The first thing Ichigo recognized was the smell of cloves mixed with sweat.
She curled a leg closer to herself, and felt the caress of a thin layer of sheets sweep across her skin. She blinked one eye open, then the other.
This was not her room.
She craned her neck over her shoulder. The bed was empty.
This was not her room, and she was alone.
She blinked in surprise. Something sour churned in her gut at the thought, and it stirred her further awake. Ichigo's memory returned to her in snippets, then all in a rush – the party, the conversations she'd had, her explosive argument with Quiche. Then, fingertips running down her back. A kiss, so easily spiraling out of control. Losing herself completely to him … again.
They'd done it again. And it wasn't the gentle, sultry thing like their first time. This time, it was loud, feverish, and lasted for what felt like hours. The memory made Ichigo scramble to find the edge of the sheets and pull them up to her chin. Her wrists ached, and some part of her neck felt bruised. She let out a long breath through her nose and tried to settle her thoughts.
What am I doing?
The always-nagging voice of reason chirped at the back of her mind, telling her off for leaving the party so irresponsibly – for forgetting her argument with Quiche so irresponsibly. But Ichigo found the voice easy to bury under the blanket of all-encompassing warmth that washed over her as she remembered the way he spoke to her that night … and the way he whispered her name in the dark.
"I'd go against my people a thousand times over if that's what it takes for you to be mine."
Something fluttered in Ichigo's chest. She tightened her fingers into a fist.
Where was he?
Ichigo sat up in the bed and yanked the sheets off of it with her. She realized she was fully naked, the torn dress discarded somewhere by the front door of the room. She wrapped the sheets around her and wandered out into the main living area of the giant room. The room was as messy as she remembered it – open books everywhere, miscellaneous trinkets, electronics and discarded linens all over the floor. Ichigo scanned the room curiously before landing on a bare spot of the table in the center, where it looked like the piles of mess had been swept away to clear an open spot on the corner. In it, sat a piece of paper.
Ichigo padded over to the table. The note was scribbled in messy Japanese.
Kitten –
I really hate to do this, but the council has been called to an emergency session and I have no choice but to go. I'm sending Ira to attend to you as soon as I have a spare moment to break away. DO NOT LEAVE this room, and do not open the door for anyone except Ira or myself.
Sleep soundly. I hope you're dreaming of me kissing your pretty little c—
Ichigo slammed the note down on the table, blushing furiously. She'd read enough. Besides, it was almost comical how the dirty note was done in penmanship that looked like a child had written it.
Her next mission: find something to wear before Ira arrived. She pictured what Lettuce and Pudding would say to her as she wandered back towards the bedroom of Quiche's quarters. Was there a chance Lettuce had disappeared to Pie's room? Ichigo shook the thought out of her head as she tried a button by a door, and found a closet waiting inside. Lettuce's relationship is too subtle for that. She's too smart to get stuck in something like this.
Ichigo ran a hand curiously down the line of clothes hung from the racks, stepping over the mess of clothes on the floor. Many items were jewel tones — greens and reds — and an entire row was dedicated to copies of his new uniform. Ichigo's thumbed through clothing until she found a grey, sweatshirt-like pullover, which she immediately pulled over her head. Next, she managed to find something resembling longer pants — baggy, gathering at her ankles, like the men's typical style there — but it barely hung on her hips. She rolled it down at the waist to tighten the fit and thought it to be good enough.
The next ten minutes were spent rummaging around in the mess of the bedroom — pulling open drawers, flipping through books in Japanese. Quiche's scent followed her everywhere. She was drenched in it while wearing his clothes, and found it everywhere in the room. Warm, earthy, with a little heat that made her crinkle her nose whenever she smelled it somewhere new. She was pulling a Japanese book out from the bookshelf in the living area called "A Guide to Keeping Wildcats as Pets" when she heard a light knock on the door.
Ichigo dropped the book on the table and strode over. About time Ira showed up, she thought to herself. She pushed the large button to the left of the door and let the door slide open to shoulder's width.
There was a clamor of dishes on a serving tray, accompanied by a wide-faced grin on a very tall man.
"Morning, Mew Ichigo!" greeted Bram cheerfully. Tart's mentor — the tall, broad-shouldered prince who had sat next to her at the beginning of the council meeting the other day — was carrying a giant tray of what appeared to be a teapot, serveware and breakfast foods. "Ira sent me here, said you're expecting a delivery?"
Ichigo blinked in surprise. "Um, yeah," she replied. "What happened to Ira? I was expecting her."
"Oh, she got hung up in the kitchen. Something to do with one of your friends running loose in there?"
Ichigo sighed. "Ah, that would be Pudding," she said with a laugh. "Ok, well thank you for delivering this for Ira! Just hand me that tray and you can go."
"Actually, um, it's super heavy," Bram said with a sheepish grin. "I can set it down for you."
"The place is a mess," Ichigo blurted out immediately. "You, uh, probably don't want to see it."
"I'm sure I've seen worse from Quiche before," Bram laughed. He adjusted the giant tray in his arms with some difficulty. The teapot slid a few inches. "Oof, um, this is getting heavy. I'll just set this down just past you there on that table, alright? I promise I'll be out of your hair right away."
Ichigo opened her mouth to stammer out a polite refusal, but Bram had already shouldered his way halfway into the doorway by the time the first "Wait—" came from Ichigo's mouth.
What was she going to do, physically push him out of the room? He was nearly twice her size, and besides, he seemed completely harmless.
Bram sauntered over to the low table in the center of the living space and gave a warm laugh as he set down the tray. "Well, you weren't kidding. This kid needs to learn how to pick up after himself."
Ichigo laughed nervously, fidgeting with her nails.
"Um, yeah, it's pretty bad right?" she stammered. Keep your cool, Ichigo, she reassured herself. It's probably fine. You don't want to be rude, right?
Bram put his hands on his hips and surveyed the room briefly. "I'll tell him that next time he has company, he'd better at least take care of his dirty laundry."
He dusted his hands and nodded. "Well, I'm off then. I'll tell Ira you send regards."
"That would be great," Ichigo said with a smile. "Tell her I said thank you."
Bram nodded in satisfaction and sauntered towards the door. As he was leaving, Ichigo glanced down at the tray of food on the table.
She realized two things at once.
One: the tray appeared to be half-done. It was missing jellys for the pastries Ichigo has enjoyed in mornings past, and there was a teapot, but no teacup.
Two: her eyes fell to Quiche's note. Quiche had been called to an emergency council meeting. If the council of princes was being called in session … why wasn't Bram there?
Her head shot up as she heard a loud clicking noise. She watched in horror as Bram held down the button for the door, his grin falling from his face as the narrow gap of the sliding door quickly shut.
With both of them inside.
"I'm failing to understand what is so difficult about calling the council to attendance for an important matter such as our limestone mines."
"And I'm failing to understand how sending less than 100 workers to go check out some rocks warrants the entire council being called to session the morning after the Solstice Festival!"
Quiche was arguing with Orion. Again.
Quiche drummed his nails against the side of a bookshelf on the far wall of the council room and thought about all of the ways he'd like to slowly, horribly murder the future emperor. What about hanging him by his toes and hitting him with a stick? Maybe he'd enjoy suffocating slowly in the limestone quarry he thought was important enough to call an emergency meeting over?
"It's not checking out some rocks," Orion scoffed. "The mine reportedly suffered a sudden collapse a few hundred meters down. The breakage could shut down construction of new infrastructure for years if we don't address the issue immediately."
"Then send the miners to repair the break," Pie jutted in flatly. "Quiche is right. This seems rudimentary."
"Well I, for one, don't like making these types of decisions without the agreement of the council," Orion replied. "Of course, my uncle agrees with my assessment, but since this assignment requires a high-risk task force, I knew it would be wise to consult the rest of the princes."
"We're not all here, though," interrupted one of the other princes with a raised hand. "We're missing three of the twelve — Rafi, Bram and Soji."
"But we have a majority, now," Orion said. "And it sounds to me — if I'm not mistaken — that we have reached an agreement as a majority group?"
Quiche rolled his eyes. "Yes, alright," he mumbled. He threw Tart a look across the table. Tart returned it with an equally irritated look and a subtle shake of his head. Murmurs of agreement rumbled across the table from the rest of the princes on the council. Some looked like they'd just rolled out of bed; most looked like they'd had too much wine the night before. None of them looked particularly thrilled to be called in to vote on mining excavation just past dawn.
"Shall we take a vote, then?"
Suddenly, Quiche felt a jolt of panic rip through his temples. He hadn't felt it in months, but when he recognized the feeling, his stomach dropped.
He heard the sound of Ichigo's distress call in his mind. It was an ability of the Blue Knight that had mysteriously transferred to him just months ago, flaring up once more. He could hear the voice screaming his name, as clear as day. The moment he heard it, he instantly regretted leaving her alone.
Wide-eyed, heart hammering in his chest, Quiche's panic slowed when he heard Orion clear his throat.
Wait.
The sudden council meeting. Ichigo, alone somewhere outside of her quarters, without supervision or oversight.
The council meeting had to be a farce.
Planned.
Quiche pushed off from the bookcase with a start. Fists clenched, he made eye contact with Orion's curious gaze.
"You," he hissed through his teeth.
Orion blinked back at him with an owlish look. "What's wrong, Quiche?" he asked, tilting his head to one side.
Quiche was seeing red, fists clenched as he whirled around and faced Pie and Tart, "Get up, now. It's Ichigo." He didn't wait for his brothers-in-arms as he stormed out of the council room in a rush, desperately trying to focus on the call of Ichigo's voice echoing in his mind while his vision was still clouded with fury. Pie and Tart fell in step on either side of him. Quiche felt a pull left, then … down. Far down.
"Quiche, what happened? Is it the voice again?" Tart asked, floating in front of Quiche to stop him in his tracks. "Where do you feel it?"
"Let him focus," Pie interrupted.
Quiche stopped in front of Tart and shut his eyes. He let out a long breath, feeling his heart hammering in his chest and the sound of blood pumping in his ears. In between visions of running Orion through with his swords, he found the cord of Ichigo's distress call and pulled – hard.
The imaginary cord snapped into focus, and he had a clear vision of which direction the call had come from. It was coming from somewhere at the bottom of the city's walls.
No, lower than that. Buried below the city's valley floor.
"Someone took her underground," Quiche blurted out, his eyes snapping open in a rush of panic. "But where – what the hell is buried underneath the city?"
"I–" Tart started. He hesitated, his mouth opening and closing as he glanced between Quiche and Pie. "I have an idea. The botanists, we … we have this tunnel system under the city. It's where we practice root training. It … it doesn't have doors or exits. You can only get in by teleporting."
Realization seemed to settle over all of them at once. Quiche felt as though he was going to be sick.
Whoever had taken Ichigo was planning on leaving her there to die.
"Hey! Is everything okay?"
Orion's voice echoed down the hallway along with the footfalls of a few of the other members of the council. Pie placed one arm around Quiche's shoulders and turned him to face away from Orion. Quiche wrestled out of Pie's grip and whirled around to face their spectators.
As soon as Quiche locked eyes on Orion, white-hot rage overtook his senses. He clenched his hands into fists, feeling the bite of his nails digging into his palms.
"You will pay for this," Quiche snarled, venom seeping out with every word.
"Quiche, we're wasting time," Pie said sternly. He took hold of Quiche's arm and forcefully turned him around. "Tart, are you able to teleport all three of us into the tunnels?"
"I–I gotta try," Tart croaked. He swallowed anxiously and held out his arms to Pie and Quiche. "Grab on, and hang tight."
The moment Ichigo felt the air around them begin to materialize, she screamed, swung her leg, and kicked as hard as she could.
They were suspended in the air; as soon as Bram dropped her with a yell of pain, Ichigo felt herself falling. She righted herself and landed on all fours, thanks to her cat reflexes. She spun around, only to find her forearm back in his grip.
He was fast.
Adrenaline hammered in Ichigo's chest as she used her other arm to swing, connecting with Bram's shoulder. It was hard, and hurt Ichigo's fist. She winced, struggling to free herself before Bram grabbed her other wrist.
"Stop struggling," Bram muttered as he twisted Ichigo's wrist. She hissed in pain, feeling her shoulder bending beyond what was natural.
"Let! GO!" she shrieked. She kicked out her knee in a desperate swing towards Bram.
She connected. Bram let go of her and doubled over in pain as he clutched between his legs. Ichigo took two steps back before whirling around and taking off in a sprint.
Down, down, down she went into what appeared to be some kind of earthy tunnel, with packed clay and dim, small lights strung up along the walls of the winding maze. Ichigo's heart pounded in her ears as she sprinted as fast as she could, her lungs gasping for air. She realized she wasn't hitting any forks in the tunnel – it appeared to be one long, continuous corridor of twists and turns. Off to the sides, there were patches of what appeared to be abandoned projects. They held roots twisted in unusual patterns, rocks stacked in piles where they were cleared from the wall. But the tunnel was mercilessly devoid of anything that looked like an exit – or a place to hide.
Ichigo tried not to panic as she began to wonder how she was going to escape. She desperately wished she had her mew pendant on her, or else she'd have more of a fighting chance against her attacker. Regardless, she figured there had to be some kind of door, some way to get out of there. Because even if she managed to evade Bram long enough – or, knock him out – she knew she couldn't leave the same way she came.
Just then, Ichigo spied a ripple in the air just around the corner. She came to a skidding stop and scrambled to sprint back in the other direction, but she felt a hand grip her throat mid-turn.
Ichigo gagged as she felt herself being thrown against the hard clay wall of the tunnel. Her head connected with a sickening crack. She felt the impact between her eyes; she began to smell blood. Her hands scrambled to wrench Bram's grip from her neck, but he was far, far stronger than her.
She cracked her eyes open, struggling to gasp for air down her throat. "Let … go …" she wheezed. Something warm trickled over her lip. It tasted like blood.
"Sit still and shut up," Bram ordered. His once-friendly eyes had darkened, a look of anger twisting his broad face into a terrifying snarl. "We can do this the easy way, or the hard way. Stop struggling and I won't hurt you anymore."
Ichigo tightened her jaw, digging her nails into Bram's arm as she pulled as hard as she could. He hardly budged, keeping her head against the wall with one arm and seemingly very little effort. Ichigo drew another shuddering gasp of air before finally blurting out, "Okay, fine! What do you want?"
Bram's grip on her throat loosened slightly. Ichigo thought to wrench free, but she was startled by the feeling of something on her ankles. She looked down and pulled, but found that there were already roots twisting around her legs and fastening her to the spot where she stood.
Desperation began to take hold of her as Ichigo felt panic climbing in her stomach. "What do you want?!" she repeated, screaming as loud as she could without letting her voice waver in fear.
Bram finally released Ichigo's throat. She gasped for air, then immediately pulled at one foot, then the other, only to find them firmly stuck.
"Justice," Bram replied simply. He watched Ichigo with a cool, calm presence and a terrifying glint in his eye. "What I want is justice. If you didn't exist, Deep Blue would still be alive."
"You're one of them," Ichigo gasped. "You're one of them! The ones who still follow Deep Blue!"
"You shouldn't be so surprised, Mew Ichigo," Bram said. "There are many more of us than you would think. And while Deep Blue no longer walks among us, it's our rightful duty to carry out his mission of reclaiming Earth."
Bram watched Ichigo's reaction carefully as Ichigo struggled to comprehend how one of the council could so easily hide his loyalties. She bit back words, waiting to see if he would continue.
"But you see, Mew Ichigo," Bram said, "the fact of the matter is this: Deep Blue would still be here if you hadn't slayed him. Tokyo Mew Mew — Earth's supposed greatest defense — is weakened without its leader. And with you gone, you'll no longer have power over our council by way of the traitor you're getting in bed with."
Fury. Shame. Terror. It rushed over Ichigo all at once. She threw herself forward and swung her arm towards Bram, but he caught her wrist and pinned it against the wall behind her. She soon felt the rough, itching sensation of roots growing around her hand.
"You're wrong!" Ichigo shrieked. "Even if I was gone, Earth will never belong to you! Tokyo Mew Mew will defend it 'til the end!"
Bram held fast to her wrist, watching her with a stern curiosity. "So naive. So hopeful. So full of youth," he murmured. "I do pity you somewhat, Mew Ichigo. After all, it was Earth that chose you for your role, not the other way around. It's a shame you have to end this way, so young."
"But my life doesn't have to end!" Ichigo argued. "Bring me back, and I'll promise I'll tell you anything you want to know! Please!"
"Oh don't worry, I'm not going to kill you. Not yet," Bram replied calmly. "There's more still to be gained by keeping you alive."
He finally released her wrist and took a step back. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a missing person to report."
"Wait!" Ichigo cried as Bram turned to leave. "How long are you going to leave me here?"
"As long as we need," Bram replied simply. "Until th—"
Suddenly, a loud crack ripped through the tunnel, and Bram was thrown back against the opposite wall. A massive root circled around his leg, gripping his body like a cobra risen from the ground.
"I can't believe it! You miserable fucking traitor!"
Tart's voice rattled through the tunnel as he flew into view, straining from the effort of controlling his powers. Bram was quick on his feet, twisting and contorting his body, and fighting Tart to gain control of the vine-like arm keeping him in place.
With a snap and a yell, Bram broke free, throwing the coil of roots back at Tart. Tart was able to deflect to his side before another rush of movement blew past Ichigo. Ichigo saw Bram draw something that looked like a broad dagger out of the air. And in an instant, there was a clash of metal against metal.
Quiche's new swords were fast, and Bram was just as quick. Quiche unleashed a fury of swings as the two dipped and dodged each other in a near-impossible dance.
Ichigo was relieved when she felt the gritty holds on her ankles and wrist loosen and drop.
"Ichigo, are you okay?" Tart called to her as he finished with the roots holding her in place.
"I'm not hurt," Ichigo called back. Her eyes stayed glued on the hurricane of glinting metal on the other end of the corridor. "But — Quiche is —"
"It's too dangerous to get between them."
Pie flew into view, his stern voice booming down the corridor. He toyed with a ball of electricity in one hand. "When Quiche gets like this, it's best to stay out of his way."
Ichigo's attention snapped to Tart.
"Bram, he—"
"—is a piece of shit," Tart finished. He glanced up at Ichigo; she saw his eyes were quickly filling up with angry tears. "Quiche thinks Orion called the council in session as a distraction to get you alone."
Ichigo's eyes widened. "Orion? Working with him?"
"We don't know that for sure," Pie corrected. "But the theory makes sense."
A scream ripped through the tunnel. Pie stepped to the left and out of the way of a dagger as it flew past him.
Ichigo watched as Quiche wrestled the much larger man to the ground, pinning him down with one of his blades at his throat. Both were covered in cuts, but Bram appeared to be badly wounded on one shoulder. Blood ran down his arm and began to form a small pool in the red clay of the tunnel floor.
"You really thought it would be that easy?" Quiche barked. "You really thought you and Orion could pull some kind of sick stunt like this and get away with it?"
Bram let out a humorless laugh. "But I did, didn't I?" he said.
"You'll be lucky if I let you live to see daylight," Quiche bit back. "Your miserable plan failed, and now I have the pleasure of watching you bleed out in the dirt like the pig that you are."
Something twisted in Ichigo's gut. This didn't feel like Quiche — at all. It was as if his old, cruel self from when he'd first arrived on Earth had returned.
"Killing me won't make things easier on you," Bram replied. "You'll be marked as a traitor, even if you keep me alive."
"You think I won't kill you?" Quiche hissed. He pressed the blade of his sword further into Bram's throat. Bram let out a hiss of pain. Blood pooled at the tip of the blade and ran down to the edges in a stream.
"Quiche, stop," ordered Pie. "We'll take him to the surface and deal with him there."
"He was going to murder Ichigo!" Quiche barked back, glancing up at Pie with a look of pure malice.
"I'm fine!" Ichigo cried, trying to catch Quiche's attention. His eyes snapped to her, and the fury stilled momentarily. Ichigo was secretly relieved. "Really, I'm fine!"
Quiche sat motionless, watching Ichigo carefully as a moment of quiet passed through the tunnel. Ichigo swallowed the dusty feeling in her throat and prayed Quice's next move would be a merciful one.
"She's really something," came Bram's voice. Quiche's attention left Ichigo, his whole body stiffening once again as Bram grinned up at Quiche. "Even without her powers, she puts up a good fight. Too bad you got here before I could—"
Crunch.
Quiche punched him across the face with the sickening sound of broken bones. Ichigo let out a shriek; Pie and Tart both recoiled in surprise.
Quiche grabbed Bram's hair and twisted his head forward. "You wanna play games now, you sick fuck?" Quiche spat.
The color drained from Ichigo's face. She'd never seen Quiche so angry in her life. His voice was foreign, the pure venom in his tone almost unrecognizable.
Quiche raised his other hand and summoned the long, thin dagger Ichigo knew so well. She gasped when she saw it slip into his hand.
"D-don't—" Bram's voice was raspy, weak; all of the dogged confidence gone.
"Don't what?" Quiche teased, his voice icy as he began to toy with the dagger in one hand. "Don't kill you? I think we can be a little more creative than that."
"Quiche," Pie said sternly.
Quiche was oblivious to Pie's warning as he lowered the dagger, and lightly dragged the edge down Bram's face. "Thought you could take what's mine? Thought you could say shit like that to me without paying the price?"
His voice made Ichigo feel sick to her stomach. It reminded her of the way he sometimes spoke to Masaya when Masaya had first taken his form as the Blue Knight — cold, dark and calculated.
"Quiche, let's go," Tart said, his voice hoarse, uneasy.
"Stop…" Bram groaned, his voice barely above a whisper.
"You should have begged for forgiveness when I first found you," Quiche said. He lifted his dagger. A wicked grin stretched across his face. "Now, you'll pay."
Ichigo couldn't look away fast enough before Quiche's dagger plunged into Bram's left eye. The sound of Bram's screams rattled Ichigo's bones; she slapped her palms over her ears and dropped to the ground. Her eyes screwed shut, she forced herself to swallow the feeling of vomit rising in her throat. Somewhere in the chaos, she could hear Tart and Pie screaming at Quiche, and Quiche screaming back amid Bram's howls of agony. It felt like ages before Bram's screams died into labored sobbing.
"Quiche, do you realize what you've done?" Tart screamed over Bram's sobs. "Bram is one of the princes! You just blinded one of your own!"
"He's not one of us!" Quiche barked. "Don't you DARE say he is one of us!"
"We need to get him to the surface before he bleeds out," Pie interjected.
Ichigo cracked one eye open, her hands sliding from her ears to the side of her face. She sat curled on the floor of the tunnel, watching the three argue, before Quiche turned to look over his shoulder at her.
He was covered in blood. Sprays of dark, scarlet blood covered his face and his arms, mingling with the cuts from his fight with Bram. Ichigo's stomach churned as their eyes met. It made her sick to look at him.
"Ichigo, are you—"
"Don't touch me!"
The cry that came out of her mouth was ragged with fear. She clapped her mouth shut just as she felt hot, wet tears streaming down her face.
It seemed to all hit her at once — the kidnapping, the feeling of being left to die underground, the blood … so much blood …
Quiche took one step closer. "Ichigo, what—"
"I SAID DON'T TOUCH ME!"
The look of pure shock on Quiche's face made the tears come faster. Tart came around Quiche's side and pulled at one of his shoulders, but Quiche shrugged him off.
"Um, Ichigo?" Tart started. "We … we need to go now."
Ichigo wiped her nose with the back of her hand. She turned her attention to Tart. "F-fine. When … we get out I … I need my friends. I need to go."
"What?" Quiche snapped.
Ichigo glared at Quiche, feeling nothing but a sickening disgust in her stomach at what he had done. What he was when he was angry. The monster he was still capable of becoming.
"I'm going home to Earth. Now."