"This is the place. Never thought it'd be this huge though." she muttered, pressing the button beside the glass door, to let herself in.
"Ichigo, come on in!" as she peered up from her watch, she caught eyes with Akai, who was waving to her from the side of the glass doors.
"Ok, I'm coming." she stated, walking towards the door to the greenhouse. As she walked up to it, she watched as it opened wide for her entrance.
"Welcome to the Cosplay Club, Ichigo-Chan!" her head darted up, locking eyes with the men of the Cosplay Club.
"Hey, guys. Um, what do you want me to do about the boys who're standing, pressed up against the side of the greenhouse? I don't know when they started to follow me, but I noticed that they followed me from school." she stated, pointing outside, to where thousands of boys in the Minazuka school uniform stood. And, indeed, they WERE pressed up against the outside of the greenhouse.
"Huff…let them in then. I suppose we have no choice, seeing as how they're gusts. Also, if she befriends them, then their families will be more inclined to ally with our families companies." Yami muttered, placing his head into the palm of his hand as he sat at a center table, his tale puffed out and sticking straight into the air.
"Fine, but those girls out there look ready to hug her to death." Iru pointed out, gazing out to where a group of Ichigo fans in strawberry shirts stood, waiting to be admitted in to see her.
"ICHIGO, ICHIGO, ICHIGO!" the girls chanted, frantically waving signs that were decorated in cats and said ICHIGO on them.
"Aren't girls supposed to like guys, and not the other way around?! They scare me!" as the doors were open, Aru jumped in front of Ichigo, to separate her from the mob of girls and guys trying to reach for her.
"Ok, everyone form a line and you'll get to meet with Ichigo." yami stated, coming up and placing his hand on Ichigo's shoulder.
"YAMI, YOU TRAITOR!" the twins yelled, running over to save Ichigo.
"Hold it, this is a chance to get an alliance with some other companies." Akai stated, walking over to Ichigo's side.
"What does THAT mean, Akai?!" the twins growled, glaring towards their boss.
"The women and men of this school come from rich families with a lot of power. If we can expand and teem up with those families, we can make sure Ichigo has a good future. One where we can protect her. Besides, all of Ichigo's guests have to stay on the opposite side of the table while they visit her." Akai explained, placing his hand on Ichigo's other shoulders.
"You too, Akai?!" the twins were being held back by Hikari, who was pulling them back by their ears.
"Just think of it this way: if you kill off the costumers, as well as Akai, not only will we have enemies in the costumer's families, but she'll hate you for killing Akai. She's just that sweet a person." Hikari explained, tying the two to a support pole so that they don't go crazy and scare away the costumers. Although, he himself was jealous about the costumers taking a quick, and strong, liking to Ichigo.
"AW, look how cute her kitty ears are!"
"Yeah, and she makes me think of strawberries!"
The two guests, two girls, reached over the table, and began to scratch her ears. This, Ichigo, thought, was the life. Getting HER ears scratched was great, but she was a bit uncomfortable.
She didn't like to have other people beside her, touching her own ears. It was instinct vs. self interest.
"So,"
"Tell us,"
"What kind of music do you listen to?!"
Facing the two guests, Ichigo just smiled calmly, not letting them notice her discomfort at their fawning, and stated,
"Well, ladies, I don't quite know really. I suppose I enjoy classic opera, maybe some orchestra, and sometimes, when I feel like it, I listen to modern blues an country, some, but not a lot, of soft rock." she was now a bit more comfortable with them, but she still kept her guard.
"So, there's a dance coming up soon. We were wondering, if it's alright with you, could we come as your friends?!" they asked eagerly, leaning over the table, until they were directly in front of her face.
"Ladies, you will be able to see Miss Ichigo at the dance next week. Until then, please move on. Miss Ichigo is on a very tight schedule and needs to meet with other costumers." Akai stepped in, sitting down beside Ichigo.
"But, if you'd like, you can buy an I love Ichigo T-shirt on your way out." Yami stated, coming up to the table, holding a red T-shirt with the black words printed on it.
"WE'LL TAKE TWELVE!" they chimed, holding up some money.
! !
"Wow, that was such an eventful day, I feel bushed." Ichigo stated tiredly, flopping down on a chair.
"AW! You're so cute when you're tired!" the twins cooed, wrapping themselves up around Ichigo.
"Yeah, and you brought in a lot of guests and money." Yami stated blankly, pointing to the empty bin of Ichigo shirts.
"You did great, Ichigo-Chan!" Hikari cooed, cuddling into Ichigo's arms.
"Oh, that's right…we have a bone to pick with you, Hikari." Iru growled, cracking his knuckles as the two boys inched towards Hikari. In turn, Hikari ran for his life.
"There they go again." Ichigo muttered, beginning to scratch Yami's ears.
"Oh, Yami, don't you have finance work to catch up on?" Akai questioned, intentionally trying to get Ichigo alone so she could scratch his ears, no disturbances.
"Fine, I'll see you tomorrow, Ichigo-Chan." with this, he patted her head and walked out, following the twins and Hikari.
"Bye, you guys." waving, the men walked away, to the dorms.
"You're such a cute Necko! Yet, I feel jealous of the others. I mean, I feel like you spend more time with them than you do with ME!" upon saying this, he knelt down beside Ichigo's chair, placing her hand on his ear.
"Alright, fine. But, please realize that you can always talk to me about things that are bothering you. I'm sorry if it seems I'm spending more time with the others. I'd be more than happy to talk with you." she giggled, scratching his ears.
"NYA! That feels nice, Ichigo-Chan!" he purred, leaning into the girl's lap.
"DISPICABLE! How can you be so friendly with her?! I mean, I thought you said you wanted to protect her! But, now you're here, taking advantage of her! You and those stupid friends of yours! I'm taking her back with me! You even use her to bring in funds, and I don't think that's really called 'protecting' her."
As Akai peered up, he locked eyes with a green haired boy with long ears.
"I AM taking care of her. I AM protecting her! don't you get it though? Ichigo needs to be around her own kind, to feel safe."
"She would be doing perfectly FINE if she came with me! No one to hurt her, no one to leave her! You've only known her for less than a week, and yet you act like her boyfriend!" Kish yelled, summoning his Sais to attack the defenseless cat boy.
"Kish, stop and think about what you're about to do! You're about to take an innocent life! I'm staying, to protect them and care for them. They've been here, in this safe haven, secured, ever so slightly, by a lie. That their ears and tales are fake. But, THEY would be in trouble if anyone found out about there ears and tales being real. They'd lose a lot more than I did. So, I'm staying." Ichigo stated, wrapping her arms around Akai's shoulders.
"So, you like HIM better, huh? Well, it's said that, in order to rid ones self of pain, then one must destroy the source. PREPARE YOURSELF, AKAI!" with this, Kish ran at him, Sais ready to attack.
"Fine with me." he stated bluntly, and soon his long, ivory claws were summoned.
CLIFFY! If you want to know what happens next, then you have to review and tell me what you think of the story first!
