xuri: Hello, hello. ;3 I'm really running out of things to say up here, so I'll just keep it short. Hee. I'm delaying the chapters on purpose a bit now, so a)people can keep up, and b)I can have the pictures I've drawn up before chapter 26. I am almost finished, I swear. I've just been slacking. xD
SamKo: Yeah, silly bishie-Ryou. xD Even if I DO love you, you've done a lot of (accidental) evil things. x3 Poor Ryou-kun. -huggles- And yes, he'd definitely have the expensivest water brand. Because, really, what else is he gonna spend his money on? Stuffed cats? I think not! (Unless...)
--
Blend (chapter twenty)
..acidic intentions..
"I'm not leaving you behind!"
Ichigo, even though she was feeling weak, poured a lot into those words. And it actually got a reaction from Brooke. The angel girl turned, wide eyed, to face the pink haired cat girl, looking genuinely surprised. Taking a shuddering breath, Mew Ichigo seemed to relax, if only slightly.
"I know you feel like you've been abandoned... and that it's not fair, because it's not your fault," Ichigo continued on boldly, taking deep breaths. It was certainly a feat to be coming up with words at all, when what she really wanted was to fall down and sleep, "But no one's abandoned you, Brooke. You just think you won't be accepted, because of the injection..." Ichigo put a hand gingerly to her own cat ear, shaking her head, "But that's not true. Others might just be afraid, but we're not. We're ready to accept you, no matter what. Not because of your power," Ichigo smiled, "but because of you. Even if you don't fight with us, for us - we'll do everything we can to help you. I promise."
Brooke was facing her fully now, expression unreadable. She didn't seem to know how to respond to that at all, but Ichigo knew it was a step up from the usual.
Taking a few more deep breaths to steady herself, Ichigo held her arm out, outstretching a pink gloved hand. She smiled. "So... Will you come with me? You don't have to be alone anymore."
Brooke's blue eyes locked their gaze on the hand held out. Without even looking back at Ichigo, "Maybe I like being alone. Maybe I'm fine without anyone's help,". Ichigo's hand faltered, but she kept it outstretched, nonetheless. No matter how discouraged she felt... Ichigo wouldn't give up.
After a moment of silence, Brooke sighed, looking back at Ichigo. She was startled to see how much her gaze had softened. "But I'll go," she said quietly, grabbing hold of Ichigo's hand, "I'll come with you." Lowering her eyes, she said quietly, "I want to be normal again... I want to be 'Brooke'."
Ichigo smiled, tugging her towards her and turning to head back to the cafe. "Let's go, then. Shirogane will know what to do; he'll know how to help you. C'mon," Staying in a transformed state, Ichigo led Brooke down the road, walking quickly so they'd get there before Ryou closed the place up completely. But she couldn't help but smile.
She's not so cold...
--
Ari walked back inside with an angry air, breathing heavily from the aftermath of the last attack. Hanajima followed after her, in about the same state.
"Stupid," she seethed through her teeth, looking at her own hand, golden eyes glinting with fury, "I let her get me again. And I almost had Momomiya begging for mercy..." It clenched tightly into a fist, her knuckles turning white beneath her gloves, "Stupid. Stupid. Stupid."
"They're getting more powerful," Hanajima pointed out, walking in with a bit of a limp. Her face was pale and drained, "Our own power barely stands up to that. We need to create an edge..."
Ari scoffed. "Please don't give me the 'we need a third person' lecture again. You saw how that turned out."
"It didn't make things worse, Ari. She can be trained, you know,"
"She's a useless investment. We shouldn't have brought her in the first place, Marzipan's only a weak link..."
"Weren't you once a weak link, Ari?" Ari's jaw visibly tightened as Hanajima spoke, unfazed by her anger, "Always avoiding a fight, until rage fuelled your strength... just tell me that after this is all over you'll still be craving blood. She can get better. And if she doesn't, we can force her to. Weaklings can't fight back against persuasion-- Ari?"
Hanajima had been speaking of something that should have peaked Ari's interest, but instead the blue haired alien looked slightly alarmed, her gold eyes scanning the room.
"...Where?"
Eyes widening, Hanajima turned around as well. The room was completely empty. No trace of any person, whatsoever. The stool sit placidly in the middle of the room, as it had been when they left, only empty.
"...Where is she?"
--
"Shi-ro-ga-neeeee!"
Ichigo yelled at the top of her lungs, pounding her fists against the door of the cafe. They'd been doing that for five minutes now - Ichigo shouting at the door, trying to wake her boss up, while Brooke just stood behind, watching blankly. Ichigo kept looking over, as if she were afraid the girl would leave; then what? Ryou would probably kill her if she woke him up for no reason.
"Open the door! Openthedoornow!" She was growing tired, but still hadn't detransformed; Ichigo had somehow gotten the notion that if she did, Brooke might become angry. An angry Brooke could do one of two things: a) leave her to Ryou's wrath, or b) attack her on her own, both of which she didn't want to happen. So she pounded her fists on that door like there was no tommorrow.
"Open... the... DOO-" Ichigo was cut off mid sentence as the door was jerked open, literally sending her flying inside and tumbling over the floor with an oomph to Ryou's feet. Who, point in fact, did not look pleased at all. His jaw was clenched, his eyes were narrowed, and he was a perfect picture of anger.
"What?" Ryou said calmly, much to the surprise of Ichigo. Though, when she looked up, she saw his jaw twitch.
"You could have opened the door earlier, Shirogane," Ichigo pointed out.
Ryou closed his eyes in frustration. "Why. Are. You. Here?"
Ichigo winced under his glare, and in attempts to quickly avert it, she lifted a gloved hand and pointed over at Brooke. Ryou raised an eyebrow, his gaze following her direction, until he settled on the place where Brooke was standing. He blinked, obviously surprised there was even someone there. Every moreso when he saw the single wing on her back.
His confusion disapeared. "Brooke, is it?"
The angel girl nodded, silently, her blue eyes calculating as she looked at him. Ryou simply nodded again, and stepped over Ichigo to open the door wider.
"Come in, then," he said simply, nudging Ichigo in the side with his foot and stepping past her. Ichigo grumbled something and glared up at him before rolling over and getting back up onto her feet, brushing her pink skirt off. Her black tail swished behind her as she followed after Ryou.
Brooke stepped past her without even looking her way. "You can go back to normal, you know," she said icily. Ichigo froze, "I don't care."
As Brooke walked off after Ryou, Ichigo stared tensely, before shaking it off. And, since she gave her the okay, she detransformed in a flash of pink light, instantly regaining a bit of energy. With that, she hurried off after the two.
Once they were in the main lobby area of the cafe, Ryou glanced up and switched on the lights. Ichigo noted that it looked eerie inside when it was this empty, and so dark, the lamps flickering with unease. She shivered. Usually, at least Yumi was running around and causing a havoc, but now...
"So, you can't transform back to normal," Ryou casually pulled a chair aside from the table and sat down, resting his elbow on the table, "right?"
Brooke nodded solemnly. He nodded in return, looking over at Ichigo.
"And you." Ichigo winced at his harsh tone, "You wandered off, didn't you?"
"Uhm..." Ichigo's lips twitched nervously, and she sucked in a breath of air before putting her hands on her hips, "Well, its not like it was on purpose. I saw her and you said we needed to find her, so --"
"We'll discuss this later," clearly, he was already tired of her excuses, and turned back to Brooke, who was waiting patiently and without view of emotion, "Where have you been staying, then? I'm gathering your family doesn't know?"
She shook her head, her long ponytail waving darkly in the air. "No. They do not. I've found areas in forests or abandoned district areas to stay. They work fine."
Ryou shook his head. "Well," he gave an exasperated sigh, "We can't have that, if you're going to be with us now." He raised a skeptical eyebrow. "You came with Ichigo because you were going to side with us, didn't you?"
Even though there was still little change in her expression, Brooke appeared to be surprised. "Well, yes, but --"
"Then we'll be the ones to take care of you," he interrupted her in a simple tone, knowing she would only protest if given the chance. Standing up from the chair, he pushed it aside, looking at her firmly. "You'll be staying here. We have plenty of rooms that we've never used in this building, and Keiichiro had plenty of food and supplies for living. As for your parents..." he trailed off, as if considering it, then shook his head, "...they don't need to know about the Angel thing until you've been cured. But I will ask that you call them from here and make up a story of sorts, just assure them you're alright and you'll be back soon."
Brooke frowned, and looked like she was going to protest more, but knew it was pointless. So did Ryou. "We'll get you settled tonight, then. No more forest sleeping for you. I made a mistake with the fusing, so I at least owe this much to you. Keiichiro and I will get started on finding a way to revert you to normal immediately."
Then, looking at Ichigo, he nodded. "You can go home now."
Ichigo stared at him. "Excuse me?" She blinked, and folded her arms over her chest haughtily, taking offense. Then, raising an eyebrow in suspicion, "Ohhh, I get it, you just want to be alone so you can put the moves on Brooke here. Look," she was directing the next few words at Brooke, "he may put on a nice guy act, but he's really a jerk. Just before you do anything dumb."
An anger mark appeared on Ryou's forehead as he closed his eyes patiently. "Thanks, Strawberry. Good to know you care. Now go home."
Ichigo glared. "Fine. I will. But only because I know Brooke will fight back if you try and take advantage of her. Right?" She looked at Brooke for confirmation, but the girl didn't appear amused by this at all. She was just staring blankly at a wall. Ichigo sweatdropped. "Er, right. But if anything happens, I'll find out," Yawning, Ichigo turned and started walking out the door, "Bye bye, I'll be here tommorrow as usual. Don't do anything stupid!" She chanted before disappearing out the door.
Ryou stared after her and shook his head, before turning and heading upstairs. "Baka girl. Keiichiro must have given her too much cake again."
--
Ari had her face in her hands.
Hanajima was staring up at the ceiling, her arms folded over her chest. The room had nearly been teared apart. The sole closet in the area had just had its door ripped off. The floor was covered in vinegar that had spilled from the pantry of the dead woman's apartment. And Ari looked like she was either ready to cry, or hurl her sais into Marzipan's chest.
Who, by the way, was still nowhere to be found.
"What," Ari inhaled before speaking, her words gradually gaining volume as she pulled her hands away from her face, "kind of crap does she think she's pulling!"
"You found her before, didn't you?" Hanajima said idly, obviously more upset about the fact that they no longer had vinegar and that Ari had just torn their 'home' apart than Marzipan having disappeared.
Ari's lips twitched, her golden eyes gleaming with unbridled anger. "She broke the rules this time," she growled, pressing her hand hard against the countertop, "She disobeyed. Now she's running around somewhere, hiding, or going home..." She shut her eyes in frusteration, "She's a coward. We shouldn't have brought her!"
"She was the only one that wanted to come," Still Hanajima was calm, fixing her hair idly with one hand, motioning for Ari to calm down with the other, "and we thought we'd need more than just two of us. Do you remember, Ari?" She grimaced. "We came for the same reason - to punish Momomiya Ichigo. She didn't come here to fight. She came because Pai told her too much, and she wanted to know even more, and you knew that. But you thought you didn't even need me, so it didn't matter; you thought you could take her down on your own."
Ari gritted her teeth, glaring sideways at Hanajima. "What's your point?" She snapped.
Hanajima paused, and then shrugged, running her fingers through her hair.
"It's your fault, Ari. So now it's your problem."
--
"Yumi! Tell Roxi not to wait for me, okay?" Ichigo called back to the girl who was waiting on the sidewalk. The short girl smiled back at her.
"Okaay! See ya at the cafe, Ichigo!"
Smiling lightly, the redhead waved and hurried down the street. Well, she'd said she would make sure Ryou wasn't trying to 'seduce' Brooke, wasn't she? Not because she was jealous or anything. Why would I be jealous? That was ridiculous - for one, even though Brooke wasn't defenseless, she seemed as if she felt uneasy, and it wouldn't be hard to take advantage of that. And for another, Lettuce wasn't back yet - wouldn't she be absolutely heartbroken to see a girl in the arms of her crush? She was hurrying for Lettuce. And Brooke. Though, Ichigo got the feeling Brooke might punch Ryou's lights out if he tried anything suddenly, anyway.
This was a comforting thought. Before she could get to far, though, she caught up with a black haired girl.
"Ah! Kona!" Ichigo was surprised to see her, and apparently so was Kona. "You're not usually this far yet. Did you get out early or something?"
Kona looked startled, and then embarassed. She quickly looked away. "No, um, I was just walking fast I think. You, too, Ichigo...?"
Ichigo blinked, and then rubbed the back of her head. "Hurm...Oh, right! I was just in a hurry to make sure Brooke was doing alright." Frowning, she shrugged, "That, and, make sure Shirogane wasn't putting 'the moves' on her."
Kona appeared confused by the first statement. And outright alarmed by the last. "Brooke...? Why's Brooke -- what? Moves? Urm?"
Oh, right. Ichigo laughed nervously, knocking her head with her fist. "Ohhh, yeah! Haha, guess I didn't tell you guys, did I? I convinced Brooke to come and stay with us, and now she's living at the cafe!"
That obviously made a bit more sense to Kona, as she nodded, though still looked worried about the 'moves' deal. Ichigo didn't bother explaining that, as they were already at the Cafe.
Pausing at the doors, she inhaled, and then rammed her body through, storming inside. "SHIROGANE!"
"What the--!" Ryou nearly fell off the chair he'd been sitting on, his bottled water falling to the floor, spilling everywhere. He stared at Ichigo with wide eyes, then at the floor, then angrily back at Ichigo. "Strawberry... What. Are. You. Doing?"
"Good." She huffed, glaring at Ryou and turning back to Kona. "He's not overly happy or anything. And Brooke isn't in the room. I'm going to see if she's been traumatized with his version of 'flirting.'" With that, Ichigo stepped off towards the basement, leaving a bewildered Kona and an annoyed Ryou behind.
"She's on something," he concluded, stress mark appearing on his head, "I swear it.What was that about?"
"Oh, urm," Kona blinked, looking at Ryou awkwardly, "Brooke's...staying here?"
The blonde stared at her for a moment, the stress fading from his face. "...That's right, you guys weren't here." Kona obviously looked alarmed when he confirmed the fact a girl was living here with him, and it took Ryou a second to figure it out. He closed his eyes and sighed. "She said I was going to 'put the moves' on Brooke, didn't she?"
Kona nodded slowly, looking slightly relieved at the ringing denial in his voice. He pressed a hand to his face, resisting the urge to yell at Ichigo now and tell her to clean all the tables herself. "That would explain it, then."
Brooke heard the clomping of shoes down the stairs, but barely moved in response to them. She simply waited for whoever was coming down to do whatever it was they came down to do. But she hadn't expected it to be a quirky redhead who was making sure she hadn't been harassed by a certain blonde.
"Bro- ah," Brooke closed her eyes as Ichigo stuttered. She was facing a wall, so the cat fused girl couldn't see her face, anyways. Because it seemed that the girl intended to speak with her, Brooke rolled over, looking at Ichigo through ice blue eyes. Ichigo jumped. "I-i'm sorry!" She stuttered, biting her lip. Brooke could have rolled her eyes, if she'd had wanted to put forth the effort, "I didn't know you were asleep."
It would have seemed that way, from Ichigo's point of view. There was a mattress - Ryou had given it to her, said she could stay down here until he found a room comfortable enough upstairs - propped above a few tables set side by side, and she was curled up on it. But she hadn't been asleep. "I wasn't," she replied simply, but Ichigo just stared at her as if asking for an explaination. Brooke sighed in frusteration. Oh, joy. Was her hair naturally blonde? "I haven't sat on, let alone slept on, anything comfortable these past few months."
It seemed to take Ichigo a while to get it. Her eyes widened. "Oh." Was all she said. Brooke felt like hitting her head against a wall, but was much too comfortable to go out of her way. Fidgetting uncomfortably in place, Ichigo forced an outrageously large smile onto her face. "Okay then! I just came down tocheckifRyouhaddoneanythingtoyouthatmightscaryouforlife, but you seem fine to me. Bye bye!" And back up the stairs she went. Brooke felt a headache coming on.
"She's all sugar and bubblegum..." she murmured, and rolled back over so she was comfortable again.
Ryou had the mop ready when Ichigo clomped back up the stairs. At first, she'd looked worried, but the minute she was on the main flight, she looked angry again. Stomping over to Ryou, she stared him straight in the face, unaware of the mop that was diligently being held out to her.
"She doesn't have a uniform." She stated.
Ryou didn't care, by the look on his face, but she kept talking anyway in a huff.
"How is she supposed to work here without a uniform? Or are you letting her off because you're in love with her?"
"My," Ryou covered half his face with his hand, watching Ichigo calmly, "someone's jealous."
"I AM NOT JEALOUS!"
"Uwah! Earthquake!" Yumi cried, diving behind Roxi as they approached the cafe's entrance. Even Roxi looked a bit pale. It was like something off the richter scale had just happened, but nothing was even vibrating even more. As the small girl shivered behind her friend, the brunette turned to look at Kikyo, who had been walking with them, with wide eyes.
"W-w-what was that?" She suddenly looked very stiff. Kikyo raised an eyebrow at the cafe, and then stepped forward. Without flinching, though she glanced inside skeptically, she pushed the doors opened and glanced back at Roxi and the others.
"Only the usual."
And as they stepped inside, what they saw was, in fact, only the usual. Ichigo yelling her lungs out at Ryou, who was staring idly at the ceiling as if it were a quiet day, a mop held out towards his redheaded employee. Kona was somewhere in the background, having been knocked over by the sheer loudness of Ichigo's outcry. She looked at the girls who had just entered, and blinked.
Watch where you step, it was like she was saying.
"I don't know what you're spouting! You make me work every chance you get and you only give me breaks if I beg on my knees and promise to work overtime on weekends, and yet she come along and you're not making her work at all! She's a member of the team, isn't she? She lives here, doesn't she? I'm sure she'd be just fine working at a cafe, but nooo, you don't even give her a uniform! You're trying to make her fall for you! How can she work without a uniform?"
Ryou waited. After a few moments of silence, he blinked. "You're finished?" He asked. Ichigo glared at him. He took that as a yes. Shoving the mop into her hands, he dusted off his own, "How is she supposed to work with a large black wing sticking out of her back?"
"Eh." Ichigo stared blankly. Ryou was already gone though, and she was stuck there with a soggy mop held out in her hands. The redhead frowned. "You...jerk! You lead me into that just to prove -- make everyone believe I'm stupid! You idiot!" She shouted after him, but he'd already disappered into the kitchen. Huffing angrily, she slammed the mop down onto the floor and started working, scrubbing at the tiles and muttering to herself angrily.
"Ano..." Kona started, but then shook her head and sighed. There wasn't a point, was there? Telling Ichigo to calm down was like trying to extinguish a burning house with only half an expired fire extinguisher. She went right to cleaning the tables off, instead, while Yumi and Roxi were still trembling in the doorway. Kikyo had most likely gone off in the kitchen, knowing there hadn't been an earthquake. Something close to it, though - Ichigo's temper.
--
"Phew! That got pretty busy..." Roxi murmured, adjusting her cafe uniform headpiece before pushing in a few chairs. The cafe hadn't closed yet, but a bunch of customers had suddenly emptied out. They were taking advantage of the lull for a break. Ichigo had calmed down, but now that she didn't have to be all cheery-cheery around the customers, she was stomping around again, just waiting to swoop down on Ryou and yell at him.
Luckily, he seemed to know when he was not wanted. Kona was relieved. He always took them unflinchingly, but the rest of them could do just fine without Ichigo's outbursts. And when he wasn't bossing everyone around, she seemed to calm down back to her cheery self.
"Huahh... I hope there aren't any more earthquakes," Yumi murmured, lounging back in a chair with her hands behind her hand, eyes looking up at the ceiling. Kona laughed.
"Don't we all, ne?"
Once Ichigo seemed to be cooled off - even Kikyo was unsure Ryou could resist tormenting her when she was in a mood like this, but he kept his distance - she was perky and in a much more agreeable mood. That was a relief to all. Even to Brooke, who, downstairs, was disturbed by the loudness of Ichigo's stamping around earlier. What is she, an elephant?
"Hmmm... it smells like cake and cleaning chemicals in here," Ichigo noted, patting her head to fix her hair. She said 'cake' fondly, of course, but when something like that mixed with the strong scent of floor waxer or dirt removal, it wasn't so inviting. Kind of stuffy. Eyes lighting up, she glanced over at Roxi and the others.
"Why don't we sneak out for a walk? Even just around the cafe. Customers won't be showing up again for a while, so shouldn't we get some fresh air?"
"Uhm..." Kona sweatdropped, setting a broom aside, "Don't you think at least one of us should stay here? In case anyone wants an order?"
"Don't worry, they'll take care of it," Ichigo piped cheerily, patting Kona heartily on the back. The elder girl sighed, but nodded. Somehow, putting Ichigo in a larger space and a less streneous atmosphere might make sure she didn't blow any more fuses that day. Besides, she was right - if they stuck around the cafe, they'd see anyone coming in and head back inside. Anyways, Kona could use some fresh air. It did feel kinda stuffy in here, after all.
"Hah! Let's go for a wa-alk!" Yumi chanted, hopping out of her chair and promptly dragging Roxi and Ichigo along with her. Kikyo silently followed, looking more than glad - she'd seemed irritated by the amount of chemical in the air - and Kona dragged her feet behind her. Before she stepped out the door, she glanced back at the kitchen.
She shook her head and slipped out the door. They'd be fine.
--
When the door opened again, Ryou looked up, ready to rag on Ichigo for leaving the cafe without permission. But it wasn't her. Or any of the other girls. A customer, it looked like, stepped airily inside. That didn't make him any less angry.
Oh, great... no one shows up again until they leave. It's all her plot, I'm sure, Aggrivated as he was, Keiichiro couldn't be put to the task. He had a large order of cakes to make and dishes to clean, to boot. It couldn't be so hard, anyways. It wasn't like Ichigo and the others went through hard labour everyday. Ryou could handle one order.
Casually stepping out the kitchen door, he approached the table the girl had taken the liberty of seating herself too. A smart one. He'd seen girls standing cluelessly at the entrance before, not seeing a waitress, and fidgetting like they were tired of standing but refusing to sit down without being shown to their seat. A nice change.
"Hey." he said, and the girl tilted her head up at him from where she'd been looking at the table with deep blue eyes. He blinked. Why's she staring at me funny? But the girl simply smiled, purple hair falling over her eyes and covering some of her pale face.
"Hello. How are you this afternoon?" She asked politely, hands folded on the table neatly. Ryou noticed she looked tired, like she'd ran a long way or something. She was dressed casually enough; a black jacket pulled over a brown shirt with a rose embroidered in the middle, a red skirt, a plain casual sneakers.
"Er... Fine." He said quickly, wondering why he was saying anything other than 'can i help you' at all. He'd been about to when the wavy haired girl had started talking. He was no good at this sort of thing, making small talk with strangers. "You?"
Her eyes seemed to light up. It was scary. "I've been dancing," she said, and he could hear the fatigue in her voice, "in the park. I'm hungry now, though. Do you think I could get a chocolate brownie?"
"Eh? Sure." He said quickly, turning to go to the kitchen and give Keiichiro the order before she distracted him any longer. Too late.
"Will you make it?"
"Huh?" Ryou looked back at her. She was staring at him seriously.
"Will you be the one making it for me?"
"Oh, no," he seemed startled, "Akasaka Keiichiro is our cook. He's fine, I just work as --"
"Please?" She smiled, her eyes widening, "I'd really like it if... if you could make it. For me." Her lips curled upwards, "I want to know what your cooking tastes like."
Ryou stared. Well, if that wasn't as creepy as holy - "Er, I'm really not a good cook," Ryou assured her solemnly, but the girl just stared with the exact same expression. The one that said, so innocently, 'cook me a brownie, or else'. And while she didn't seem capable of even breaking a shoelace, Ryou could do without finding exactly what 'or else' was.
"...Al...right," He said slowly, taking a few steps backwards to the kitchen. He looked almost afraid she would suddenly blurt 'and bring me cake and pie and sorbet and ice cream all made by your beautiful hands my lovely'. But she just looked absolutely delighted. In silence. "...Just... no money back if it doesn't taste great, okay? I warned you." And he disapeared into the kitchen.
Once he was gone, Marzipan's smile didn't fade, and she simply stared down at the table, brushing her fingers lightly against its shiny surface. Her sigh almost had a dreamy air to it. "...he's just like you said he'd be, Pai-oniichan."
--
"What-a refresh-ing walk!" Ichigo said stiffly, marching back to the cafe with the 'crew' chasing behind her. Ichigo had been in a good mood the whole time, chattering on about how nice the weather was and how she couldn't wait for the snow. She'd even been taking her sweet time around the cafe, like she really didn't have to be anywhere or be doing anything. It was a relief to see her so calm after her earlier bombarding of outbursts. Kona, Roxi and Kikyo had all been enjoying her good mood, and then horse-girl had to go and wreck it.
"Ara, I betcha Brooke's keeping Ryou company now, right? Since Ichigo and Kona wouldn't go for it." Yumi piped cheerfully as they rounded the back of the cafe. Ichigo stopped stiff. Roxi slapped a hand to her forehead, and Kona and Kikyo sighed in unison. They barely even drew breath when the redhead stomped around to the entrance, a wickedly-enhanced smile plastered on her face, fists clenched at her sides as she jerkedly marched off, to where she was now, just coming up the pathway to the door.
"I had a-great time, didn't you-guys?" Her smile cracked, and she didn't even look back at the others while she spoke. She just kept on walking. Kona sweatdropped, knowing this wouldn't end well at all...
"Yup! I did," Yumi agreed heartily, and Roxi simply looked completely limp from her obliviousness. Not much of a surprise, though. That was just Yumi's ordinary behaviour, after all.
Kona glanced at Ichigo as she tried to keep up with her. Her lips were twitched forcefully into a grin, but her eyes were burning wildly, like instead of 'I had a lovely time' she wanted to say 'Shirogane is dead. Dead. Dead. Dead.' Ah, boy, and they'd been so close to calming her down, too.
Just as they were only feet away from the entrance, the large doors opened. Assuming it was Ryou, Ichigo opened her mouth, but the words died on her lips the instant she saw who was stepping through the doors.
A purple haired girl, her deep blue eyes filled with delight, and half eaten brownie in her hands, her jaw moving to happily chew whatever piece was in her mouth. Just as the girls had, she froze too at the sight of them, looking innocently confused at first. Then, her face darkened, and she finished off her chocolate almost immediately.
"M-Marzipan...!" Ichigo stuttered. It was enough of a shock to see her wandering out of what had been a very empty cafe, with a brownie that looked too uneven and hideous to be Keiichiro's work, but aside from that - hadn't Ari said something along the lines of having 'gotten rid of her'? And yet here she was. There were some bandaids on her face and hands, but they were hidden mostly by her sleeves and hair. They were probably wounds from their earlier battle.
Marzipain blinked. And then, her smile faded into a frown as she finished her brownie, scowling in the girls' direction. "I've been looking for you," she whispered in a low tone, pressing her fingers to her lips and closing her eyes, her human disguise dripping away from her to reveal pointed ears and her alien uniform instead. "but you ruined the ending of my date with Shirogane Ryou. I don't think --"
"'Scuse me?" Ichigo stared at her, and then lifted a bent finger, "...did you just say 'date' and 'Shirogane Ryou' in the... same sentence?"
Kona looked especially appalled. Roxi and the others looked puzzled and lost. Smiling, Marzipan's dark eyes flickered open again, a grim but almost cheery expression on her face.
"I did. Maybe you should use those cat ears of yours more often," Marzipan said in a low tone, and clicked her heel off the ground to float a few inches up into the air. "But I have other business to take care of, you see. I've been thrown away from somewhere I wish to be, and now I want to reclaim my place."
Ichigo's shoulders stiffened as she came to a realization. So, Marzipan hadn't been sent home, or perished; she was simply shunned by the other two aliens, from what she understood, at least. That was different. Maybe... maybe they could still win her over?
"Marzipan... you don't really want to fight us, do you?" Ichigo tried softly, taking a step forward. Kona's eye twitched, regardless of the dire seeming situation. How can she be calm all of a sudden when she was so ready to blow up a few seconds ago? "We don't want to fight you if we don't have to. We don't want to fight anyone. Can't you understand that? Can't you understand we haven't done anything wrong?"
Marzipan scowled, and Ichigo flinched. This obviously wasn't having the hesitating effect it had last time. "They haven't done anything wrong but gotten involved with you," she lifted a gloved finger to point directly at Ichigo, "You're the witch. You're the one with the evil ways. You've dragged them all into danger, against their will. You're ruining lives."
Ichigo's eyes widened in horror as she stared up at the alien. Those words...
"Ichigo, don't listen you dare listen to her," Roxi said quickly, rushing over to her side after seeing the terrified expression on her face. "None of this is anyone's fault but the alien's. Ichigo, don't let her words get to you!"
"She's right," Kikyo pitched in, levelling a glare with the alien, "you have nothing to do with the suffering. You're as focused on ending this as any of us are.
Their words were of little consolation to Ichigo at this point. Her eyebrows were furrowed into a deep frown, her amber eyes stricken with hurt. Marzipan seemed to take neither pleasure nor pain in this coming around. She simply stared at Ichigo with a devoid expression.
"But I no longer have to worry," she said, leaning forward to face them more closely, "about your bewitching Shirogane Ryou. True love cannot be interupted by witches such as yourself. I'm here for a different reason; I'm here to prove my worth to Hana-san and Ari-san. They'll see when I defeat you, that I'm not a cowardly weakling like they think."
Ichigo's arms went limp, and she looked thoroughly disappointed. So, that's the way it is... fight.
"Ichigo?" Kikyo stood firmly by her side, and the redhead glanced over at her, and nodded. They didn't have a choice.
"Mew Mew Strawberry! Powder! Framboise! Cerise! Kitsune!" Ichigo pulled her pendant out, clutching it tightly in hand as they all called out their phrases,
"Metamorpha-sis!"
The girls were surrounded by lights flashing together, emerging in their battle Mew costumes. Marzipan seemed unfazed, as usual. She'd expected them to fight back, after all. Otherwise it wouldn't be worth it when she won.
Gritting her teeth, the alien's eyes darkened and she drew out her bow, carefully aiming an arrow right between where Ichigo and Kikyo were standing. The cat girl's pink eyes widened in realization that the arrow looked different from her usual poison tipped ones. It's...glowing.
"Huah!" Marzipan grunted as she released the string from between her fingers, the arrow whooshing through the air soundlessly. Kikyo and the others reacted right away by jumping aside; even Ichigo though quickly enough to flip over, and bounce off her hands before skiding to her feet safely. This was a wise move, supposedly, as the instant the arrow came into contact with the ground, it exploded.
The impact didn't effect them, but it brought forth a thig smog of purple smoke, preventing Ichigo and the others from seeing or being able to attack. Her ears perked in efforts to hear any approaches, Ichigo coughed and cover her mouth with her gloved hand, squinting and trying to see through the fog. "Oh, no..." Her first impression was this was meant for a sneak attack. But as the smoke slowly faded, she saw this wasn't the case, as there had been no attacks at all.
As the smoke thinned out, they saw Marzipan exactly where she had been, arm outstretched, bow hanging against her back in storage. Kona's eyes fell over the alien's open palm, where a glowing circular object lay. She blinked in alarm. It matched the colour that Marzipan's eyes were giving off...
"A-ara! I can't... I can't move!" Yumi cried, and Ichigo turned to see. Though, she couldn't turn. Yumi had been right, the smoke had somehow managed to freeze up their muscles. Ichigo's eyes widened in horror.
"No way...!" Her voice was muffled against the palm she had pressed against her lips.
"Don't worry over something so small," Marzipan said gently, her eyes still glowing dangerously, "It will wear off." The air around her seemed to be light, her hair wavering around as the object in her hand started glowing brighter and brighter. All they could do was watch helplessly.
"It was a distraction... what is she doing?" Roxi whispered, eyes wide, as she too was unable to move. No one could answer her, because no one knew. Ichigo could feel movement control being regained, but... she had a feeling it would be too late to stop her by then.
Her eyes sliding shut, Marzipan suddenly clasped her palm closed over the small, seed like object, wrapping her other hand around the fist and raising them high into the air. Power seemed to be gathering around her in high strengths, all in the air, giving her a glowing appearence. Still, she kept her hands so tightly closed, her hair waving wildly as if caught in the wind, her lips parted in forced breath against the violent torrent she was caught in. Finally, something seemed to want to break through the cage that was her interlaced fingers - a purple light began to push its way through the cracks, forcing her hands apart. She fought against it as though it were an enemy, but wore no expression of worry or panic. This was supposed to be happening. This was what she had planned...
Ichigo was given control of her arms again, her shoulders thawed from whatever spell they'd been placed under. "Strawberry Bell," she tried, holding her hand out expectantly. Nothing came. Her muscles tensed. That can't be... has it affected my power, too?
Letting out a cry from the force, Marzipan's hands were split apart, as an unopened flower burst from her palm, twisting high into the air. Kikyo stared in disbelief. It's petals were dark violet, just mere shades away from being black, twisted tightly around one another. Just as she made this observation, the released their bind, large dark petals falling from their kept position to hanging over her hands. It was a giant flower, Marzipan was holding, in the shape of a lily, though none of them knew what it really could be. They saw power enamating from it, and knew it was dangerous, whatever it was. It seemed to be dripping with darkness, and yet it was so beautiful, without words to properly describe it...
"Eh?" Just as suddenly, the flower began to wither, to die. It's long, elegant petals drooped, twisting around Marzipan's wrists as they shrivelled, melting into a dark liquid. Ichigo's eyes widened, and she realized she could move fully again. But as the liquid dripped down the alien's arms until they were completely coated, emanating the strange dark aura, Ichigo knew she'd been right. It's too late.
"I...will," she said lowly, her eyes flashing open. The flower had melted away completely, her arms coated completely in the substance from fingertip to shoulder. There was a deep, foreboding menace in her eyes, one that made even Yumi wince in fear. "...prove myself!" She cried out, and the glowing burned brighter than ever, with one swift movement forward, she let out a loud yell, slashing her left arm sideways through the air. Kona was standing a few feet away, but well out of her reach.
Arm's reach, at least.
The dark, black liquid splattered onto Kona's face as if Marzipan's arms were made solidly of it. At first, the girl stared in surprise, utter shock written on her face. It instantly turned to horror. "Uaaagggghhh!" She screamed, pressing her hands to her face and dropping limply to her knees.
"K-Kona!" Ichigo rushed over to her friend's side, and her face paled when she could see the skin darkening around the small splatters of ink-like liquid. It was burning her. It was burning through Kona's skin.
"..It's acid..." she heard Kikyo mutter in disbelief.
"Get it off! Get it off!" Kona screamed, trying to scrub the acid from her skin with her gloves, tears forced from pain pouring from her eyes. They stung worse. Spinning around to face Marzipan, Ichigo stared in complete terror.
"...you-!"
Marzipan remained devoid of emotion, her hair floating around her head from the power still coming from her hands. The acid seemed to be dripping off them now, as if they'd been made completely into the substance. She showed no remorse over the pain she could see the other girl in. They were enemies, after all.
"How could you do that to Kona-chan?" Roxi burst out, clutching her wand tightly and fearfully in her hand. Yumi stood right beside her with her own tiny bell-weapon, nodding.
"That's so cruel! There's no good in you at allllll!" As if on the same wavelength of thought, both girls charged at the purple haired alien at once, opening their mouths to summon their attacks forth.
"Ribbon ----"
It took no effort. There was barely even a strain on Marzipan's face as she crossed both arms over her chest and swung them outwards, sending large splashes of the acid right at the panda and horse fused girls. They couldn't move fast enough, and were struck in a full front attack from the projectile liquid. The force alone was enough to make them stumble. It was the burning pain that made them fall.
"Uwaahhh!" Yumi's eyes showed an emotion that was complete petrification as she fell to the grass, clutching at her stomach where the acid was eating, whimpering and trying to smother the pain. Roxi simply fell without a sound - she'd been hit dangerously across the shoulders, and falling to the ground did nothing but make it all the more worse. Neither of them could do anything more. They were helpless, and under a spell of intense pain they could not break.
Ichigo stared at them, eyes stricken wide with horror. How can she... she swivelled around to face Marzipan, her own face pale, ...how can she do something so... horrible... without even batting an eye?
Marzipan stared solemnly at Ichigo, and she knew if she didn't do something she'd be the next target. She'd been so naive. There cannot be any good in here. How could I have ever given her a chance? Tears pouring from her eyes, she held her Strawberry bell firmly and charged right for the alien.
"Ribbon Strawberry Check!"
The light wouldn't even come. She'd said the incantation, but before she could see the attack even reach Marzipan, something hot was slapped against her arm. She was in shock for a moment, a very short moment, before she felt the pain searing into her arm.
Letting out a cry, Ichigo's step faltered, her hand immediately going to press against her arm. No, that wouldn't do - she was pushing the acid farther into her skin. As she pulled her hand away, she saw it had eaten through her glove and started on the palm of her hand as well. She felt her breathing become light. And then the pain shot at her again, nearly making her knees buckle.
"I can't... I can't! I have to protect them," she whispered, grasping the heart shaped weapon so hard that her arms began to shake. She could feel the hot liquid tearing at her skin, and she would take care of that later. She wouldn't let her hurt anyone else.
"You're annoyingly persistant," Marzipan mused ruefully before raising her hand, almost as if she intended to slap Ichigo. The cat girl stood her ground, trembling violently from the intense pain. She wouldn't move. She...
"You witch!" Before Ichigo could even react, Kikyo came whipping by, running swiftly with her Fox Charm aimed out. She saw hate burning in the girl's eyes... "KAHIDRA BLAST!"
Marzipan looked up and easily disappeared from the blow, appearing only inches away from impact, unscathed. "Troublesome," she noted aloud, and then instead shot her hand across Kikyo's direction. The girl gasped from the sudden impact, but made no other sound. Frowning, Marzipan touched her foot to the ground and swiftly leapt forward, swinging her arms across in close range to Mew Kitsune. The inky acid splattered almost all across her body. Staring in a daze, the girl's weapon slipped limply from her hands before she fell, silently, her body hitting the grass without a word.
"Kikyo!" Ichigo cried out, dashing over and falling to her knees. The girl was unconsious. "Kikyo...Kikyo... you guys!" She cried, trying to get the acid off her body even as it burned at her hands. All the while Marzipan hovered idly behind her, watching with mild interest.
"...you're not helping them - "
"Shut up!" Ichigo yelled, stopping, her fists clutched against her lap as she watched Kikyo and the others helplessly, tears spilling from her eyes. She turned to face Marzipan angrily. "Just shut up! They're my friends... they mean so much to me! And you've hurt them," rising to her feet, her pink eyes misted with tears, her eyebrows drawn in anger, she held her weapon out, "and I'll never forgive you!"
Marzipan's eyes narrowed and she held her ground as well. The two held glares, until Ichigo finally regained enough focus so she could jump in for an attack. Summoning the energy to her Strawberry Bell, she jumped up into the air to gain so height on Marzipan, aiming straight down at her.
"Ribbon Strawberry Check!" She cried, and bursts of pink light flared out to the alien. She was unable to dodge quickly enough this time, and the attack enveloped her before disappearing, leaving her looking weakened, but angrier. As Ichigo landed quickly back on the ground, she had to take a moment to regenerate, keeping a distance from Marzipan.
"...you brat," she hissed, and then clasped her acid-covered hands together so they seemed to melt into eachother, "Quit. Interfering!" Her voice boomed, and the power around her flared up more violently, her arms seeming to morph together to form a large blob of the acid. It swirled around, gathering energy, and Ichigo watched, holding her arms out before her to block them.
"WITCH!" She screamed, and a large glob og the acid shot through the air, right for her. Ichigo's eyes widened and she bent down, bounding off the ground with her cat reflexes into the air and away from the projectile coming straight to her. Luckily, it missed her, striking only the ground below her and forming a large pool of acid, eating away at the grass. As the cat girl felt gravity take its toll on her, she realized she couldn't get away from it. Focusing every ounce of her balance, she landed squarely on her feet in the pool. Almost immediately, she felt it eating through the soles of her boots and burning at her feet, so she shrieked and stumbled away, falling to her knees. Her feet tingled with the searing pain, and she still felt the heat ripping through her body, tearing her veins apart. Breathing heavily, Ichigo tried to keep her trembling body sitting upright as she stared at Marzipan through fearful eyes.
Pity. She saw a hint of pity, mercy flicker in the alien's dark eyes. The hope that caused was diminished almost immediately when the alien lifted her arms again, aiming straight for where Ichigo sat, immobolized. The globule of acid simply became larger, more focused, and she was ready to send it all eating away at Ichigo's body...
"Mitsukai Ken!" Ichigo only saw Marzipan's eyes strike wide open as a flurry of darkness struck her from all sides, knocking her to the ground with ease. Standing right behind her was a disgruntled Brooke, sword in hand, glowing with the unmistakable aura of the Dark Angel's power.
Gasping in pain, Marzipan pushed herself back up to glare at the angel, hate burning deep in her eyes. Then, appearing back on her feet, she lashed out at the girl, flinging her dangerous acid arms at her. A frown the only change on her face, Brooke swung her sword at such an angle to slice and disassemble any acid coming her way, save a few droplets landing soundly on her face. She was largely unaffected, however.
Staring in shock, Marzipan glowered and dashed forward, taking another swipe. Brooke sidestepped easily, sliding against the wall of the cafe. However, this seemed to be the alien's trap. Swinging her body around, she flung her arms forward, pressing them against Brooke's shoulders and pinning them to the wall. Brooke's dark eyes suddenly widened, wincing in pain, her teeth gritting together as she felt the large quantities of acid eating into her skin.
"Uh!" Not willing to see another one of her friends in mortal pain, Ichigo found the strength to jump up to her feet, pointing a shaky Bell in the alien's direction. "Marzipan! Get your hands off her!" She tried, making her voice sound much stronger than it felt.
Marzipan, to no surprise, didn't obey; her blue eyes simply flickered over to where Ichigo stood to make sure she wasn't trying an attack, keeping her acid palms pressed into Brooke's shoulders. But the angel saw her opening. Lifting her knee, she rammed it into the alien's gut and took advantage of the shock to swipe her with her sword, sending the girl stumbling back into the grass, with the wind knocked out of her. Turning determinedly back to Ichigo, Brooke cried out, "Ichigo! Now!"
Nodding, the cat girl clasped her Strawberry Bell, focusing and summoning the wings to perch lightly in the center. "Ribbon! Strawberry Surprise!" She cried, and a huge burst of red light shot at the downed Marzipan. They heard the alien cry out in pain as the light had the same effects as the acid had on them, and when it faded, they saw her laying on the ground, her face more ghostly than ever, her eyes flinching still in pain.
"I..." She breathed shakily, lifting herself off the ground with normal arms and staring at the dead grass with blank eyes, "...failed...again..." Shutting her eyes in disappointment, she rippled away into the air, leaving only traces of her acid behind.
Ichigo wasted no time. Letting her Bell drop to the ground, she rushed over to the sides of her friends, checking to make sure they still had pulses. Most of them were unconsious, but the acid seemed to have worn off like a spell the instant Marzipan disapeared. The damage had certainly been done.
"...Ichigo..." The pink haired girl turned to see Brooke standing there solemnly, her shoulders blackened by the attack. Ichigo felt her fingers fleetingly touch her own arm, her nerves tingling unpleasantly at the touch. Looking back down at her friends, she sighed in relief, and turned to Brooke.
"Come on. We need to get them all inside."
--
Next Chapter:
Wounds cannot heal without time and care. And with a temporary absense of threat, the Mews are given the chance to do so... or, at least, that's what they hope. With the six of them in rough conditions, it'll take a true hero to keep them safe and alive. Speaking of, who's that at the cafe's front door?...