xuri: Well hello my loyal readers. Ehh, I just wanted to say ahead of time that I have never liked this chapter much. And there will be a few like this, because when I was writing them, I totally had no idea how to fill them. This experience taught me that a planning sheet would have been really useful, so now I know how to better organized future fanfictions. Just thought I'd let you all know. And thanks again for all the reviews and comments and stuff. Much loved.
Applecake: xD Wow, I so totally wish I could take credit for having these written in one day. No, no, all twenty six chapters are already finished. No way I could do a chapter per day, that would drive me crazy x3 All I'm doing is editting and putting them up day-by-day. Actually, these chapters took about a week each back when I was posting them on 4kids. Err, maybe a week-and-a-half on average, since a lot of the time it took twice as long to get everything written. Especially when chapters started getting brutally long...
SamKo: Um. What? xD No, no, no, no Ari x Ryou. xD I probably shouldn't deny any couples, but... just... no. I was just saying that I luffles my Ryou-kun is all. xD He'll have enough of a harem as it is. No need to throw a psychotic alien in there. (Errr, at least Ari the psychotic alien). Ooo, that would be cool, but that would be a little tricky to fit in with the plot 'n all. At the moment they just fight because it's means of survival. -nod nod-
Kamyra: Right, right, I know which part you're talking about. xD Hopefully we'll be getting to that soon. Yay. I'm glad people are enjoying Yumi, she was fun to mess around with. Little rays of sunnnshiiinnnee ;3
--
Blend (chapter nine)
..stumbles to victory..
"Roxiii, we didn't have any homework, right?"
Roxi paused. "Well, yeah, but oh well. Just a report, right?" Yumi giggled at the answer and proceeded to slurp up her vanilla milkshake.
"I'm really glad Shirogane closed early," Ichigo pointed out with a wide smile, stirring her straw idly around in her tall glass of lemonade, "I mean, its not often we get the cafe to ourselves. A nice treat."
"He did say it was a reward for us all being together now. Only one round of free drinks, though," Shrugging, Kona took a sip of her soda beverage, "Better than nothing, I guess."
"It's a miracle for Shirogane to give us anything at all! Ha, he's so cheap sometimes, but I agree. It was a nice gift, even if a little bit too normal." She smiled and jumped a little when Ryou suddenly appeared behind her, flicking her on the forehead.
"What was that, Strawberry?" He said with one eye open, but there was an amused smirk on his lips.
"Ah? Oh, nothing," Ichigo insisted quickly, turning back to her drink and taking a big, occupied gulp. There was a strange look on her face, and she sputtered the liquid from her mouth, slamming the glass back on the table and coughing in a panic after having nearly choked. The table erupted into bursts of laughter, and she just glared at them with a goofy grin on her face.
"Alright then, no need to get so excited," Ryou warned with a little smile, and then turned back towards the kitchen, "I'll get Keiichiro to bring you all a cake. Only one, though. Don't eat it too fast."
The girls giggled a little at a reddened Ichigo's expense, but calmed down within a few more moments and went back to a fairly normal conversation.
"So. We're all together now," Kikyo said quietly, her hand clasped lightly around her glass of cola. A wisp of brown hair fell across her eyes as she glanced up at the silent group of people, "What now?"
"Ahh, complicated!" Ichigo whined, thumping her head onto the table. The girls chose to ignore her.
"I guess...we..." Slowly, Kona tried to sort out her own thoughts, eyes drawing down into a slight frown as she thought. Even Roxi looked fairly stumped as she took an extended gulp of sparkling water. Silence passed itself around the table in a rather strange matter, keeping each of the girls from coming up with an answer to Kikyo's seemingly simple question.
"Ara! Simple question!" Yumi chimed after quite some time, standing happily to her feet, her short red hair bouncing around her small head, "We beat the aliens, neh? That's Tokyo Mew Mew's mission!" She was all smiles after announcing this, and the other members of the table couldn't help but join in.
"Of course!" Everyone nearly jumped out of their seats as Ichigo suddenly shot up, snapping her fingers, amber eyes lighting up excitedly. "Now that we have all our new members, we can focus on defeating Ari and Hanajima and whoever else came to earth to destroy it!"
"Yeah!" Both Kona and Roxi chimed in, and Kikyo gave a slight nod and a little smile. The quiet fell again, but it was a much more comforting quiet, as if none of them needed words to knew they all felt perfectly content at that moment. After all, they had a single goal to realize; they knew what to accomplish, how to accomplish it, and why they were accomplishing it. All they had to do now was accomplish it. And somehow, that was knowledge was comfort enough.
"Cheers, then," Tucking a lock of hair neatly behind her ear, Kikyo grasped her icy cold glass, holding it high above the table, "To us all being brought together. To the step closer we are to fulfilling a mission. To Tokyo Mew Mew."
Everyone around the table smiled and nodded, raising their glasses (empty or full) along with her. "Cheers!" They all cried happily, chinging their drinks together in unison and breaking into a cheerful chat together.
--
"Hau...morning...?"
Ichigo murmured and grumbled, as if trying to drown out the very sound of her alarm clock buzzing. She rolled on to her side, curling up into a ball and pulling her blankets over her face, knowing that her mother would inevitably be coming to her door soon to wake her up anyways. And since she was much too lazy to shut the alarm off, Ichigo simply lay there under a mess of covers, trying to ignore the constant 'BLEEEEEEEP BLEEEEEEP' pounding against her eardrums.
Minutes passed. Several, in fact. Ichigo even guessed herself that she'd fallen back asleep, only to be awakened by a suddenly horrifying thought. Jolting upright, the girl turned her head promptly towards the alarm clock, which read a time far later than she should be able to see at home.
"Kyaaaah!"
In a sudden frenzy, the girl jumped out of bed, nearly falling flat on her face as she scrambled over to get her school uniform. Late? She couldn't be late for school! Hadn't they given her warnings about that? And the last thing she needed was another detention! Why hadn't okaa-san waken her up like she usually did when Ichigo was so lazy? Was this just her way of teaching the girl a lesson? Pulling her shirt on over her head, Ichigo did a hurried once-over on her hair and pulled it into a pair of pigtails, and grabbed her bag before darting down the hallway.
"Gonna be late! Can't be late! Nonono!" She sputtered in a hurry to herself as she practically jumped into her own shoes and yanked the door open. Before the crisp, autumn air could even greet her face, she heard a dazed voice behind.
"Hun..? Ichigo? Where are you going?"
"Okaa-san," Ichigo whined, turning to her half-asleep mother pleadingly, "Why didn't you wake me up? You know I need a better alarm clock, and that I can't be late for school, so why...Uh?"
Blinking, she tilted her head to the side, shifting her weight to her left foot so she could see into the kitchen. Ichigo frowned, question marks appearing above her head. "Tou-san? Why aren't you at work?" Very rarely did Ichigo get up to see her father still sitting at the table, so casually drinking his coffee. Especially when she was this late.
Then it dawned on her, but her mother, Sakura, pointed the not-so-obvious-to-Ichigo out first.
"Ahh, Ichigo, it's a Saturday! You can relax!" With a cheerful smile, Sakura, still clad in a fluffy bathrobe, reached over and hugged her frustrated daughter happily. "Now you can go back to sleep, just like you like. Or I can make you breakfast! Or we can just have a nice, relaxing day!" Sakura suddenly wandered off into the kitchen, chanting happily to herself about the many things that the family could do on a Saturday all because Ichigo thought it wasn't. Sweatdropping, the red haired girl heaved a sigh, half heartedly slipping her shoes off and setting her bag aside.
"Figures," She murmured to herself, and looked up at the clock. If it had been a school day, she'd be 10 minutes late now. It was lucky, she supposed, that it wasn't. Ichigo looked at the clock again.
"Ugh. I have a shift in an hour..."
Well, at least she wouldn't be late for that.
--
Oops.
Yeah, she was.
"Gahhhh! Why did I go to sleep again?" Ichigo scolded herself angrily as she dashed down the sidewalk, already changed into her bright red cafe uniform. This earned a few bizarre looks from whoever happened to be passing by, but she didn't care. Well, she didn't notice, either, but it was pretty much the same thing. As she rounded a corner (trying not to lose a shoe in the process), Ichigo continued cursing at herself. "Okaa-san tells you to go back to sleep. You know that you have work in an hour. You go upstairs only to get your uniform. But nooo, you have to lie down because your bed looks so comfortable! UGH!" She kicked a pebble, hard, sending it skidding across the street and completely losing her balance, falling flat on her face.
"Ouch..." She groaned after a moment of awkward silence. Ichigo sat up, rubbing her nose - was it broken? - and making sure she wasn't too badly scratched up. Her elbows were fairly scraped, and, though not broken, her nose felt a little bruised. That was about the extent of the damage. She groaned once she saw a few droplets of now-dried blood on the white portion of her right sleeve. Great.
Ryou wouldn't be too happy about that.
Just as she was about to stand up, something blasted right past her ear. Ichigo's eyes widened, and she felt as if the wind had suddenly been knocked out of her. She knelt there. Stunned. Unable to move. Whatever that had been hadn't touched her, but if she'd gotten up one second sooner... Her amber eyes darted over to the pebble she'd kicked and tripped over. If I wasn't such a clutz, that thing would have hit me!
What that thing was? Ichigo had no idea. But she wasn't going to take any chances. Dropping back down on her knees, (Ow! Do I really need more scrapes?) she steadily began crawling forward towards where it had come from. Some noisy clatter in the distance became louder against her ears, so she followed it, slowly, cautiously, ready to duck out of sight at any moments notice. Something else flung by above, a few more times, but didn't even come close to Ichigo. Gaining more confidence, and becoming a little more afraid at the same time, she sped up, and eventually got up on her feet, crouch-running towards the source of the sound and shots as quickly and silently as she could.
Then she saw.
"Aughhh!" Kona screamed as she was pinned to the ground, a foot placed firmly on her chest to prevent her from moving. And still she struggled against the hold, crying out in pain as the heel was dug further into her skin.
"Stop squirming, kitten two," A crisp voice said, accompanied by a smirk. Ari slammed her foot down one last time, before kicking a limp and near unconsious body aside, moving on to Kikyo, Mew Kitsune. The alien drew her weapons, going for a direct charge without hesitation. Kikyo put up a strong front, holding her Fox Charm weapon out to block and advance her own attacks, but her arms and legs were badly scratched. This battle had been going on for a while.
Ichigo's eyes moved across the scene in horror. Kona hadn't been the only one brutally knocked down; Yumi layed sprawled out, detransformed in her cafe uniform, trying desperately to climb back up to her feet, but falling back down to the cold ground every time, her little body giving way to the intense pain. Hanajima was battling Roxi, and even only with illusions had dealt a fair amount of damage. Eyes drifting to the side, Ichigo caught sight of little plates and dishes, broken, scattered around the cafe porch. She was alarmed when she realized she had crawled right to the cafe. A surprise attack... The cafe opened in another hour. The others would have just gotten there minutes ago, to clean the tables and re-organize the menus. They wouldn't expect Hanajima and Ari to show up... They caught them off guard. They caught them! A sneak attack. Ichigo could imagine them appearing, hiding, and then lashing out at the instantly without so much as a warning...and it worked. Her friends were being taken down, beaten, while the aliens barely had a scratch on them...
This... Her teeth clenched together, and she felt the blood run from her face. Ichigo couldn't make her trembling legs move, backwards or forwards. The girl's breathing was shallow, and she could only watch. They'd see her, too. And she knew just as well as anyone that she couldn't take on both of them all on her own... Ichigo's mind whirled with fear, nearly to a blanking out point. Move, move...I can't...move!
Suddenly, a hand grabbed her by the arm. She opened her mouth to scream, but a hand messily covered that as well, pulling her roughly aside. Ichigo was too stunned to fight back, and was easily turned around to face her 'captor'. A tall boy with short, messy black hair and aquamarine eyes stood infront of her, signalling for her to be quiet after taking his hands away. Ichigo was reluctant, but shut her mouth, staring at him suspiciously for a moment. He did nothing else. A sudden cry caught her attention and she turned her head worriedly to the side, seeing the battle around the corner.
You guys...How am I supposed to help?
"You're Ichigo, correct?"
Having forgotten about the boy for a second, Ichigo jumped at the sound of his voice and whirled around. She was suddenly tense from all the stress, and more than a little freaked out that he knew her name, when she couldn't seem to place him at all. A complete stranger. He looked way to old to be from her school - maybe Kona knew him? - so that couldn't be it. While she tried figuring it out in her head, though, he seemed as if he were patiently waiting for an answer. Ichigo wasn't sure whether or not it would be a mistake.
"Uh, yeah. That's me..."
He just nodded, silently, and then glanced off to the side blankly, the white cloak around his shoulders shuddering in the breeze. Hold on... is that a sword? Ichigo caught a quick glance of what looked like a sheath before his cloak settled back down. As she pulled her eyes away from it, she found that his deep aqua ones were suddenly focused on her. She nearly jumped.
The boy was silent for a few more moments, before turning around. "Follow me," Was all that he said, and started walking. It took Ichigo a moment to catch on to the concept, but when she did she darted off behind him, still unsure why she not only trusted this stranger with her name, but also possibly something more. She was following him, after all. And there was no one else around. It suddenly occured to her in a panicked manner - what if he's an alien, too?
That slowed her down significantly, and then to a stop. She didn't want to fall into a trap. Why was she even going this way, anyways? She needed to help the others! Not bothering to say anything, the redhead turned back around and hurried back, making as little noise as possible.
"You," Before she got very far, that hand grabbed her arm again, though gently, and she nearly fell over from the suddenness of it. This time, though, Ichigo tried pulling away, only to have a firmer grip held on her, and a pull to face him. His once unreadable face was now stern, and she suddenly felt afraid.
"W-who are you?" She snapped, trying not to show her fear.
He said nothing, which only served to further frusterate her. Ichigo attempted to slip away, but he held a constant grip on her arm. Frowning, she faced him, and was about to say something else when he spoke in a low voice. "Does it matter? I am not an enemy, I promise you that. But I know you wish to help your friends, and I want to assist you."
The stranger said nothing more, as if it was a very reasonable explanation. Ichigo was hardly convinced, but, looking back over her shoulder again, knew she couldn't face Ari and Hanajima on her own, especially not if they had a bunch of beaten Mews at their feet and mercy. But what could he do? The redhead glanced at the stranger again warily. He looked human - no pointed ears or strange animal parts. Did he really have a sword? Would it be any good? Could she trust him with her secret?...
A high pitched scream rang through the air then, causing the hairs on Ichigo's neck to raise. She felt her fingers twitch in horror. Roxi! Forcing the tears back, the girl knew she had to make a decision now. Ari hated her, that was clear enough; would she go all the way and seriously harm her friends, just to get back at her? The thought was horrifying enough. She had to help.
"Fine," She choked, looking up at the boy with teary eyes, "Please, help me. Help my friends! I don't know... what to..." Her voice became almost unbearably shaky, and she had to stop talking there, staring down at the ground. Ichigo could only silently plead. If anything happens to them... I -!
"Then follow me. And do not run off this time," His voice was hard and blank, but a soft and comforting smile appeared briefly on his face for Ichigo's sake. He took off again, his cape swishing around as he turned, feet moving at a quick face. Ichigo didn't hesitate this time. She followed closely behind.
They went around the back of the cafe, picking up speed when Ichigo prompted him to do so. She was becoming more and more nervous about this. She hadn't heard a single sound from the others since Roxi's scream - were they alright? Had Ari taken them all away? Ichigo was too anxious about it. She didn't want to have to wait in fear to find out.
Then, he stopped, and held out an arm to tell Ichigo to as well. From there, he seemed extra attentive, as if listening and watching for something. The boy then, slowly, carefully reached to draw his sword, pulling it from the scabbard and holding it out infront of him. The blade was long, almost majestic looking, glinting in the sun. Ichigo was sure that, for a split second, she could even see some sort of power reflecting off of it. Normal people don't just carry around swords... Does... does he have powers, too...?
Putting a finger to his lips, as if signalling her to be quiet, the boy backed up against the roundish side wall of the cafe. He motioned for Ichigo to follow, which she did. Slowly, he began to creep across, sliding with his back against the wall, Ichigo doing the same. As they inched closer, they went slower, became more quiet and silent. Within a few more minutes, the scene came into view.
Ichigo nearly felt her knees collapse below her, nearly sobbed out in horror. The battleground was completely silent. All still alive, as far as she could tell, the four other mews lay sprawled out across the field, detransformed and weakened in their tattered Cafe uniforms. Not a single one moved, save the gentle movements of struggled breathing. And above them stood two tall figures, smirking in triumph. Ari had one scratch across her cheek. That was all. Hanajima seemed unscathed completely. Neither of them had any scars showing the battle had taken a toll on them at all... Looking back at her fallen friends, Ichigo felt tears well up in her eyes. Please be okay... I'm so sorry I couldn't help ---
Ari and Hanajima were gloating, Ichigo could see that clearly enough. Circling around their fallen, like hawks, admiring their defeated pray. It made the girl's blood boil with anger, but seeing her friends hurt pained her even more. Then, in one more instant, everything seemed to slow down before her eyes, played out in intricate detail. Ari took one step with her left foot, just over an unconsious Kona, towards Yumi who looked like she was struggling between sleep and awake. Hanajima shifted slightly to the side. And then there was a rustle of white fabric, cutting into her own vision, as footsteps sounded loud in her ears.
"Soyokaze Ken!" Before Ichigo could even register what was going on, the stranger had leapt out from their hiding place, dashing at Ari and slashing with his sword. Ari was caught off guard, that enough was obvious, but she was able to duck to the side. That seemed besides the point, because as the blade slashed through the air, some sort of sharp current was formed, swerving to the side and hitting Ari in the gut.
"Tsu!" The blue haired alien shouted, falling forward onto the ground. Hanajima had a look of alarm on her face, and she summoned her Illusion Staff immediately. What good it would do Ari now, Ichigo couldn't tell. The alien was doubled over on the ground, clutching her gut in slowly fading pain. Gripping his sword again, the boy focused on the brown haired woman now, narrowing his eyes.
"Raikou Ken!" He shouted, changing the angle of the blade and shoving it into the ground. Hanajima seemed wary, not taking her eyes off him and gripping her staff protectively. Silence filled the area, almost to a point of eerieness. And then, without warning, a light sparked off, and Hanajima was surrounded by a field of visible electricity.
"Huaaa!" She wailed out, her hand automatically losing grip on the weapon as she fought to force the electricity away from her body.
Ichigo watched in awe and fear, still frozen up against the wall. While both aliens were down for the count, at least for the moment, the boy turned around swiftly, drawing his sword from the ground back into his hands.
"Ichigo! Now!" He called. It took the girl a brief moment to snap out of her fear-ridden trance, but she nodded. He knew, assuming he was talking about her transforming. How? She had no idea. But he'd proved himself an ally, someone she could trust. For now. Beginnning her run out and away from the cafe wall, Ichigo drew out her pendant.
"Mew Mew Strawberry! Metamorpha-sis!" Light of a pink shade wrapped around her body, dissapating just as quickly and leaving the cat girl in her pink-oriented attire. Within another second, she'd summoned her strawberry bell, holding it in her hands. Instead of approaching the weakened aliens directly, she stopped in the center of her downed companions, looking at all of the pleadingly.
"Wake up, please!" She whispered, hugging her weapon to her chest, trying to summon her magical energy forth. At first, nothing happened. And then, starting from her very center, she felt the warmth travelling through her body, filling her up with a hopeful feeling before it reached her fingertips, flowing into her heart shaped bell weapon, brimming the power into her hands. Ichigo held it more tightly until the light burst forth from it, trailing up into the sky and then trickling down, almost like a pink shaded rain, sprinkling down on her fallen comrades gently. Ichigo felt significantly drained, and she hoped it had worked. Biting her lip, the girl opened her eyes.
Ari, unfortunatly, was back up for the count. She looked like she'd gotten over the initial blow, but was more steady looking than before, with hate burning fierce in her eyes. On the other hand, the girls were moving again, just like Ichigo had hoped. It brought a light smile to her face. The first up on their feet was, undoubtedly, Kikyo, who took a moment to absorb her surroundings. Only a moment. Then a strange look of alarm appeared on her face, then anger, and she was back in her Mew Kitsune form again. Kona and Roxi were up next, nearly in perfect unison, too. They took a few moments more to realize and remember the situation they were in, during which Ari took the chance to materialize and brandish her dagger weapons. Yumi didn't even open her eyes first. She just transformed on the ground, and was up on her feet instantly, weapon clutched tightly in hand.
"Ha! See, you can't take us down so easily!" Mew Framboise taunted and stuck out her tongue, before hopping back and prepping for an attack on Ari. Hanajima was still recovering after the lightning faded away. Kona seemed to realize the sudden bursts of energy they'd all recieved, and turned around, for the first time seeing the pink haired girl.
"Ichigo..." She said softly, and blinked, then smiled. "Thank you." Kikyo and Roxi acknowledged this as well, before turning back on Ari. Ari's attention, however, was focused solely on the boy.
"Who are you?" She barked angrily, knuckles white as she clenched the sais in her fists.
Calmly, the boy took a step to the side, and Ichigo didn't expect him to answer. The other girls got questioning looks on their faces, wondering when all of these strange events took place and how they could possibly miss them. Ichigo turned back to Ari as well, ready to call out an attack, when she heard a voice.
To her surprise, it was the boy. "I am the Elemental Swordsman," He said in a clear, mystery-hinted voice. In complete silence, he shifted his left foot, focused his aquamarine eyes forward and held his sword out infront of him, "And I am here to destroy you both."
This was not the answer Ari wanted to hear, obviously. Her golden eyes flickered with rage, her jaw giving a noticeable twitch and the knives in her hands bursting into dangerous blue flame. "Bad choice," She growled, narrowing her eyes and charging forward with a loud cry. The alien completely ignored Ichigo and the others, dashing past them, only wanting to slice at the swordsman.
Without so much as a strained look, he intercepted her attack with his sword easily. The clash of metal rang loud, and he moved again, blocking another slash. Her anger seemed to grow as her energy depleted, and with a cry she threw herself forward to strike.
"Hikari!" The swordsman bellowed, his sword slicing through the air effortlessly, bathed in a bright light. Metal contacted metal once again with a loud ringing clang. Ari winced noticeably as her grip on her own weapons wavered. The boy broke contact, and brought down for another swing and hit. This time, Ari did intercept, but one of her daggers flew out from her hand and skidded against the ground. The one left was barely able to hold up the solid and eye-burning sword, and her body eventually fell back against the force, hitting the ground hard, a lick of light twisting painfully around her arm. The alien let out a cry, her hand flexing away from the sai's handle as she tried to somehow direct the burning energy away from herself. The elemental swordsman, on the other hand, looked like he was finished. The light surrounding his sword disapated, and he stepped backwards, away from the battle, giving a light nod towards Ichigo.
She nodded back. "Thank you," The pink haired girl whispered with a light smile, and then turned back to Ari and Hanajima. The latter was up on her feet, steady, but still looked fatigued. And Ari... Ari was struggling just to sit up, against the pain of her scratches and bruises.
A frown crossing her face, Ichigo positioned herself beside the other girls as they all summoned their weapons, striking ready battle stances. For a moment, all was silent. Then, shifting from her pained position on the ground, one alien was able to move. Ari straightened up, with much difficulty, holding a single flaming sai out in her hand. Her face, beaten up as it was, bore an intense look, her golden eyes unfaltering. The grass shifted in the breeze. Leaves rustled uncomfortably atop their safe branches. Not a breath disturbed the air between the two sides.
And then, shattering it like a sheet of glass, Ari stormed forward, letting out a cry of rage. At first, nothing happened. Then, suddenly rising to attention, Yumi was the first to make a move. Still with a cheery air, she hopped back a few paces, holding her small-handled bell with a crooked arm. She waited. Ari was up in front within another second, but the horse-fused girl was ready.
"Ribbon Raspberry Dazzle!" Mew Framboise rang out, swinging her arm horizontally across. From the tiny bell shot out a bright peachy light, hitting the charging figure head out. The impact not only stopped the alien, but sent her flying back, hitting the ground with a crackling thud. She winced in noticeable pain, but forced herself back up on her feet.
"You..." Gritting her teeth, she spat on the ground, small droplets of blood forming above a scratch on her left cheek. She was wounded. Badly. But Ari wasn't about to give in. "You'll pay for that!" She cried, and then tilted her blue flaming dagger out, aiming for a projectile attack.
Kona jumped in with her Blossom Bell Bell. "Ribbon Blossom Shine!" The same kind of light projected from her circular weapon, engulfing Ari once more in a field of pain. The only difference, however, was that the light was speckled with energy-powered cherry blossoms, which became sharp under the pressure and cut up the alien's arms. She was sent back again, slammed up against a tree and pinned by the sakura. Normally, she would have been able to escape, no sweat... but the alien had a significantly lowered energy level. It took all her effort just to fight back.
The girls were now extra wary, all focused on making sure Ari didn't try to launch an attack forward. After the blue haired alien managed to at least catch her breath, she let out an exasperated groan, trying to pry her body away from the tree. The boosted cherry blossoms served almost as throwing pins, attaching bits of her clothing straight to the tree so she was practically immobile.
Only, Roxi's eyes weren't exactly on Ari at that moment. Red-glowing, glinting in the direction of Hanajima, who was standing suspiciously still. She felt uneasy about it. The brown haired alien didn't move, or even utter words. Her face was plain, unmoving, void of any emotion, the arm holding her staff not tense at all. And then it flickered. Roxi blinked. Hanajima had actually flickered, and she'd seen right through her for an instant. Mew Cerise glanced to the side, strands of light brown hair falling over her face. None of the other girls noticed. They were so intent on holding Ari back, they weren't even paying attention to Hanajima...Hanajima. Was she even there? Roxi looked closer, narrowing her eyes. Projection. It dawned on her slowly, as she stared, the figure completely still, even her eyes not shifting. Hands clasped tightly around her Cherry Wand. If that's only a projection...if she's not really there...then where...?
Taking a light step backwards, Roxi swivelled around. Widening, her eyes caught on to a wavery figure, hovering menacingly over an away faced Ichigo, face drawn in concentration, the Illusion Staff held high and about to be brought down hard against the cat girl's head.
"Oh no you don't!" With barely a breath in between, Roxi jolted forward, practically forcing her weapon into the opposing force's side. "Ribbon Cherry Burst!" The instant those words left her mouth, energy blasted from the golden ring of her wand, straight into Hanajima's side. Direct contact. The effect was so immediate that the alien nearly passed out, unable to breath for a few seconds with the wind knocked out from under her. Hanajima fell limp to the ground, not moving for several moments. The faux 'projection' disapeared.
This served as a wake up call to all the other girls. Casting only surprised glances over at the fallen-and-unseen Hanajima and the panting Roxi, who was backing off to join the others again, the Mews returned to their stance, this time with a more alert outlook. As Roxi recovered from the attack, and Hanajima attempted to get up, Kona and Yumi leapt forward to keep the older alien contained. Ichigo stood off at the sidelines, suddenly confused as to the whereabouts of the 'elemental swordsman' - he had slipped out of sight.
Ari grunted lightly to herself, as if she could suddenly breath now that the attention of the 5 'super girls' had been temporarily lifted off her. Gathering her strength, she ripped one pinned arm away from the tree, then a leg, and focused on freeing the rest of her. The moment the alien girl was no longer attached, however, she froze in place instead of launching an attack.
"Stop," Kikyo said icily, eyes glowering in the unmoving's direction. Ari didn't move - her golden eyes set focus on the weapon Mew Kitsune held in hand. The one called 'Fox Charm', with a crossbow-like appearence, aimed straight for her. The tip, a gem heralding energy that could be called forth at any moment, pointed Ari for a dead on target. The alien glared, but made no move. She knew this girl had power. It was as if her fingers were positioned right for pulling a deadly trigger in her direction. The question was - what to do about it?
Ari grimaced. She couldn't well just keep standing where she was. They'd give up on Hanajima and go after her all together at some point. But moving in for an attack could be just as fatal. Kikyo refused to move from the space on which she stood, refused to falter in her aim. Still, the alien reasoned with herself - there was a more likely chance in her dodging an attack from one girl than an entire team of them. Chance. Her grip silently tightened around the handle of her solitary weapon.
"Don't throw commands at me!" Ari shouted in retort, running out from her stilled position, taking a skillful step to the side out of Kikyo's current range. Her fist and sai burst into flickering blue flame, and she reeled her arm back, aiming for a deadly throw at the Mew girl.
Kikyo had time to smirk. "Too slow," She said plainly. True enough, she was quick footed enough to mimick Ari's footwork, without so much as a fox ear's twitch. Once the alien was back in her sight, within seconds she was aimed back up at her. Before the knife could even leave Ari's fingertips, Mew Kitsune shouted out, "Ribbon Kahidra Blast!". The sudden collection of energy burst from the jewelled tip of her weapon, flying towards the alien and swallowing her whole in an abyss of pain.
The single dagger fell from her hand, clattering against the ground and sliding far away from the impact. Ari was still on her feet, but she looked frozen and stunned from the attack. Her hands were empty. She was defenseless.
Breathing heavily, Ari refused to move from where she stood. Maybe it was because, plainly enough, she couldn't. Hanajima was nearly out cold, unable to muster the strength to even move from where she was crouched down, shakily taking in air. Kikyo, satisfied with her attack, darted a few steps backwards, turning her head to glance at Ichigo.
"Your turn."
She smiled a bit, and then turned to face the aliens. Ichigo did the same, her eyes focused on Ari in deep concentration. Then, without another moment of hesitation, she held her bell up high, gathering her energy there, never once lifting her pink eyes from where Ari stood perfectly still. The words left her lips soon after. "Ribbon Strawberry Surprise!"
The light wrapped all around Ari, and she had a pained expression on her face, though no sound came from her opened mouth. It was if she were trying to scream, but couldn't. The others watch as the power seemed to nearly tear her apart, drain all her energy, leave her an empty shell. The light faded. Ari dropped to her knees, gasping for air, her weak body trembling from all the attacks.
For a moment, Ichigo paused. She really did look beaten. It probably wasn't a trick, she reasoned with herself. She probably wouldn't be able to stand, let alone launch a close up attack without warning. Her bell disapearing, Ichigo raced up to the alien, and grabbed her by the collar.
"Ichigo-" Kona started, and then stopped. They were all silent as the cat girl lifted Ari to her feet so she could look her straight in the eye. The expression on Ichigo's face was hard, unforgiving, but at the same time she looked like she wanted to cry.
"Why do you keep doing this to us?" She demanded suddenly, her own voice shaking as she addressed the scratched up alien. "We made peace with Kishu and Pai and the others. Why did you and Hanajima come here? Why won't you just leave us alone?"
The outburst caught the other girls by surprise. They had never heard about the battles Ichigo had gone through before - they'd known there were other aliens, other mews, but Ichigo had never really explained the situation to them. And now it seemed like it brought the girl a lot of painful memories. They had no place in this argument - they couldn't possibly understand.
Ari did nothing. That is, she said nothing. While not a word escaped her lips, a wry smile spread across them, her golden eyes filled with mischief and suffering at the same time. There was a deep scratch at the very corner of her mouth, giving her smile a twisted, crooked look that further deepened the expression on her face. Then, with no attempts to fight back, Ari said simply in a hushed and weak voice -
"You stole him from me."
"What?" Ichigo's eyes widened. What was she talking about? Who was him? Her mind went over anything she'd said. She knew it was there, somewhere in her head, but she couldn't bring it up to surface... she couldn't remember if Ari had ever mentioned -
While Ichigo was momentarily distracted with her own thoughts, Ari grunted, pushing the girl away and stumbling backwards. She rubbed her sore neck with one hand, and, without another word, disapeared. Hanajima had vanished, too. Ichigo didn't move for a moment, and then lowered her hand, sighing and transforming back into her cafe uniform. As she turned around to head back to the group, she murmured to herself, "I don't understand..."
The others turned back to normal, as well, moving towards the redhead. For a while, no one said anything. Ichigo had been the first to question the alien's motives, and now it was heavy on all of their minds. Silence. And then, Kona was the first to break it.
"You know," She said slowly, looking up at all the girls with a quiet voice, "This is the first time we've all fought. Together."
And while this was followed by more silence, it also brought forth some thoughtful looks. And then smiles. And then more words.
"You're right," Ichigo said with a smile, nodding and looking at all the others cheerfully, "This was the new Tokyo Mew Mew's first battle. And we succeeded, all together."
"Yeah!" Chimed in Yumi, throwing her arms up into the air. "Nothing can beat us now!"
"Because we're a team," Roxi added, joining in with a smile. Kikyo nodded in silent agreement.
"Come on, the Cafe opens in half an hour," The brown-ponytail girl pointed out with a shrug, putting a hand on her hip. Then, with a little glance to the yard, she added, "We've got a lot of cleaning to do."
Roxi giggled light heartedly. "Uh-huh, Kikyo-chan! Come on, we'd better get started!" She grabbed both Yumi and Ichigo by the wrists and needlessly dragged them over to the porch, Kikyo and Kona following behind. Even though there were still mysteries about all this, and so much they didn't see or understand, like the Elemental Swordsman's appearence, or Ari and Hanajima's reasons for attacking them, it would be different from now on. And as Roxi led them all towards the cafe so they could get to work, Ichigo couldn't help but smile to herself, her amber eyes glittering in momentary happiness.
Because we're a team.
--
Next Chapter:
Everyone's working to the same goal, but there are bound to be obstacles along the way. Ari is one of them. And now that her dignity as a fighter is slowly being wittled away, she has revenge on her mind. And what better way to cast revenge than to exploit the weaknesses of someone you care for?