xuri: Dun. Dun. Dunnn. -cough- Seriously, these chapters are like energizer batteries. They just keep going... and going... and going.. xD Looking back, I can barely believe I managed to fit a plot into 26 chapters at this 5000 plus word length. It's... scary. Especially since, when I started, I had it in my head it would be around 16 chapters at the most. Isn't life surprising. xD
On a side note - is anyone good at making anagrams? I'm trying to think of one for my next fic, but I'm apparently not too good at this sort of thing.
SamKo: -high fives for being an IxR fan- I'll probably be reading that when you have it up. Well written RxI fanfics make me happy. That's probably the only reason I'm glad Ryou and Ichigo didn't end up together in the series - then I wouldn't be able to read all these coolie and cute fanfictions. And be able to write them. Whee.
Applecake: xD xD xD Again, I apologize for the difficultness of the keeping up with the chapterness. But, hey, at least when I get to chapter 26 you won't have to worry about it taking off on you again. xD Thank you sooo much for the reviews, even though I'm practically forcing a full length novel down your throat. Hehe. I really appreciate it!
---
Blend (chapter twelve)
...venge...
"Hey Yumi. You can set your stuff over here..."
"Okay!" The shorter girl bounced happily from the door, plopping her bag down in the spot Kikyo had suggested. Already there were a few other bags stacked there - Ichigo's pink one, a simple backpack from Kona, and a cute fluffy looking thing from Roxi - as well as some bundled up sleeping bags left behind. Once her hands were free of her baggage, Yumi looked up at the taller girl eagerly. Kikyo sighed, and pointed.
"They're upstairs," She said bluntly, and heard only an excited squeak in reply as Yumi made a mad dash for the stairs. Kikyo sighed again, but managed a little smile, running a hand through her hair.
Well... It won't be so bad.
Rewind -- not too long after Ichigo came back and Roxi had been cured and they were well on their way to recovery, there came a problem to the minds of all the girls. And, while they were having trouble finding the exact words to describe it, Ichigo just blurted -
"Uh, how am I supposed to go home looking like this?" After holding out her scratched, bruised and bandaged arms, everyone knew what she meant. It was usually different - a little scrape could be explained by a fall, or a stumble. But coming home, late from work, looking like she'd been run over by a dumptruck could cause some problems. And no matter how much they thought about it, there were no real, let alone believable, explainations for the way it was. Roxi was just as bad; even Kona and Yumi looked more beaten up than usual.
It was about then when Kikyo poked her head in. She'd been planning to thank Keiichiro and Ryou for the day off (she'd had a nice time with Koji, after all), but was a little surprised to see all the girls there, as well. Especially looking the way she did. As Ryou explained the passing situation to her, Kikyo's expression growing dimmer by the minute, Yumi's face suddenly lit up and she practically leapt into the air to announce her idea -
"Sleepover!"
And so, here they were now. Kikyo's house. It worked out nicely - both her parents worked lengthy night shifts, so they wouldn't be back until past noon the next day - so Yumi's 'brilliant' spur-of-the-moment idea was put into action. The girls would call their parents, get them to drop their stuff off at the cafe, and have a sleepover at Kikyo's house, where no one would question why the guests looked as if they'd been caught in a streetfight. By the next day, they'd have enough energy again to figure out ways to cover most of their faded cuts and bruises with clothing and makeup. From there, they could make up stories for the little ones unable to cover.
Plus, it was an all-girls night. A little fun never hurt defenders of the earth, right?
At that moment, they were all in Kikyo's room upstairs, chatting about mindless things. As the girl of the house made her own way up the stairs, after grabbing some chips and soda, she couldn't help but think that the girls wouldn't have the energy to be staying up to the early hours of the morning, let alone too much later.
Looks like there will actually be sleeping at this sleepover...
When she entered the room, Ichigo and the others were already in their pyjamas, comparing hairstyles and discussing how they should be changed.
"I'd love to have little curls, here and here," Ichigo noted out loud, pointing to a few sections of her red hair, "It gets so frizzy though, so it probably wouldn't look too great..." She sighed in remorse. In her head though, it was nice to be obsessing about something other than aliens or super powers for once.
"Really? I think it would look good," Kona said with a light shrug, combing her fingers lightly through her own black hair. Her fingertips paused at the dark black ends, which were tipped in hot pink. "I might change the colour of this soon," She remarked lightly, looking down at the lock of hair, "Dunno to what though. I want a change, but this colour kind of matches me..."
Roxi laughed a little bit, a cheery smile breaking through her wounded face. She playfully twisted her long brown hair through her hands. "I might just lop mine right off. I'm not big on hair dye or any of that, so it's probably just easier for a new look." She nodded in satisfaction, and chatter broke out again among the girls as they discussed these things.
"Nehh, what about my hair?" Yumi inquired anxiously, leaning forward a bit with wide eyes. Her own short, darker red hair was cropped shortly around her little face, neatly of course, and it looked fine and good for all her athletic activities. So all three other girls stared at her strangely, as if trying to figure out an answer to the question.
"Well... uhm..." Kona frowned just a little bit, unable to get a picture in her head. Yumi's hair wasn't short short, but it seemed too short to do anything with it. Even Ichigo and Roxi looked puzzled, as they narrowed their eyes and tried to picture what kind of stylings she could do. No one said anything, and Yumi suddenly looked very discouraged, fingering her hair with a look of distaste. Kikyo just stood in the doorway for a bit, her eyes blankly glaring at a wall, before she shook her head and sighed, pushing off the doorframe and walking over to the group.
Ignoring the 'how-long-were-you-standing-there' look she got from a few of the girls, the brunette knelt down beside Yumi. She recieved a curious glance from the younger girl, but proceeded to examine her hair lightly anyways, a thoughtful look crossing her face for a brief moment. Then she spoke.
"You could always get highlights," Kikyo remarked, taking her hand away, "And get them faded so they look more natural on your hair colour. If you wait for a few months so it grows out just a little more, you could probably get it layered and flip it out, too. It'd look good if you decided to flip it in, too, so it curls around your face. You have a lot of options, so you can always pick the ones that suit you the best."
Yumi's face lit up, and the other girls just kind of gaped in surprise. Then Roxi blurted, "Kikyo-chan! How did you think of all those so fast? I would have never been able to figure those all out, not without pictures or something..." The other two nodded in agreement. Kikyo managed a little smile, shrugging.
"I did a lot of modelling, when I was in middle school," She replied easily, "I guess you just sort of get an eye for these things after a little while of that."
Ichigo smiled. Hearing her say that reminded her of Zakuro - and made her wonder how her job as a runway model was going. Trailing behind that thought was one she hadn't though for a long time; how long until she comes back? How long until any of them came back? At those little notes to herself, Ichigo frowned, her mind no longer attached to the conversations going on before her. Ever since Kona and the others appeared, she'd been too distracted to worry about it. But now yet another thought drifted forward to her attention.
Are they ever going to come back?
Just the question, let alone the implications, gave Ichigo a serious amount of distress. So much that she was completely oblivious to anything going on around her, even when Yumi poked her in the side or Kikyo raised an eyebrow at her silent nature. She was worried again. Sure, she had friends, new friends, but...
...I really miss them. All of them.
After only about an hour or so, Roxi made the suggestion they go to sleep. Even then, she was extremely drowsy, the exhaustion from the events of that day finally taking a toll on her energy. Kona and Yumi agreed, though they weren't nearly as beaten down to fatigue. Kikyo was the only one who wasn't tired at all. Lucky.
Kona was the one who snapped her out of her daze, suggesting that she go to sleep, too. Ichigo spacily agreed, and promptly unravelled her sleeping bag and curled up in it, doing her best to push those thoughts to the back of her mind. Sleep would bring dreams, and dreams would keep her from worrying about things she couldn't control. On that note, she did her best to fall asleep as quickly as possible, so her dreams would distract her buzzing mind.
Ichigo just hoped those dreams wouldn't be nightmares.
--
Luckily enough, her sleep was nightmare free. It was pretty much dream-free, too, as far as she could tell. Peaceful, nonetheless, as her mind greeted with a nice blank sheet, absolutely nothing to worry about as she let her body recharge. It might have been a real task to wake her up in the morning, Ichigo was so content with her sleeping. Only a cellphone ringing loudly without end could have roused the girl at this point.
So it did.
Rrriinnng! The jumpy ring tone sounded off suddenly, causing Ichigo to jump up in bed, her eyes half lidded and her hair mussed around. She blinked the fuzz out of her eyes and indentified the phone ringing in a few more seconds.
"Wha...hun?" She mumbled incoherently, and crawled out of the sleeping bag, trying to find her jacket. There was a little pile of garments by the door. Muttering to herself drowsily, she felt through the clothes until she pulled out the article she was looking for, dumping out the pockets until her pink cell phone clattered to the floor, along with Masha. The startled pink fuzzball gave a little tweet before floating around the room quietly. Ichigo fumbled with the phone and finally managed to flip it open.
"...Mo...shi moshi?" Ichigo managed with a little yawn.
"Ichigo?... Were you asleep?"
Her eyes widened. "M-Masaya!" She cried to the voice on the other end, and hurriedly covered her mouth. "I-I mean... no, uh, kinda... Why are you calling so early...?"
"Early?" As Ichigo's mind finally clicked 'on', she noticed just then the light shining through the window. Holding her phone away from her ear for a second, Ichigo checked the time on the screen. 10:15 a.m. There was a chuckle from the other end. "Sorry. I had no idea you were such a late sleeper..."
Ichigo felt her face growing hot from embarassment. She was glad he couldn't see her then. "Ah! No, I was just up...really late..." Humiliation fading, a wide smile suddenly appeared on her face. Her entire expression lit right up. "I haven't seen you for such a long time, Aoyama-kun! I can't believe you called... I've been trying to get ahold of you for... forever!"
"Ah, I really am sorry about that. You know, school and everything has been weighing me down lately... a lot. I haven't had time for much of anything. So, anyways... I want to make it up to you."
Ichigo's smile widened, and with an inaudible sigh, she found a spot against the wall where she could rest comfortably as she listened to his nice voice again. Even as he was speaking, she'd checked to make sure no one else had been woken up by her cellphone or her chatting. To her relief, everyone was still sleeping comfortably; Kona on her back, her head tilted a bit to the side; Roxi on her stomach, arms folded beneath her head for comfort; Yumi, all curled up in a ball, huggging her pillow happily... Ichigo had to keep from laughing. They were all so different. Even Kikyo slept on her side, her arm tucked under the pillow and the other touching the floor.
Friends, huh...?
"Like I was saying," Masaya continued, snapping her out of her reverie, "I thought maybe I could take you for dinner tonight. Short notice, I know, but I don't want to blow off any plans with you because of things popping up suddenly, and I'm completely free today. So? How's it sound?"
Ichigo could barely hide the excitement in her voice. "Perfect!" She nearly giggled in joy, but remembered the peacefulness of the sleeping girls. "What time? Where should I meet you?"
"...How does 5:30 sound? Unless you think you need more sleep..."
"Eheh," With a crooked grin, she scratched her head and sweatdropped, "No, I think 5:30's good."
"Good. Then I'll see you at the restaurant, 'Michi's', okay?"
"Okay!"
The voice at the other end warmly ended with, "See you then, Ichigo." There was a click as the other person hung their phone up. Still with her head nestled against the phone, Ichigo smiled uncontrollably, and closed her eyes. Then, with a happy sigh, she said to no one, "See you then, Aoyama-kun,". It was so nice to speak his name and hear his voice again.
I missed him so much...
Flipping the pink gadget shut, she crawled over to the jacket pile and started digging around for hers, trying to find the pocket to shove her phone into. Just then, there was a little rustle and groan behind her, causing her to jump in place before glancing over worriedly to see who she'd waken up.
Kikyo rubbed her eyes a bit, squinting in Ichigo's direction as she sat up. "Ichigo? What are you doing up so..." Her eyes caught the clock, "...before everyone else?" Caught off guard by how late it really was, Kikyo looked like she was getting out of bed to get ready. Ichigo remembered her parents would be coming home in a few hours.
"Oh, uhm, I'm sorry..." She cut herself off, suddenly getting an idea. Setting her pocketted cell and jacket aside, she turned completely towards the brunette, who had stepped over to her mirror to pull her long hair into a high ponytail. "Kikyo... do you think... I could ask you for a favour?"
Turning her head only slightly so she could see the mirror as she fixed her hair, Kikyo raised an eyebrow at the redhead. "...Sure. What is it?"
Smiling shyly, Ichigo sat straight up, trying to look as dignified as she could in pink pyjamas with sleep still in her eyes. Then, choosing a tone of voice quiet enough that she wouldn't wake anyone else, she asked, "...Would you be willing to do my hair?"
--
"There."
With a satisfied look, Kikyo set the curling iron aside and proceeded to comb through Ichigo's red curls. For a moment, the girl in question stared at the mirror in a bit of a daze, as if she might have been hallucinating. Then her face lit right up.
"Wah, Kikyo! It looks so good!" She cried in delight, preening her own curls joyfully. It was perfect. She'd wanted to look nice for Masaya, but this was far nicer than she'd expected from her own looks. Ichigo was very pleased. Turning to Kikyo with a broad smile, her eyes glimmered happily. "Thanks so much! You really have a talent for these things," She added as an afterthought. The flattery seemed to work well on Kikyo, as it earned the girl a little smile.
"Years of experience," Was all she said, before gently turning Ichigo's head back to face the mirror, "Hold on. Let me just put some of this on..." Shaking a small bottle of hairspray, she added the product to finish and shine Ichigo's temporary new hairstyle. This only got a more gleeful response from the girl than before.
"Think you could keep it down?" Kona said with a little yawn, her head tilted to the side sleepily as she tried stuffing her sleeping bag back into her suitcase, "I think oversleeping gives me headaches, so if you don't mind..."
Ichigo smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, Kona."
She was just about to stand up, when Kikyo motioned for her to stop as she wandered over to her closet, Ichigo staring curiously after her. For a moment, the older girl disapeared behind the broad doors; then, after a bit of rustling and muttering, she emerged with a black dress cradeled in her arms. Ichigo blinked.
"Here," She said plainly, setting it out on the dressing table, "I think it should fit. It's a little old, but you're smaller than me anyways."
It took that long for Ichigo to completely process what the girl was implying. "Y-you mean... you want me to wear it?" She stuttered in astonishment. The dress was a beautiful thing; just past knee length with an angle-cut skirt, triangular neckline and red lining along the hems. The waist had been intentionally drawn in a little bit, and the translucent red sleeves just hung slightly off the shoulders. Ichigo gaped. "Thank you so much Kikyo!" She mouthed in a hushed voice.
All Kikyo did was smile. "I couldn't have you going on a date with your Aoyama-kun looking like that, could I?"
Ichigo flushed, looking down at herself. The only clothes she could find in her bag weren't nearly as fancy as she had thought; a frayed brown pleated skirt hung around her legs now, an unironed yellow sweater pulled around her shoulders. She sweatdropped nervously. "Eheh... I'm very grateful."
"Go change, Ichigo-chan!" Roxi chanted, practically tackling the girl from behind. For someone who had just suffered huge injuries, the panda-brunette was unusually energetic... especially considering that Kona and Yumi were aimlessly wandering around like zombies still from being woken up. She grinned. "C'mon! We really want to see what you look like!"
"Yeah... Ara..." Yumi agreed half-heartedly.
With a little smile, Ichigo held the dress up to her, examing how it looked against her natural colours in the mirror. Aoyama-kun... She hugged the dress to her chest, and stood to her feet to go change, ... I'll make sure you see me as my best.
--
A rewind in memories - a few weeks earlier, and trouble brews in the air...
Aoyama Masaya stepped out into the cool autumn air, black hair wafting in the breeze, his bag of books slung over his shoulder.
"I never thought that class would end," He said to himself, chuckling lightly as he wandered past the crowds of eager-to-leave High School students. Biology was interesting, sure, but the professor was horrible with lectures. Sacrifice some good for some bad, I guess, He gave a little shrug, brushing the hair from his face with a hand. Having shadowed his vision temporarily, he didn't see the rapidly incoming figure.
Crash!
"Whoah!" Stunned, he stumbled backwards a few paces, but managed to catch his balance before toppling over. Attempting to regain his composure and make sure he hadn't dropped anything, Masaya only then noticed the girl who he'd seemed to almost too easily knock over.
"Are... you alright?" He voiced in concern, stepping over to the blue haired girl sprawled out on the ground. She dramatically clutched at her side as she tried to sit up, looking up at the boy in an obviously-rehearsed daze. When she didn't say anything, he just smiled politely and offered her a hand.
"No, really, I'm fine," She assured him, but seemed to change her mind instantly as she grabbed his hand and slowly pulled herself to her feet. Making a miraculous recovery, the girl smiled graciously, bending over to pick up her books, "That was very sweet of you. So sorry about running into you like that..." She giggled schoolgirlishly.
"It's not your fault. I wasn't really looking where I was going..." Masaya said kindly. His eyes fell upon the grey and red uniform she was wearing, and something clicked in his head. "That dress... you go to Daikan Middle, right?"
"Yeah," She sighed in remorse, "The uniforms are so horribly plain, aren't they? I can barely stand them..." The girl looked at Masaya for some sort of reply, but he suddenly looked uncomfortable on the subject of clothes, "I guess you know someone there, then?"
"Actually, yes," He replied with a smile and a nod, "I used to go there, anyways, so I just recognize the uniform..."
"Wow, weird coincidence," She piped cheerily, shifting her lightweight books around in her arms as she straightened up. Then, pausing, she continued, "I really am sorry about the whole run-in. How about I make it up to you? We can go for coffee or something..."
"Oh." Masaya blinked. "Sure, I guess... So, uh..." He trailed off, realizing he was at a loss for the girl's name.
"Chiyako Ari," She answered the unspoken question proudly, thrusting her hand to her hip, "And you are?"
"I'm Aoyama Masaya. It's nice to meet you, Chiyako-san," He said slowly, smiling and bowing his head slightly.
Ari's blue-green eyes glinted in brief amusement. She lifted her hands, hurriedly waving the reference off. "Please, call me Ari, Aoyama-kun," She grinned, "No offense taken. I guess I'll see you tommorow for coffee, then?"
He looked a little baffled, but nodded all the same. "Alright, Ari-san... I guess I'll see you then."
"'Kay! Bye bye, Aoyama-kun!" She chanted eagerly, waving and turning away to hurry back down the road. When she was out of sight, she slowed her walk. The breeze lifted her hair all around, almost in a startlingly eerie way, specks of gold glinting through her dark human eyes. A wry smile twisted its way around Ari's lips.
"Gotcha."
--
And present events ring...
"Byyyye!" Ichigo waved happily back at her friends, who were gathered on the porch, trying to cover up eachother's wounds. Just earlier, Ichigo had been the priority ("You're the one who has a date, Ichigo-chan. We've got to get you as pretty looking as possible,"); for her hands and wrists, Kikyo had lent her some thick but stylish bracelets; all the girls had helped apply makeup to her face and neck, 'cover-up', if you will; and since she was too grateful to ask Kikyo for anything more, Kona offered her a small red jacket to pull over her shoulders. Even having looked in the mirror, Ichigo was surprised. And then, suddenly, she was giddy... because Masaya would see her again, after a long absense, dressed like a princess.
The girls on the porch waved and smiled back as Roxi was trying to comb Yumi's hair at an angle to cover a bruise on her forehead. "Good luck!" The brunette chanted happily, before issuing Yumi to sit still. The older two just offered wise and agreeing looks towards the dressed-up redhead, who beamed.
"'Kay! Thanks! I'll be back for my stuff tonight!" With a little giggle, Ichigo pulled the thin jacket more securely over her arms and headed off, a little bounce in her step.
Aoyama-kun, Aoyama-kun.. A little sing-song voice rang through her head. Aoyama-kun, Aoyama-kun...
As soon as she'd left, Kona gave a little sigh, putting a finger to her temple. When she recieved questioning looks for the others, she simply replied, "That girl's going to be either too depressed or too cheerful by the time this is over. Might as well give Ryou-san a heads up..." The others having seemed to accept this answer, she pulled out her own plain cellphone and flipped it open. 'CAFE' was on the speed dial menu, so she selected that and waited for someone to pick up, chewing absently on her lip as she did so.
And Ryou... maybe when you see she's happy with her love life as it is...
...you'll give up on her...
--
He gingerly set the phone back down to the reciever after talking to Kona, his mouth pursed in a tight line. Ryou's blue eyes refused to leave it for a moment before he sighed and stepped away, digging his hands stubbornly in his pockets. "He was bound to come back sooner or later," The boy muttered angrily to himself, but it sounded more as if he were mourning. "Ichigo's 'Aoyama-kun'... she'll never see anyone but him. It's not like with him gone for that long she was going to fall in lo--"
His own voice was cut off by a faint noise from the distance. Ryou's mouth stopped moving, and he swiftly turned to face the basement doorway. Yes, it was coming from there. With brisk footsteps, he made his way over, down the stairs, to the computer from which the noise came. He blinked in surprise. Flashing on the screen was not another dot signalling an alien - no, it was a computer alert.
DNA USER FOUND.
Suddenly not able to fully comprehend the situation, he slowly sank down into his seat, staring at the screen in blatant disbelief. "It..." A frown crossing his face, he began to type something in. The same thing popped up again. "...It's not possible," He breathed, blue eyes wide, fingers frozen hovering over the keyboard.
The bright text of the notice reflecting his eyes dimmed slightly as he lowered his gaze to the keys, his mind whirling through the possibilites. It can't be... There's no way... I... I...!
"There were only supposed to be four of them," He murmured, finding no point in keeping a thought to himself in an empty cafe.
--
A few weeks after having first met Ari on campus, Masaya walked along the street, a small smile on his face. His studies had been getting in the way too much. He really was lucky to have Ichigo - she was so supportive, and seemed so happy to hear from him again, after he'd pretty much neglected her since the semester started. And now he got to spend some time with her. Maybe now that his studies were more under caps, that could happen a lot more in the future, too.
"I said... 'Michi's', right?" He spoke out loud, almost as if reminding himself. Masaya already knew where he was going. He would take Ichigo for a nice dinner - a date - and they could talk and catch up, and he could see her smiling face again. That had been one of the things he'd missed the most. Just thinking about it made him anticipate the meeting even more.
Within a few minutes, he had reached the appointed spot. There were umbrellas neatly leaned up against the railing, as there wasn't enough sun to bother anyone, anyways. Tables were still set up outside, just brought in more closely to the protection of the roof. A few people sat at the tables, eating or waiting for their order. His dark eyes scanned the area, but Masaya saw no signs of Ichigo anywhere.
"I guess I must be early," He said to himself under his breath, checking his watch. The boy had dressed a little formally for the occasion - he wore a white button-up shirt and a less-than-bulky vest overtop, as well as a pair of black dress pants. He felt a bit out of place, but he'd considered this a very important occasion. Even if Ichigo didn't dress up, at least she'd know he took the whole thing seriously and cared about her.
Not seeing her still, he decided to wait a few more minutes before checking inside. Standing off to the side of the outer patio, so he wouldn't recieve any strange glances as the possible 'stood-up-by-a-girl' guy, he stood straight and waited patiently, every so often glancing off to the side. Then, a few moments after, a voice echoed in the distance -
"AOYAMA-KUN!"
His face lit up, as he thought the source had been an approaching Ichigo. The expression lowered, however, when he realized it was just blue-haired Ari, running over in... a green dress?
Masaya felt his shoulders slump a bit, but put on a polite smile as she approached. It turned to one of concern when he saw the tears in her blue-green eyes, her face paler than usual.
"Aoyama-kun..." She panted, and then straightened up to look him in the eye, her eyebrows drawn together in worry, "...I have to...tell you something..."
--
"Hah! Sooo excited!"
Ichigo mumbled to herself in a peppy voice as she practically floated down the sidewalk, stars shimmering in her eyes. She could just imagine it now... and it wasn't just a lie this time! She was -really- going to meet her dark-eyed prince after being locked away for so long... It was almost too happy a moment to conceal her squeals of joy. Besides, she'd even left the cafe early. No prince was going to have to wait on her behalf.
"Oh! I'm going to tell him everything, and we'll have such a good time together, and he'll probably even take me out for a walk, and..."
The girl stopped in her tracks, the jacket around her swaying lightly in the wind. It was cold. No, that wasn't what was wrong - what was wrong? Ichigo had just suddenly gotten this very, very bad feeling... almost as if something horrible were about to happen...
But what?
"Ichigo."
Her face paled. It was those voices again, wasn't it? Those ones that had terrorized her so many weeks ago, left her running through the park forest, running, running...
"Don't run away this time." Instead of just one voice, it seemed like a multitude molded together. "We need your help. Won't you help us?"
Amber eyes widened as she realized they weren't the same voices. No, they were her new friends - Kona, Yumi, Roxi, even Kikyo... all of them speaking to her at once. She knew it wasn't them. Not really. But...
"Or you can go. Or you can leave us to die. It's all up to you..."
Putting a hand against her head, she felt a headache of confusion coming on. What did it mean? She still didn't know why these voices had ever come up in the first place. She shuddered, thinking what might have happened if she hadn't tripped... had that been the intention? What had been the intention?
But hearing these voices again worried her. There was no one around. No danger in the air, aside from that looming feeling of insecurity. Ichigo suddenly felt worried.
"It can't hurt to check," She told herself, ignoring whatever the voices said next, "I'm early, anyways. Masaya's waited for me before. So it'll be no big deal."
Nodding to herself in agreement, Ichigo took off. If they were all right, she'd run back, apologize, be done with it. If they weren't...well...
She'd deal with that when she got there.
--
"I-Ichigo!" Kona cried in surprise as the redhead ran up to the front lawn. All of them looked a bit wide eyed, but were dressed in normal clothes and all in one piece. She glanced over at the cafe. Nothing out of the ordinary. Breathing out in relief, she put a hand to her head for feeling so stupid - it was just your imagination, huh? - and turned to walk away.
"Sorry," She muttered with a little laugh, "Guess I hallucinated again. I heard - "
"Hallucinated?" Turning to face Roxi, Ichigo was surprised to see not a look of laughter or criticism, but one of puzzled concern. She raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah. Why are you shocked? All of you?" She noticed then they were all staring at her, then eachother, strangely. She blinked. "Hey, wait... why are you all here, anyways?"
"Me," An invisible voice said, and the heads all snapped around to see the air starting to glow as a tall figure formed herself on the ground, a short staff held crookedly in her hand. Hanajima smiled. "Thanks for coming to the party, ladies."
Immediately, all of them went from looking they'd been kicked from behind to battle stances, anger crossing their faces.
Oh god... not now...! Knowing she had no choice, Ichigo rushed to join them, praying she wouldn't wreck Kikyo's dress. When she saw the bloodthirsty look on Hanajima's face... she knew how unimportant it would be.
Kikyo would forgive her, eventually. As long as she lived.
"Mew Mew Strawberry! Metamorpha-sis!" Ichigo burst forth through the pink light, her newly coloured hair dancing around her face. If I can get rid of her quickly enough... I can get to Masaya on time! "Ribbon Strawberry --- Hua!" Just as she was making a dead-on-line for the alien, her body went right through, tumbling to the ground in a messy heap. Spirals in her eyes, she sat up, rubbing her head. "What was...that?"
She sat up to see the brown haired alien had positioned herself quite a few meters away in the opposite direction. Ichigo frowned as she stood back up, her body still stiff from the earlier battles. How is that possible?... There's no way she could move that fast!
Knowingly, the elder alien tapped her staff with a finger. "Don't underestimate the art of deception." Her eyes glowed menacingly.
"So you're the one who sent us those messages? In our heads?" Kikyo growled, and Ichigo turned to see the other four were fully transformed and ready to go. "I should have known. It was a trap."
Suddenly, everything made sense to Ichigo.
"You...!" She breathed in disbelief, staring at the alien with anger and puzzlement, "...That means... that means you're the one who sent me all those voices! Of my friends, that one time!"
The puzzle was fitting together. But Ichigo wasn't sure she wanted to see the resulting picture.
Hanajima greeted the accusation with a light smile. "You give me so much credit. I guess I should take it," She cocked her head, "But it was mostly Ari's idea. She found you, and wanted you to transform and attack first. She could have destroyed you then, you know," Her voice lowered to a whisper, "But you got lucky. You were clumsy, and fell, and escaped the mindtrap. Stupid girl...lucky as you are. I should steal your luck as my own!"
"RIBBON CHERRY BURST!" Roxi shouted, jabbing her wand in Hanajima's direction and creating a whole river of dangerous light, heading right in her direction. The enemy just cast an uncaring glance in her direction, fading away again, the attack hitting nothing. Roxi blinked. It only took a second, but a second was too long.
Appearing by her side, Hanajima roughly knocked her in the side with her staff, causing Roxi to cry out in pain and drop her weapon. She raised her Illusion Staff to strike the final blow, but was promptly interupted.
"You're the real one! Now I've got you!" Kona cried out, running forward with her charged up bell. Hanajima just casually stepped to the side, grasping her staff and flicking it lightly to the left. Seeing there was no way for her to appear somewhere else, Kona opened her mouth to shout out the incantation, but her foot caught on something and she was hurled towards the ground.
Hanajima smirked. A root, hidden previously by her magic, had come into contact with Kona's shoe. Even worse, the ground around her, which appeared to be soft grass, was also a bunch of scattered rocks, hidden by magic. Feeling them scrape against her skin and draw blood, Kona cried out in excruciating pain.
Just to make it worse, Hanajima swiftly stepped up, slamming her boot down on the girl's back, the victim's cries drowning out everything else. Everytime she struggled, or tried to move, the rocks dug deeper into her skin, causing only more undescribable suffering.
Yumi frowned angrily, tears in the corners of her eyes, as she lifted her bell and prepared to attack from a distance. Hanajima caught this from the corner of her eye, and stepped away from the seriously-wounded Kona, holding her staff up again. This time, the air shook, and about ten copies of Hanajima appeared all around them, in a circle.
Ichigo winced. They all looked exactly the same. Even Yumi lowered her bell cautiously, knowing if she attacked wrong Hanajima would take advantage of that and throw her down, too. Kikyo grimaced, her eyes calculating the situation.
How are we supposed to fight something when we don't even know it's there...? Keeping a cautious eye out, in case they were all illusions and Hanajima was just sneaking up, something dawned on Ichigo. Her eyes widened.
Wait... She knew this battle didn't feel right. Looking from side to side, up and down, all around the entire area, Ichigo felt a shiver go up her spine.
Where's...
...Ari?
--
"Ari-san?" Masaya looked puzzled at the girl, who was trembling, obviously very upset by something. He was unsure what to do - was her life any of his business? They'd only met a few weeks ago, after all. Even though they'd been going for coffee together regularily, just to chat about meaningless things, he didn't feel emotionally attached to her at all. So the boy really wouldn't be surprised if Ari felt the same way - just a stranger who happened to be bumped into.
Still, she looked geniunely disturbed by something. A soft look crossing his face, he stepped back a bit and tilted his head. "Are you...okay?" Masaya asked slowly, almost nervously.
Her expression changed. Menace. "Wench," She hissed between clenched teeth, her fists curling up as she lowered her head, "Ungrateful. That witch, she's taken it all for granted, she --"
Uncomfortable with the sudden spew of insults, and not even knowing who the object of them was, Masaya interupted her quietly. "I'm sorry, Ari-san, I don't think I under..."
Relaxing a bit, and stepping dangerously close to the boy, Ari looked up at him with wide, worried eyes. "I'm so sorry... so... sorry..." She sniffed, pretending to un-rattle herself, "But you know... that girl? Your girlfriend?"
"Ichigo?" Masaya's eyes widened, and he nearly grabbed her by the shoulders. "What's wrong? What's happened to Ichigo? Is she alright?"
Ari just smiled and chuckled wistfully, the last sound cracking near a sob, "Oh, she's alright. Perfectly fine. To be running around like that, enjoying other boys' company..."
"What?" He sounded confused, but his dark eyes betrayed his trust for his red-haired kitten. Masaya heard perfectly well what Ari was implying - but he didn't believe it for a second. Ichigo would have never done anything like that. She was always too happy, too sweet, and he trusted that girl with all his heart. "Ari-san, I'm sure there's been some sort of mix-up..."
"Mix-up?" Now Ari sounded hurt and offended at the comment. Putting a hand to her heart, she recited sincerely, "I saw with my own eyes, Aoyama-kun. I saw that... that trollop getting too close to my love interest for her own good. She knows how close the two of us had been getting. She took advantage of that and stole him from me, and I saw it all..."
"Ari-san, I-"
Ari continued on, not letting him speak. Masaya didn't notice how she was even still moving closer and closer to him. "It's okay. I've had my heart broken before. But... you don't deserve it. Just like she doesn't deserve you. I don't want to see you wounded, hurt... I just...just..."
Gingerly reaching up her hand, the girl brushed her pale fingers across his cheek. Masaya winced at the icy touch. "Ari-san, what are you -"
Before he could say anything else, she leaned forward and pressed her lips against his. It only took a second for the boy to register what was going on, and he didn't like it one bit. Trying to push her away, he managed a "What do you think you're doing?", but she stuck to him like glue, clinging to him, refusing to let go or be pushed away.
Anger and confusion welled up in him. And then suddenly, Masaya felt light headed, and he could feel his reality being pulled away from his eyes.
Then, it was dark.
--
"Wuaaah!" Yumi could only cry out as she was hurled forward by a blow from a staff. Crumpling to her knees, the horse-fused girl panted for breath, trying to retain her grip on the little bell in her hands. Ichigo watched helplessly. The others were trying to figure out what to do - she was trying to figure out what was going on. The absense of Ari was worrying her increasingly - since when did Hanajima battle it out alone? And the redhead couldn't help but notice how the older alien had no problems knocking her and the others down, but never seemed to finish the job. It was almost as if...
"Kahidra Blast!" Kikyo roared, sending a spiral of powerful energy at Hanajima. The image shifted, showing her aim was just off center, the attack missing completely. Hanajima could afford a simple smirk before snapping her Illusion weapon into the air. At that, Mew Kitsune's eyes snapped open and she clutched at her head, trying especially to cover her ears.
She's making those voices come again, isn't she?...
Ichigo gritted her teeth, still standing her ground. Without Ari here, Hanajima obviously had the space to use her power to full potential - but was that really all? She obviously didn't intend to do any serious damage. Just...
Her eyes widened in realization.
"It's just... a distraction," Ichigo breathed, her mind suddenly assuming the worst.
"Too slow again, neko," A voice from behind mused just seconds after. They all heard it. They all whipped around to face the ripple in the air, where Ari's glowing form was taking shape. Cradelled infront of her was some strange blob of light - Ichigo couldn't make it out yet, but shivered at the sense of impending doom. The vision slowly began to clear, revealing Ari floating before them triumphantly. Ichigo felt her bones turn to ice as her eyes fell over what - or more correctly, who - Ari was holding.
"You took someone precious to me," The alien called out, clutching the unconsious Aoyama Masaya, draped between her arms, "And now I'm returning the favour, neko dearest."
With only a gleeful cackle, she faded off into the light again, taking Ichigo's hope with her.
--
Next Chapter:
A life for a life - that's what Ari told Ichigo once. And now that the alien has revenge on her mind, there's no telling who she'll go after to hurt Ichigo next. And now that she has Masaya, held captive, Ichigo's bewildered and confused. But fear - fear isn't something she can afford anymore. To be afraid would be to inevitably lose all that is dear to her. And meanwhile, Ryou is distracted by the sudden presence of a fifth Blend DNA user - but that's not possible, is it?