Blend Chapter 10: Nightmarish Realities, a tokyo mew mew fanfic

xuri: Hello hello. :3 Remember what I said about upcoming cliffhangers? Well, try these next few chapters on for size. Aren't you excited now? Huh? Huh:D And keep those reviews coming, I love you all!

SamKo: xD Didn't Ao no Kishi/Blue Knight have a sword? But meh. Yay swords. And, not to be meanie-spoiler-authoress, but there's one more character to come with a sword. Yaaay swords. x3 And yes, Masaya plays a few important roles in upcoming chapters. In fact, he gets some big mention in this one. At the moment, he's just too busy with his studies for poor-poor Ichigo-chan. ;3 And yes. Ryou x Ari. Amusing. xD No, but seriously. He literally has a harem going on here in later chapters. o-o Poor Ryou...

I don't own Tokyo Mew Mew, or the Elemental Swordsman. Totally, at least. Yay me.

Blend (chapter ten)

..nightmarish realities..

They'd won the battle. But Ichigo suffered even so.

The next few days after the encounter, she was plagued by nightmares of all kinds. At first, they resembled those she'd had before the re-banding of Tokyo Mew Mew - the classic voices of Mint and Lettuce and the others, taunting at her, cursing her and telling her to 'fight back'. She had learned to deal with them. Not to the point of finding joy or comfort in the voices of her far-away friends, but better than waking up with tears in her eyes. Eventually, Ichigo could even ignore them, block them out and get a decent sleep. They didn't matter.

Then came the ones about Ari.

At first, Ichigo thought the old dreams had finally gone away - she'd won her battle with them. In her dream world, she couldn't hear or see a thing. The girl was especially startled, then, when she heard her voice echoing thoughts around her, her voice bouncing off the black invisible walls.

Why do you hate me?... It asked in a meek voice. What have I ever done to you? What have I ever taken? Said? Thought? Implied?.. I didn't even know you... How can you already hate me? Anger began building in the voice, slowly, gradually piling to a half-shout. What have I done to deserve this? You want to cause me pain. You want to destroy me. Why? Why do you hate me? Why are you doing this?

It sounded like she could keep shouting, questioning to the darkness forever. And then she fell silent. Completely, eerily silent. Ichigo thought it sounded even more disturbing, the absense of the sound compared to the shouts and voices. Words smashed through, clear, drawn out from a memory, every word searing into her mind like some burning pain.

You took him from me.

Who? Ichigo wanted to ask in desperation. No words came. Ari's voice faded away, and the darkness began to swirl around before her dream-trapped eyes. Breaking through the veil of complete nothingness, a tall figure stepped forward, walking slowly and calmly. As it raised its human head, light glinted off golden eyes, revealing a pale, emotionless face. It became shadowed over by dark blue hair, another flicker of light revealing Ari's body, daggers clenched gently in her gloved hands. No sound but her echoing footsteps filled the air.

Ichigo tensed in her sleep. Without a word, the alien figure continued her approach, never quite coming any closer, even though her feet kept moving against the ground. Her mouth, the only feature on her face that was not covered in shadow, was drawn in a tight and emotionless line. Dark feeling seemed to glow all around her, showing of hate and ill feeling.

Why? Ichigo's wispy voice asked the darkness, fear lingering in that one word. What did I do...how did I --

You took him from me! The voice boomed. Suddenly, the wind picked up ferociously, whipping about the scene violently. Ari's hair and loose parts of her clothing waved lightly, at first, and then broke into an all out storm. Her hair whipped about her face, her golden eyes wide and stricken with anger. The entire world seemed to shake before Ichigo's eyes as the alien lifted her arms, the sais, the vision only blurring with each movement. Blue flame wrapped itself all around Ari, all around the perimeter of the vision, flailing wildly with the intensity of the wind that fed it. You took him from me!

Ichigo woke up.

And she was in a funk. No one was really surprised. Ichigo's mood swings became a normal feature of Daikan Junior High; even those who didn't know her recognized these events. Roxi and Cherri completely gave up, leaving her to wander the halls with glassy eyes. Even Moe and Miwa couldn't get a rise out of her. A few words, yes ("I'm fine, thank you," Ichigo murmured the fifth time that conversation) but not a perky and energetic response as usual.

And as usual as this was for her, as of late at least, there was an odd difference. She was far more alert, in tune with the world, even though she spent the entirety of every class staring at her chair leg or swinging a pencil back and forth like a pendulum. Ichigo nearly aced a quiz in History without even realizing it. Teachers made a point of calling on her during debates, mostly because she was most obviously not paying attention, but she murmured the correct answer every time and went back to her absent activities. It was as if this state of mind was actually the best Ichigo had ever had academically - though the words 'you took him from me' were all that flashed through her head, she somehow managed to absorb all else better than ever. How? Do you really want to know?

Her friends gave up on her early on in the day. Either they hoped she could get better on her own, or they knew any efforts would be a waste of time. Ichigo's 'funks' were never short lived, and this one was more bizarre than any preceeding it. Since she was under the watchful (and so confused) eyes of the professors for the day, they knew she wouldn't do anything like accidentally step off a cliff or something. But the minute the bell rang, they were on her heels instantly. It's a friend's responsibility to make sure other friends don't accidentally step off cliffs, after all.

"I'm fine, thank you," Ichigo mumbled, stifling a yawn and cocking her head to the side, staring straight ahead.

Roxi sighed in exasperation. "Ichigo-chaaan, I asked you if you had a textbook I could borrow! There's a project we're doing, but ours don't --"

"I'm fine, thank you..."

"Ichigooo!" Yumi elbowed the girl in the ribs. She winced. The shorter girl grinned in triumph, and pointed sheepishly with a finger while looking at Roxi. "Ara, see? Ichigo's not a zombie..." She looked ready to jab the girl in the ribs again.

"Yumi-chan, don't!" Roxi insisted in a hurry, dragging her friend aside so she stood between the tranced-out girl and the elbow-jabbing fiend. With a concerned glance at Ichigo - who looked more dazed now than distracted - Roxi put a hand to her temple, just knowing this could end up giving her a migraine if she got too caught up in it.

"Hmm..." She pondered to herself, glancing off to the side with keeping a watchful eye on Yumi, who was humming innocently. Then, Roxi's eyes lit up briefly, and she heaved a light sigh. Buttons to push... "I think Aoyama-sempai said he was coming by the cafe today. Exams are over, after all - "

"Aoyama-kun?..." Ichigo said in a spacey voice, her head suddenly snapping upright. Roxi managed to hide a grin. Aoyama Masaya - Ichigo had stopped talking about him for a while, it had been a quiet sort of silence, but before that she always went on about how amazing and perfect he was, and how lucky she was. Lately though, the talk swerved more towards 'What's wrong with me? Why doesn't he like me any more?' and eventually led to more of Ichigo moping around for a few hours before recovering. Roxi had never personally met him, but from all the ramblings Ichigo directed about him, she could probably pick the guy out in a crowd within seconds. She'd thought that, maybe, whatever her problem was right now, it could be diverted with thoughts of her 'long lost boyfriend'. Even now, it seemed like the fog over Ichigo's face was clearing up.

Once they arrived at the Cafe, Ichigo said nothing, but darted off to change into her uniform. There was an eagerness in her step. Roxi and Yumi exchanged amused glances, but headed off themselves to prepare for the night shift. Kona was already out, taking down chairs and mopping up floors. Keiichiro was inquired to by Yumi about Kikyo, and he explained that she asked for the day off.

"I believe she wanted to spend time with Koji-san," He said with a light smile, "Somewhere other than the Cafe for once. I'm sure you four will be all right without her just today."

Ichigo certainly was. She still wasn't chirpy as normal, but she no longer had a glazed and absent look on her face. Instead, she went from duty to duty, arranging chairs and scrubbing tables with a simple smile on her face, her eyes drawing over to the door every few minutes. She didn't say a word. Ryou watched curiously from the other end of the room.

"What's with her today?" He wanted to know. Kona shrugged.

"No idea," She sighed, twisting her hair around her fingers absently, "Roxi said it's better than she's been all day, though." With a frown, the girl looked sideways at Ryou. "I wonder what's bothering her? It might have something to do with yesterday's battle, but that was hardly..." Her voice trailed off.

Ryou raised an eyebrow. He didn't look concerned, exactly, though Kona caught a few worried glances from him to the wandering redhead. It looked like he just seemed interested, as if it were a research project of some sort. He faced Kona, but his blue eyes shifted over to everyone's favourite Strawberry girl. "And what exactly happened during yesterday's battle?..."

About ten minutes later, the 'Open' sign was flipped over, and a cluster of people entered the building, being seated right away. It seemed busier than usual, mostly because they were short one hand, but nothing too difficult popped up. Ichigo started looking more startled, and approached Roxi every so often.

"When did he say he was coming?" She would ask, almost like a demand. Roxi always hesitated.

"Wellll..." The brunette tapped a finger thoughtfully to her chin, eyes directed at the ceiling, "6...or maybe 7? Something like that. Or maybe in..." She made it obvious she was checking the nearest clock, "...10 minutes or so..."

And Ichigo was off again, her cheery-meter sliding up a notch as she darted around the cafe, giving people their (correct) orders and taking their empty plates away again. Every few minutes, she would ask again, only to be given about the same answer, just adjusted for the current time. It didn't seem to matter. Ichigo was so excited about spending time with Masaya again that she didn't care whether it was a lie or not.

"Aoyama-kun's going to be here soon," She walk talking to herself at about 6:30, while she was on dishwashing duty. And not in a quiet voice, either. "Akasaka-san and Shirogane let Kikyo off to spend time with her boyfriend. And she always spends time with him. They'd have to understand then, if I haven't been with Aoyama-kun for almost a month and just want a few hours to catch up." The girl nodded to herself, setting a clean-dried plate on the growing stack as she moved to scrub the rest. "That'll work. Oh, Aoyama-kun... AoyamakunAoyamakunAoyamakun. When we get Winter vacation, I'm going to spend so much time with you, and we'll be happy, and then maybe before Summer vacation we'll have time together again, and we can enjoy it watching the sunset or eating a romantic dinner or anything you feel like doing, because..."

Her dreamy voice wafted through the empty kitchen, carrying easily to the ears of the blonde who was leaned against the doorframe, watching her go through the dishes and chatter to herself about the many happy things she and Masaya could do together once they had the time. Quietly enough so she couldn't hear, Ryou sighed to himself, careful to make it sound more of annoyance than of gentle despair.

"Always on about him," He mumbled, his blue eyes unmoving from the spot Ichigo shuffled about, "And it's always him." Shaking his head silently, Ryou went back to his relaxed position, taking up staring at the ceiling instead for a few minutes.

Kona frowned. As she continued to mop up the area around the kitchen doorway (there had been an unfortunate cake spill on Yumi's account earlier), she listened, almost without realizing, to the mutterings of her young employer. And she heard the hint of jealousy. So small, so hidden behind his thick and uncaring words, that no one who hadn't been listening for it wouldn't have heard at all. Kona had started listening days ago, and felt a little of that 'jealousy' stirring up in her chest lately, as well.

"Just like you're always on about her," She breathed, her voice a thin, inaudible wisp. Kona stepped away from the door to put the mop and bucket away, "And I'd suspect you always have been..."

The clock ticked along, and even though Ichigo was sure to poke her head out the kitchen door every other second, she saw no signs of her dark haired dream boat. And even though she got the same explanation from Roxi, over and over, it started having a less positive effect on her. In fact, by 7:25, she was frowning, pacing about in the empty space between the tables once most of the customers had left for home.

"Wuah!" Suddenly, she stopped, right in the middle of the room, her head snapped up and eyes wide at some occured idea. Her hands went to her face as she broke out into a quiet panic. "W-what if he's waiting for me at Inohara Park! I mean, he told Roxi he was coming here, but what if it was a secret meeting and I was supposed to read between the lines and figure it out for myself even though I'd expect him to come here but that's what everyone else would expect and Oh my God! Maybe he had a whole romantic super-secret night all planned out and now I'm missing it because I'm so stupid waaah!"

"Ichigo-chan?" Roxi appeared beside her friend, who took no notice. She started ringing her hands, continuing to ramble on about the possibilities as a result of her dull intellect. Sweatdropping, the brunette raised a hand and waved it infront of Ichigo's eyes. "Ichigo-chan?" She repeated, and then again more loudly. And still Ichigo acted as if she were the only person in the room, depicting her plans to make Masaya forgive her for being so dense. Sighing rather loudly, Roxi put a hand to her forehead. "ICHIGO-CHAN!" Boomed Roxi in a loud voice, making even Yumi nearby jump in surprise.

For a minute, it looked like that had actually gotten Ichigo's attention. She blinked her amber eyes several times, lifting her head and standing perfectly still. Roxi smiled and opened her mouth to say something, but was promptly (and rudely) interupted. "Oh! Maybe Aoyama-kun's still there! If I hurry, then, I might have a chance to apologize, but still spend some time with him..." Her eyes shifted glance to the clock. "I've got to go quick! Roxi-! Ah," For the first time, the redhead noticed the uniform clad girl standing there with a raised eyebrow. Ichigo tilted her head. "When did you get here?" Roxi's eye twitched. Ichigo didn't notice. "Oh, well, I need to go. Tell Shirogane for me, okay? Bye bye!" Before Roxi could even protest, Ichigo was out the door, running as fast as her restricting uniform would allow.

Roxi watched, speechless, as the doors slowly swung to a moveless shut, the clop of Ichigo's cafe shoes fading off into the distance. Ichigo really was obsessed with him... Roxi noted this to herself, figuring it was something a friend really should know. Then, shaking her head, she turned to see Yumi perched beside her with a plate of fresh baked sweets.

The small girl smiled up at her, holding the platter out to Roxi. "Want a cookie?"

As she raced down the pathway, trying not to trip (Ichigo was prone to doing things like that), Ichigo suddenly realized how she was dressed. Masaya would be disapointed if, not only was she late, but still in her work uniform. Her spirits fell. She could just see him now, his disapointed frown as he turned away, leaving her alone.

"I really thought our relationship meant more to you...But I guess all I am is an unimportant pasttime."

"Nooo! Aoyama-kun!" Ichigo whimpered, skidding to a stop and holding out her arm as the vision poofed away. She had a fresh change of clothes in her backpack back at the Cafe. It wasn't anything fancy, but still much better than her school or work uniform. He might be able to let it slip if she was at least dressed well. On that thought, she took only a second to catch her breath, whirled around, and made a straight line for a return to the building.

She got two steps closer when something rammed her hard in the side.

"Oof!" Ichigo was knocked clear off her feet, tumbling to the cement and rolling a few paces against the impact. She lay limp for a moment, the breath stolen from her lungs. Once she managed to gasp, she forced her trembling body to move, and tried to push herself up so she could see what had hit her. This time, something slammed her gut, causing her to cry out in pain and fall forward, curled up in a defensive ball as she tried to subside the pain.

"So?" Able to tilt her head just right, Ichigo saw Ari towering over her, a cruel and unforgiving look drawn on her pale face. She took a step forward, glaring down at the human, sneering wickedly. "Are you going to even fight back, Ichigo-neko?" Ari taunted slyly, and then lifted her knee to deliver another hard kick to the girl.

All the customers had dissapated, so Kona, Roxi and Yumi were finishing up on cleaning duty. The mess left behind was unusually abundant. And now, without both Kikyo and Ichigo to help, it was a real chore.

Kona, resting a hand on her hip, sighed as she lazily inspected the table arrangement. "Geez, boyfriends. Just because they have them, they get an excuse to get off work." She shut her eyes, and then opened an icy blue one again, "And leave the mess for the rest of us to clean up," She added seriously.

Just shrugging it off, Roxi checked the chair seats before lifting them up and setting them neatly on the tabletops. "Ichigo's just excited. Aoyama-sempai has been busy, and she's always so sad that she never gets to see him... Now I guess she got a chance, and she was really eager to take it."

Yumi had been reasonably quiet up until then, having been given the task by Keiichiro to clean the windows, but turned her head curiously to the conversation going on. "Hm? Roxi? But didn't you make up the story about Ichigo's boyfriend coming over?"

Roxi sweatdropped. "Oh. Yeah. Well, she's going to be awfully disapointed if she runs all over town and he isn't there..."

"Don't you think," Kona spoke as she dragged a table a little farther to the left, "that she'll only be more depressed when she finds out he's gone?" Roxi just stared at her blankly. Then, she blinked and hung her head, groaning in frusteration.

"Ahhh... But I didn't think she'd take it so seriously!"

In an effort to make Roxi realize how she'd messed up the situation even more, Kona opened her mouth. Before any more than the word 'Well,' could escape her lips, there was a long thump against the outside wall. Yumi and Roxi both jolted in place, and Kona blinked in surprise.

"What was that?" Yumi sputtered, scrambling over to the other two girls. Neither of them replied. They didn't even move, having absolutely no idea what had caused the noise.

Thump. Again. This time even louder than before. And within a split second, it was followed by a strangled cry, just decibals away from being a high pitched scream. The word 'Metamorpha-sis' could be heard through the thick walls. Roxi's eyes widened.

"Ichigo-chan!" Before the other two could even process this, the brunette was out the door in a panic, her long hair flying around behind her. The doors started swinging shut when Kona and Yumi realized what was going on, and they too dashed outside, a look of fear flickering in all of their eyes.

Roxi screamed.

Ichigo grunted and struggled to her feet, nearly losing her grip on her Strawberry Bell. She'd only been in her Mew form for a few seconds short of a minute, but already her costume was tattered and scratched up. There was a colouring bruise on her cheek, any skin visible covered completely in scratches. Some were worse than others. And she swayed a little, blinking as she tried to keep from falling over - let alone fight or defend herself from Ari. The alien clearly saw the other girls, but also just as clearly did not care.

"Come to join the fun, kittens?" She twirled a knife idly in one hand, floating about a foot above the ground. Not one hair on her head was out of place. Not one scratch decked her smooth, perfectly pale skin. No ounce of fear or weakness glimmered in her cruel, golden eyes. For one moment, everyone stared at her, them a perfect picture of fear.

"Mew Mew Cerise, Metamorpha-sis!" Roxi didn't hesitate; she summoned forth the bright energy, transforming into her panda-eared warrior form, her Cherry Wand included with the incantation. Her reddish eyes narrowed and she stepped to rush forward, when a silently transformed Mew Powder grasped her by the arm.

"Wait," Kona hissed silently, her cat eyes darting to the side. Roxi's arm tensed at first, but then she too looked around. It was unusual, after all, for Ari to be alone. Was it possible this was another trap, with Hanajima hiding in the air, waiting for an unexpecting moment to strike?

"I'm alone, if that's what you're all so worried about," said Ari with a sneer, "But please, do expend your attention looking for my companion. It's much easier to fight a pack of animals when only half their mind is on you!" Flame engulfed her weapons, signalling a major power up in the alien girl's attacks.

"Nuh-uh!"

Ichigo stumbled back as Yumi broke away from the other two, the horse ears atop her head twitching as she swung her own Bell around wildly, calling forth an attack within seconds. "Ribbon Raspberry Dazzle!" With a simple twist of her arm, the small bell announced itself with a tinkle, bursts of light appearing from the center. Just as it was aimed, the energy shot directly at Ari, and upon fading showed the same image as before - strength. Ari was largely unaffected.

"You tire me. All of you," Crossing her blades, she held them high above her head, flames of her own burning bright in her eyes. "I've given you so much time, and yet you've learned no new tricks? No ways to defeat me, even catch me by surprise?... I certainly expected better." She chuckled lightly, as if she were carrying on a friendly conversation instead of twining herself into a battle. Then the dark look of hate flashed over her face again, and she brought her arms out infront of her, breathing onto the gathered flame to create a blue spiral, shot directly at Ichigo.

"..." Ichigo could hardly stand, let alone dodge the attack, even with her cat reflexes on edge. Knowing full well she couldn't move, the girl tried to steady her shaky breath, weakly holding her bell out as a futile defence against the incoming fire. That would end the battle for her, leave her helpless against the ground, vulnerable to the merciless attacks of Ari...

"Ungh!" A new force arrived at her side, pushing her roughly but successfully out of the way. Her breath became heavy as the world swayed uncertainly around her, her feet threatening to give way at any moment. She would have collapsed, had an arm not grasped hers and steadied her balance.

Kona looked at her with a serious face, and then allowed some warmth to crawl into it as she laced her arm through hers for support. "You okay?" As strange as the question seemed to be - Kona could plainly see that a girl all scratched up, covered in bruises and on the brink of fainting was hardly 'okay' - Ichigo nodded, softly, trying to return a smile of her own. The black-haired cat girl nodded in gentle response, and then turned to face Ari, who was charging her sais up one again. "Good."

Now confident she wouldn't be caught off guard by any hidden aliens, Roxi confidently stepped up, grasping the top of her wand and twisting her hand so the golden ring began to spin. "Ribbon Cherry Burst!" She cried, jumping at Ari and pointing her staff direct-on the alien as rose coloured light exploded from the tip, completely surrounded the blue haired enemy. This time, she seemed more weakened by the hit - she'd been exposed to the attack less times than the others, and so had less of a chance to grow an immunity to it. Her stance in the air faltered, her hands seeming to twitch only slightly in pain as she gathered herself for a quick recovering.

Seeing this as an open chance, Kona prepared to take it. "Ready, Ichigo?" She breathed, holding her circular bell out with her free hand. Ichigo didn't reply out loud, but her support knew by the way the pink-haired girl lifted her weapon and kept a firm hold on it that she was ready, too. Tightening her hold on the staggering girl, she focused on Ari, who had just barely noticed them joining up for an attack.

"Ribbon Blossom Shine!"

"Ribbon Strawberry Surprise!" Both girls shouted their own calls in near unison, and from their weapons came the energy attacks, combining into one powerful blast Ari was unable to avoid. They heard a muffled, strangled cry from behind the blinding light, and heard a scuff against the dirt as it faded, leaving Ari on her knees, gasping for air. Kona, Ichigo, Roxi and Yumi all lowered their weapons in relief.

"No," Ari snapped angrily, and they all jumped as she lifted her head to glare at them. "No. I'm not finished with you yet." Though it obviously took a lot out of her, she stood to her feet without aid, clasping her weapons tightly in hand. A smirk decorated her face, and though her eyes glinted in suffering from the blow, there was a look of malice boiling beneath it. Kona felt Ichigo's body stiffen.

Slowly, Ari's feet touched off the ground as she raised herself a few feet in the air, arms tightly by her sides. "So you have new ways to use your powers. New tricks." Breathing in, flame outlined her sais once again, but flickered strangely, dimming down into a blue glow and spreading up Ari's arms. "So what?" The glow began to spread across the entirety of her hands to elbows, consuming them and becoming a gel-like substance. Her voice was a roar now. "I may not be as powerful as Kishu-sama, but I have tricks of my own!"

Ichigo's head jerked up, her eyes widening. Kishu-sama? As in, Kishu the alien? Something in her mind clicked. The way Ari's voice sounded upon pronouncing his name, the strong hints of jealousy and spite behind those few syllables... They all started piling up. And while she tried to piece the mental puzzle together, her memory flicked through every moment, every word, anything that Ari might have said that connected to this. "I always thought one of them was a little bit cute..." "Ke..Ki..Kis-" "...I really thought you were in love with him, Momomiya."

No way...does that mean Ari - ?

"Ichigo!" Yumi's high pitched scream struck her out of her thoughts immediately, suddenly faced with a wad of blue gel excelling in her direction. Behind it, Ari floated, her hands clasped together, arms tightly pulled in to one another, completely surrounded by the moving blue substance. A wicked grin was on her face as she watched the gel - or whatever it was - shoot at Ichigo with amazing speed. It would be just seconds until she was hit.

Ichigo had noticed too late. Kona, having in much haste assumed the battle was over, had stepped away from her side to make sure Yumi was alright (the girl had taken a bit of a tumble by accident). Now she stood there, alone, all eyes on her, as the dangerous looking substance raced towards her. Her legs stayed planted to the ground. Her body was too weak to throw out a counter attack. Kona was too far away to push her out of the way this time. She was helpless.

Shutting her eyes, the cat girl braced herself for the hit, fearing for the worst.

Roxi saw first. As Kona rushed over to help Yumi up to her feet ("Ara, I'm okay, Kona. Think I tripped on a rock or somethin'..."), she heard Ari call out, saw her connecting her arms with some bizarre blue liquid. Ichigo got this strange, thoughtful look on her face, not budging from where she stood. And then, like a fluid bullet, Ari jerked her clasped hands upwards, sending the substance directly for a stunned Ichigo.

From there, it went in slow motion. Her thoughts buzzed loudly in her ear, panicking, trying to sort through the situation as fast as possible. Ichigo couldn't get out of the way. Kona had pushed her from an attack before, but the distance between Ichigo and where the high school girl stood now was too great. Even Roxi couldn't move fast enough to get her out of harm's way - they'd just both end up being hit. Roxi might be able to handle it. But Ichigo looked like she could be seriously injured if one more shot was recieved - maybe even worse than injured. Roxi didn't even have time to cringe at the thought. Ichigo had come out here to look for Masaya, even though he wasn't there. If she hadn't come out, they would have discovered Ari hiding together, and then they wouldn't be in this situation.

It's my fault!

"No!" Roxi cried, pushing off her feet and sprinting to Ichigo, throwing herself infront of the girl, spreading her arms out as widely as possible to act as a human barrier. The instant she took up that position (it happened so quickly she couldn't even see the shocked faces of the other girls), the gel projectile struck her. But instead of knocking her down, or causing damage, it engulfed her completely, wrapping around her body and face. Almost as if she were underwater, she couldn't breath. She felt her body pulsing, struggling... and then everything went black.

When Ichigo opened her eyes again, she felt her face pale in horror. Roxi. Standing there, her arms spread out, trying frantically to block for Ichigo. And once again, Mew Ichigo was too late - before she could say or do anything, even so much as completely process it through her mind, Roxi was hit. Hard. But the girl's feet didn't even shift from the ground.

The translucent gel seemed to spread around her, encasing her in the thick, blue substance. Trapped. Slowly, playing out infront of her eyes as if a lagging movie, Ichigo watched helplessly as a motionless Roxi fell, trapped in a blob of blue. It wavered, and then disapeared, as if Roxi's body had absorbed it. But she still crashed limply to the ground, not even twitching in pain. For a second, nothing happened. Then reality sped up again.

Kona and Yumi cried out and dashed over. Ichigo could only stare at her friend, sprawled motionless across the ground, her wide blank eyes staring straight up at her. Then, the redhead fell to her knees, silent as the other two girls rushed to her side.

"Roxi! Roxi!" Kona immediately threw a hand out, checking the girl's pulse. Ichigo flinched at the thought of what might have happened... but the black haired girl sighed in relief. "She's alive. Her heart is still beating at least." From there, she went to check her temperature and make sure she hadn't broken anything.

Yumi's lip trembled as she looked down at her friend. "Roxi?" She squeaked. Tears welled up in her eyes. Ichigo could say nothing, she just looked down at her fallen friend blankly. She barely heard Kona calling for Ryou and Keiichiro, Yumi shaking the girl in attempts to wake her up. Lifting her hand, the cat girl reached out and then paused, as if afraid to touch the friend who had tried saving her life.

"I'm sorry..." She breathed, a horde of emotion suddenly flowing from her mind. The world started to blur around her. "I'm so sorry, Roxi... I couldn't... fight back..."

The next thing Ichigo knew, her head hit the concrete and she was greeted by merciful blackness.

Next Chapter:

There's only one thing to do when a friend is in danger - save them. And in this world where two aliens run lose, there's only one way to find a cure to save someone - defeat them. But when Ichigo confronts Ari, alone, will her power be enough to keep Roxi from facing an inhuman fate?