A note from ME! I don't own TMM, otherwise, at the end, Masaya would of died a horrible, painful death, Mint would start doing some work, Pudding would of started going out with 'Taru-Taru', Lettuce would of gone out with Pai, Zakuro would of gone out with Keichro, and Ichigo would of gone out with either Kisshu or Ryou.
However, I DO own Lingon. HA!
However, my dear friend Zoë has brought to my attention the fact that Lingon is based on her, so technically, I don't even own her.
DAMN!
Oh, and if you want to thank anyone for the new Chapter, thank Wiliina. She was the ONLY person to review! How could you do this to me? 12 visitors, and only one review for that chapter? Come on!
Chapter 7
That feeling of betrayal.
Ichigo was sitting on the bench in the park. She wished she had brought a coat. It was starting to get late, and she was getting cold.
"Ichigo?" She looked up. There he was. Aoyama. She stood up as he reached her, and he pulled her into a hug.
"Oh, Thank God your okay." He murmured into her hair.
"Um…
Aoyama-kun?"
"Just a bit longer." However, he pulled away.
"Aoyama? Ichigo, I told you to call me…" He trailed off,
looking at her neck.
"Ichigo… Where's your bell choker?"
Ichigo's hand reached up to the strawberry fish around her neck.
"Oh… um…"
Aoyama looked straight into her eyes.
"There's someone else, isn't there." He said. It wasn't a question.
"I'm sorry." Ichigo whispered.
"How could you do this to me?" Aoyama asked, unable to hide the hurt in his voice.
"Don't blame Ichigo." Said a new voice. Ichigo turned, and her heart sank.
"Ryou…"
Aoyama looked at her. "Ryou…?"
"Blame me, yeah. Blame yourself, defiantly. But don't blame Ichigo." Ryou continued. Aoyama strode towards him. He'd had enough. He brought his arm back, and punched Ryou, hard enough to send him to the floor. Ryou instantly retaliated. Ichigo watched helplessly as the two men fought.
"Ryou… Aoyama… Please, stop!"
They ignored her. Something inside her snapped.
"BOTH OF YOU STOP YOU IDIOTIC HEARTLESS JERKS!" She screamed at the top of her voice, and turned and ran.
"Ichigo!" Ryou said, getting to his feet.
"Leave her." Said Aoyama. "When she's like this, it's impossible to catch up with her."
Ryou looked at him. "Maybe you would, but I'm not." He transformed into a cat, and ran after Ichigo.
Ichigo ran to her house. She didn't know why, considering that she was so eager not to go there before. She crashed though the door, crying. Her Mum was there. She was thankful that it wasn't her Dad, but even so…
"Ichigo… Ichigo, darling, are you alright?" Ichigo took one look at her Mum, and burst into renewed sobs, rushing into her Mum's waiting arms. She cried until she could cry no more, and then her Mum took her upstairs to her room, and sat down on the bed with Ichigo's head in her lap, as her Daughter told her everything. Her mum stroked her hair, which was too much for her. It reminded her of Ryou stroking her hair last night, and just made her cry again.
After a while, the doorbell rang, and Ichigo's Mum went down to answer it.
Ryou waited on the doorstep. It was cold, but he didn't care. He was just worried about Ichigo. He knew she had said that she didn't want to go home, but Ryou knew there was no-one better then a Mum when it comes to comforting you. It was then that the door opened. Inside was a woman who looked almost exactly like Ichigo, except with short, rounder hair. Ryou was amazed at how much Ichigo looked like her Mum.
"Um, I'm here to see-"
He didn't get any further.
"You must be Ryou. Ichigo's in her room." She led him up, and then tactfully left. Cautiously, Ryou knocked on Ichigo's door.
"Come in." Came the muffled reply. He opened the door and crept in. He knew that she was under the covers immediately. There was a big lump there, but the ears and tail poking out kind of gave it away to.
He sat on the bed.
"I'm sorry Ichigo. I know that the reason you didn't want me to come in the first place was that you didn't want a fight. It was just, I was worried about you, and when I got there, he was blaming it all on you, and I just… couldn't take it." He got up to leave, but just as he stood up, a hand crept out from under the covers and grabbed his wrist. He looked down and smiled. Slowly, he sat down again, and started scratching her ears. He was happy that what answered were purrs, not rebukes. Slowly, Ichigo came out from the covers. She looked up at him, and smiled. That was too much for Ryou. Gently, he grabbed her chin, and kissed her, long and passionately. He didn't want that kiss to end, but he knew it would when Ichigo turned into a Cat. However, to his surprise, she didn't. Instead, she started kissing him back, as hard and passionately as he was kissing her. He pulled her closer, kissing her harder and harder. He pushed her mouth open with his tongue. Nothing mattered to him in that moment. As long as he was with Ichigo, right here and now, everything would be fine. His arms slipped around her waist, bringing her closer, so close he could feel her heartbeat, quivering in her chest…
Ichigo's mum chose that moment to enter.
"Ichigo, I've got you and your boyfriend some cookies."
They instantly drew back. Ichigo's ears popped up. However, she was staring at Ryou, and completely ignored them. Then, her and her Mum started to giggle. Ichigo clamped one hand over her mouth, trying to stop herself.
"What's so funny?" Asked Ryou, his face going red. Ichigo pointed just over his head, still trying to stifle her giggles. When he didn't check, she reached up, and started scratching… oh no.
Ryou started to purr, just like Ichigo did when he scratched her cat ears. Suddenly, he reached up… And felt a pair of velvety cat ears.
"WHAT!" He yelled.
"I always wondered if that would happen!" Ichigo giggled.
"What!?" He said again.
"When I'm embarrassed, my ears popped out." She explained. "And I always wondered if your ears would to if you get embarrassed. But you've never been embarrassed before." They looked at each other, and burst into peals of laughter.
"Mum, I'm gonna head back to the Café with Ryou." Ichigo said packing everything she had forgot to ask Kisshu to get. "We've got an early start tomorrow, and I don't want to be late."
"Okay, darling." Her Mum said, kissing her on the cheeks. As Ichigo rushed back upstairs, her mum turned to Ryou.
"I was wondering… I'm sure you already know, but Thursday's her birthday." Ryou nodded.
"Could you give this to her, tell her it's from us?" She asked, giving him a smallish box. Ryou smiled.
"I'll be glad to."
"Oh, and, Ryou?" Ryou turned back to face her.
"Please, look after Ichigo. I almost lost her once before." She looked slightly sad. "And, I don't want her to be hurt anymore then she has to be. I never thought that Aoyama was the right guy for her. I never said so. I let her make those decisions herself. But, now I see I was right." She looked up and Ryou, smiling. "I can tell that, around you, Ichigo will be safe."
Ryou looked a bit taken aback, but then nodded, smiling. "Don't worry, Ma'am." He said. "I'm not about to let Ichigo get hurt when I'm around."
Ichigo was curled up on Ryou's bed, her ears occasionally twitching. That was a thing that Ryou had noticed now. When her ears were up, they would twitch at the slightest bit of noise. He reached out, just to feel the softness of the ears once more, but her hand shot out, catching his, and lacing her fingers through his. He was so surprised, he felt his ears pop up again. Ichigo giggled at the annoyed expression on his face, at reached out to stroke them.
"So soft." She murmured.
"Hey, I thought I was meant to do that to you?" Ryou joked. Ichigo smiled.
"Oh, yes, please." She lowered her head onto his shoulder, parting her ears so that they wouldn't poke his face. He smiled, and stroked them, enjoying every bliss-filled purr that rumbled in her throat. What the two lovers didn't notice was the six, very nosy, animal-like girls peering into Ryou's room.
"Are you sure we won't get into trouble?" Lingon whispered.
"As long as they don't notice us, we'll be fine." Mint whispered back.
"Just make sure they don't hear you. Ichigo's got the best hearing out of all of us. It's even better when her cat ears are out." As if on cue, Ichigo's ears twitched, and she sat bolt upright.
"What's wrong?" Ryou asked. Ichigo looked at the door, and the Mew Mew's sweat dropped.
"I thought I heard…" In an instant, she was up and at the door, which she wrenched open. The girls piled down onto the bare floor of Ryou's room, grinning sheepishly, while Zakuro blushed.
"Wow, you're really quick!" Exclaimed Lingon.
"You lot!" Ichigo screamed. "Don't you have anything better to do then spy on other people's personal lives!?" Lettuce blushed.
"We're sorry!" She said, bowing. (She was standing up, so it's not that impressive. However, she was standing on top of the other four Mew Mews who fell in with her.)
Mint, however, was a bit more truthful. "Nope. There's nothing in this whole city that could be more interesting then you two right now. I mean, have you thought about it? You can't tell if you will have kittens or babies!" Both Ryou and Ichigo turned scarlet.
"Do you really think we're that fascinating?" Ryou asked. He looked at Ichigo, and they both started to laugh.
"Um, right." Said Berry. "You won't mind if we leave, then, right?" they all edged out of the room.
"What was that about?" Lingon whispered.
"I have no idea. It's more twisted half-cat, half-human sense of humour, probably." Mint replied, shaking her head.
Ichigo and Ryou finally managed to stop laughing. They were leaning against each other, breathless. Then Ichigo looked up at Ryou, smiling, one ear bent slightly towards him. Ryou was reminded of the kiss in Ichigo's room, and slowly bent down towards her…
"Hey lovers!" Kisshu cried, appearing next to them. They jumped back startled, and both of their ears and tails popped out.
"Kisshu!" Ryou yelled, finally losing his temper. "OUT!"
"I just came to-"
"OUT!"
"Alright! I'm going, I'm going! Sheesh…"
He teleported out. Ichigo looked at Ryou.
"Looks like you've got a tail as well." She giggled. Then she stepped closer, her own tail flicking. It came round her, and twisted itself around Ryou's tail. Looking deep into her eyes, Ryou put one arm round her waist, and the other in her thick, beautiful hair. She responded by putting one hand in HIS hair, and the other arm around his neck. He drew her closer, bending down to kiss her, as she rose on to the tips of her toes. Their lips met. Ryou felt Ichigo's hand ruffling his thick hair, and tightened his grip around her waist. Their hands travelled from each others hair to each others cat ears.
They were so absorbed in their kiss, they didn't realise that the intruders had come back.
"They're so sweet." Whispered Berry.
"Humph." Kisshu answered. "Me and Ichigo would be sweeter."
Mint looked at him. "Oh, shut up. They are the perfect couple, and you know it."
Lingon smiled at them. "So, how long have you known they'd make a good couple?"
Berry and Mint looked at each other. "Are you kidding? We've known since we knew them. Ryou would always pick on her, yeah, but that's what gave it away. He also always got really edgy whenever Aoyama is around or even mentioned."
"Aoyama?"
"Ichigo's ex." Mint answered for Lingon.
"And, Ichigo gets him better then any of us, even Akasaka."
"Are you four still at this?" A familiar voice said, and Berry, Mint, Kisshu and Lingon realised that they weren't leaning on the relative safety of the door. Slowly, they looked up.
"Ah… Hi, Ichigo…" The three embarrassed girls sped off, and Kisshu looked round, realised he was alone, and teleported.
"Well, we'd better go to sleep." Ichigo said. "And, there's no point in me sleeping on your lap again." Ryou looked up.
"Why not?" He asked, sounding a bit desperate.
"Well, I may absolutely love it, and I may feel really comfortable there, but it can't be very comfortable for you."
"Actually, I feel fine." And he wasn't just making that up. He felt more comfortable waking up when he was sitting down with Ichigo's head in his lap then he was normally.
"No, its okay, Ryou. I'll just sleep in the spare room."
"Okay." Said Ryou, then remembered where he had put her birthday presents.
"NO!" He yelled. Ichigo turned round, surprised.
"I mean… that room is… you wouldn't like it. I'll… I'll get a sleeping bag; you can have the bed, um…"
Ichigo started to giggle, and put her arms around Ryou's waist.
"You're so sweet sometimes." She said. "I'd never of thought you would be. I used to think you were such a jerk." She rested her head on Ryou's chest.
"Thank you Ryou." She said. Ryou looked at her, surprised.
"What for?"
Ichigo looked up, her eyes shining with happiness. "For caring."
Ryou blushed, and his ears popped up. Ichigo giggled as he desperately tried to paw them down.
"I suppose it only took you one big embarrassing thing to get the whole ear thing started. Now it's just like me. Whenever you get the least bit embarrassed, they come up." She started to scratch his ears, just like he always did to her.
Ah, this feels good Ryou thought. No wonder Ichigo likes me doing this to her. In fact, I feel really sleepy…
Ryou woke up with his head on Ichigo's lap. He sat up, surprised.
When did I fall asleep? He looked at Ichigo, sitting there, breathing softly.
"Ichigo?" No response.
"Ichigo, you need to get up. We need to get ready to leave soon." She slowly stirred, and looked up at Ryou. She smiled.
"Good morning."
Kisshu and Pai were sat at the table, trying to spoon Cornflakes in their mouths without getting milk all down them. They weren't having much luck.
"How do you do this?" Pai muttered angrily to Lettuce, who laughed.
"Here, let me help." She said. She pushed the bowl closer to the edge, and told him to pull his chair in. This time, he got it. Lettuce laughed at his triumphant grin, and laughed even harder when he spat the whole lot back out.
"Good, it's horrible!" He exclaimed. "It tastes like soggy sawdust!"
Kisshu looked up. He had also followed Lettuce's advice, and was just about to take his first mouthful of Soggy Cornflakes. He put the spoon down, and pushed the bowl away. Taruto grinned at the two older aliens. He was sitting on the floor, trying to teach Pudding to levitate. She wasn't getting very far.
"I can't do it!" She moaned.
"You're just acting like a big baby, baby." Pudding edged closer to Taruto, and grinned.
"I 'm taller then you even when we're sitting down!"
Mint and Berry were looking at Lingon's mobile. They were scrolling through the music.
"Wow, the titles to these songs are so weird!" Berry exclaimed. "I mean… What's…?" She screwed up her brow in concentration. "Ha… Harpy Indng?"
Lingon laughed. "Happy ending. It's by Mika." Mint and Berry looked at her blankly.
"Mika? You know, brown curly hair, he can sing really high? He sung Grace Kelly."
Mint and Berry slowly shook their heads. Zakuro and Keichro were watching this whole scene in amusement, when they heard a yowl.
A small, black kitten with bright pink eyes zoomed into the kitchen, closely followed by a grey kitten with green eyes. They ran round them a few times, tripping up Kisshu as they went, until the grey kitten caught up. He pounced on the black one, and kissed her, just as he started to glow.
Ichigo ended up on the floor with Ryou tickling mercilessly.
"Give in?" He yelled over her shrieks of protest.
"No… Yes… RYOU, STOP!" She yelled, lifting up her hands. He grabbed them, and forced them down to her sides. They were left staring into each others eyes.
"Damn." Said Ryou. "Now how am I supposed to tickle you?"
Lingon had been watching this whole ordeal with wide eyes.
"They can turn into cats?" She asked.
"Yeah. Ichigo's cat DNA is so strong, it lets her shape shift. It only does it when she's really embarrassed, though." Mint answered.
"And, what about Ryou?"
"I'm not to sure about Ryou. You can ask him yourself, if you want."
"Can anyone else?"
"No. Ichigo's the only one. In fact, none of our animal personalities show nearly as clearly as Ichigo's."
"What do you mean?"
Mint smiled. Then, she held up a ball of wool. Berry leaned into Lingon.
"Where'd she get a ball of wool from?" She asked, sweat dropping.
"Ichigo, catch!" Mint called, throwing the ball high. Ichigo saw it, her ears and tail popped out, and she scrambled out from under Ryou and pounced on the ball with an enormous "NYA!"
"See?" Mint asked. (Nya, nya, nya.)
"Wow… yeah" (Nya, nya.)
Ryou stood up, and looked around the room.
"Shouldn't we be going, then?"
A note from ME! Yah! What will happen at the beach house? How will Aoyama (boo, Hiss) get his revenge? Does he even want revenge? Why I talking like this? Review to find the answers to these questions, and more! ('Course, it's unlikely that you'll find out the answer to the last one, but you can dream.)
Now, last time I set you a challenge of at least 1 review (thank you Wiliina) but this time, I want at least 3. Oh, and you still get those flashbacks that everyone hates. Unless I get more then 3 reviews. Okay?
Also, since this story is drawing to it's closed, (Yes, it may not look like it, but it is.) I was thinking that all my lovely dedicated readers can start sending me questions, and I'll answer them at the very end.
.
P.S.
To save me time later, Zoë, I don't think the Japanese animation
company will hire me to do a second series of Tokyo Mew Mew.
And, Sophie, as far as I know, the answer to Life, the Universe and Everything is 42. Now you just need to find out the question.
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