The Red Compact Lipstick
Dear readers,
Thank you for stopping by and reading my story. With the first Arc finally over, we can proceed with the main story line from now on. And there is a lot to happen, indeed!
By the way, if you, at any point of your reading, feel like screaming or wanting more, let me know; because that is a very telling sign for me that I did a good job with my writing and delivered
DrDark7 – Thank you for your comment. Yes, the reunion is happening. It's official now
Kishlover985 – Thank you for your comment. I feel the same way but I needed to use Masaya's character in the story for setting the context, mostly in relation to Ichigo's emotional turmoil.
NeKoGirL – Thank you for all of your comments. I am glad that you feel that way about my story. I do intend to update weekly, usually towards the end of the week
As always, please enjoy and review!
I do not own Tokyo Mew Mew
Ichigo could not sleep that night. Undeniably, it must have been due to the emotional rollercoaster that had happened to her not even full twenty-four hours ago. But she did not care. Actually, she could not think of a time when she had been this excited.
Just when she had felt like her life was officially over, Ichigo was presented with a chance to rise and shine again. Was it a quirk of fate or cool coincidence?
At the end of every storm, there is always a rainbow.
She smiled at that thought, wondering about what kind of things they would see on Cyclonia.
After the unambiguous vote for the alien trip, Ryou wasted no time and laid down a plan concerning their upcoming departure.
They all agreed that, despite the peace treaty and all, it would be reasonable if someone had actually stayed on Earth. For this, Keiichiro volunteered almost immediately and, after Ryou informed the girls that Keeichiro could, indeed, also use some alone time with his new girlfriend, they all fully understood why and did not press the matter any further.
Masha was to remain by Keiichiro's side just in case, while Ryou would continue with the research remotely from Cyclonia. As for the journey itself, an alien spaceship was to pick them up on Friday after the Café closed.
Ichigo found it quite hard to mentally picture herself flying by means of a spaceship; hell, she had not even flown that many times on a plane!
Is that going to be comfortable?
In any case, she was delighted with the prospect of twelve day vacation; all the more, since she did not think her boss even had that word in his dictionary. Maybe there was a chance for him, after all.
Even though Ryou specifically said to pack lightly, as everything would be provided for them once they arrived, Ichigo decided to take some of her favorite must-haves with her either way. These involved, for example, her white cotton knee-length dress, a strawberry lip balm and, upon remembering Mint's mocking words, also the red compact lipstick.
"We are going to all kinds of parties, Ichigo. Make sure you look cute. If you do, maybe some hot Cyniclon guy will eventually take a pity on you and even try to kiss you!"
She wanted to smack Mint, but tossed the little article in her bag, nevertheless.
A kiss from a Cyniclon guy, huh?
The last, no correction, the only Cyniclon guy that had ever kissed her was Kisshu and, reflecting upon her former experience in hindsight, it was not half bad; except for the fact that he had tried to kill her on multiple occasions and that she had been dating Masaya at that time.
Masaya.
Ichigo winced at the sudden mental image of her ex-boyfriend and she screwed her eyes shut, trying her hardest to erase him from her memory. It proved extremely laborious but, in the end, Ichigo managed. With her mind turning back to her original train of thinking, she imagined how it would be like to see Kisshu after all these years. Would he try to kiss her again? He had proved time and time again that he had had no issue with kissing her anywhere, be it public or private. This led Ichigo to firmly believe that he must have been either extraordinarily perverted, or sexually repressed beyond reparation.
Will he be like that even now?
She had to internally face palm. There she was, in her bed, fantasizing about the most ridiculous notions ever. Maybe it was she that was beyond any point of reparation, not Kisshu. That thought per se made her laugh at her own stupidity.
But the harder she had tried to examine whether or not her former claim was true, the more Ichigo's body gradually relaxed. And, shortly after, she was fast asleep.
There was a sudden knock on the window, to which Ichigo paid no heed.
Judging by the light in her room, or better yet its absence, she still had at least five more hours of sleep, so there was absolutely no need to turn around and deal with whatever business Ryou had sent her way.
Yet, as the knocking continued, Ichigo, gritting her teeth, reached her boiling point and jumped out of her bed, seething with fury.
"RYOUUU, I am NOT working 24/7, God damn it!"
Except that it was not Ryou that stood at the receiving end of her angry little outburst.
Ichigo continued to gape in shock, as she slowly took in the dark figure on her terrace.
Only his golden shimmering eyes were fully visible to her, the rest of his body shrouded in the sheer darkness. But Ichigo could recognize him with ease.
"Kisshu," she breathed out, taken aback at their impromptu rendezvous.
"Hi there, kitty cat," he flashed her with a grin, letting his fangs bare and, before Ichigo could react, the air around him rippled and he teleported directly in from her, closing the distance between them at once.
His tongue immediately found hers. And, were it not for her subsequent need of breathing, she had hardly thought they would have ever stopped.
She tried to push him away, but Kisshu was quicker.
"What do you say," he grabbed her chin to lift her gaze to his, "should we continue where we left off all these years ago?"
Ichigo felt his other hand snake around her waist leisurely and once they regained eye contact, she could discern the little flames dancing playfully, basking her in their scorching intensity.
She wanted to protest, but no sound came out of her mouth; she wanted to move, but her body denied her any control.
She could just stare, speechless, with her chest heaving up and down, torn between both embarrassment and excitement at how much she wanted Kisshu.
Upon seeing her reaction, his grin widened and he inched closer, whispering in her ear in what must have been the most seductive voice she had ever heard.
"That's what I thought."
Ichigo bolted upright at the sound of her alarm clock going off. It was 9:30 am which gave her exactly two hours to finish her packing before she had to set off for the Café Mew Mew. What somewhat stressed her was not the lack of time, however. Instead, she frantically wiped the sweat off of her brow and tried to calm her rugged breathing.
What has just happened? Did I really dream all of that?
She involuntarily shrieked when her cell phone began to chime all of a sudden, filling the room instantly with a catchy pop music tone. To understand who in their right mind would want to call her this early in the morning during her summer break was beyond Ichigo's comprehension, but she reached out for the nightstand and began to search for the phone anyway. It took her only a second to get a good hold of the ringing device and, glancing at the display, Ichigo scowled; the caller's ID read Ryou Shirogane.
"Yes, good morning," she answered dryly.
"Change of plans, Ichigo. We will depart earlier. Get to the café as soon as you can."
"But-but," she protested, eying the clock and the heap of clothes lying haphazardly on the floor with panicky eyes.
"See ya."
She heard the beeping on the other end of the line and she knew that he had already hung up. Why things could not go her way for at least once, she could not grasp. Nonetheless, one thing was for certain.
One of these days, she would kill Ryou Shirogane. She was sure of it.
"Ichigo, finally," Lettuce ran up to her friend with worried eyes, "I thought something bad has happened to you. Your phone is off!"
"Yeah, it is. And for a very good reason," Ichigo replied sarcastically, "I turned it off in case Ryou decided to be a jerk and call again."
At this, Lettuce laughed softly before she took Ichigo's hand in hers, leading them both to the main room where all the others were already sitting.
It was hard for Ichigo to remain sulky much longer though; with everybody in such high spirits and their elation contagious, she quickly forgot her initial frustration with her boss and let her excitement back in. The conversation quite naturally revolved around the aliens and their upcoming reunion.
"I can't wait to see how much they have changed," Mint snickered.
"I am sure Taru-Taru is still Pudding's good friend," Pudding's arm shot upwards with glee.
"I know, our last encounter was more than three years ago. That is a very long time for someone to change," Lettuce agreed fondly.
"I bet Pai is still the same. And by that I mean socially-awkward and totally emotionless," Ichigo giggled, already envisioning his impassive face.
"Ichigo, you should not talk about Pai that way. He tried to help us in the end, do you remember," Lettuce came to the alien's defense with the speed of light.
"And he is also extremely intelligent," Zakuro interjected, to everyone else's surprise.
Usually, Zakuro was prone to avoid girl talk at any cost. Ichigo assumed that the vacation mode must have been getting to her too; at this, the Mew Mew leader smirked.
"You think he's smarter than Kisshu? I always thought Kisshu was the brains behind their operations," Mint pondered Zakuro's comment with a significant amount of deliberation.
"I mean, Kisshu is smart, but street-kinda-smart. Pai is the bookworm," Ichigo concluded, not missing a beat.
"Why, you can't imagine Kisshu reading a book," Lettuce asked fairly amused at this point.
"Honestly? No I can't," Ichigo let out a chuckle at the brutal honesty of her words.
A look of sincere interest passed across Pudding's face upon hearing that. Without further warning, she sneaked up close to Ichigo with a mischievous smile, and the auburn-haired girl instantaneously sensed that she would not like whatever Pudding was about to say next; and, she was right.
"So, Big Sis Ichigo. Pudding was wondering na no da. Now that you're single. Are you going to be Kisshu's girlfriend?"
"WHAT," Ichigo blushed profusely, as the events of her latest dream presented themselves in front of her eyes.
"Pudding, you cannot ask people such personal questions," Lettuce chided, sending the youngest Mew a meek frown.
"I'm sorry. Pudding thought it was a fair question na no da. Please forget I said anything na no da."
"In truth, it was a fair question," Mint sniggered, watching Ichigo squirm in her chair uncomfortably.
Ichigo ventured a pleading look in Zakuro's direction, but the wolf girl remained silent, minding her own business as usual.
"Girls, Pai's here," Ryou announced, entering the room in wide strides and Ichigo was never more eager to see him in her entire life.
"What are we supposed to do," Lettuce recovered first, her expression serious again.
In that instant, the air above the center of the room began to ripple and a shadow figure stepped outside of it soon after; a shadow figure with elongated ears and a very fine posture.
"Pai," Lettuce beamed and everyone joined in with their own greetings, once Pai's body and facial expression became distinct.
Ichigo had to admit that he looked good; and, one peripheral glance at Lettuce proved she could not agree more with that statement. Pai seemed only a little taller, in comparison to the last time Ichigo had seen him, but his body structure was definitely even more impressive than before. This was particularly accentuated by means of the new uniform he was wearing; a dark violet and blackish set consisting of a jacket and pants with occasional cuts, mesh and golden studs and lines sewn all over it. The effect it produced was that of him being simultaneously intimidating, elegant and irresistibly hot.
"Tokyo Mew Mew, Ryou Shirogane," Pai nodded in acknowledgement, "it is my honor to accompany you to Cyclonia. One by one, please hold onto me and I shall promptly teleport you on the ship through the designated portal."
"Hey, where's the other two," Mint asked surprised at seeing only one alien instead of the whole trio.
"Yes! Pudding wants to know where Taru-Taru is," Pudding cried out, her excited eyes transfixed on Pai's solemn face.
"Unfortunately, Kisshu and Taruto were summoned for an unexpected meeting due to their heavy involvement in the Sunday's agenda and its final preparations. I can promise you though that you are in good hands and you will see them both once we arrive at Cyclonia. Rest assured."
Ichigo let out a breath she had no idea she had been holding.
"Oh, ok," Pudding exclaimed with a happy squeal, "then Pudding will wait a little longer na no da!"
Taking it as a cue for initiation, Pai descended upon the ground and outstretched his arm, no longer willing to waste any more time.
"Everyone, please take my hand, I will proceed with the teleportation process immediately."
As instructed, the Mew Mews and Ryou formed a line, and, little by little, their human bodies began disappearing from the Café Mew Mew, until they completely vanished, leaving the pink interior behind them awfully quiet and empty.
