xuri: xD I love how this is totally the fifteenth chapter, and it's called fifth, and the whole thing revolves around 'five'. x3 Totally unplanned, I assure you. But anyways. ;3 Yes, the chapters have slowed down a little. Things are hectic around here, and I'm trying to get started on planning for my next few fics. Blend will still be updated regularily, I promise. :D Just not necessarily every single day. Maybe every two, at the most. Thanks guys. x3
SamKo: Nooo, don't turn to the dark side! Remain faithful to IxR! xD Aw, but as fangirlish as I am to that couple, I do love writing about Kona and her tormented love. Bwahaha. x3 And, really, that's just the start of Ryou's harem. There are two more characters that hop on the Ryou fangirl bandwagon in later chapters. See if you can guess which ones. xD (Although, one of them hasn't been introduced yet... she's the LAST oc, I promise xD) I just had to do it. I mean, come on. Ryou's too much of a bishie not to have a horde of rabid fangirls. x3
---
Blend (chapter fifteen)
..fifth..
"...Five."
"Five."
"Five?" Roxi repeated in disbelief, her eyes wide. Kikyo's eye gave a noticeable twitch.
Ryou simply sighed. "Yes. Roxi. Five. There are four of you not including Ichigo, and there is one more out there. Four plus one equals five."
"Ara, wouldn't it be six including Ichigo?" Yumi pointed out, but Kona was quick to shove her aside. Luckily, Ryou didn't seem to notice. He had pulled up a projection screen, which portrayed a very rough satellite-style image map. The girls could see the outlines of streets, major establishments, and little blurbs next to certain sections. But the boy was pointing to a single dot, blipping along the street.
"That is her," He said bluntly, pointing again, "She's been moving very elusively. Whenever I watch her patterns, she never moves close to any buildings, and appears to simply wander from place to place randomly. It's impossible to track her, right now, as it isn't exactly a signal."
Already the group looked thoroughly confused. He ignored this. Either they get it, or they don't. Ryou continued, "And over here," He moved his hand to motion at a small cluster of faint dots, "are you four. And Ichigo, somewhere over at her house where she is right now."
Yumi tilted her head, trying to get a better view. Just as he said, there were four little dots all bunched together, representing her, Kona, Roxi and Kikyo. That was simple. She understood that. And suddenly, when he started talking, she was confused again.
"Earlier on, this dot - " He pointed at one, Kikyo suspected randomly, " - was in the vicinity of this dot." Ryou moved his hand back to the dot that was completely seperated from the roads and towns, the 'fifth member'. "That means one of you came near this girl at some point. And if I observed correctly, it was very close."
By the way they all just stared, he figured they weren't understanding at all. Well, Kikyo looked like she did, but was holding it in just for amusement. Ryou felt a headache coming on. How much simpler can I explain this?
"Okay. Here's the history file," His fingers flew over the keyboard for a few seconds, bringing up another screen. It was the same map, but the dots all had scattered positions this time. Ryou pointed firmly. "This is a scan of the map taken about 50 minutes ago. This dot is Ichigo," He motioned to the one that was stationary over a bunch of houses, "This one is Yumi, this one is Kikyo and this one is Roxi. They're all at the Cafe, right here."
Kona's eyes widened slightly. Hold on... that means -
"And this dot is the 'fifth member'," Where he pointed, the girls could all see another dot. Ryou looked at them expectantly, his expression cool. He couldn't tell whether or not they understood. His finger trailed about an inch to the left. "And this dot is one of you. Yumi. Kikyo. Roxi. You were all here, working. Ichigo was at home. Grounded. So that leaves you, Kona."
Everyone turned to look at her, but Kona didn't notice. She'd gotten that a few minutes ahead of time. Now her brain was working, scanning over the events of the last hour. She must have passed her... she must have encountered her, somewhere...
Her blue eyes suddenly lit up in realization. Ryou raised an eyebrow at her quietly.
"Oh my God," She whispered, suddenly looking a little bit pale, "She's the fifth?"
--
The phone rang. Outside world! Contact with the outside world!
Grumbling to herself, Ichigo peeled her body off the floor where she'd been laying all sprawled out and attempted to drag herself over to the phone that was ringing fiercely. She was still in her pyjamas. Her hair was a complete mess, and she looked like she'd been locked up somewhere for weeks. It had actually only been since 10 o'clock that morning, but her radio clock had been confiscated. Sakura said it was too entertaining for a grounded girl.
"If I don't hurry, Okaa-san will hear and take my phone away too!" Ichigo whispered, sparking a new determination in herself. Crawling across the bedsheets and mattress, and lunged her arm over to the nightstand, grabbed the phone and jerked it off the reciever. It kind of fell from her grip, so she scrambled forward to grab the phone, only to tumble back off her bed.
"...ello? Ichigo? Hello? Are you there?"
"I'm here! I'm here!" Ichigo assured hurriedly, and glanced up at her awkward position, wondering how long she could hold it before she crashed into her dresser. She blinked. "Yumi, is that you?"
"Yup! Kona and Roxi are out lookin' right now. Kikyo didn't really wanna call. So here I am!" Yumi really didn't call Ichigo... ever. Even about Cafe business. It was usually Kona and Roxi, and it was no surprise Kikyo was too busy or too wrapped up to phone.
"Oh..." Ichigo tried to shrug, but her shoulders were sort of jammed together. "Well, I guess - wait, looking for what?"
There was a giggle at the other end. "The fifth-but-really-sixth Mew!"
"Huh?" Ichigo suddenly felt confused. Her head was fuzzy from all the sleep. What else am I supposed to do?
"Ara? Didn't Ryou tell you?"
Ichigo paused in thought. "Oh... yeah, he did... But I thought she couldn't be tracked down...?"
"Well, she can't, that's what Ryou said," Yumi said matter-of-factly, "But apparently Kona met her in the middle of a battle with Hanajima and knows who she is. So now they're out looking for her, and I'm here helping Kikyo and Keiichiro and Ryou do stuff to find where she is. We have walkie-talkies!"
"Huh." Ichigo felt a strand of red hair falling over her eyes in annoyance. How come when I'm not there everything interesting has to happen? There was a bit of a silence after that, so she figured Yumi was expecting some kind of reply. "That's... nice."
"I know!" Yumi practically squealed. Ichigo nearly dropped the phone. "Do you think she'll be pretty? I betcha she's fused with some super animal... liiike... a dolphin! That would be awesome! 'Cause none of us can swim. I think. Or fly. Oh, what if she's fused with a flying dolphin? We'd be like, Super-Mew-Team! Eheh!" Ichigo listened drowsily as Yumi rambled on about similar possibilities and theories - insects, fish, even to the point where she was guessing the girl was fused with trees. By the time she started talking about something sensical again, Ichigo realized she'd almost fallen asleep.
"Ara... We all miss you, Ichigo,"
"Yah," Ichigo stifled a yawn, "I miss you guys too. Even if it's only been a day."
"Mm-hm," Yumi suddenly sounded a little sad, "Kona seems really sad today, and sick too... her face keeps turning red... I wonder why?"
Ichigo interrupted her before she could start talking about theories again. "Er, yeah, Yumi. Tell everyone I'll be back at work as soon as possible, okay? And tell Shirogane not to dock my pay. Or else. Got it?"
"Got it!" Yumi chirped, and promptly hung up. The redhead sighed, and moved to do the same. However, she found, very simply, that she could not; her body was twisted in such a way that she was pressed between her mattress and the wall, a blanket tangled around her body. Ichigo blinked, and hesitated. "Um..." Slowly, carefully, she leaned over to the side, trying to set the phone on the reciever. Her grip slipped.
Crash.
"Why does this always happen to me?"
--
"Hair colour," Kikyo said bluntly. She held a notepad in her hand as she was walking, writing down various things with a serious expression on her face.
"Black," Kona replied, watching the girl a bit uneasily. They hadn't actually had a conversation yet, and they'd been walking for about 15 minutes. Just inquiries about her appearence. "Or dark brown... No, I'm pretty sure it was black. Kind of long, high ponytail. I'm pretty sure."
She was given a skeptical glance for every 'pretty sure' she sputtered out. Kona couldn't help it. Kikyo was pretty uptight, and it was contagious. Regardless, the fox-fused girl continued on, asking about 'eye colour, approximate height, mannerisms, distinguishing features' and so on. Kona answered as best she could, but she was mentally occupied at the moment.
I still haven't gotten a chance to apologize to Ryou... He doesn't seem angry with me, but still, I owe it to him, don't I?
"...that might help with finding her. Are you listening? Kona?" Kikyo suddenly raised her voice, and that was what broke Kona out of her thought. Looking a bit shaken, she stared at Kikyo with wide eyes. The girl just shrugged, flipping a sheet of her notepad. "You were daydreaming. I know you have a lot on your mind, but we've got a job to do."
"...Yeah," Kona breathed, looking at the ground, "I know."
There was a pause. "You didn't answer my question."
"Oh. Sorry. I didn't hear it."
An irritated sigh, "She was in her Mew form, right, in order to attack Hanajima? What kind of animal did she look to be fused with? It'll only help if she's transformed, which I doubt, but at least I'll know as well."
Kona nodded, and hesitated for a moment as she thought it over. To be honest, she hadn't really noticed anything; no ears, no tail, no paws, no - Wait. Closing her eyes for a second, she invoked a mental photograph of the mysterious girl she'd encountered just a few hours ago. What had it been that had seemed odd and unusual to her? She thought hard, trying to clear her image. What had she seen that wasn't human...?
"She had wings," Kona breathed, and then shook her head. "No. One wing. One black wing."
"Are you sure?" Kikyo cocked an eyebrow. It was obvious she didn't take Kona's observation that seriously, but she didn't say so. "You could have been looking from a funny angle, or from the side so it looked like - "
"No." That was said in a firm, strong voice that even surprised Kona. This was the one thing she was completely sure of. "I know there was only one; she had her back to me, fully to me, and there was only one feathered wing. I'm sure." She paused, "Are there any birds with one wing? Maybe it symbolizes an endangered species or something that are having their wings chopped off..."
"It doesn't matter." With a shrug, Kikyo folded the notepad back up and pocketed it without even writing that part down, "Chances are she's not transformed anyways. We'll just have to hope we can find her in human form."
Kona nodded. "Right." Her voice was confident.
But she knew it wasn't going to be easy at all.
--
"Shirogane-san?"
Ryou just squinted a little more at the screen. "What?"
Roxi winced. His voice was harsh, but that was to be expected, right? He'd been sitting there, for hours and hours, just staring and typing and trying to find information. No wonder he was irritated easily. "Uhm, Akasaka-senpai wanted to know if you wanted tea."
"No."
"...Are you sure?" She tried uneasily. Her eyes fell over the bottle set beside him. It had been empty for the past 4 hours, and he'd been refusing any refills on that, so now they were all trying to get something into him before he went into dehydration. "...Akasaka-senpai has some extra packets... Yumi-chan and I will be having some as well. It's just so none is wasted."
He was silent. Roxi bit her lip, and crossed her fingers behind her back. Sighing a little to himself, Ryou took his hand away from his head and started typing furiously again. "Fine. Just tell Keiichiro to put it in a mug." He then grumbled something about teacups, but Roxi didn't need to listen. She happily walked back up the stairs, where Yumi was testing to see how many chairs she could jump over before she fell.
"Akasaka-senpai!" Roxi called, and hurried into the kitchen. Yumi proceeded to drag another chair across the floor, propping it neatly infront of the two others she had already set up. Rubbing her hands together eagerly, the small girl did a quick stretch of her legs, backed up to the other end of the room, and got into a ready-to-run stance.
Just then, Roxi stepped out of the kitchen, a steaming mug of tea in her hands. She was humming cheerfully - Keiichiro promised to give her a free cake as reward for getting Ryou to accept some sort of food - and took no notice of Yumi at all. Either because she didn't notice, or it was just to be expected of the younger girl. And then, suddenly, there was a loud roar from down the stairs.
"Dammit!" It came so suddenly and so loudly that Roxi's entire body tensed up and jumped, and the mug dropped right from her hands, shattering on the floor and splashing hot tea on her legs. Yumi successfully jumped over the third chair, but landed in the tea, causing her to slip, fall, and bump into the wall all within a few seconds.
"What's going on?" Keiichiro demanded, running out from the kitchen with a cooking apron still on. His look of annoyance changed to concern when he realized Ryou had been the one to yell. As if to answer all unspoken questions, he came running up the stairs, reaching the doorway panting, his eyes wide in panic.
"The aliens," He managed, grabbing his jacket and pulling it messily on, "They're transformed, they're on the radar, and they're heading right for Kikyo and Kona's location in both directions."
"What?" Roxi winced in pain and quickly stepped away from the tea. She'd clean it up later. Yumi whipped out a walkie-talkie, and immediately hit the contact button, a bit of joy shining in her eyes along with surprise.
"Bzzt! Kona! Kikyo! Can you hear us? Testing testing!" Ryou managed to glare as he started for the door, Yumi just shrugged sheepishly, "Aliens are approaching! I repeat, aliens are approaching! Do you copy?"
Taking her hand off the button, they all waited, but all they got was a buzzing fuzz noise. Ryou cursed under his breath again, pushing the door open and facing the girls.
"Let's go."
--
"Huh?" Kona gave a little jolt as the walkie-talkie at her waist suddenly staticked to life. Kikyo rolled her eyes, but stopped walking, waiting as the girl fumbled with the device until she held it securely in her own hands. From there, they both seemed to expect something to be said, but all either could pick up was fuzz, and the occasional syllable.
"...ting...en...eat...en..."
Kikyo frowned. "What are they saying?"
Staring at it for a second more, as if waiting for something sensical to pop up, Kona shook her head in a puzzled fashion. "I... have no idea." She paused, and shook it to see if it did any good, along with batting it with the palm of her hand. She sighed, hooking it back to her belt. "The waves are too messed up. It sounds like Yumi though... She's probably just rambling about eating cakes or something."
For once, Kikyo nodded in agreement, and the two continued on. They hadn't encountered many crowds yet, save a group of junior high kids walking to the convenience store; and they were too young to even be close to Kona's description of the 'new mew girl.' Other than that, it was turning out to be a fairly fruitless search. Not that they had expected to find the exact person right away, but hey, that would have been great, wouldn't it?
"Are we even going the right way?" Kona inquired quietly, looking around with her eyes narrowed, "I mean, there's no right way, but there isn't even anyone around here... Wouldn't it be better if we just stuck to main streets?"
Kikyo just glanced in her direction, as if debating whether or not she should steer this escapade somewhere else, as Kona suggested. Before she could even answer, though, a spiral of blue flame suddenly erupted from the side.
"What the-?" Kikyo eyes struck wide and she instinctively jumped out of the way, narrowly missing a burning shot. That's not what Kona saw, however; her eyes played a horrible trick on her, and she instead saw the ponytailed girl engulfed in the flame.
"Kikyo!" She cried, and dashed forward to try and put it out, only to be hit with the remainder of the attack. The illusion shattered before her eyes, showing an irritated and alarmed Kikyo. The pain of the fire against her arm caught up with the girl, and she let out an ear-splitting cry.
"My, my," They both turned to see Hanajima positioned on one side of them, staff outstretched, and Ari on the other, a malicious grin on her face, "Don't you know? Kitty cats shouldn't wander around all alone."
"You two," Kikyo seethed, her teeth gritted together, fists clenched. She was focusing her anger to hide the panic and fear on her face. Holding her hand out infront of her, a glint of gold could be seen. "Mew Mew Kitsune, Metamorph-- Huagh!"
A sharp blow to the leg interupted Kikyo and sent her reeling for the ground. She acted quickly enough to catch herself, but the realization dawned on her that her left leg was now useless. She could see Hanajima smirking out of the corner of her eye.
"Not going to get up?" Her voice was low, dark, "You're no more special than the rest of them. Without your powers, you're just an ordinary girl... an ordinary, defenseless girl." The alien kneed her in the side, making her gag and fall completely to the pavement.
"Leave her alone, you coward! Mew Mew Powder, Metamorpha-sis!" The words left Kona's mouth before she could even think clearly, but there wasn't time for that. There were two blood-thirsty aliens against just the two of them, and her teammate was badly injured. Besides that, they were sneaky. There was no excuse for letting her guard down... maybe not even the chance to make an excuse.
Ari smirked, fire burning in her golden eyes. "Come and play, kitten!" She taunted, holding her dagger weapons outstretched.
"You asked for it," Kona retorted, and brought out her Blossom Bell Bell. Instead of attacking right away, she took a jump backwards, quickly observing her surroundings.I have to be careful about illusions. Hanajima knows how to use them, just how to make anyone think they're doing something that they're not..
"Ribbon," Kona felt her energy gathering at her fingertips, as she kept a wary sideglance on Hanajima. Her staff was outheld, but the girl couldn't pick up what she was trying to alter. "Blossom--"
Ari appeared beside her just then, elbowing her in the ribs and taking a rather messy slash. Kona was able to fall down to the ground fast enough to avoid it, but she felt as if she'd just had the wind knocked out of her. "Are you ignoring poor old me, neko two?" Ari bent over, fully aware how incapable Kona would be of attacking for the next few seconds. She grinned. "I don't like to be ignored."
Before she could even react, she felt a hot blade slice shallowly through the skin of her arm, followed by a burning sensation spreading painfully through her body. Kona screamed, clutching the small cut of her arm - the bleeding wasn't a problem, but she felt as if the flame from Ari's dagger was now spreading through her blood. It hurts... it hurts!
There was a low rumble of laughter, and both girls could see, through their pain and struggle, that the aliens had stepped back, relaxed as if watching a production, a TV show. Kikyo felt hate burning in her veins, but she was helpless to move, and Kona could barely focus she was in so much pain.
"So," Ari remarked, twirling a dagger in her hand. She grinned. "What do you think, Hanajima? Are we in a good mood today?"
"A fabulous mood," Kona could barely see them, but she shivered, hearing a hint of glee in Hanajima's dark and looming voice, "In fact, so fabulous, I think we should leave them here. Let them enjoy the aftermath of our attacks. Don't you agree?"
Ari laughed, nodding her head almost in a cheerful manner, her blue hair swaying in the light breeze. She smirked, propping her head up in her palm. "I do," Her voice was low, sly, and tormenting all at once. "Let's leave them, now. If they're so powerful... let's see them get out of this fanciful predicament."
Kikyo tried to growl, make some angry protest in response, but all that came out was a squeak. The pain in Kona had subsided, but it was still dull and spread all throughout her body - if she were to move, even just a bit, it would fire up again and send her writhing in burning agony. They both lay there helplessly, watching as the aliens walked away. They could have teleported, easily, but they wanted the girls to suffer, know they were being left behind to die...
"Stop right there!" Ari's face darkened, and Hanajima's remained neutral, but they both turned around. Kona and Kikyo looked up wearily. Standing there, banded all together and transformed, were Mew Framboise and Mew Cerise, Ryou standing off to the side, looking as if he'd run quite a bit.
"Oh?" Ari didn't look impressed. She levelled a glare with the boy, who simply grimaced back, and then turned to face the two girls. "Silly kittens... Have you come to lay by your friends? Here," She drew out a dagger, holding it at an angle ready for attack, "Let me help you."
"No thanks!" Yumi piped in response, holding her small bell, mocking Ari's position. The alien glowered. "We're more than happy standing, thanks though! Ribbon Raspberry Dazzle!" With a swing of her arm, little specks of light blasted toward the aliens. They jumped easily out of the way, but were now in someone else's range of attack.
"Ribbon Cherry Burst!" Roxi pointed her wand at Ari, who recieved a hit of colourful light. She yelped, stumbling back a little bit.
"Where's Ichigo-neko?" Ari inquired suddenly, her face laughing, "You don't really think you stand a chance without her, do you?"
"Sorry, she couldn't be here. We're here to fight on her behalf!" Chanted Yumi, leaning forward ready for another attack.
Ari shook her head, and stood perfectly still. That seemed to unnerve the girl, just enough. "Bad move!" She yelled, springing off her feet and dashing forward, her dagger-arm outstretched and ready to attack. Yumi yelped in surprise, but she was faster; ducking underneath it, she ran to the side and around Ari, darting completely past her.
"Catch me if you caaaan!" She called back, and then ran for dear life with the blue haired alien on her trail.
"I guess you're mine then," Roxi said coldly, turning to face Hanajima with her Cherry Wand outstretched. She narrowed her eyes. "I won't forgive you... for hurting Ichigo-chan, and Kona-chan, and everyone else... Your actions are unforgiveable!" She quickly pressed her hand against the wand's golden ring, and jerked it, sending it into a frenzied spin. The girl grasped the handle tightly, focusing all of her energy and all of her attention on her alien target, ready to release a powerful attack. She blinked. The alien was gone.
Roxi's eyes widened in alarm, but before she could even move she was nudged roughly in the back, her arm twisted around into a painful armlock. She cried out, her wand clattering to the ground, leaving her weaponless.
"I don't need you to forgive me," Hanajima whispered cruelly into her ear. Roxi winced, unable to move, feeling her nails digging into her skin. "I'm fine just where I stand."
"Twit!" Yumi could hear shouted behind her as she jumped to the side, narrowly avoiding a funnel of blue flame heading her way. Her horse ears gave a twitch - she could hear Ari approaching quickly behind her, with light and easy footsteps - so she knew she couldn't rely on speed alone. There had to be tactic. Yumi grinned. She was good at that.
Screeching to a sudden halt, she heard her pursuer give almost a squeak of surprise as she tried to do the same. Taking the moment to her advantage, she turned on her heel, sprinting off right past her to where the other girls still were. And then Yumi would turn again - hopefully, if she could keep the alien away from Hanajima and the others, she could tire her out and lead her right back to Kona and Kikyo and Roxi, who she could then band with to form a powerful attack against the aliens. She grinned giddily to herself. It was a good idea, if she did say so herself.
Besides that, Yumi had what seemed like an endless vault of energy. So she couldn't lose.
And meanwhile, Roxi was having struggles of her own. Hanajima kept her in a firm armlock, immobile, unable to fight back, and she actually seemed to be enjoying it. Roxi tried to squirm away, but it was no use, and she was beginning to feel panicked. Kona and Kikyo were still completely open to attack, vulnerable and weakened - besides that, Yumi was gone, and now she was being held back. She was more conerned for her friends than anything.
What are we going to do?
"It's looking like a nightmare, isn't it?" Hanajima whispered, and the girl could feel the tip of her cold, hard weapon being pressed to the side of her head. Roxi flinched. It didn't hurt, but... It made her head feel all fuzzy. "I can fix that for you. I can make this the worst nightmare you've ever had..." The alien's hand clenched around the weapon.
For a moment, there was complete silence and stillness. Then Roxi's eyes went stricken wide, her face paling in pain and terror as images began flooding into her mind. Blood, all around, every one of her friends sprawled in the mess, their eyes lifeless, surrounded in pools of their own red. They came, one after another, clearer and clearer each time, and they made her stomach churn and tears form in her eyes. Why won't they stop? I don't... I don't want to see this anymore! Make it stop!
"Stop! Stop!" Roxi whimpered, but was helpless as Hanajima kept forcing illusions of horrors into the girls own mind.
Just as Yumi rounded another corner, shouting a playful torment back at Ari, she heard Roxi's cry from a distance. The hairs on her neck stood up - is she alright?. Deciding she'd had enough of this game - Ari seemed tired enough anyways- Yumi sharply turned around and sped back down the path to where Roxi and the others were, leaning forward into the wind and running as fast as she could at that moment.
"Roxi!" Her small voice rang out as she approached, her eyes widening at seeing her friend captive with a look on her face that made her believe she was being beaten, even if there weren't any scars on her body. "Roxi!"
Her panda-fused friend seemed completely out of it at that moment, staring at the ground with wide eyes, glazed over, tears streaking down her face and her jaw clenched tightly. Yumi kept calling out to her as she approached, and was about to jolt forward and attack Hanajima when a hot burst of flame hit her in the back.
"Uwaaah!" Yumi screamed and crumpled to the ground. The flame was already out, but the pain didn't dull at all. Before she could do anything at all, the horse-girl saw a shadow appear over her, golden eyes glinting.
"You little brat," Ari hissed, stabbing her heel into the girl's chest. Yumi gagged. "Playing me like a fool... You're even more annoying than Ichigo-neko!" She seethed, but Yumi took some pain-filtered comfort in the fact that the alien was panting. So I managed to tire her out, at least. "You're just getting in the way, girl. It's better for everyone if I take you from the picture!" her voice escalated as she grabbed her double-sais, removed her foot, and dove in for a hit. Yumi, even in the pain she was, was quick; she rolled just out of the way, just narrowly missing the fury of both daggers.
Angrily, the alien jerked them both from the ground and looked ready to charge the small girl, but froze. A tall figure had positioned itself directly infront of her, standing between her and the Yumi girl. "Get out of my way!" Ari hollered in a blind rage, and thrust her bronze blades at the intruder. Her attack was met and passed off by a clash of metal, causing her to stumble back. Still not willing to give in, she charged at her, attempting various slashes, all of which were easily blocked by sword, deflected back to the furious alien. Panting again, for her earlier loss of stamina, Ari clenched her weapons and glared at the newcomer.
The stranger stepped from the shadows into the light, revealing an amazed Yumi looking after her, trying to dull her injuries at the same time. Holding a gleaming sword out, the figure stood tall, a glazed and determined look levelled directly at Ari.
The alien hesitated, and then her look of anger was replaced. Her lips twitched into an angry smirk. "It's you again, huh? Why do you fight for these undeserving twits? You..." Her smile faded, her eyes growing wide and her jaw tensing. Her voice suddenly went low, and she held her weapons out in defense. "...You're one of them, aren't you?"
Everything seemed to click, just then. Kikyo sat upright, her eyes wide. Yumi gave a little gasp. Roxi's illusion was suddenly shattered, and she stared at the other alien in disbelief and realization.
And Kona weakly smiled.
"It's her."
And yet, nearly at the same time, the one-winged girl unflinchingly held her sword out, "I belong to no one," She hissed, her eyes gleaming with disgust.
"You don't really think you can take me on all on your own, then?" Ari cried out, bounding forward and taking a violent slash with one dagger. The girl ducked under effortlessly, but the alien wasn't finished; she brought her other arm up, tearing a large gash in the others arm. The winged girl didn't even blink, simply brought her sword over and pushed Ari back from making any further attacks.
"Yes," she said icily, pointing her sword right at Ari with a blank expression. She narrowed her eyes. "I do."
"You arrogant brat!" Summoning the blue flame back to her weapons, Ari looked ready to dig them right into the nameless girl's skin. She, on the other hand, coolly held her ground, keeping her weapon firmly pointed and held.
"Ribbon Mitsukai Ken!" Her voice rang out, and the entire sword seemed to be swallowed by a shadow of sorts. It reflected fright even in Ari's eyes. Within less than a second, the winged girl took a mere step forward, swinging at the alien opponent. She missed. Intentionally, the girls would have said, the way she angle her arms so the tip of the blade swept right past. It seemed, anyways. A moment passed, and then a deep cut split open, blood seeping from the opening.
"Nng!" Ari's entire body gave a heave as she clutched at her arm, shadowing her face to hide her obvious pain. The girl now stood at the other side, calmly, facing the alien, the wind billowing all around her, sending a flurry of black feathers through the air. There came a hissing noise from the blue haired alien as she tilted her head to send a malicious glare in her direction. She seemed completely unaffected, and simply sheathed her sword to symbolize the battle being over. Ari gritted her teeth.
"...Mistake," She growled in a low voice, and in a flash of blue disapeared into the air. For a moment, the girl did nothing to move. Then, in one swift step, she was directly infront of Roxi and Hanajima, her cold and hardened gaze falling over the taller alien, who had been watching the short battle in awe and fear.
"Leave," The girl said shortly, showing no change of emotion or expression. Hanajima didn't move. The winged's hand flashed for the handle of her sword, and that seemed to prompt the alien to let go of the panda girl and back away. Roxi stumbled out of her grasp in a hurry, rushing over to where Kona and the others were in case the Illusions alien tried to pull anything.
Hanajima and the girl held stares for quite a long time, but it was obvious the former was not considering an attack. "You'd be wise to choose your alliances more carefully, girl," she then said darkly, before taking a step back and fading into the shadows as well.
All was silent. No one was sure what to say. Now that the aliens were gone, there should have been a lift on the tension in the air - but there wasn't. The breeze had softened slightly, the array of feathers still drifting to the ground. The girl wasn't facing the 'mew team', simply staring at the roadside, her eyes glazed in what seemed to be thought. Then, she began walking away.
It was Yumi, to no one's surprise, who spoke up first.
"Ara? Where are you going?" she piped, managing to climb to her feet and keeping wary of her wounds. Yumi cocked her head. "Aren't you going to stay with us? We know who you are now. You're one of us, right?" She smiled boldly, stepping forward, "We can all be a team now. We found you. You - "
"Didn't I say," the girl rudely interupted Yumi without so much as turning her head, though she did pause in her footsteps, "I belong to no one?"
Yumi's eyes widened and she froze, staring silently. There was nothing else, so the girl continued to walk until she disapeared from sight, leaving the rest of the girls bewildered and dumbstruck.
"She's..." Kikyo, clenching her jaw, managed to sit up, trying to ignore the fierce pain in her leg, "...She's just stuck up. We don't need her."
"Yeah, but..." Roxi looked a bit dazed as she stepped over to where a crestfallen Yumi stood, twisting strands of brown hair around her fingers, "...She is one of us, isn't she, no matter what she says? ... I don't think we have a choice... We'd be even more powerful with her..."
Ryou had been safely observing the fight, and was a little blown away at the girl's reaction as well. The others had just so willingly banded together, he'd never thought there would be this kind of struggle. It was inevitable, though, wasn't it? He sighed a bit to himself as he approached the girls. This was just like Zakuro, just like how she refused, but eventually came around. Kikyo, as well. But this girl... she seemed so strongwilled, so deadset on her decision.
It's going to be a tough one, that's for sure...
"Let's head back to the cafe," He said softly, drawing all the girls' attention to him. The boy shook his head. "Keiichiro's probably worried about all of you, anyways, and we can't just leave you lying around here wounded. I think we have enough medical supplies to fix you all up. Roxi," Putting on a commanding voice, Ryou turned to face the panda-eared girl, who stood up straight, "Are you able to carry Kikyo back? It'll be a little ways, but Yumi should be able to help you."
"O-okay," Roxi nodded slowly, and looked over at Kikyo nervously. The fox girl looked relaxed, though - she was stubborn, but not stupid. It was impossible to walk with her leg, so she allowed Roxi and Yumi to help her to her feet.
"O-oi," Kona mumbled, trying to move and get up. Her ribs hurt, and her side ached horribly - she was about to remind them that they'd forgotten her, only to suddenly see a shadow covering her.
"Careful," Ryou advised softly, and in a smooth and gentle movement picked the girl up from the ground and used both arms to support her as he began walking with the others. Kona just stared, and then suddenly became flustered, feeling her head resting softly against his chest and her cheeks burning red. The group started heading along a concealed area of the street, back to the cafe. There were so many things they needed to figure out, problems that needed to be solved...
--
Ichigo sat at her window, staring out of it contemptiously and tapping his fingers impatiently on the sil. It was annoying quiet in her room - she hadn't heard a single thing from Yumi or Roxi or anybody, for that matter. Too quiet.
"Uwaaaahh...! I just know they're all doing something exciting while I'm stuck here! Life hates me!" Ichigo groaned, thunking her head against the glass.
--
Next Chapter:
The one-winged mew is still on the girls' 'To Pursue' list. With Ichigo back, maybe they stand more of a chance to win her over - or, maybe not? She fights their enemies, but refuses to side with them or acknowledge the similarities they share. Is having a part-time ally enough? Or will they need her full support to keep the aliens at bay?