Chapter 5- Echo
"Have you found her yet?"
"I have not, I am sorry."
"Same here. Man, this kid's tough to track down!"
"Eh, she's outta sight, boss. Nothin'."
"..."
"Well? Report!"
"Maybe."
"Tonight's what?" Mint asked Kumotaka as she grabbed some breakfast in the dining room of the laboratory.
"Ramen Night." He responded. She was wearing her school uniform, but strapped on top of her shoulder was a large leather pad, where Kumotaka was perched. Doctor Shiroyama had gotten a blue one in her size, having told her (from first-hand experience) "the claws belonging to a hawk like the one named Kumotaka are not pleasant when they are being embedded into a shoulder of a human who could be me". The only problem was that Mint's hair, generally unbound, would get in his way. However, Mint found that any hairstyle, especially two buns, reminded her too much of a past that she wanted to forget.
"Wait, I remember Nanao talking about this...um..." She screwed up her face, trying to remember what her friend said. She grabbed some pancakes, syrup, and milk, and sat down at the edge of one of the five large tables among a few other chatting residents. Kumotaka hopped off her shoulder, and stood on the other side of her tray. Mint cut up the pancakes, doused them with syrup, and held out a bite-sized piece for her friend on a fork. He ripped off a tiny piece, and ate it, trying to chew with his beak. Mint just grabbed a set of chopsticks, as there weren't many forks, and ate another piece more easily.
After Kumotaka was done eating that bite, he looked at her with his beady yellow eyes. "It is a long-standing tradition of the laboratory to have, on Saturday nights, a party in one of the main rooms. There's a movie, on a large screen, and it is a nice excuse to stay up late. The residents invite people over, and it's a pretty large turnout. You said your friend, Miss Hoshiwa, lives here as well?"
"Yeah," Mint started, gulping down some milk. "But she's not here this morning because she has a dentist appointment before we go study. She lives on the other side of the third floor."
"Yes. I see. Then Miss Hoshiwa would invite her other two friends over as well, correct? Ah, there names...Miss Furuhashi and Miss Nishihara?"
"Uh huh. Teruna and Saaya. You know, you should really meet them sometime. Even the residents barely know you exist." The girl stated as the two kept eating their breakfast.
The harpy eagle did an equivalent of a bird shrug-a small flap of his wings. "Doctor Shiroyama and I don't want to make it too public. Other people from cities may find out, and I rather prefer a quiet life in the mountains." He stated before eating another shred of pancake.
Mint nodded. She could relate to that. Even though she had only been in the town for about a week, she still felt a lot calmer and happier than she had in Tokyo. There was something about the cool, crisp air, the lovely scenery, and the quiet of the mountain town that made it special.
Not to say that she didn't miss Tokyo. Mostly, she missed her dog, Mickey. He was such a good dog, and fun to play with. Mickey also kept her company when she was lonely, what with her brother and parents always being away with one thing or another. Also, he didn't care that everybody thought she was a criminal-he loved his Mint.
As for the people...well, she did miss them a little. Even if people think of you as scum, Mint still remembered the times before Zakuro had...her little accident. The Mew Mews were all really close friends, Ryou and Keiichiro included, and she loved her family. Whenever she thought back to Tokyo, she liked to remember the good times.
Like the time, when she was depressed about Zakuro not wanting to become a Mew Mew and insulting her, the other three Mews came over just see if she was okay. They had so much fun, even though they broke the fire sprinklers and ripped her mother's cushions, and it was hard not to stop laughing.
Or the time, when she was really little, her mother took a day off from her busy schedule, just to spend time with her daughter. Mint and her mother went all around Tokyo, just the two of them, doing whatever they wanted.
Or the time when her parents and brother brought Mickey home for her.
Or the time when she found the first Mew Aqua.
Or the time...
"Akiko!" Mint shook her head to look at Kumotaka. He clicked his beak, and glared at her. "Please refrain from daydreaming long enough to be late for school!"
"What? Oh no, I have to hurry!" Mint yanked her tray off the table, and ran between the long tables into the kitchen, where she slid the tray into the racks where the cooks would find and clean them.
After that, she ran back to the table, grabbed her back, and said a hurried good-bye to the waiting bird.
And then was out the door, running in the direction of the middle school.
Kumotaka chuckled, and looked to the man next to him. Doctor Shiroyama gave a lopsided grin.
"From the way the girl who is thought to be Akiko, she is seeming to adjust to the life of the town of Moriyama. Does the bird Kumotaka agree with the statement spoken of?" He asked between bites of his own pancake.
"Yes. I believe she is." Then he looked down. "You know, I never finished my pancake.
He screeched softly, causing a resident to look over. She smiled at the doctor and the bird, and walked past them to put her tray away.
"Is he an experiment? I could have sworn I heard him talk." She inquired as she walked past the two.
"Doctor Hoshiwa is in the blissful state of being correct at this present moment."
The woman smiled, her long jet-black hair bouncing around and her deep blue eyes sparkling on her slightly child-like face. Like her daughter, it fell straight, but all the way to her waist. Every other part of her was a typical laboratory doctor's garb- a pure white lab coat over some khakis and a white shirt.
"Good luck with him then. He looks healthy now." She bowed a little, and continued to the kitchen to deposit her tray.
Kumotaka blinked. "Doctor Hoshiwa? Her daughter is Nanao Hoshiwa, right? Well, I suppose I will see more of her in the future." Doctor Shiroyama just nodded.
Inside the kitchen, Doctor Hoshiwa sighed. She looked to one of the cooks, and glared at them.
"Yes, he's here. But you'd better be telling the truth when you say you won't hurt him, or the girl he's with."
The cook, whose eyes were obscured by some dark glasses, just smiled. Rather coldly.
"Good afternoon, class!" Ichitori snapped.
"Good afternoon, Miss Ichitori!" The class sang back as they all settled in for their last period of the day- English.
After the basic greetings were said in the foreign language, Mint opened her notebook to take notes as her teacher started her lecture. She was halfway through writing down proper declinations for awkward situations, when she felt a small piece of paper hit her foot. Making sure Ichitori was not staring directly at her, she quickly snatched up the wadded up note, slightly unsure of what to do in a situation like this- she had never been to a public school before, and none of the girls at her old private school back in Tokyo ever passed her notes.
Mint opened up the small scrap of paper inside her notebook. She made sure the sheet of lined paper that her English notes were on was always on top of the note, so she could easily switch back to (appearing like she was) taking notes if the teacher looked over. As soon as she saw Ichitori turn her back on the class to write an English sentence on the board, Mint examined the note.
Akiko-
Meet us at the fountain after school, okay? Don't go directly to Archery Club. We need to set up our plans for Ramen Night!
-Saaya
"What have we here?" Mint cringed at the harsh voice, and looked up. Ichitori was looking down at her, and her deep brown eyes seemed to pierce a hole right through the girl they were glaring so hard. "Passing notes, hmm, Kobayashi?"
In one quick fluid motion, Mint scratched out Saaya's name, and Ichitori at least appeared not to see it.
"Well, then, I suppose detention is in order. After Archery Club, come here, and we'll decide how long you'll stay." With that, the teacher walked up to the front of the classroom as if nothing had happened, and regained her place in her explanation of how to be polite in English.
Mint's eyes stung as if she was going to start crying. She had never been so embarrassed in her entire life! The girl felt as if all the eyes of every single student were on her, and she could almost hear them whispering about the new girl getting detention.
She didn't even bother paying attention to the rest of the class. All she thought about was how it wasn't her fault, and that had they known who she was, they never would have given her a detention! A detention for an Aizawa? Impossible!
Mint just sank lower in her chair, and stared down at her notebook.
"I'm so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so sorry, Akiko!" Saaya whined. "I really didn't mean to get you a detention! I feel so bad..."
Mint sighed. "It's okay. Hey, at least I live alone, so, uh, my parents won't hear about it!"
Teruna scoffed. "Yeah, but detention for passing notes? Seems a little harsh. Most of the time they just make you read it in front of the class. Maybe this Ichitori has it in for you, or something."
Nanao bit her lip. "But it was very nice of you to scratch out Saaya's name so she wouldn't get in trouble too, Akiko."
Saaya gasped. "You seriously did that?" Mint nodded. "AAAAAAH! Now I'm going to feel so guilty! It's all my fault! You should have let me suffer in detention for the rest of my life and-owwwwww!" Teruna had just pulled (hard) on Saaya's red hair. "Thanks, Teruna, I needed that..."
"Um, everybody?" Nanao started as she looked at her watch. "We need to get to our clubs. They start in ten minutes."
"Yeah, and I'd better not be late. I don't want Miss Ichitori to suspend me or something." Mint grumbled.
"Eeeek! No! Akiko! We need to hurry! I don't want you to get suspended!" And with that, Saaya had grabbed her friend's wrist, and dashed off with almost super-human speed towards the locker rooms, leaving Teruna and Nanao far behind with slightly surprised faces.
"Sometimes, I wish I could run like that." Teruna mumbled.
Twang! Twang! Twang!
Mint glared ahead at her target, before shooting another arrow off at it. Twang! Another was lined up. Twang! She grabbed another. Twang! One more...twang!
"Akiko, you need to calm down! We don't want to cut any more arrows out of our targets!" A girl named Sanae hissed over to the bird-girl. Sanae was one year older than Mint, and had light blue hair that was styled in ringlets, and pink eyes. She was one of the top archers, and generally hung around Mint to give the new girl advice.
Mint, for the first time, noticed her target. All of her arrows had hit, and most were in the center. She sighed. Sometimes, I wish I wasn't so amazingly good at this. She thought to herself.
"I'm here, Miss Ichitori." Mint spat as she entered the English classroom for the second time that day. She had wanted to take a long shower and a long time to change back into her school uniform, but Saaya had warned her (multiple times) that the teacher might grow even angrier with her if she did that.
"Sit down, Kobayashi." Mint slumped into the desk in the center of the front row- right in front of the teacher and her desk. "And no attitude, got that?"
"Yes, Miss Ichitori." She said with a little less annoyance. The sooner this was over, the better. Her other teachers, especially her math teacher, had piled on the homework for the weekend, and she really wanted to start on it. Also, there was Ramen Night, and Mint really wanted to spend it with Kumotaka, Saaya, Teruna, and Nanao, not with a strict English teacher.
"Now then, since you took time away from today's class, I want you to translate these sentences from English to Japanese." She handed a sheet of paper to Mint. "When you finished, give them to me. After they are all perfect, you might be able to leave."
Mint took out a pink mechanical pencil as she took a look at the sheet. Her eyes swam as she tried to make sense of the sentences. "Uh, Miss Ichitori, I have no idea what these sentences say! They look at least one year ahead of where I am!" She exclaimed, starting to panic a little. She'd be there forever!
"No talking back! That's ten extra minutes after they're perfect!" The teacher snapped, her brown eyes once again seeming to glare into Mint.
"Sorry, Miss Ichitori. But, uh, would it be okay if I used a dictionary? I don't understand a lot of these words."
"No external sources! That's another ten!"
"Sorry, Miss Ichitori." Mint felt like she was going to cry. Nobody had ever been this mean to her in Tokyo! She really was going to be there forever! She'd miss Ramen Night! Kumotaka would-
Tap, tap.
Mint glanced up from her paper, which currently had no pencil marks on it other than her name. She had sworn she had heard a sound...
The girl looked to her teacher, who was focused on grading papers. Ichitori hadn't heard anything...so it was probably nothing...
Mint looked back down at her paper, and tried to focus on understanding the first sentence.
Tap, tap!
She jerked her head up violently. The sound was louder, and she heard it coming from the door. Making sure the teacher was still focused on grading papers, she craned her neck to the left to get a better look at the door. It was open, and she could see part of the hallway...and a small beak looking in at her.
It's Kumotaka! Mint thought to herself. What is he doing here? She took another look at him, and saw his talons. They were a little red... Is he bleeding? I need to get out there! What's going on?
"Uh, Miss Ichitori?" She asked, starting to get up. She had to think of an excuse to get into the hallway.
The teacher glanced up with an icy brown glare. "What is it now, Kobayashi?"
Mint couldn't think of anything to say, so she said the worst possible thing anybody could say to a seventh grade English teacher.
"I need to go to the bathroom."
The teacher raised one blue-back eyebrow. "If this is just to take time away from detention, it's not going to work. You're just going to spend that much time more back here. And if you even think about ditching, then you'll get double detention."
"I won't. I really need to go."
"Fine, go ahead, but I'm timing you." Mint nodded before dashing out of the room.
Once she was in the hall, she grabbed Kumotaka, and ducked into an empty classroom so the teacher wouldn't hear her.
"Kumotaka! What happened?" There was a cut on his right leg, and his feathers were ruffled.
"A kirema anima! There is one here! Somewhere in the school!" The bird said, a little breathless.
"What? Where is it?"
"I do not know. I saw it outside the school, and I flew in to warn you, but it followed me. It was of...I think it was of a rat, but I was not sure. But it had claws, and I was cut a little by it." He held out his leg. The cut, though not life threatening or serious, was still bleeding. Mint whipped out her handkerchief, and bandaged it as well as she could.
"Go back to the labs now, so it can be treated for real." She ordered him, but the bird just glared at her.
"No. I'm staying with you."
Mint was a little taken aback, but smiled. "Fine, but don't blame me if that gets infected. Now, where is that kirema anima?"
Kumotaka was about to answer, but then a rumbling was heard from up the stairs.
"Never mind. Mew Mew Mint Metamorphosis!" Her body was enveloped in light as she morphed into her Mew Mew form. "Mint Arrow!" More light shone around her hands, and her weapon appeared, with the bow like her wings and a heart-shaped arrow. Mint's right hand closed around the weapon, the arrow balancing above her middle finger as her first finger was held out to aim it. "Let's go!"
Her blue wings lifted her off the ground, and she flew down the hallway towards the stairs, Kumotaka right beside her. They sped up above the stairs, and came face to face with a gigantic, black rat with large claws.
It snarled as Mint aimed her Mint Arrow. "For endangering my school, even after hours, I will make you pay!" She smiled, holding out her left arm for Kumotaka to pose with her. "Ribbon! Mint Echo!" A blue line of energy shot towards the rat, knocking it back.
She flew over to it. "Did it work-oof!" Apparently, it didn't quite to the trick, as the rat immediately tackled her, knocking her down the stairs. Mint was able to throw it off her before she hit the floor below, but she still was bruised in more than one place. "Ow..."
Kumotaka flew down to her. "Are you okay, Mint?"
"Yeah, I think so-watch out!" The rat swiped at both of them with its claws, but Mint and Kumotaka both flew out of the way right before they were hit. Unfortunately, the claws hit the wall instead, and took out some plaster. Mint stared at the hole in the wall, which looked into a girl's bathroom. "Ew! Pervert!"
"For exposing the insides of a girl's bathroom, I will not hold back!" Mint cried, then blinked. "Did I just say that? That sounded lame...oh well! Ribbon! Mi-"
"What is going on out there, Kobayashi?" Mint stopped when she heard Ichitori's voice coming from the English classroom.
The rat also heard it, and started to lose interest in Mint. It bounded down the hall towards the classroom, just as Ichitori was coming out.
"No! Miss Ichitori, watch out! Kumotaka, distract that rat!" The Harpy eagle flew into action, pecking and scraping at the rat with its claws and beak as Mint flew in front of the rat, grabbing her teacher. She put down Ichitori far away from the rat before flying back over to the kirema anima. "Kumotaka, get out of the way! RIBBON! MINT ECHO!" Her voice shrieked as her weapon let out a huge blast of energy at the kirema anima.
The rat was swallowed in blue light, before it and the alien separated. The rat squeaked, and dashed off down the hall, while the alien just floated there, almost as if it was unsure of what it should do. Mint glanced into a nearby classroom, a science classroom, and grabbed a large jar with a holed lid. Unscrewing it with her blue-gloved hands, she flew at the alien before trapping it inside the glass jar and screwing the lid back on.
Once that was done, she sighed, slumping against the wall, still as Mew Mint.
"A...Mew Mew?" She opened one blue eye to look at her teacher, who was staring down at her. "A Mew Mew! Wow! This is so cool!" Mint stared wide-eyed at her teacher's smiling face, and her hand that she was holding out to help the girl up. Mint smiled weakly, and took the hand, standing up. "What is a Mew Mew doing in Moriyama?" Ichitori almost sounded...like a little girl finally meeting a celebrity idol.
"Uh, Miss Ichitori? You don't recognize me?" Mint asked, a little stunned.
"Of course I do! You're...Mew Mint, right?"
"No...I'm...ah, whatever, look!" She transformed back into her human self, blue w-styled collar sailor uniform and all. "See? I'm Akiko Kobayashi!"
Ichitori stared for a moment. Then she smiled. "So, you're Mew Mint, huh? Then why'd you say you were from Miyajima? That's a long way away from Tokyo. Then again..." She leaned in to examine her student's face. "You look like somebody I saw in the newspaper...from Tokyo...whose name was Mint..."
"Eek! Miss Ichitori, people know about that?"
Ichitori laughed. "So you are Mint Aizawa! I can't believe it! What a coincidence. And Mew Mint...no wonder you're such a good archer."
Mint blinked. "Wait...why are you so okay with this? People think I'm a criminal! Even though I'd never do anything like what they think I did."
"Because, of course, you're one of my best archers. Plus," Ichitori, adjusted her low ponytail. "I don't believe everything the media says."
"Hey, Miss Ichitori? Can you keep this a secret? I don't want people finding out that I'm Mint Aizawa, much less Mew Mint." Mint almost pleaded.
"Of course I can! If I lose you, I can kiss ever winning an archery competition good-bye."
"Thank you Miss Ichitori!" Mint exclaimed, hugging her teacher. Ichitori smiled, patting her student's head.
"You can trust me with anything."
Meanwhile, Kumotaka had already left the building, flying back to the labs. His cut was starting to hurt, and the handkerchief-turned-bandage was already stained red.
Why did she openly trust her teacher like that? She should have just evacuated the building once the teacher saw her in her Mew form. He thought as he cut into the wind. Plus...
What was a kirema anima doing in a remote location such as Moriyama?
Somebody knew Mint was here.
Author's Note: Wow! This took a long time to write! I had to go away for three weeks, and I couldn't write at all during that time, so sorry this took so long to get out! But I thought a lot about this story, and during that time, I pretty much know exactly where it's going, everything I need to know about the characters, and what's going to happen in each chapter. I'm not sure how long it's going to be, though. The plot is pretty much just beginning to thicken, so we've still got a ways to go! Please review! As one writer once said (I forget who, but it was somebody who wrote Teen Titans fics) "if you have time to read, you have time to review!"
Anyway, I decided to do what a lot of people do…actually respond to my reviewers (for Chapter 4)!
Thorn Willowfly: Yes! I did update! And I'm sorry you hate Ichigo. But she is an important character, being the leaders of the Mew Mews and one of Mint's good friends, so you might have to tolerate seeing more of her…but thanks for reviewing!
Quicksilver Foxx: Thank you! It's nice to hear that people like this fic, and that they think it's original! Thanks for reviewing!
Daisuke-fan-gurl: Thank you, and sorry if you had to wait too long for this chapter! Thanks for reviewing!
Pikachu: I felt like I had to put Tokyo in there earlier than I was going to because people wanted it. The Ichigo/Masaya date thing was a spur-of-the-moment-thing-to-please-the-readers-and-because-I-felt-like-it kind of thing. As for Mint going back there…I'd tell you, but I wouldn't want to give away the story! And, once again, I'm so sorry this is so late…but thanks for reviewing!
vi: Wow! A new reviewer! I'm sorry this isn't exactly a "soon" update, but I hope the next one is. Thanks for reviewing!
Disclaimer: Tokyo Mew Mew does not belong to me. It belongs to Mia Ikumi, Reiko Yoshida and any other respective owners.