace the whole room.
Ichigo approched,amazed. "Wow." she thought outloud. "Those aliens surely got a good taste for lux."
The swan was wearing a huge saphire necklace that gave the room the most incredible colors of light. Ichigo gaped at it for a minute or two before her eyes became tired of focusing on it too long. So,she turned around to discover the area she didn't see.
After rummaging innocently the textures of the velvet that covered the furniture, a certain object captivated Ichigo's attention. She kneeled down, trying to get a better perspective of what it might be.
She stretched her arm slowly under the dresser, avoiding the dust on her elbow lengthed glove.She grabbed slowly the object and looked at it. To her biggest surprise it was a music box with a ballerina that swirled once the music was on.
She ran her fingers on the ballerina,feeling the cold plastic.It was missing a leg and the shriveled look on it's face proved that it was badly thrown or even stepped on. But the object was beautiful. Much like the ones on earth.
The presence of this object would definitely remain a mystery to Ichigo. It was beautiful but it was torn. If was here but it was hidden,like a rememberance of a bad memory. Ichigo would never understand,but couldn't help the tears surfacing up her lacrymal gland.
It reminded her of herself; torn apart and living a lie without really living it. She sniffed back the tears and straightened up,still looking at the object with her full attention.
"It is beautiful,huh?"
Ichigo flinched , her insides jolting as the sound startled her. She whirled around to see who was talking to her.
She yelped and blushed in embarassement before curtsying respectfully. "Hello your highness." she gasped. The queen's eyes narrowed in suspicion and Ichigo knew why. She was told not to talk to the queen unless being addressed by her. Damn that, she forgot it all.
The queen was wearing a long night blue silky dress with matching gloves. The top of the dress was tremmed in peacock feathers stretching to the sky. Her blond hair was tighed up in a bun and her grey eyes were starring at Ichigo coldly.
A smirk,however, plasterred on her face.
-Never mind, never mind.- She inquired, flunging her head modestly."Humans are told to be ungraceful creatures anyway.You're no exception,It's all in your blood. You can't be blamed for your nature"
She sniggered softly before sitting on the blue couch.Ichigo,however,was frozen to the very tippy tips of her finger nails. Her insides were churning awstruckingly and her heart beated like she had missed a step. Oh, this promised to be an extremely interesting visit...
"Sit." The queen ordered curtly, her already cold eyes turning mistier. Ichigo silently obeyed,an abashed expression clouding her face.She'd better control herself before doing something she'd eternally regret...
"So," began the queen,uttering a clicking noise with her tongue. "How have you been lately"
Ichigo tried to smile her best smile."Awesome, your highness. I am fully grateful to you"
Pleased with her speech,Ichigo gave a quick glimpse in the queen's direction. Her smile faded slowly when she realized that the corner of her eyes were twitching in anger.
She faked a smile before giving an nervous laugh to break the silence. "...Yes...um...In fact..." She grabbed a small bell lying next to her and rang it hard. "The signal for tea." she said sourly,answering Ichigo's silent question.
Two minutes later,a maid came in with a gold cart, the ones that rich restaurants use to serve their costumers. She got out small patiseries with silver goblets out on a small tray before placing it delicately on the table between the couches the queen and Ichigo were sitting in.
The queen nodged her head towards the door. The maid bowed and leaved. The queen's head turned back to Ichigo, her gaze still misty and full of suspicion,while her smile was more obviously fake than ever. Ichigo flushed madly.
"I see.Master Kishu's wealth changed your opinions." Started the queen cleverly, pouring the tea gently in each of the goblet glasses before handing one to Ichigo.
"With all my respect your highness. My gratitude doesn't rely on the luxury the concerned may own,but the respect he or she shows to his or her guest by the consideration and the generosity they may show whenever the oppurtiny comes." replied Ichigo,measuring carefully her words,and taking the goblet offered to her.
The queen looked taken aback, her fake smile draining from her face. She cleared her throat and gave one of those very cold looks of hers before answering. Two seconds passed before a sly grin spread on her face. "Oh.Really?" she started,taking a small sip of tea."In this case,I'm glad you came here. I am proud that our manners,us,the cyniclones are much more adequate and developed than the beasts that took our planet." A pang of triumph filled her as she saw Ichigo clasp her goblet and her skin turning paler,almost as pale as her new hair.
"We never took your planet." whispered softly Ichigo,rage threatining to explode."It was ours as well." The queen bit furiously the far left corner of her lower lip before answering. "We were there first.Originally it belongs to us and to nobody else." she seethed,gritting her teeth at the process.
Ichigo swalled the dry lump in her throat before giving one of her coldest glares. Seeing her opponent very slumped,the queen continued her speech. "Master Kishu is a very fine gentleman that has all the qualities a girl might die for.Though he choose you." Her tone and her gaze were getting colder and colder by the second. "Let me tell you something." She approched at the edge of the couch and leaned towards Ichigo. "You are lucky...but,take this in consideration,your presence here won't last more than you think.So...-she approched closer-I suggest you to watch your back. Filthy aliens aren't allowed here and surely not some human that is going to take my place. You are a disgrace and you shame your race more than they already are."
Pleased with her testament,the queen leaned back to her previous position,savouring each second of Ichigo's fury,who was fumbling and researching for a polite but nonetheless,cold retort. "I really don't know why they chosed you for they leader.We've done nothing; you were the one who messed everything up and cleared us the way to attack." The queen said,checking her fingernails covered by the silk of the glove. Though Ichigo knew that her full attention was really on her. Gosh,was she really THAT frivaulous? Even her ennemies had noticed and that made Ichigo doubly appalled and on the verge of fainting in despair.
"Well anyways,human are great losers.Though chosing you for their protector shows it even more-"the queen had stopped talking abruptly for Ichigo had rose from her seat and a look of pure defiance had spread on her face.
"I've done what I've could to protect my poeple.Yes,my mistakes were extremely foolish but nonetheless I did my best." She said,eyes glistening in rage.
The queen's face became more ruthless than it previously was.She sniggered again. "Yeah well," she inquired , sighing in the same time. "Honey, you know that you losed in such a failing way? What kind of image it gives to your planet?appart from adding to what it already is..." Everysound drained away from Ichigo's mind. Boy,who did she think she was kidding?Anything that she could have replied would made things even worse then they already realized that she wasn't lying to anybody...except herself.
"Ha,the truth hurts,doesn't it? unless you-" The queen squealed in surprise as Ichigo pushed her violently on the floor.God,didn't they understand she was fed up nursing their taunting?She had troubles accepting it herself,she didn't need the help of anyone else.And that queen was getting on her nerves.
"Sorry. I can accept everything except when it comes to my planet and my people." She said,curling her hands into a fist. The queen just scoffed "PUh-lleaase, it isn't even your planet." But this reply did not ameliorate her situation for Ichigo had had completely enough now.
She let out an angrycat noise before leaping on the ground,tearing her adverssary from limb to limb. For a queen,she was fighting quite good.Though Ichigo knew that she was better with the cat DNA diffused in her veins.
After rolling on the floor and knocking everything on their way,Ichigo bit hard in the queen's arm while pulling her hair. The queen raised an almighty uproar which had alarmed several servants.
Still fighting, Ichigo distinguished the shape of a maid running to get help. Both of them wrestled until a five guards arrived, dragging Ichigo away from the queen. "Keep her in a secured cellar!" She screeched,wiping a small filet of blood that was leaking down on her chin.
Ichigo tried to free herself from the firm hands holding her,dragging her out of the queen's room. After a moment of ultimate struggling, Ichigo managed to losen the grip the guards had on her and run as fast as she can in the hallway. Now,she was really screwed...
GOMENASAI MINA FOR MAKING YOU WAITING MORE THAN THREE WEEKS!!!!VERY VERY SORRY!!!THE FOURTH CHAPTER WILL COME SOON AND LONG BUT IT WILL DEFINITELY HAVE ROMANCE IN IT!!!DONT WORRY ABOUT THAT!NEVERTHELESS REVIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEW!!!!!!I LOVE YOUR REVIEWS!EVERY SINGLE ONE THAT REVIEWED!!!! I LOVE YOU!!!!PLEASE! ONEGAI AGAIN,love,sophia.