Hello! I'm writing chapter 5 of this already because… : looks at poor unreviewed Codename: Black Cat and cringes: Ergh. Anyways, have fun with the chapter!

Answering reviews!

Tylec Asroc: Yeah. I was going to add the serious crime last chapter, but for some reason I didn't. It will be added in this chapter though. As for the Masaya thing… heehee is all I say.

OokamiHanyouGurl: Goodie! Fhanks for the char!

Switchfootfan887: You should probably pay more attention to the story, because I said her dad is dead. No offense though.

Petitio Principii: Wow! Another long reviewer! I like your story Valediction. Arigatou for the character and reviewing. And goodie good advice and such.

And… nobody gets a cookie!

Disclaimer: Here is a rhyme to you; I do not own Tokyo Mew Mew.

Chapter 5Truths

Zakuro blinked again as she saw Pai. Why was Pai here? The aliens had left… so why…?

Pai, seeing Zakuro's confusion, began to speak.

"I suppose you're wondering why I'm here." The alien's voice was slightly bored, and he gave a small sigh.

"Basically," Zakuro replied, calmer now that her small shock had gone. The rain increased slightly, large water drops splashing onto the ground.

"It's because most of our race is dead."

A while after, Ryou decided to head out to see if Ichigo was still at the park. He didn't think so, but he thought he should check nonetheless. He guessed that judging from the direction they walked, they were headed to the closest park, Kurosaki Park.

He grabbed a dark blue umbrella and ran to the park. He looked around and didn't see anything, then turned to leave because he thought Ichigo was already home. Then he saw…

"Ichigo!" he yelled, racing over to her. She was on her knees, her head tilted up toward the rain. Her clothes were soaked through, and her hair was plastered down by the rain.

"What did I do wrong? Why does God hate me today?" Ichigo whispered, her voice barely audible. Ryou covered her with his umbrella.

"Ichigo… I'll take you home. You're soaked…" Ryou murmured. He helped her up, and as they walked to her house, he put his arm around her. He removed this arm when he got to the door and rang the doorbell.

Sakura answered it. In Ichigo's mind, flashes of Hana rushed through her head. A huge headache caused her legs to give out, leaving Ryou barely enough time to catch her. She muttered a 'thank you' as Ryou put her back down. Ichigo walked in steadily and made for her room. After being questioned and nearly attacked by Ichigo's father, Ryou headed back to the café.

Pai's face had turned solemn and sorrowful, as did his voice. Zakuro's eyes widened in shock as the words replayed in her head. Finally she managed to speak.

"You're… kidding. After serving Deep Blue… after all that..." Zakuro inquired slowly.

"A plague," Pai said at last. "It made everyone sick, nearly dead, except for a few of us. Then another race invaded. No one was able to fight, except us. But we all escaped."

Both of them were silent for a few minutes, as the rain grew heavier, making the pond Zakuro had been sitting by overflow slightly. Pai looked at Zakuro slightly expectantly.

"Aren't you going to say I should've stayed and helped my kin?" Pai asked, obviously wondering why Zakuro hadn't said it already. Zakuro raised an eyebrow.

"Because I think what you did was right. Better to have some of the race survive then all of you dead." Noticing that her clothes seemed like she had jumped into a lake, Zakuro began walking toward her mansion. Surprisingly, Pai walked with her.

"Why are you walking next to me?" Zakuro asked boredly.

"I don't know. I feel like it."

"Why were you in the bushes?"

"See previous answer." The two continued walking, both silent as ever. Whenever a regular person passed by, Pai would disappear, only to reappear when the person passed by. Eventually a conversation started, the non talkers talking slightly.

"So, why were you looking in the water anyway?" Pai asked curiously. "Preening or something?" Zakuro's eyes narrowed and she replied with a sorrowful and malice coated voice.

"Far from it." Her voice was also icy, a cold hiss. Pai wondered what caused this sudden change and decided to find out.

"Then what were you doing?" Zakuro froze. She closed her eyes and her left hand became a fist.

"It doesn't matter," she hissed, her voice even angrier now.

"Just tell me. It won't kill you, you know." Zakuro couldn't hold in her temper, and whipping around, she slapped Pai so hard he nearly fell over.

"I told you," she whispered, more malice inside her eyes than he had ever seen. "Don't ask." She turned on her heels and walked away.

I told him… I won't be reminded of her. I won't call that wretched woman a mother! Zakuro thought furiously. She hurried to the mansion, water flowing down her body and dripping out of her clothes. But even this wasn't enough rain to wash away the memory.

The next day at school, Ichigo tried to avoid Masaya as much as possible, but for some reason he always seemed to be heading for her. Once, she saw him talking to Moe, an angry look on his face. Spotting Ichigo, he walked over to her.

"Ichigo, can you come after school to the bench near the gym?" he asked politely. Ichigo's heart began to melt, and finally she said she would.

After school, Ichigo sat on the bench. Masaya came soon, sitting down next to her.

"So… wanna come with me to a movie on Wednesday?" Masaya asked, giving his oh so wonderful smile.

"W…what?" Ichigo asked, confused. Masaya had said just yesterday… "But… yesterday you said you wanted to break up with me!" Masaya looked shocked.

"What are you talking about, Ichigo?" Masaya questioned. "I just got back from my grandmother's this morning!" Ichigo realized that Masaya had left. She couldn't believe she forgot.

"But then… who…?" Catching sight of a certain figure, Ichigo knew EXACTLY who did it. She didn't know how, but he did it.

"As for the date on Wednesday, sure!" Ichigo exclaimed. Masaya was also happy, and ran off to some sort of practice or something. Ichigo sent a raged glare at a clock tower nearby, then stomped off to the café.

Behind the clock tower, Kish breathed heavily, slightly scared because of the death glare Ichigo sent him.

"Dangit… Ichigo didn't respond as hoped…" Kish scowled. In his mind played his dream situation.

"I think we need to break up, Ichigo," said Kish looking and sounding like Masaya.

"NOOOOOOOOO!" Ichigo cried. Kish/Masaya left. The next day…

"Ichigo, wanna go out?" Masaya asked.

"You're just rubbing it in, aren't you! WAAAH!" Ichigo runs off. Then suddenly…

"What's wrong, Ichigo?" Kish said very hero like.

"Masaya dumped me! I don't love him anymore! I love you!" Ichigo shouted.

That was the idea. Unfortunately, Ichigo hadn't responded in the way Kish hoped. Stealing the transformation device had been pointless. He gave a sigh. Pai would murder him for stealing from his lab.

It was night. Pai teleported onto Zakuro's balcony. He didn't know why he was so interested in Zakuro's 'secret,' he just was. He then quietly teleported in.

He looked over at Zakuro's bed. She seemed to be asleep, but he had to be sure. Noticing she had her back to him, he teleported to the opposite side of the bed.

Her purple hair was strewn out over the pillow, some of it covering her face. She was wearing silk light purple pajamas, with primrose stars. Her blue eyes were shut tight as her chest rose up and down.

Pai woke from a sort of daze and teleported back to where had started. Silently, he approached a desk. On it were some newspaper clippings. Pai picked them up and went over to the moonlit window, and started to read.

"POP STAR COMMITS SERIOUS CRIME. Pop star Anguria was accused of adultery just last night." Adultery? Wasn't that…? The alien kept reading. "Anguria claims that the man involved, Haku Ashikawa, gave her stronger wine then she ordered. "I was having a drink of not too strong wine. Ashikawa offered to buy me a drink, and I told him I wanted the same one as before. When he came back, the color seemed off, and it tasted strange. I don't remember much else." Ashikawa claims that he did get her what she asked, and she gave him too strong a beer. This will be further investigated." Pai switched to another clipping.

"MAN ARRESTED FOR ADULTERY. Relating to last week's case of adultery, a witness said that the color of the wine was indeed different, and that it was a stronger wine. Haku Ashikawa has been arrested. Anguria is attempting to put him through the death penalty, and by the looks of it she is succeeding. The case will hopefully be closed in a few days." Pai then picked up the last one, from about a year after the other two.

"POP STAR CONVICTED. Last year, the man Haku Ashikawa was sentenced to the death penalty for adultery. However, it has been found that the woman, pop star Anguria Fujiwara, actually forced Ashikawa to buy her stronger wine, therefore making her even more drunk. It has been found that she also forcibly poured beer down Ashikawa's throat. Anguria's contract will be destroyed, and she and her daughter will have most of their money taken away." Finally, Pai noticed a picture of the pop star Anguria. A look of surprise crossed his face as he saw the stunning resemblance to Zakuro.

And Fujiwara… he thought slowly. That's why she was looking at her reflection… Just then, Zakuro stirred, and Pai hastily returned the clippings to the desk and teleported away. Zakuro blinked.

"Was… someone just… there?" she asked sleepily. Soon she drifted off into slumber, her dreams actually memories, memories of a corrupted pop star…

The next day at Café Mew Mew, Ichigo was on time and Mint was LATE. Ichigo took advantage of this and scolded her.

"Shut up! It's only because Kish came back and harassed me all night!" Mint yelled. The entire day she became a devil, and only didn't yell at Zakuro. Purin said she had played with Taruto last night ("na no da!"). Zakuro mentioned that she had seen Pai as well.

After Mint had calmed down, Ichigo told her about Kish making it seem like Masaya dumped her. Both of them decided that if they ever saw Kish again, they would murder him. Literally.

But Ichigo couldn't help but think about being in Ryou's arms, crying. She didn't know why. She was sad, and he understood her, right? But she felt as though there was more.

End

Hurrah nyaa! Another chapter! Oh yeah. To Petitio Principii, I would use more not-so-common words and all, but I'm not even in high school, so my vocabulary isn't as large as I would like it to be. K, that's all. Byes till next chapter.

Starfire and Sakura, logging out