Chapter 4: Who Did It?
RW to a half an hour ago, which is when Ichigo was kidnapped.
Ryou called Ichigo on her cell phone to see when she was going to come to work the next day. But, to his great surprise, her phone just kept ringing and ringing. That's odd, he thought. She always has her phone. And, she always picks up, thinking that every call is Masaya. He started to get angry at her, but still and all, he wanted to make sure she was okay. He called up Mint and asked if she and the girls would go over and check on Ichigo.
Mint, Lettuce, Pudding, and Zakuro who went unwillingly, all went over to Ichigo's house to see her. When they got there, the door was unlocked, so they let themselves in. There was a note on the counter that said, 'Ichigo, your father and are visiting your grandparents. We won't be back until later this week. Take care and be safe, Mom.'
The girls went up into Ichigo's room. Her desk light was on and the doors to her balcony were open and blowing in the wind. Lettuce went to shut the doors and said, "Hey you guys, come check this out." The girls went out onto the balcony and over to where Lettuce was crouched down, looking at something. "What is it Lettuce?" asked Zakuro. She showed them her palm and on it, was some silvery dust. She stated, "I don't know, but Keiichiro might." She grabbed out a small bag and put the dust into it. They also grabbed Ichigo's phone which was open and facing toward the balcony. Before they left, they search the entire house from top to bottom, but they couldn't find Ichigo anywhere. The girls headed over to Café Mew Mew to report on what they had found.
When they got there, Lettuce gave Keiichiro the weird dust and the phone. The girls all sat down and were soon joined by Ryou and Keiichiro, after they were done putting the evidence into the computer for analysis. Soon they all began discussing what to do.
Ryou questioned, "Where could she be if she's not home? It's not like her to be irrisponsi- no never mind. She is always irresponsible. But anyway, where would she have gone?" Mint stood up, walked around, and said, "I remember! She told me that she was going to stay home tonight. She didn't want to do anything because she was so upset about Masaya leaving. But, now that she's not home, I'm worried." Every one looked at her except Zakuro, who was thinking. Zakuro said, "Maybe…" Everyone turned toward her. "Maybe Kish came back. Maybe he came back for her."
There was silence for a second before Pudding stood up and exclaimed, "No! The aliens are good now. Besides, Kish said he'd left. He left for good, right? He said he'd leave Ichigo and Masaya alone, right? Why would he be back if he said he wasn't going to come back?" She was on the verge of tears. Mint came over to her and comforted her as she whispered, "People lie. Even though Kish is an alien, he's still capable of lying."
Just then, Keiichiro's computer beeped. Every one got up and surrounded Keiichiro as he sat down. He typed something quickly, his fingers flying over the keyboard, and he announced, "My computer is done analyzing that dust that Lettuce collected. Apparently, that dust comes from the "repose bloom" or the "restfulness bloom." The plant isn't found anywhere…on earth. It comes from another planet in another galaxy altogether called Tenashu. The analysis is also completed on Ichigo's phone too." He drew up a file that had all of the contents of Ichigo's phone. There were only 12 pictures, and 1 recording. They looked at her pictures first. Everyone thought they would be all of Ichigo, but they were all of Ichigo and Masaya, together. They then looked at the recording.
It had been recorded earlier that night. It showed Ichigo sitting at her desk and she said, "I wanted to make this to remind myself of just how much I love my boyfriend. Although he may be in a different country for a year or so, still love him…I always have and I always will." She stood up and clicked the button to stop the recording, but the phone didn't shut off. She dropped the still recording phone onto the bed and it fell facing the balcony. Ichigo opened the doors to the balcony, and stepped out. She stared out to the darkened sky for a minute before she began to sob, "I'm going to miss Masaya so much when he leaves." All of the sudden, Ichigo began crying. She laid her head on the balcony railing and cried for a while.
Then from nowhere, there was a blinding flash of light. Ichigo said, "This is totally not normal." Suddenly, after she said that, there was a very loud, ear deafening boom. Ichigo stepped back, tripped and fell on the ground.
Keiichiro stopped the recording, laughed and said "That's Ichigo for you!" They then returned their attention to the resumed recording.
After Ichigo fell backwards, there appeared a spaceship right next to her balcony. From nowhere then, appeared Kish. Keiichiro paused the recording as Pudding exclaimed, "Zakuro was right, Kish kidnapped Ichigo." Keiichiro then resumed the recording again.
Kish was standing on the balcony railing as Ichigo questioned, "Kish…?" He leaned down and said cheerfully, "Hey Ichigo!" He jumped down onto the balcony and he raised an eyebrow as he asked, with a hint of amusement lacing his words, "Why are you on the ground Keneko-chan?" Ichigo sat, dumbfounded and Kish looked serious as he continued.
"Ichigo, I'm sorry for the entrance, for scaring you, and for not realizing much sooner just how much I need you in my life again. Only this time, I want no interruptions…" He gave a perverted grin and Ichigo sighed.
Something suddenly changed in him. He stood straight up and said in a harsh yet, wanting tone, "Look Ichigo, I don't care about Masaya or how much he claims to love you, I'm taking you back and I won't do what he's done." Ichigo looked up confused and questioned, "What do you mean? What has Masaya done? What do you mean 'claims to love' me?" He gave a lopsided grin and said, "Now is not the time or place Keneko-chan, but I will explain everything to you eventually, I promise!"
As he said this, he pulled out a little bag. He poured some of the contents in his hand. Lettuce said, "That must be the dust that I found." The recording began again. Kish blew the dust into her face and said, "When you wake up, you will be in paradise." She gasped, inhaling the dust and she soon collapsed.
He reached down, picked her up like a rag doll, turned toward the spaceship and exclaimed in a joyful tone, "Now that I have my true love back, home to Tenashu!" He flew into the ship with Ichigo; the ship turned around, and disappeared with another loud boom. All was then still.
Keiichiro stopped the recording. No one said anything for a minute. Finally, Zakuro said, "Who's going to tell Masaya what happened?" They all looked around at each other and they were all thinking the same thing. Who would have the terrible, sad job of telling Masaya that his girlfriend had been kidnapped by an alien on the night before he was supposed to leave for England?
When she saw that nobody was stepping up, Mint finally spoke up and said, "I will. If I don't, no one will." They all bid her luck as she left.