"K... Kisshu!"
"It's been ages, my sweet pussycat!"
The redhead didn't resist when the strong grip of the alien pulled her up, unable to react. She continued to stare at him astounded, as he, giggling, stopped flying to land near her.
He had changed enormously in three years, and at the same time it was as if not a day had passed since his departure. He had become a little taller and more robust, more of a man; the hair on his neck and his bangs were longer, although he was always wearing it into two tufts over his ears. But the sly smile, which he was giving her in that moment, and those magnetic amber eyes that were not letting her go, were identical to the last time she had seen them.
"Why those red cheeks?" he teased her mischievously "Are you that happy to see me?"
Ichigo blushed even further and took her hand away from him:
"What are you inventing?! Rather, what the hell are you doing here?!" she blurted out and pointed to the passage from which he had sprung up "A-and what...!"
She went silent when the boy got less than two inches from her:
"Hey, is this how you say hello to me after all this time?" he whispered, taking her chin between his fingers, "And to say that I was so eager to see you..."
"What are you doing?!" she protested when she felt his other arm circle her waist "Let me go right now, Kisshu!"
He didn't seem keen on doing so, and stroked her cheek with his thumb. Ichigo bit her lip trying to escape his gaze, but she wasn't able to free herself from his hold; neither her legs nor her arms were obeying her, she was paralyzed like a moth in front of a light.
Has he always been like that?! Damn it…
With all the love problems she had, being looked at with so much desire was disconcerting.
"You've become so pretty, you know that?"
The redhead felt his hand come down from her cheek to her shoulder and her back, while the other slipped dangerously along her side.
"What…?!"
Okay, that was too much.
"Don't you try! Keep those hands down!"
"Come on, you're all grown up no- OUCH!"
Ichigo was suddenly freed from Kisshu's squeeze and she tumbled backwards, falling on her butt with a cry; still confused, she looked at Kisshu and saw another familiar figure, who was firmly gripping his arm.
"Ouch, ouch, ouch! Fuck, Pai, let go of me!"
Kisshu protested. He jerked his arm away briskly, glaring at his companion, and the latter replied with his most glacial glance:
"Can you stop chasing birds, at least for thirty seconds?"
Kisshu swore loudly, cursing him. Pai ignored him and turned to Ichigo, who was suddenly gripped by a dull fear: perhaps because who stood in front of her was now a man with a grim and severe appearance, perhaps because she remembered the alien's cold ruthlessness during the final battle, but the sight of Pai had terrified her, making her think only one thing.
Aliens: that is, danger.
"Hello, MewIchigo."
Upon hearing her name being called, the redhead stretched her hand to the pocket of her uniform, grabbing her pendant and looking at Pai as firmly as she could.
"You two are a disaster! And you, Pai, you have your usual scary face!" a lighthearted voice laughed "Look at Ichigo, she's as white as a sheet!"
A boy just younger than her jumped beside the other two, looking at her with a sneer. He had grown, even his clothing was more mature, as he had abandoned his culotte shorts for a longer and darker pair of pants that wrapped at the ankle. His pigtails, however, were still poking out from his head like little demonic horns; in seeing him, Ichigo felt much better and let a smile slip out:
"Taruto!"
"Ohi. Hey, have you aged a little bit more, baba?"
Ichigo's expression changed for the umpteenth time and became furious:
"What did you call me, chibi-ko?!"
"Guys, so, are you done?"
A fourth voice: this one, the redhead could not link to anyone, not even by pushing her memory.
"We're here for a reason, you're just confusing this poor girl."
Another alien came out of the light, and Ichigo left out a groan.
How many are there?! And I'm here alone, meeeeow!
The last one was probably about Pai's age; tall and with a sturdy but dry physique, he wore clothes similar to those of the others, with long black trousers and a dark blue short-sleeved shirt. His hair was an almost black chestnut, kept slightly long on his neck and with a little tail as it was customary among his people, which started from his fringe and twirled behind the ear and down on the shoulder. Compared to his friends he had a more mature face, but it was extremely sweet and kind, as kind was the smile he addressed to an astonished Ichigo:
"Don't worry, we're not here with bad intentions." he glanced fleetingly at Pai, who didn't bat an eyelid, "And I assure you that Kisshu won't try to touch even a single hair. Right, Kisshu?"
The other responded by grunting and muttering, moving his arms behind his head.
"My name is Eyner," he smiled at her again and extended his hand "Come on, I'll help you up."
Ichigo accepted, still hesitant, but reassured by the boy's kindness; he did not stop smiling at her for a second and she studied him, still a little dazed: he had an incredible color of the eyes, gray in the center and fading into a deep dark blue around the edge of the iris.
"Okay. End of the pleasantries. Eyn, are you going to contemplate each other much longer?!"
"Kisshu, stop it," sighed Eyner smugly, insensitive to his companion's barks, "You only say stupid things."
"E-excuse me…" Ichigo finally found the strength to mutter, "B-but what's going on?"
Eyner sighed uncomfortably and grimaced:
"Sorry, you're right. You see..."
"Ribbon Mint Echo!"
The four aliens jumped in the air, avoiding the blow by a hair: the mewbird, about ten meters from them, was flying towards Ichigo, her tensed bow aimed at the boys, with a menacing attitude.
"Ichigo, are you okay?"
"Yes, Minto, but wait…"
"Keiichiro's sensors are never wrong, huh?" the brunette continued sourly, not listening to her friend "And you have also increased in number, beautiful!"
Eyner, who seemed to expect such a reaction, but had to have the disposition of a peacemaker, raised his hands in a sign of surrender and approached cautiously:
"Calm down. We're not here to fight, we…"
He had to skitter sharply to the side so that Minto's energy arrow wouldn't pierce his belly.
"I didn't remember this old gal being so stubborn as well!"
"You're going to pay for this too, you know Taruto?"
"Minto, liste… !"
Ichigo fell backwards again, caught off guard by another shot of the brunette directed at the aliens; Pai frowned and his fan appeared in his hand.
"He-hey Pai, what the hell are you going to do?"
Eyner murmured. Pai didn't even answer:
"Fuu Shi Sen!"
A massive blast of air hit Minto fully, pushing her away and almost making her fall to the ground: a second before she crashed, Kisshu appeared behind her, grabbed her and, in order to avoid more quarrels, blocked her arms behind her back. Eyner stared at his teammates quite unnerved:
"You and the word 'diplomacy' don't exist in the same sentence!"
"Would you rather have her reduce us to skewers?" Pai said nipping, "Now at least she'll have to listen to us."
Minto was writhing like an eel, trying in vain to rid herself of Kisshu; he wasn't holding her strongly enough to hurt her, but not being able to move didn't give her any reason to be calm.
"See, you don't need to get so tired trying to hit us with your arrows, we're here as ambassadors."
The amused boy told her. Then he lowered his chin to her shoulder and, sinking his cheek in her hair, whispered in her ear:
"If you promise to be a good girl and you don't try to kill us, little bird, I'll let you go. Otherwise I'll drag you to your friends carrying you on my shoulders, you choose."
She stiffened in disdain, no one had ever dared to take such confidence with her. As she was at a disadvantage she nodded, defeated, tilting her chin up and stiffening more than usual:
"All right."
Satisfied, Kisshu fluttered to Ichigo and then slowly loosened his grip:
"Great, as we were – OUCH!"
With a move worthy of a boxer, Minto had hit him square in the middle of his shoulder with a hook, her face raging:
"Don't you dare touch me ever again, have I made myself clear?"
"Ohi… What got into you, you ugly crow…!"
"Please, that's enough!" Ichigo pleaded, "I can't understand anything anymore, can you please go on telling me what is going on?!"
"I am asking what's happening!" Minto blurted out "Did you see who's here? And you don't transform yourself?!"
"We told you," Eyner repeated wearily, "We are not here to fight against you."
"Ah! And why should I believe you?" she replied with disdain.
"Because Ichigo was alone with us before you arrived, you stupid crow," Kisshu hissed, still rubbing his shoulder, "If we had wanted to take her out, we would have done it."
Minto glared at him but did not reply. Behind him, Eyner rubbed his neck; it would be much, much more complicated than expected…
"Well, there are many things to explain to you… Ichigo, right?" he smiled at the redhead, "I also think that your friends should know, indeed, they must know."
.
.
.
Retasu was running so fast that she had risked losing her backpack on the street several times; by now she was out of breath, but she couldn't stop, she had to get to the Café as quickly as possible.
When her pendant had activated, after what had felt like a century, conveying Ryou's message about a new arrival of the aliens, she couldn't believe it.
"It's a mistake," she had told herself.
In a mixture of fear, confusion and turmoil, she had left the club with an excuse and had run away, only to have to stop as soon as she had arrived in view of the park. Another communication and another surge of fear, what had happened?
"Fzzz… Change of plans," Keiichiro's voice, scratched by interference, was low and anxious, "Come all to the Café as soon as you can."
It didn't make sense.
Why an alien warning, and then a convocation to headquarters?
When she saw the large pink structure of the Café, she pushed herself once more, exhausted from her run and for the afternoon heat; she rushed along the path and almost jumped over the entrance steps, slamming the door open. She had to lean on her knees, completely breathless; she lifted her head slowly and to her right, from behind her glasses fogged by her panting, saw Ichigo and Minto sitting at a small table: the first looked at her worried, while the latter did not even seem to see her, given how tightly she was clenching her eyes in anger.
"Well, now we're only missing Purin."
Ryou's voice made her head jerk up, but it was a familiar shadow to his left that caught her eye.
Retasu snapped up like a spring; she looked at him in disbelief and he nodded slightly, barely curling his lips in what seemed the shadow of a smile:
"Hello."
A greeting so normal and unexpected, that for Retasu also overshadowed the question of why he was there.
Hello? Had he said hello?!
It couldn't be that Pai was saying hello to her!
Why did weird things have to all happen together?!
She was grateful that her face was in flames because of her run, because it would mask her incredible blushing.
"P… Pai-san…"
"Oh, yeah, don't worry little fish, we're here too! But don't you mind us."
Kisshu's mockery made her flinch again and, unfortunately, she could no longer hide that her cheek were becoming as red as a lively blaze.
"K-K-Kisshu-san…! And… Taruto?! B-but what's going on…?"
"Oh, nothing important!" Kisshu kept teasing her, his little brother backing him up and sneering "If you'd like, we'll leave you two alone to chat for a while longer."
Taruto held back a laugh, making an irritating noise from his nose. Retasu looked down, deathly ashamed, but Pai didn't even seem to notice:
"You two are idiots."
He merely commented.
"I agree." Minto's cutting remark was accompanied by a ferocious glare to the two aliens "Are you here for something important or to torment my friend?!"
"It's a very important thing."
Eyner sighed discouraged, he wasn't sure he could be very convincing with those two sneering behind him:
"But it would be better if we told everyone…"
Minto grunted her assent. Retasu, taking advantage of the fact that she no longer had everyone's attention on her, sneaked close to her friends and slouched down in a chair, keeping her eyes in admiration of the floor.
What's the matter with you?! Stupid!
"You all right?"
She barely lifted her head at that whisper. It was Eyner that had spoken, and he was standing a short distance from her; seeing him, Retasu grimaced confused.
"We haven't introduced ourselves yet, I'm Eyner – he said kindly – I think you already know, but… forget those two, Kisshu and Taruto are children."
She smiled back and felt less embarrassed. That guy reminded her a little bit of Keiichiro, he was the kind of person that released the aura of an older brother, who always made you feel at ease.
"So only the little monkey is missing?" asked Kisshu, who, having lost his reason for laughter, was getting tired of waiting, "And the purple demon?"
Ichigo looked at him skeptically:
"Who?"
"That sort of fury called Zakuro."
"Don't you dare speak ill of my onee-sama!"
Minto hissed; Kisshu looked at her derisive:
"What an angry face, little bird! Be careful, you'll get wrinkles."
"You, ugly…!"
Ryou stepped in between the two by waving his arm, shutting them up:
"Zakuro is on her way," he explained drily, "It's going to take a while, so for now she'll be on the phone."
And while saying that, he laid a cordless phone on the table at which the girls were sitting.
"When Purin arrives, I'll call her and…"
The last words were covered by a deafening scream of joy; Purin was standing on the threshold, in her glorious middle school uniform, with the biggest and brightest smile she could muster stamped on her face. Upon seeing her, Taruto finally stopped laughing and froze, feeling as if something huge had hit him in the stomach. Luckily for him, it all happened too quickly for someone to focus on the high tone of his voice, or the sweetness with which he uttered her name:
"Purin…"
"Taru-Taru!"
The blonde dashed into the room like a lightning bolt and seized the boy by his neck; rather than a hug, it looked like she was kicking off a wrestling match.
"Taru-Taru! You're back! You're back!", she warbled at her peak of happiness, "Taru-Taruuu!"
"A-are you done with that idiotic name?!" he muttered, half suffocated by her embrace and with an overall inability to speak fluently, so much was she stuck to him, "Get off, I can't feel my neck!"
"Uff, you're mean Taru-Taru!"
She puffed out her cheeks, then crossed her arms and scowled at him, but she didn't move from where she was: that was embarrassing for the boy, given that because of her jump he had tumbled to the ground and now found himself half lying down, with Purin quietly sitting astride on him. The gasp with which Taruto spoke felt like the breath of an asthmatic:
"Could you get off me?"
"You're very unpleasant!" she cried, apparently not giving much thought to their position, "You're cold! An icicle!"
"C-cold? What's that got to do with anything, you…!"
"Okay, I'd say you can talk about that later."
Purin was gently grasped from under her armpits and forced to get up by Eyner, who was seriously worried that Taruto was going to have a heart attack given how red in the face he was.
"Furthermore, we kind of have a fairly urgent matter to discuss," he zealously continued "Do you mind delaying the lecture?"
Taruto did not comment on that last statement, especially because he was trying to get his heart back to a regular rhythm. Purin was still frowning but nodded to the newcomer.
Ichigo sighed tenderly at that sight: she knew that those two had become friends, but she did not believe that Purin had missed Taruto so much.
"You see, kitty cat?"
Kisshu's mellow voice, suddenly next to her ear, almost knocked her out of her chair.
"That's how you should have greeted me, you know?"
"D-don't say stupid things!"
His possible answer was covered by Keiichiro's handclap; the man cordially smiled to all of them and announced:
"I'd say we can skip the pleasantries, right?" he looked at the aliens and his expression became more serious, "What do you have to tell us?"
Eyner took a deep breath, looking at the members of his audience – including the phone that transmitted Zakuro's voice – one by one: they looked like ordinary girls and, moreover, a little frightened as well. Even after seeing one of them transformed and ready to fight, he could not stop thinking that their request was a little cruel.
They're practically children.
He sighed, after all even Taruto was not much older than a child; and, in any case, whether or not they accepted, their world was also in danger; and they deserved to know more than other people, after what they had done for his planet.
"Do you remember the Mew Aqua that Kisshu and the boys took away after Deep Blue was defeated?"
"Of course."
Minto's voice was worried as she exchanged fleeting glances with her friends.
"Good. Well, as soon as the crystal reached our planet, it reacted, because of the devastating environmental imbalance in which it raged. I don't know if I can explain it to you well… basically, the Mew Aqua has reached the center of our planet and there it has joined the nucleus, beginning to warm and irradiate with positive energy the whole surface."
"So your planet is reborn!"
Purin exclaimed cheerfully as she looked at Taruto; at that, the boy lit up and started saying excitedly:
"Yes! You should see it! It's just...!"
"It doesn't matter." Pai interrupted him, "Let's not waste any more time on silly things."
Taruto, unlike he would have done in the past, instead of getting angry bowed his head and nodded with a rumble, and Eyner continued:
"Yes, our planet has begun to live again," he confirmed, smiling to Purin, "In three years, we have come to have a completely livable homeland. But…"
"But?"
"We've ended up with some 'little internal problems', kitten."
Ryou muttered something under his breath, he already disliked Kisshu for more than one reason, but since he had reappeared again, he had really started to get on his nerves.
"What do you mean by little problem?"
The American hissed.
"So much bitterness, blondie. You shouldn't be so unpleasant, we're here to save your asses, too, you know?"
"Come on, keep quiet!", blurted out Ichigo, "Listen, ... Eyner? Please, finish your explanation."
"The 'little problem' that Kisshu was mentioning," he resumed listlessly, "Concerns some of our compatriots."
"Even though the planet is living again, not everyone is happy about it.," Kisshu said, "Some believe that we should still have conquered Earth, with everything that comes with it."
At that last statement Ichigo felt a shiver run down her back. Eyner continued:
"At first, this was limited to a few bouts of protests on the street and a few small uproars. Then…," he paused, weighing how to explain the matter, "Among them, a group of soldiers with a more belligerent purpose teamed up. They had the possibilities and the ability to go and take Earth even without the consent of our superiors, and all the intention to do so."
"Yup,"snapped Taruto, "Not to mention that they are blond fanatical fools who..."
"Taruto."
He jolted; Pai had not screamed, but it was as if he had. Taruto bit his tongue, he did not have to go into the details of that matter: it was their problem, unless the girls agreed to help them, but even so it would not have been their place to inform them.
"If you still have to talk about stupid things, I advise you to just keep quiet."
A moment of intense silence fell over them; Ryou frowned even more, he had never liked half-said sentences.
"And therefore?"
Zakuro's voice was croaking and low through the phone, accompanied by the background noise of the car she was travelling in.
"What do we have to do with this?"
"I was getting there," Eyner sighed, "Their plan was to obtain the Mew Aqua, to secure a source of energy sufficient for their purposes; we tried to stop them from taking it, but…"
He paused for the umpteenth time and glanced at Kisshu: the green-haired alien had suddenly become elusive and had taken to admiring the ceiling while whistling.
"There was a small accident."
"Call it 'small'…!"
"Taruto, I swear that if Pai doesn't cut your tongue out, I will!"
Kisshu hissed, uncomfortable.
"The crystal broke."
Eyner concluded quickly, ignoring them. At that, the four Mew Mew jumped up to their feet, their faces white as sheets.
"B-broken?"
Minto leaned over the chair to look at them astonished:
"Are you really sure?! The Mew Aqua… Broken?! And… How…?!"
"Broken. Smashed. Disintegrated. Puff!" Kisshu commented sarcastically "And as if by magic, a swarm of drops of Mew Aqua scattered everywhere… But why are you making those faces?"
"We dreamed that…"
Purin whispered, still bewildered; both Ryou, Keiichiro and the aliens stared at them without understanding.
"What are you talking about?"
"We dreamed of the Mew Aqua shattering and dissolving, Shirogane," Zakuro replied in a flat tone, "Just as Kisshu described. Less than two days ago."
"What?! And why didn't you say anything?!"
Ichigo and the girls shrunk down on their chairs.
"We didn't think it was important," the redhead, "At least not until they mentioned it."
She pointed to the four aliens, who had begun confabulating anxiously.
"So MoiMoi was right," Pai pensively said, "It's quite the problem."
"Indeed. At this point, I'd say they should meet both her and Teruga…"
"Excuse me, what are you talking about?"
"Birdie, cut us some slack, we are deliberating."
"What are you talking about?"
The brunette repeated sharply: after all that mess, she hadn't the slightest intention of waiting for answers. Eyner shared another look with his teammates and took on a serious expression:
"When the Mew Aqua broke apart," he went on explaining, "It generated an enormous energy; so much energy that the fragments did not only disperse on our planet, but also generated 'bridges' for other places."
"Other places?"
Kisshu made a sarcastic grimace:
"Does anyone remember that big white tunnel, the one we popped out from after a little stroll?"
"You're kidding!" Ichigo cried out "You want to tell me that that thing is a… How do you say…? A… ?!"
"A passage to your planet?" Ryo concluded speechless, "But it is… incredible…!"
"I didn't think the Mew Aqua could have that much energy."
Keiichiro murmured reverently. Pai crossed his arms to his chest:
"Neither did we. But it's a very unstable energy, especially since we're not talking about crystal fragments anymore."
The earthlings observed him curiously.
"For some reason (perhaps because it was actively releasing energy, into the core of our planet) the Mew Aqua dispersed in its active form, that is, the liquid one."
"The one we used to release with the Mew Aqua Rod?"
Purin asked, pointing to herself; Pai barely nodded:
"But the routes created are not completely safe. We don't know how long they can last, nor how long they will remain in the form in which they are; in all likelihood, indeed, they could collapse or expand, threatening the safety of the places they touch."
"And therefore, also that of our planet," Zakuro pointed out, "Since one of these passages enters directly into our house…"
Pai grunted in agreement.
"That's why you came? To warn us about this cute little gift?"
Hissed Ryou furiously.
"Not really." Eyner replied, "See, the passages are unstable because of the Mew Aqua that is at one of the ends of the path. The solution would be to find it…"
"But?"
Eyner paused, looking surprised at the phone; whoever was on the other side, she was a very perceptive girl.
"Yes, there is a but," he admitted, "Even those who tried to steal the Mew Aqua are looking for its remains; to prevent them from recovering it, we were forced to destroy any tool useful to find the crystal, disturbing with special frequencies those that allowed detection."
"They are not able to create a detector ex novo," Pai added, "But we cannot use our tools anymore. Without a way to locate the Mew Aqua, we are completely blind."
"And, for the record," Kisshu pointed out, "Our world would be in trouble as well if we left everything like this, okay? So yes, no goody-goody intentions, blondie, we're here because our asses are in trouble too."
"I have never known a more vulgar being…"
Minto whispered with clenched teeth.
"Our hands were tied," continued Eyner, this time with a hint of discomfort, "Until Pai thought of you."
"Of… Us?"
Whispered Retasu, embarrassed. The dark-haired alien looked at the four girls with his usual indifference:
"You are able to perceive the crystal with solely your own bodies, right?"
"Not really!" Purin exclaimed, "Theoretically yes, but it only happens in certain cases and it does not even work too well!"
"Only if we are emotionally… Here, let's say unstable."
The mewporpoise mumbled again.
"We had verified this theory."
Pai said calmly. Retasu huddled up, she didn't really like the idea that the boy and his other friends had studied such a thing.
"But, after what you said, that is that you dreamed of the crystal breaking and all that, I think we can support a second hypothesis as well."
"That is?"
Keiichiro and Ryou came forward, a scientist's curious demeanor and the friend's worried expression mingling on their faces in a confused way.
"These girls reacted to the crystallized Mew Aqua," Pai explained, "But their reaction will increase in comparison with the liquid form, especially if in a state of energy release."
"Ehm…" Ichigo raised her arm as if in class, feeling a little dumb, "Translation for mere mortals?"
"That you'll light up like candles much more easily, kitten."
"It just means that it will be easier for you to perceive it," Eyner stepped in, "And that's what we came here for."
"What do you mean?"
"We are not able to find the fragments, you are. We don't know how many are missing, but at least one is here on Earth; but there could be many more, and many more routes. Every passage is potentially dangerous…"
"Wait a minute!" Ryou looked at him menacingly, "Are you by chance asking for our cooperation?!"
"Not yours," Kisshu pointed out, "But theirs, my dear terrestrial."
"And we're not the ones asking for it, our superiors are," Pai added coldly, "And they ask to talk to the girls."
"There's no way!" Minto blurted out, "I have no intention of getting involved…!"
"Purin will come with you!"
Her friends looked at her astonished:
"What are you saying?"
"They asked us for help," she simply replied, "And we not only owe them our lives, but Taruto is also my friend, so I will help him."
"Are you crazy?"
"Actually, Purin is right..."
"Retasu!"
The girl ignored Minto's protests, keeping her chin between her fingers:
"We owe them a debt. Besides, I think if they wanted to hurt us, they would have done it already, right?"
More convinced, she turned to the four aliens and gave them a kind smile:
"I will come too, if they wish to speak to us; and, if I can, I'll help you."
Kisshu let out a sneer and elbowed Pai in the ribs, whispering:
"I've always said that that little fish is cool."
His brother didn't even give him an answer.
"They've gone mad… You're completely mad!" Ryou protested, "Do you want to enter enemy territory like this, as if nothing happened?!"
"It's not enemy territory, that's nonsense," Purin replied, extremely relaxed, "And I wasn't afraid of them when we first fought, should I be afraid now that they're friends?"
"That is very comforting."
Taruto mumbled, offended.
"Well, we were friends before, weren't we?"
The blonde smiled; Taruto, irked, blushed:
"I don't think so…!"
She ignored him, giggling.
"… Before I decide, I'd like to talk to your superiors as well."
"Z-Zakuro onee-sama!" Minto's voice was desperate, "You too?!"
"There is certainly something big happening", the Mewwolf continued calmly "And since our guests have been (voluntarily, I have reasons to believe) vague regarding certain details, I would like to have the whole picture from the responsible party."
Eyner scratched his cheek, lost in thought:
"Damn… And where did this intuition come from?"
"Sixth sense."
The boy let an admiring smile slip. That wasn't a sixth sense, that girl had a scary instinct! He was really curious to meet her…
"But onee-sama…"
"I will be there in less than an hour," she continued undaunted, "And I will go. Ichigo, Minto, you think about it."
And the communication suddenly was cut off. Minto began fidgeting with her hands, mumbling to himself:
"It's not possible… Why always such things?! But… If the onee-sama trusts them… but… but…"
Ichigo looked at her sympathetically and sighed.
Never a chance for some peace!
.
.
.
Almost an hour passed and still there was no trace of Zakuro. Ichigo, tired of the heavy atmosphere that permeated the ground floor, had climbed up to the terrace that looked out to the garden and she was leaning against the railing, sighing.
In her heart she was certain that the aliens would never come to them for no good reason, let alone ask for their help. She also knew that she, more than the other girls, owed her life to those boys, Kisshu especially. He had loved her deeply and she had always rejected him, without giving too much credit to his words, opening her eyes only when she had seen him pierced from end to end with a blade.
The treacherous tears she had wept at the time were not enough reckoning, nor could she be so cruel to deny him help now that Kisshu asked for it.
On the other hand, it all seemed so unfair to her… To be dragged for the umpteenth time into battles she had never asked, nor would she ever wish, to take part.
She sighed again, nestling her face behind her arms on the balustrade:
"What should I do?"
"You don't wanna go, do you?"
She jolted when she heard Ryou speak. She turned around and found herself face to face with the blond, his face stiffened with worry, and clearly felt her stomach clench.
Why, why, dammit why had he been having such an effect on her for some time?!
She could not say that Ryou had ever been completely indifferent to her. Of course, he made her angry often and willingly, he was blunt and devoid of any kind of tact, but at times he became incredibly cute and caring: an ambivalence that made her feel very often confused and that more than once, much against her will, had caused her strong palpitations. Then she had started dating Masaya and all that chaos had disappeared, evaporated like snow in the sun in front of her one, true love.
At least that's how it should have been.
So why – Ichigo prayed divinities and saints of all religions to answer that question – as soon as her problems in her relationship with Masaya had begun, the racing heart had come back?
It was as if between her and Ryou had formed an electrical circuit that lacked a few parts, or had a disconnected wire. She didn't understand why his rare kindness shook her so much, she didn't understand why he cared so much about her, as he was doing at that precise moment, she understood and wanted that story to end.
After all, I'm in love with Masaya. We have some problems, but it's silly stuff, our love is stronger!
"Ichigo, can you answer me?"
Ryou insisted more abruptly. Ichigo turned to glare at him, at least the boy's awful attitude helped her a lot in making her tension disappear.
"On what?"
"You're not going to trust the aliens, are you?"
She looked at him annoyed by the cruel tone in which he had mentioned Kisshu and the others:
"Don't be so defensive. After all, Purin and Retasu are right, we owe them our life."
The boy did not answer, knowing full well that she was right; he too owed Pai.
"Moreover, it's just to go there and talk…"
"That's what they say!"
"They could have killed me as soon as I met them, they were four against one!" she burst out, "But they didn't!"
"I know."
"Then you still don't trust them!?"
"I could never trust them!"
"Well, I've decided to trust!" she replied, stubbornly, "And I've decided that I'll go!"
She stood with her arms along her sides looking at him furiously; he peered at her with a hard look, annoyed, tucking his hands into his pockets:
"Do whatever the hell you want, you stubborn child."
And he turned on his heels and left her alone. Ichigo started stomping her feet, he was really unbearable!
Why the hell is he coming to lecture me if then he tells me to do what I want?!
No wonder her palpitation! Hers was a psychosomatic reaction to Ryou's presence, there was no doubt!
Her attention was grabbed by an elegant figure who darted towards the driveway, Zakuro had finally arrived.
Eyner got more comfortable in the chair and looked around trying for the umpteenth time to reconnect the girls' faces to the names he had seen on Pai and MoiMoi's screens, so as not to have to ask them.
He knew that the red-haired one was Ichigo, also because Kisshu – taking advantage of having an interlocutor who knew nothing about Earth – had told him all about her ad nauseam. If he had had any doubt left, his friend had seen to surely remove it, with how much he was clinging to the girl like an octopus; even in that moment that she had disappeared, he kept looking for her out of the corner of his eye. It was almost heartbreaking to see: Kisshu had spent the last three years tormenting himself because he couldn't see "his little kitten," but Eyner hadn't believe his obsession was so desperate.
Having seen her transformed, he also knew Minto, who was hybridized with a bird. It wouldn't have been hard for him to remember her, especially if she kept that haughty, angry air.
The girl with the glasses that had willingly agreed to help them was definitely Retasu: in the profiles they had analyzed she was described as quiet and resistant to confrontations, all too inclined to dialogue.
The fourth, the youngest, was undoubtedly Purin; he had heard all sorts of things about her, especially from Taruto. He almost laughed when he thought about it, particularly seeing him now all busy chatting with the blonde: he knew he had missed her, but perhaps he had been more nostalgic than Eyner thought.
The cat, the bird, the monkey, the aquatic animal… The wolf is missing.
The girl with whom they had talked on the phone. He could not picture her, the others had never talked too much about her; only as an extremely strong and dangerous fighter.
Suddenly the door of the Café opened. All the girls got up to meet Zakuro and Eyner also stood up, curious to see what that wiseass-tongued warrior looked like.
It was enough to catch a glimpse of her, that he froze on the spot, feeling his heart skip at least two beats.
Zakuro gracefully entered in the room, a serious expression on her face made of perfect features; she wore her usual outfit, a black miniskirt with a jacket and high-heeled boots that enhanced her slender and shapely body, devoid of even the last hints of adolescence.
Eyner swallowed loudly, his mouth suddenly dry.
He couldn't take his eyes off her as she talked to her friends about what to do.
The elegant and sinuous walk. The magnetic blue eyes. The long wisteria-colored hair, that she was lazily fixing behind the ear.
"So you are?"
He jolted; he had not even noticed that she had come close to him. He stared at her, red in the face, for at least half a minute, before Kisshu reawakened him with a slight kick in the shins.
"E-Eyner. Name's Eyner."
He stretched a smile that became only a sluggish grimace; Zakuro barely reciprocated, but an eyebrow darted high with irony as she went past the boy.
Nice. I've been on Earth less than two hours, and I already would like to sink underground.
"So?" the brunette urged flatly, "Were we not in a hurry?"
.
.
.
"All right, I'm not so convinced about it now."
Ichigo murmured in a subtle voice; she sought comfort in her friends, all nose up to study the white passage to the planet of the aliens and all clearly nervous.
"It's much creepier than you described…"
"Don't worry little fish," Kisshu said with superiority, "Apart for the first few seconds of blindness, you don't feel a thing."
The unconvinced girl twisted her hands, she couldn't hide her frown; Kisshu had taken to giving her that nickname, but she did not like it too much.
"We'd better hurry up."
Nodding to Pai, Eyner entered the passage and disappeared. After a few seconds Zakuro straightened her back and followed him with a firm pace, followed right away by Minto.
"What is it, does it scare you Purin?"
Taruto teased her; the blonde looked at him with a crooked smile:
"A little bit."
He did not expect such a reply; he saw her biting her lips nervously, and with a shy smile told her:
"Come on," he stepped towards the white light, holding out his hand, "I will escort you."
Purin smiled widely and squeezed his hand, going inside with him. In seeing them, Retasu seemed to take courage, took two deep breaths, and, clenching her eyes shut, threw herself headfirst into the passage. Ichigo looked at her, alarmed:
"Tell me there's no ravine or anything like that on the other side…"
Kisshu laughed, while Pai didn't have the slightest reaction and followed the others.
"It's just the two of us, kitten. Shall we?" the boy got dangerously close to her "Or would you rather stay here with me a bit? We can do that, you know?"
"You're such an idiot, Kisshu!"
She screamed, now the same color as her hair; Kisshu made a disappointed face, but quickly recovered and with a smile grabbed her arm, pulling her slowly towards the passage:
"Let's go then?"
She gained another shade of red because of the way he was holding her, gently stroking her skin with his fingertips, but she didn't have time to protest that she was swallowed up by the light.
For a very long moment she found herself completely blind. With her eyes closed as well, she had nothing but white in front of her, a white so dazzling and bright that it hurt her eyesight.
Apart from that, she didn't really feel any difference, no particular feeling that indicated that she was going through a space-time tunnel; just an absolute silence. After a couple of minutes, in which the light began to fade, she began to feel something new: a slight sigh of fresh wind on her hair, a light scent of grass, muffled rustling of leaves. Gradually she was starting to see again, until suddenly she and Kisshu were on the other side and Ichigo was dazzled a second time, in that case by the light of an unknown sun.
She shut her eyes trying to get used to it, but she soon forced herself to open them and capture any detail of the incredible landscape in front of her.
They stood on a slight grassy slope surrounded by towering and unknown trees, similar to oaks for the size of their trunks, but with broad and sagging foliage like that of willows. A whole forest of those giants stretched behind them, while in front of them the slope continued gently into a nearby valley: in the middle of the valley, surrounded by a lush green, stood a city not so imposing, but beautiful in its harmony and in the richness of its buildings; in seeing it, with its buildings so linear and clean, Ichigo immediately thought of the city that they had seen a long time before, extrapolated from Masha's data.
"This place is so cool!"
Purin was laughing exited, running in a circle without failing to look around frantically:
"It's beautiful, too beautiful!"
"You're right. It's great."
Retasu added, adjusting her glasses on her nose. Ichigo noticed that her friend kept absent-mindedly cleaning her knees and hands just slightly stained with dirt, a sign that she must had indeed tumbled out of the passage; Ichigo sighed, that girl had serious problems with her balance.
Zakuro and Minto were also mesmerized by the place, but if the first was not saying anything and merely admired in silence, as she always did, the latter did not seem inclined to give any positive comment: still irritated by the situation, she was stubbornly standing with clenched lips, and seemed to become even more bitter when Kisshu, with her usual teasing, rudely told her:
"Soooo? Not too bad, eh, miss sourness?"
She answered by piercing him with her gaze:
"I thought I understood that there was a certain urgency!"
"Yes, it's true," said Eyner, trying to ignore the lightning darts that those were sending each other, "We must go."
"Where? There?"
The mewwolf asked quickly, and pointed to the city.
"No."
Pai answered, even more concise than she had, and pointed to a building almost hidden by vegetation, just under two hundred meters from them. Without adding anything else he headed there, and the others followed him little by little.
"Ehm… Kisshu."
The boy turned distractedly, noting Ichigo with her head tilted to the side, blushing:
"Could you… let me go, please?"
And he felt her trying to withdraw the arm around which he still held his hand firmly. The boy nodded, but smiling cunningly:
"Whatever you want, kitty cat."
His hand slipped away calmly, avidly grazing her skin until her wrist and fingers; Ichigo swore against herself when she blushed at that well-studied and lascivious gesture, while Kisshu seemed satisfied and smiling candidly he followed the others, calm as if nothing had happened.
He didn't know what had happened between Ichigo and her cod in those three years, but now he had the confirmation that something was not right.
Yes, Ichigo was rejecting him, but not as she used to do. Three years earlier, she would never have allowed him to grasp her without putting up a fight with all her might, nor would she have had the slightest reaction to any gesture a little flirtier.
But now she reacted, oh, how she reacted!
He couldn't have hoped for anything better. After all that time, he never imagined he'd have more chances than he had had during their first encounter, maybe… He could really win over his kitten.
His problems boiled down to Pai and Eyner. His half-brother had never liked – not wrongly – his infatuation with the mewneko, and he certainly wouldn't have liked to replicate the problems that had occurred in the days of Deep Blue.
Just because I prevented a near-death trap in which all five Mew Mew were involved…! Pai bears too much resentment!
The second problem was Eyner. Partly out of friendship – the brunette hadn't been too happy to know the details of the "troubles" Kisshu had slipped into because of the redhead – partly because he wasn't so good at splitting work and pleasure and, in terms of their mission, it could become a problem. But on that matter he might had received unexpected help, at least judging by Eyner's reaction to Zakuro and the way he continued to furtively observe her.
Might as well give things a little boost.
After all, if the sin had been shared, it would have been less serious, wouldn't it?
"Yo, Eyn."
"Kisshu. What is it?" the brunette searched for Ichigo for a moment, "You're not still bothering her, are you?"
"Me? I'm a good kid, what do you think?"
Eyner did not reply, when Kisshu put on that smile he lied so unashamedly that it wasn't even worth arguing about.
"I wanted to know how you were doing."
He continued in an amused tone; Eyner blushed a bit, understanding very well what he was talking about:
"…How pathetic was I on a scale from one to ten?"
"Mmm… I would say twelve, twelve and a half."
"Thank you," Eyn uttered gravely, "You are of great comfort."
He sighed heavily as Kisshu sneered:
"I never expected such a reaction from you!" That was true, he had been very surprised by it, "She's exactly your type, huh?"
"Kisshu, please stop, it's not the time to think about such things."
"Come on! Besides, it's fun, I've never seen anyone fall in love so fast!"
Eyner placed a hand on his friend's mouth as discreetly as he could and looked at him very seriously, blushing suddenly:
"Take it easy!" he whispered, barely audible, "Do not start with these mind games, and, above all, do not say them out loud! She just struck me, okay? That's it. Now hold back your sick mind, thank you, I've already gave a pretty miserable impression without you adding anything to it."
Kisshu nodded, mostly to free himself from Eyner's grip that was almost choking him, and just shrugged and accelerated his pace. He didn't have to insist any further for the time being. In the meantime, however, he had planted the idea and he knew that Eyner, after all, was too simple for him to be wrong.
They all stopped behind Pai, who was standing in front of the building he had pointed to earlier. It was a rectangular structure, very simple and bare; the exterior walls were of a curious color that appeared iridescent, or perhaps reflective given how it became almost invisible when the vegetation brushed against it, waved by the wind. There were no windows, but simple rectangular holes in the stone and, overall, the building was all too sober and unadorned, disappointing enough when compared to the city.
Pai stretched his hand to the entrance, an inlaid door just embedded in the wall, and placed it on an invisible surface a few centimeters from it; around his hand a profile of artificial blue light lit up, an electric noise was heard, and a high-pitched voice hummed:
"Yes, yes, yes ? Who is it, who is it?"
Pai sighed, stressed:
"MoiMoi, what kind of question is it."
"Ah, Pai-chan!"
The door opened with a suction and the Mew Mew saw a slight glimmer in the air as the invisible barrier vanished.
"Are you all there? The girls, too?"
The voice continued to hum; Ichigo clearly felt that someone was looking at her even though she didn't understand where the stare was coming from.
"Aaah, there they are!"
"MoiMoi, are you done being a fool?" Pai hissed coldly, "We're coming down. Call Councilman Teruga."
"Okay, okay, sir yes sir! You're so boring…"
The group followed the boy into the building. Immediately after the entrance, a corridor quickly sloped down, revealing a gloomy and dark structure.
"Meow, what a grim place!"
"And… Exactly, what place would it be?"
Purin asked in a worried tone and reached out in the semi-darkness, looking for Taruto's hand, who grabbed hers timidly, taking advantage of the darkness.
"It's a research center," explained Eyner, "We've been using it as an operating base after the accident with the Mew Aqua, it is safe and not too exposed, so we can avoid problems with the population, and minimize the leakage of information."
"There's just three people working here," Kisshu added under his breath and pointed to his older brother, "Under the command of Our Lord of Icicles."
Hearing that, Purin, Taruto, Minto, Ichigo and even Retasu had to stifle a laugh; Pai, however, caught that, and stared at them ferociously from over his shoulder. Unfortunately, it was Retasu who caught the silent lecture, being the only one on the line of sight of the boy who menacing watched her for a few moments, and then turned around and accelerated the pace.
"Ouch, sorry, little fish," Kisshu whispered, overtaking her, "My bad."
The mewporpoise didn't answer him and didn't stop, but crossed her arms over her chest clumsily.
After a couple of minutes, they arrived in a small oval room with a table and some chairs, which resembled a small conference room.
There were three people; the two youngest, standing, were a man and a woman.
The woman, or rather the girl, had to be more or less Ichigo's age, although she had one of those sweet faces that make it impossible to define her precise age. She was small and petite, one could barely make out her curves, and she had bright light-purple hair that came down bouncing all around her shoulders, with two long tails on the sides of her head, and honey-colored eyes, large and cheerful. She wore a jade green shirt with a round neckline, cinched at the waist, with three-quarter bell-shaped sleeves; underneath, she was wearing a short, puffy bottle green skirt from which sprouted the strangest footwear Ichigo had ever seen, a mixture of ballet flats and tights.
The man looked slightly older than Eyner and Pai, and was almost as tall as them, but more massive; he had a surly and slightly bored air to him, accentuated by the pale green fringe that brushed his night blue eyes. Unlike his companions, he did not wear any tails or braids in his short, layered hair, but instead he had a very well-groomed beard that went from his lip to his chin. The clothes he wore, long grey trousers stuffed into heavy boots, and a shirt with soft sleeves and a v-neck, gave him a rather vicious look, which combined with his gloomy stare, made the girls step back a little.
Sitting on one of the chairs, finally, was a fairly aged and skinny man, his back curved. He wore clothes that even for the earthlings, unaware of the aliens' customs, were more refined than others they had seen: a heavy white greatcoat bordered with bronze thread was covering a long ivory shirt and breeches of the same hue, which ended in tall bronze shoes. His thinning salt and pepper hair was crossed by a tuft, held tight by a pale yellow lace, which passed over one ear and then behind the nape of the neck, to the opposite side of the head; on his face, tucked behind knobby hands, were two clear olive green eyes, slightly covered by bushy eyebrows.
"Welcome, my dear ladies," the man said; his voice was low due to age, but his words were clear and loud, "I am very pleased to know you. Forgive me for this welcome so… discreet, but around here the atmosphere is not the best, and I wanted to talk to you calmly."
With much difficulty, he pulled to his feet and gave them a slight bow that was awkwardly and anxiously reciprocated.
"My name is Teruga," he continued, "I am the Senior Councilman to the Major Council."
He looked at them and a smile appeared on his wrinkled face:
"If you are here, can I hope that you have agreed to help us?"
Purin was already about to say yes, but Zakuro stopped her and answered gracefully:
"First we would like to better understand what is going on. You see," she beckoned behind her to the four boys who had escorted them, "They were not generous with the details."
"Little girl."
The light-haired man had spoken. His voice was deep and hoarse, and he seemed quite annoyed:
"Be careful of what you say."
She looked at him without answering. Eyner unconsciously stepped forward, putting himself between the two:
"Sando, she was just asking, I don't think…"
"That's right. I was just asking," the brunette retorted coldly, "And I think we'd have the right to have clearer ideas. After all, that's what Kisshu and the others have said: they could not give us more details, because you would have."
She turned to Eyner and the boy felt very uncomfortable, feeling that Zakuro was angry at him.
I should've minded my own business and let them mangle each other.
"Yes, that's right."
Pai intervened quietly. The Councilman smiled cat-like, those human girls were very amusing:
"You're right. Sit down, dear, we will explain everything."