Hi! I'm so happy. Chapter 2 already! Wowzers. Okay, enough with the sarcasm. Anyway, I will answer reviews:
Sara Tober- Thanks for reviewing! And, I think I am going to make it completely RyouIchigo.
Tylec Asroc- The reason I didn't add much about the "palace" was because I wanted it to be in mystery until she finally remembers exactly what happened in her dream. Either in this chapter or the next I'll describe it. Probably next chapter.
Disclaimer: I do not own Tokyo Mew Mew, but I own the characters in Ichigo's dream.
Chapter 2-Identity
The same tears… the same memory… the face…
The back of a head, with long dark pink hair moving in the wind.
Who are you? Ichigo asked in her mind. Who…?
Then she was running, running faster and faster. Where are you, she called. She was…. Looking for someone? But who was she looking for? She made a turn, then opened the door…
"NO!" she shouted. She was in bed, sweating. But it wasn't her bed, it was Shirogane's. Mint was beside her, looking worried.
"Ichigo, what's wrong?" she asked, putting down a cup of tea. "You were talking in your sleep! What were you dreaming about?" Ichigo held her head, covering her eyes.
"I… don't know…" she murmured, and she was still unsure of what had happened before. Then she remembered. She had heard someone crying, then the back of the face, then black.
"Did I… faint or something?" she asked Mint. The blue haired girl nodded, picking up the tea and slowly drinking it to calm her down.
"You did faint. Shirogane-san says you were cleaning the tables, when you stopped. He was going up to see what was wrong or something, and then you collapsed. Shirogane and Retasu carried you up to this room," Mint explained. "The rest you know."
"Oh…" Ichigo said softly. Sweat was still dripping down her face. She wiped it off and realized tears were in her eyes. Like the crying she had heard…
"I'll tell Shirogane-san you're up… he's been really worried," Mint said. She gave a slight giggle then left the room, leaving Ichigo slightly confused.
Shirogane was worried about me? Ichigo thought. Why is he always so kind to me? He's mean sometimes, but he can be really sweet… She wanted to sleep again, but the thought of the dream scared her. At the same time, she also wanted to know who it was in her dream, and what she saw at the end. She was starting to drift off when the door opened.
"Ichigo!" Ryou said worriedly (by the way, the reason I keep using Shirogane is because it's a term of respect I guess. But I use Ryou when somebody's not speaking to him or it's Keiichiro). "What happened? Why did you faint?"
"I… I'm not sure…" Ichigo replied in surprise. She didn't think Shirogane would be this worried about her. "But… I kept hearing someone crying… and when I looked up no one was crying and it stopped. I've been having weird dreams, too…"
"Weird dreams?" Ryou questioned. Maybe the dreams had something to do with it. He didn't really care what was wrong; he only cared that she would be okay.
"Well… in the start, people are… crying… but I don't know why. Then I'm running, trying to find someone. I open this door, and… then I wake up. But I don't know what I see," she explained, thinking hard. She had heard crying in the dream and before she had fainted. Could the woman be in her dream as well?
Ryou let her rest for a while, and he himself watched her. She noticed this was another act of kindness. She hardly ever got time off because Ryou wouldn't let her. Why is he being so nice? She thought. I mean, normally he's mean, but now that I think about it, whenever I'm hurt he always gets really worried… she dozed off.
She was in a cold place. The floor was stone and it was wet. She felt a sinking feeling as she realized blood was seeping through the cracks in the stone.
"Papa-san!" she felt herself cry. Tears sprang from her eyes, falling onto the dirty floor. "Mama-san!" Sorrow welled up inside of her. She was alone.
Her hands were chained to wall with iron chains. She didn't know where they had taken her mother. She heard footsteps as someone slowly walked down the wall. She looked up to find a tall, ugly man staring at her.
"Get up, stupid girl," he ordered. Quivering, she did as instructed. The man unlocked her chains and put new ones one her, ones like handcuffs. He led to her a room. She nearly screamed when she entered.
There was blood splattered everywhere, with dead bodies lying around. There were bloodied weapons which had recently been used. This is where the blood in the cracks had come from. A few steps away were her mother and father. She couldn't help but cry out to them.
"Mama-san! Papa-san!" They turned their heads, relief spreading their faces for but a moment before another man, thin and cold, spoke.
"So, 12, this is your daughter, eh? Well… we'll see… who should I use… 10?" A thin yet strong man came up.
"Yesssss massssster?" His voice was like a snake's, and his hand he held a whip with spikes on it sharp enough to rip apart human flesh.
"You will do the honors," the one known as Master instructed. The couple being held prisoner gasped.
"No! Don't!" 12, her own father, yelled. "Take me instead!" In his eyes were fear and yet determination.
"You? Hmmm, well... that will work. We'll just do your daughter and wife afterwards!" Ichigo then noticed something she hadn't noticed before. She couldn't see the face of those two. But why not?
The men led her father up to a platform. Now there was sadness in his eyes, but there was also hope. Why does he look like it's going to be okay? Tears welled up in Ichigo's eyes. He's going to die...
Number 10 started his work. It was horrible. They forced Ichigo and her mother to watch as Ichigo's father was tortured. Then, after a while, it didn't look like her father anymore.
"Heh heh…" her father gasped weakly. "You're…. going to pay… Leo."
"And how so?" the evil man said with a frown. Suddenly, he started coughing, coughing up blood. His face scrunched up in pain.
"What did you do to me, 12?" he roared in fury, coughing more.
"That poison you wanted me to make- I did make it. And you're my guinea pig," Ichigo's father said triumphantly. "If I recall, your other numbers were all machines that died when you died. Isn't that correct?"
"You-!" Suddenly, this 'Leo' fell to the ground, obviously dead. The other people all collapsed, allowing them to get to their father.
"I'm sorry…. But…. It was the only way for the poison having time to take effect. I'm… sorry…" Then he fell silent. His head slumped back and Ichigo saw his face. It wasn't the same face as the father she knew, at her own home. Besides, her father wasn't dead.
"Ichigo!" she heard a voice call. She opened her eyes, which she realized where filled with tears, and got up. Ryou was standing beside her, another worried look on his face.
"Did you have the dream again?" he asked earnestly, wiping the tears that wear falling from her eyes.
"No…. this one was different. In this one… I think I was…. held prisoner at some place. Then… someone was killed…" Her head strained to remember. What had she said?
"I heard you say 'Papa-san' in your sleep," Ryou reported, still worried. Ichigo got a jolt of memory.
"That-That's it! I remember! I… I was led outside the dungeons, or wherever I was, and I went into this chamber… it was horrible, it had dead bodies all around it… and then there was my dad… and… and mom! I think it was mom anyway. But I couldn't see their faces.
Anyway, for some reason this guy named Leo had a grudge against my dad, and he had my dad tortured. But my dad had poisoned him or something, and Leo died and so did all those other guys. My dad died afterwards. The thing is, after he died, I saw his face. It wasn't the face of the dad at my house! And my dad isn't dead either!"
"It was probably only a dream, Ichigo," Ryou said, trying to comfort her. In the back of his mind there was doubt, but he pushed it away. Dreams were nothing more than that, weren't they? He hoped so.
"Maybe I should go home…" Ichigo said quietly.
"That's a good idea. I'll walk you home," Ryou replied nearly instantly.
They slowly walked to Ichigo's house. Ichigo looked at Ryou's face and then knew why he had a look of sorrow on his face. He was thinking of the death of his own parents, when his house burned down.
"Ryou…" she said softly, not loud enough for him to hear. She ached to help him, to comfort him somehow, but she didn't know how.
"We're at your house, Ichigo," Ryou said, and Ichigo realized they were. She began walking to the door.
"A-Arigatou," Ichigo told him quietly, as she was walking. She entered the house and her mother welcomed her in. With one last glance at the closed door, Ryou started walking back to the Café.
Ichigo, meanwhile, quickly hurried into her room. She was glad her father wasn't here. He had to go on a business trip somewhere. She lay down on her bed and tried not to fall asleep, which was hard because of the cat genes inside of her. She quietly had dinner, then simply went to sleep.
It was the normal dream, where there were… tears… wait. Could it be they were crying over her father? She got up, because it was 7:45 AM. She had breakfast, got dressed, and got to Mew Mew Café around 8:45 AM. Her shift started at 9. Ryou was surprised when he saw her there.
"Ichigo? Wow, you're early. Are… you feeling okay from yesterday?" Ryou asked this last question slightly hesitantly.
"Pretty much," was her reply and she started sweeping the floors. She finished just before Mint, Retasu, and Zakuro got there.
"K-konnichi wa," Retasu greeted, bowing. Zakuro gave a small half-hearted wave and walked to the register. Mint just said "hello" and sent a glare at Ichigo, who was confused. Then the blue haired girl sat down at her regular table.
"What's with the glare?" she asked Ryou. He gave a small chuckle and replied.
"Because you were gone yesterday, Mint had to actually get up from her table and work. That's why," he snickered. Wow. Mint WORKED? That's new. Ichigo giggled quietly as Purin entered.
"ICHIGO ONEE-CHAN!" Purin shouted, pouncing on Ichigo causing her to fall over. "YOU'RE OKAY!"
"I know! Now get off me!" she yelled, but she was giggling. Purin got off Ichigo, who began welcoming the customers.
Retasu had actually become less clumsy and only dropped 10 dishes a day instead of 20. Then a man, accompanied by a young girl, entered the café.
"Hello. May I take your order?" Zakuro asked carelessly when the man got up to the register.
"Yes. I would like a plate of 20 raspberry parfaits, a chocolate milkshake, and 1 cup of the special tea." His voice was very prim and proper.
"Alright. That's $17.48." Zakuro replied calmly. The man gave Zakuro the money and walked to a table, the little girl looking very happy and hopping to the table. Retasu was chosen to bring the food to their table.
"Here's y-your food," she stuttered, placing it on the table. The man eyed it quickly, then replied to her.
"You forgot the tea."
"Oops! I'm sorry! I'll go get that!" Retasu hurried into the kitchen and grabbed the tea. Then, to Retasu's bad luck, some trickster tripped her. The teacup landed on the man's head, and his face turned red with fury.
"You idiot! How dare you throw a teacup on my head!"
"Oh no… Papa-san is mad again…" the girl murmured, whimpering and hiding slightly under the table.
"You'll pay for that!" He struck Retasu across the face, causing her to fall onto the floor. In anger, Ichigo stormed over to him.
"Just because somebody tripped her doesn't mean you have to get mad at her!" she snapped. "It was an accident!"
"Shut UP!" the man shouted, and he scratched Ichigo's face, causing a large cut to appear, small amounts of blood flowing out of it. He hit her so hard she flew into the wall. Then Ryou had it.
"If you're going to hurt my employees, you should go, sir," he said icily. His voice was coated with malice. The man looked at the scene for a moment, then looked at the girl.
"Aira! We're going!" The girl trembled and whispered "gomen nasai" to Retasu, then followed the man out of the café.
The entire café had been staring at them, but all the people went back to talking after a little while. Ryou once again carried Ichigo up to his room, and Keiichiro put a band-aid on the small cut Retasu got.
In his room Ryou bandaged up Ichigo and sighed.
"Why do all these things happen to you, Ichigo?"
While Ichigo was having a strange dream…
End
The truth behind Ichigo's past revealed next chapter! Teehee. I'm not sure exactly when I'll explain Zakuro's past, so just bear with me. Doing 2 stories at once is hard, but it's summer, so I'll manage. Also, when I'm done with this fic I'm planning another. Can someone tell me Purin's attack and Taruto and Kish's… things? Like, Pai's is Fuu-Hyou-Sen. Don't Kish and Taruto have the same type things? If so, if you know and you are reviewing, please tell me x.x.
Sakura: Yeah… maybe if she's writing fanfictions she won't go crazy.
Starfire and Sakura, logging out
