Are You Ready to Rumble?

A Tokyo Mew Mew Story by Tsumina

Lettuce scrambled to her feet. "Oh shoot, shoot, shoot!"

Ryou lay sprawled on his stomach, twitching in pain. His leg was twisted in a very uncomfortable position. "Gggh…Nnnnhhh…..Fwlstrrfffuffffff….."

"W-What?"

"If you don't want me to leave, a simple 'don't go' would do."

"No no! That's not what I…I really didn't mean to!"

"Forget it," Ryou replied, attempting a smile, though it escaped in a pained wince. Lettuce supported him on her shoulder and they both hobbled over to the sofa again. "Look, this can't be fixed with a first aid kit. Just help me get to the hospital."

The jittery girl bit her lip. "But the hospital is at least three miles off. My mom's got her car. I know yours is outside, but I've never driven before."

"You're gonna have to try."

"But-!"

"Either you learn to drive, or you can watch my leg swell to the width of a watermelon. Ever seen a swollen, broken leg before?" He made a move to pull his pant leg up, but Lettuce quickly averted her gaze.

"No no, we'll get you to the hospital. I'm sorry. But you're going to have to guide me through every step."

Ryou gave her a reassuring wink. "How hard could that be?"

"The mall?" Pie raised an eyebrow. "The mall is…?"

"Shopping place," said Zakuro, "Lots of people, all of them scrambling for new things they don't need."

"Why are you going?" He sat on the foot of her bed as she rummaged through her drawers in search of something.

"It's all part of being a model. There's a fashion show going on there. A charity thing. I thought it was a good cause, seeing as it's to benefit an orphanage. Of course, I don't expect you to want to come to that sort of thing. A lotta guys don't tend to enjoy fashion shows."

Pie did not answer to the comment. He watched her toss various clothes on the floor. "What are you looking for?"

"For these." She pulled out a black T-shirt, black cargo pants with various silver chains, and a box of jewelry. The alien looked questioningly at the clothing selection.

"Do humans not wear various colors?"

"Your complexion is far too pale for any human being. Goth is the only way to somewhat explain you. You've got the gloomy attitude anyway."

"You do too," Pie replied curtly, "Why don't you dress in dark colors?"

Somewhat shocked by the observation and following question, Zakuro looked up from what she was doing and blinked.

"I'm not touching you…" Kish coaxed, holding the tip of his index finger about a millimeter from Masaya's cheek. Masaya leaned away from the pesky alien, who continued to keep his finger within a short distance from his face. "I'm not touching you!"

Ichigo watched despondently on the couch. "Kish…"

"Not touching..."

"Kish."

"Not touching you!"

"KISH."

"Not—"

In the blink of an eye, Masaya had grabbed a magazine off the coffee table and slapped Kish in the face. Kish fell backward, upsetting a few of the throw pillows behind him. "Ichigo! He hurt me!"

Masaya stood up and stormed off to the kitchen, and Ichigo shot a glare at Kish. Kish wasn't usually intimidated by a mere facial expression. But the one that she gave him was so similar to his mother's scolding face that he even whimpered and hid behind the couch.

"Let's just go to the mall," Ichigo sighed, exasperated. She held her head in her hands. Hopefully she'd lose them both, if only for a little while.

"Mint speaking."

"Mint, this is Ichigo."

"Ichigo! You interrupted my tea-time."

"This is more important than that! These two are driving me nuts! What was I thinking when I let both of them bunk here at the same time?"

"You were just being your careless self, that's all. I forgive you."

"You're not helping! Look, I'm bringing them to the mall for a while. Could you come with me? Please? Please?"

"I'll have to check my schedule."

"Miiiiint!"

"Oh fine. I'll meet you there at three."

"Thank you so much!"

"Mmm…buh bye."

"I'll talk to you la—KISH! PUT THAT DOWN NOW!" Crash, shatter. Click.

"Slow down! Slow! Lettuce, PLEASE!"

Lettuce slammed her foot down on the brake. The car lurched forward and stopped. Ryou clutched at his chest, which carried a palpitating heart. "J-J-Just…go…slow…you only need to press the accelerator LIGHTLY."

"Like this?"

"Ya, like that. Watch the pedestrian WATCH THE PEDESTRIAN!"

"Okay okay!" Again, she hit the brakes. The seatbelt did nothing for Ryou. He ran straight into the dashboard, then sat up with a bloody nose.

"I'm so sorry!"

"Please…just keep driving. Please."

(Tsumina: wow, how long has it been? Well, I really thought the story had gone absolutely no where, and I assumed the story was dead already. So I stopped for…hm…a year, I think? Let me check…geez! I stopped in freshman year, and I'm a junior right now! But Ichigogal sent me an email asking me to continue. All for you, Ichigo-chan!)