Author's Note

Chapter 3! Thank you for reading this far. We found out in the previous chapters that Mint has feelings for Ichigo and that's why she is picking a fight with her. During their argument, Mint became so distraught that she ran from the cafe crying. What will Mint do now?

*Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the Tokyo Mew Mew anime or manga.

I didn't go back to the cafe the next day. Or the next. I couldn't face Ichigo. I was embarrassed of how I acted toward her and I wanted to apologize... but at the same time, apologizing meant explaining why I had acted that way and how I felt about her... I couldn't possibly...

So I wrapped up my Mew Mew outfit. I placed it in a gift box and everything. Then I sent it to the café with a dashing bow and some chic wrapping paper. That night, laying down in my frilly nightgown, I felt guilty and relieved at the same time. I held onto my pillow, pretending it was Ichigo… It was the closest I would ever get to holding her. Besides, in the dark, you couldn't really tell the difference…

I decided I needed some fresh air to clear my head so I went outside on my personal balcony (being wealthy does have its perks). I almost didn't see Onee-sama, her silhouette a glimmering mauve against the darkening sky. She was nonchalantly sitting atop a lamppost, her long, luxurious legs crossed at the thighs. "Are you always like this?" she asked.

"I'm not going back!" I yelled, surprised at both her appearance and my unmasked angst.

"Why?"

"Why? It won't do any good."

"What do you mean?"

"It's the fighting." I admit that this was complete rubbish.

Onee-sama and I continued to argue; I was in such a frenzy that I don't even remember what I said, except for "I hate doing anything that's useless…" Now that I think about it, this statement pretty much sums up the whole situation… I felt that confessing to Ichigo was useless… that it wouldn't make a difference… and that is why I struggled with it so much.

I yelled and said selfish things… and then Onee-sama, as stoic as ever, declared with her over-the-top ideals: "So dying now wouldn't make a difference?" Next, her whip literally snapped me out of my dejection. It lashed out toward me with so much force that the outside wall of my room crumbled easily at its strike.

Would dying make a difference? Yes, it would. Dying meant never coming to terms with myself, with Ichigo and my feelings for her. I would die without ever letting her know that I am not some tsundere hime-sama who only cares about tea, proper manners, and high society… that I actually cared about her, about how she felt… that I worried about Aoyama-san breaking her heart… and that I was just another teenager who was going through the same problems as her.

Forget saving the Earth, teen angst is far more formidable.

These were the thoughts that were going through my head as Onee-sama me chased down the street. They all collided into one as I fell, my bare knees scraping against the pavement. I looked at Onee-sama, her eyes stern and serious. Had she gone crazy? What was she trying to accomplish? "Please stop it, Onee-sama!" She approached me, slow but dead set. I was expecting her to strike me, to teach me my place… I deserved it after all, after how I acted toward her, toward Ichigo… but then…

My dog Miki appeared before me. He barked at Onee-sama and protected me, a tiny creature full of more courage and loyalty than I could ever possess. "Please Onee-sama, stop it! He isn't involved in this!" But apparently he was because Onee-sama slashed her whip at us, sending out a flash-wave of orange smoke. I realized that Onee-sama must have been insane. I transformed into my Mew Mew form and stood up to protect Miki, even if it meant standing up against her. But that was exactly what she wanted.

"Found it now? The reason to fight?" she said. "Saying you don't care when you do. You're just like Ichigo."

Just like Ichigo…

And then there she was. Ichigo rose above me in all her pink glory, doing somersaults in the air, landing easily on her feet like the swift cat she is…

This was when I really decided to fight. Not only for the things I wanted to protect, like Miki, but also for myself. And for Ichigo. Because I deserved to not be miserable all the time and she deserved to have a friend who didn't make her as equally miserable.

Doing flawless pirouettes (I may have been troubled but my technique never falters), I aimed my bow at the monster Ichigo was fighting. She set off running, yelling "Nyanyanya!" So stupid yet so cute… She leaped into the sky, high above our heads and my expectations. "Mint!" she called. I shot my arrow at the beast, praying that when Ichigo intercepted it, Cupid's message would somehow reach her. Ichigo grabbed the arrow, flipping as she caught it, and sent it right into the monster. She fought with all of her vigor that I loved so much... and I knew I couldn't stay away.

When the dust settled, or in this case, the water (the monster exploded into a pool of water when it was defeated), I approached her. I was soaked and my bangs were plastered to my forehead, which normally would have sent me into a fit but… it didn't matter. I had finally found it- the resolve to tell her. Onee-sama had pulled it out of me… And it also helped that Ichigo was wet all over, her ears down, her pink costume clinging to her…

No distractions. No more excuses. "Ichigo," I said.

"What, Mint?"

This was it. It sounds so typical, but it was the moment of truth: "I wanted to tell you…"

Through one neko ear and out the other.

Here I was trying to tell her about my feelings and she was babbling on, asking me about my house.

But I really couldn't complain.

Because her suggestion about staying at my house would end up being a great opportunity.

Japanese Dictionary:

Tsundere: cold on the outside, loving on the inside

Hime-sama: princess

Neko- cat

*Thanks for reading! Please comment :3! -Rai