Author's note: oh, man, I'm so terribly sorry about not being able to post faster! I had a lot of moving around to do, and My boyfriend and I have been doing tons of stuff with eachother lately. Anyway, I loved writing this chapter; it was so much fun! I hope you guys enjoy it! Please R&R!!!
Chapter Three: Red Wonder
Ichigo was staring deep into space, roughly putting grief on herself because of what happened. She was both scared of this, and very embarrassed. More than less… embarrassed. Sure, she was scared to the fact of meeting Akiyo, knowing that she had already set off a bad impression on Masaya's cousin in her own mind. She wanted to meet Akiyo, but she felt as if she would just be a burden… just a nuisance. She knew that Masaya was hurt from what had just happened, and she wasn't sure if she wanted to pour salt in an old wound. Especially Masaya's.
"Momomiya-san?" The dark-haired one said as he waved a hand in front of her face playfully, "Are you coming inside or not?"
Just after she saw the hand in her face, she looked over at him… seeing that he was smiling when he said, 'Inside'… but put his hand down and frowned when he said 'or not?'. She couldn't help but feel bad about this. She knew that meeting Akiyo would be an odd experience, but…
"Sure… it won't hurt," she said to him with a smile, her face slowly turning from sadness to pleasure.
"Good…" he said to her, taking her hand as they walked inside.
First, when she walked in, she didn't realize what she was doing. It all seem normal… until it hit her.
I'M IN AOYAMA-KUN'S HOUSE!
She was in shock.
The house was so beautiful… the floor was wooden and waxed to the point where you could see your face perfectly. The walls were a maroon-ish color, and there were normal furniture in the house; couches in the living room with a TV and wooden entertainment center. The living room was connected to the entryway, and she saw as well that the kitchen, too, was connected to the living room. She couldn't see much of it, other than the color of the well decorated walls; emerald.
Finally, she slipped into reality and came to notice that she was staring face to face with the girl of her nightmares; Akiyo.
She was, once again, looking very beautiful. She looked slightly older than Ichigo, maybe by a year. Her hair was a pale blonde- almost white- and flowed down to her waist. There were also flaming red extensions at the tips of her hair that were about two inches long. She had fare skin that looked as if she hardly ever was outside, and was wearing her normal attire. She wore A long black shirt with a white kanji character "Aishitaru", meaning love and long blue jeans. Some tennis shoes were hardly shown with the bagginess of her jeans, but they were black as well.
"I think you and Akiyo-san need some time to get to know each other," Masaya said to Ichigo kindly, "I will get a few sodas, and all of us will talk!"
There he went. Out the door and into the kitchen of his house, disappearing and leaving her there with her once-worst-nightmare.
"So you're the famous Ichigo that Masaya-kun never shuts up about!" Akiyo said to her kindly as she raised a hand out to Ichigo's, "Nice to finally meet you."
She blushed a little and then shook her hand, "Yes, nice to meet you, too Akiyo-chan." She said kindly as she let go of her hand after a short while.
" I love it here in Tokyo," Akiyo said to her; breaking the silence, " I'm originally from the USA, you know?"
"Really?" Ichigo asked in amazement.
"Yeah… it wasn't so great though…" Akiyo said, " I always loved it better here; whenever I visited Masaya-kun, I always told him I would move here!" Akiyo sounded like a child, though her voice was still very soft and tender, " I'm glad I did."
"Yeah, its nice …" Ichigo said dumbfounded; not knowing what to say.
Another long silence.
"So, tell me about your friends." Akiyo said after a while, smiling as her eyes sparkled.
" Well," Ichigo said with a laugh in her throat, "There's Minto, who is very spoiled and proper, but is still a really nice friend and a good person. Oh, and Retasu, who is very quiet and intelligent… very dependant as well. And there's Purin, a young acrobat that's constantly performing for money. There's Zakuro whom is very quiet and beautiful and logical… there's Ryou Shirogane who is the boss at my work; a bit of a jerk really… and Keiichiro who is very polite and kind; he works at the café, too."
"Wow," Akiyo said with a smile, "You have a lot of friends… all of them sound so interesting!"
"Yes…they are very interesting!" Ichigo said, " If 'interesting' is a definition of weird…"
They both laughed for a short time, and then another wave of silence came.
"Uhm… will you excuse me?" Akiyo said, " I want to talk to Masaya-kun…"
"Sure!" Ichigo said kindheartedly, though she knew that something had been immoral.
She watched Akiyo walk away and step into the kitchen, and she determined that she would sit on Aoyama's sofa and pass the time by making herself comfortable while she waited for them to return.
Akiyo doesn't seem at all what I thought she would be like, she thought, In fact, I feel connected to her somehow. But… I wonder if I said something offensive to make her want to leave… I hope its nothing.
Out of the blue, outbursts of flames were seen in the kitchen and the sound of Masaya's voice screaming rang throughout her ears. Air blew her hair sympathetically, as heat quickly struck her. She jolted to her feet and darted into the kitchen, choking on smoke immediately. Dust and amber blinded her eyes, which caused them to burn as they began to water. Slowly but surely, she was gaining unconsciousness. Her lungs began to scream for clean air, and her eyes were now blood-shot. Inhaling smoke caused her throat to burn and her voice being raspy as she cried out Masaya's name, but it was useless. It seemed as if she was running through a maze, and if she didn't reach to the endpoint she would loose her life. These engulfing flames were beginning to send her a message. Death. If she weren't to find him, not only would Masaya die, but she would as well. Masaya's family. Akiyo. And Masaya's pets.
It was over; she felt it.
Her knees grew weak and her eyes began to heavily fall. She slowly receded herself to her knees, and her eyes began to close. It was then, when she saw her. It was then, when she noticed her very point of life. She knew it; she was saved… Retasu.
" RIBBON LETTUCE RUSH!" Retasu screamed, throwing her arm out as the water rushed over the flames and burned them out. She quickly bent down and picked up Ichigo, holding her with one arm as Rau – Masaya's Dog- was in the other.
It was very uncomprehendable, but she made it out. She had been taken to the front yard, as she was laid down and Retasu was sprinking water over her face, trying to awaken her.
She opened her eyes after a while, and she saw Retasu hovering over her.
" Mew Retasu-chan!" Ichigo said, though her voice was painfully striking her as she spoke, she continued. " Where… is Aoyama-kun?"
" Momomiya-sama, I'm not very sure, but Keiichiro-sama thinks that we should go back to the café for some type of important information..." Retasu said shakily.
Ichigo stood up and felt a lot better after having some water, and she looked at her for a second, "Wait… where is Akiyo-chan?" Ichigo asked her.
Retasu pointed to the part of grass behind Ichigo, and there laid Akiyo, burned badly on the left ankle, and her right wrist. Ichigo took Rau and smiled, noticing that the inu (AN:For those of you that don't know, 'inu' is dog in Japanese.) was perfectly fine. Retasu picked up Akiyo and they both began to walk back to the café….
They walked inside and Keiichiro almost immediately took Akiyo from Ratasu's hands. Masha fluttered around Ichigo's head friendly, as Ichigo began to walk over to where Ryou was.
"What's the big news, Shirogane?" Ichigo said to him kindly.
" HOW COULD YOU LET HIM GET AWAY!?!?!" Ryou screamed at her, throwing his fists down at his side as her eyes grew narrow with anger.
"WHO!?… LET WHO GO!?!" Ichigo yelled back, twice as loud.
"KISSHU-HITEN!! HOW COULD YOU JUST LET HIM WALK AWAY WITH YOUR BOYFRIEND!?!?!" Ryou said.
Ichigo grew quiet, " Kisshu-hiten, ne?" she said sadly, her head drooping downward, "So it was him who took Aoyama-kun…"
" WHO ELSE WOULD IT BE!?!" Ryou screamed.
" Shirogane-onii-chan needs to be nice to Neko-onii-chan!" Purin said, hopping onto his head as she danced around with a plate in her hand.
" Purin-chan is right. Its not her fault she couldn't stop Kisshu-hiten. She probably couldn't even tell he was there! She was practically on fire!" Minto said to Ryou, plucking Purin off of his head.
Ryou looked over at Ichigo, " Did you… even see Kisshu?"
Ichigo shook her head.
"Okay, well, you do know that they will have to stay in the café now. Their… parents didn't survive… and their house is demolished," Ryou said to her in a kind tone, " If you wish, you can stay here a little longer… To talk to Akiyo-chan after she wakes up."
Ichigo looked at him strangely, "Hai… I will."
Ryou turned his back to her on the way to the lab, but then stopped in his tracks, "Sumimasen."
Ichigo was shocked for a while, but then she smiled at his apology, " Kekko desu."
Secretly he smiled behind he bangs, but then he continued walking away and down into the lab.
( Ryou's POV)
I began walking downstairs after talking to Ichigo, and saw that Keiichiro was finished healing Akiyo with medicine, and was now wrapping her wounds.
"How's the girl?" I asked him sleepily.
"She will live… she is badly burned on her wrist and ankle, though. She will wake up soon, I can tell…" Keiichiro replied, "I heard you talking to Ichigo… didn't seem like she took the news too well."
" She didn't see Kisshu-hiten." I said to him, "She barely even was able to see with all the smoke. Retasu-sama said that she was unconscious."
" Hmm… Why didn't she transform?" Keiichiro asked, moving his position around the medical table to the bottom, where he would be able to wrap her ankle.
" I… I'm not sure. Maybe she was caught in the moment; afraid…" Ryou said, " And you cant blame her."
"Yeah… she seems to really love Aoyama-san." He said with a smile.
"Yeah…" Ryou said sadly, "Seems like it…"
"I'm not sure if you are, Ryou-kun," Keiichiro started; his tone cheerful, " But I am very happy for them."
" I… don't know. I'm glad that she found someone that makes her happy, but-"
"You'd rather it be you?" Keiichiro said with a teasingly tone, smiling.
Ryou stared at Keiichiro for a moment, and then looked down, " I suppose."
" Oh… Kami-sama!" Keiichiro said in surprise, jerking back away from her ankle.
" What is it?" Ryou asked, "What's wrong?"
"That…. mark… on her ankle…" Keiichiro started, "It's an injection mark."
Authors note: MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Gotta love happy-but-slightly-evil-cliffhangers! Please R&R!!!!