Okay, I lied. This story will be alternating between new chapters and edited chapters. I will really just do whatever I feel like XD. I should probably be doing my History essay, but this story was just calling my name. Anyway, updating is annoying. I've got Windows 8 and my video driver is crap so it freezes every 10mins but I have neither the patience nor can be bothered to fix it. I should though. I wrote a whole 5 paragraphs and forgot to save and the stupid computer freezes, so I'm forced to shut down. Combined with getting braces, I'm pretty pissed off. Those things hurt like a bitch.
~SCTMM~
Ichigo coudn't believe it! Here she was, just wondering when she would find Joker and Lynx and BAM! The aforementioned people were right in front of her! Just her luck. Of course, they wouldn't know it was her, since they only knew her in her Mew form. So she just had to play it cool.
"OHMYGOD! I'm so sorry!" So much for 'cool'. Ichigo gathered the scattered baking supplies. Joker helped gather the rest. Much to Ichigo's irritation, Lynx just stared at them while they did this. Having finished putting the supplies back into the bag, she spoke.
"Thanks for helping." She said in a tone that was genuine, to Joker, and sarcastic, to Lynx, at the same time. "I'm Ichigo." WAIT! Why did she do that! Seriously, how many people did they know called Ichigo. ONE! Mew Ichigo! God, she was dumb!
"Eh? Oh, you're that maid from the cafe!" Joker remarked, sudden realisation evident on her face. Oh thank god! Ichigo thought.
"Yeah! That's me! Just plain, old Ichigo from the cafe!" Ichigo said, hand behind her head. Oh my god, I sound so stupid! She thought. "How'd you know?"
"You served us. I'm Amu." Yes! A name! "And Mr. Anti-social over there is Ikuto." Oh my god! I am so going to rub this in Ryou's face!
"Hn." came Ikuto's reply. Mr Anti-social suits him. Amu bristled at Ikuto's response.
"Ikuto! you could at least take a break from your emo-bubble to apologise!" She whacked him over the head. Ikuto smirked.
"Even after punching me so many times, you still hit like a baby." he stated. Amu's face turned red in anger.
"What did you say! I was the only saving your ass when you were all evil-emo-cat!" What is evil-emo-cat? Ichigo thought, sweatdropping. sounds weird.
Unknown to Ichigo, Amu was, of course, talking about that incident. If only Ichigo knew.
Feeling a slight chill, Ichigo shivered. Something did not feel right. It was as if something evil was coming. Oh god, now? Of all times? Ichigo whined. I don't have time to freaking kill Kimera Animas. She glanced at Amu and Ikuto, still bickering. Especially not with these two around.
Amu had noticed Ichigo had gone tense. "Ne (1), Ichigo, are you okay?" She placed a hand on her shoulder, which only made Ichigo flinch and freeze up more.
"N-Nothing. I h-have to go." She started to walk away. Something's not right. Amu thought. She jogged up to Ichigo.
"I could help you carry those, if you want. You're hands are kind of full." Crap, what do I do now? Ichigo was desperate. She had to get rid of these two. But judging from Amu's expression, she was too kind to let Ichigo carry all the bags. *Sigh* I'm going to regret this. Ichigo gave Amu two of the bags, which left her with two to hold. Amu passed one to Ikuto, who had only just arrived, since he had been walking behind them. He took it reluctantly.
"Thanks, I guess." Ichigo mumbled. Just then, Masha decided it was the mos appropriate time to pop to his normal size.
"Ichigo, Ichigo! Alien, alien!" Masha chirped. Amu stopped dead, eyes wide. Ikuto's eyes only widened slightly.
"W-What is that thing?" Amu was vaguely reminded Ran, who was currently dozing in her egg pouch with her other charas. This fluffy, heart-shaped thing seemed way more annoying, flying around their heads squeaking "Alien! Alien! Danger! Danger!"
"E-Eh? Masha's a toy robot thing I got f-from a friend!" Ichigo stuttered out. Sliding a bag onto her other arm, she quickly snatched Masha out of the air and stuffed him in her jacket. Ikuto arched an eyebrow, not believing her.
"Right." he muttered, not loud enough to hear, even with her enhanced hearing.
"Alien! Alien!" Masha still cried, but his voice was muffled. Ichigo winced.
"I-I really need to go!" She ran off. Amu was surprised.
"Ma-Matte! (2) You forgot your bags!" She cried to Ichigo's retreating form. She started to dash after her. Ikuto sighed.
"Jeez, does she ever think before running off?" He jogged after her.
~SCTMM~
Masha lead Ichigo to the Kimera Anima's location. "Alien! Alien!"
"I know! Shut up!" Ichigo yelled, frustrated at the little robot's constant warnings. Vaulting over a fence, she checked over her shoulder. Phew! Managed to get Amu off my trail. she thought.
She sped along, weaving and dodging between trees, jumping the occasional fence. She may not admit it, but she loved doing this. Maybe it was her cat genes, maybe it was just he adrenaline that came with it, but Ichigo loved to run and run fast. She loved the feel of the wind battering her face gently, whistling past her ears, blowing back her clothes as she ran. In this state, she didn't mind the low tree branches that would scrape at her bare skin, giving a whipping sensation. She didn't mind that the ground beneath her was starting to make her feet ache. She loved running.
The trees opened to a sunny clearing. Birds chattered in the trees quietly, a gentle breeze carressed her hair and the blades of lush grass. It's too quiet... she thought.
She realised a second too late. Suddenly, an almost invisible net rose from the grass. Eyes wide, she jumped back, only to hit the other side of the net. Crap! It was a trap! she thought.
The net's corners pulled up to a single point, suspended from tree, so Ichigo was caught up and dangling. The more she struggled, the more she entangled herself. Frantically, she let out a distress call to the other Mews.
"Hey koneko-chan (3), it's been a while." A cocky voice sounded. Ichigo's eyes narrowed. She'd know that voice from a million miles away.
"Kisshu. What are you doing here?" she said. Kisshu walked out form behind a tree, hands on hips. He smiled.
"The usual. Finding Mew Aqua, causing trouble, irritating you." He approached her. Almost involuntarily, Ichigo turned away, probably expecting Kisshu to try and land a kiss. Kisshu noticed this.
"No need to be scared, koneko-chan. I'm not going to do anything," he said. She looked at him disbelievingly. "Yet." he added with a smirk. Her eyes narrowed again.
"Let me out and go away!" she yelled, hoping someone would hear. She distinctly heard bushes rustling in the distance. Were the Mews here? She could hear Kisshu talking, but she wasn't listening. She was listening for the rustling again.
There it was again! She stretched her hearing as far as it could go. And again! Her chin was grabbed roughly. Said hand pulled her face away from the direction of the noise. She came face to face with Kisshu.
"Are you listening?" He inquired. What? Ichigo thought. Kisshu sighed, exasperated. "I said: where are those two 'heroes' from last time?"
Heroes? What heroes? she pondered. Her eyes widened in realisation. Amu and Ikuto!
She eyed Kisshu. In a defensive tone, she asked, "What do you want with them?"
"They have interesting powers. The girl who can purify Kimera Animas and the boy is a cat, but neither are Mews." Kisshu studied her face. "Judging from your expression, you do not have an explanation either."
"Of course not! We've only just met them!" Ichigo yelled, wrenching her chin from Kisshu's grasp. Kisshu smirked.
"Oh but couldn't be more wrong. You know who they really are." he stated, "I want to know." He turned away slightly. "Besides, I have a score to settle with that stupid catboy."
"Eh?" Ichigo said. What had Ikuto done? Kisshu answered her unasked question. He moved his hair away from the right side of his face. A faint purple bruise could be seen. It stretched from his cheekbone to his ear. One would probably not notice since his hair bunch would usually cover it.
"He gave me one nasty punch." he let his hair cover the bruise again. "Haven't been punched like that since that stupid wolf girl got worked up over that little girl."
Although Kisshu was their enemy, Ichigo couldn't help but feel a pang of pity. Kisshu was slightly shocked as the pity crossed her face.
On multiple occasions, Kisshu had gone out of his way to ensure Ichigo's safety, though he would cover it up as teasing. He did like Ichigo, but he just didn't know how to express it properly. So of course, he didn't know how to react when he saw that pity and worry on Ichigo's face.
"W-What's with that look?" He cursed himself for stuttering a bit. Ichigo noticed him staring and the worry was wiped off her face in a second.
Ichigo was about to answer when the bushes next to her parted to reveal Amu.
"A-Amu?" Ichigo cried, surprised at the other rosette's sudden appearance. Amu saw Ichigo entangled in the net. Her eyes flicked over to the green-haired alien just a metre away.
"You! You're that weird sexual harrassment guy!" Amu cried, pointing dramatically at Kisshu. Kisshu facefaulted. Weird sexual harrassment guy?! he screamed internally.
"Who the hell are you?!" he responded loudly. Amu drew herself to her full (but still quite short) height. She placed her hands on her hips.
"Your worst nightmare! Let Ichigo go!" she gave him her best do-as-I-say-and-I-won't-kill-you glare. Kisshu just smirked.
"Oh yeah? How are you going to do that?" he retorted. Amu was about to call out one of her charas when Ichigo spoke.
"Don't transform!" she yelled. She was not going to get rescued again. So before Amu could question how she knew about her chara transformations, Ichigo pulled out her pendant.
"Mew Mew Strawberry! Metamorphosis!" Ichigo was enveloped in pink sparkles.
Amu on the other hand, was shocked. "Na-Nani?! (4)"
The sparkles cleared as Ichigo tore through the net as Mew Ichigo. Ichigo is Mew Ichigo! Amu yelled mentally, ICHIGO is MEW ICHIGO! If Ichigo is Mew Ichigo then... Amu's mouth dropped. Oh my god!
"You- you're- What the hell?!" Amu yelled, trying to make sense of the situation.
Kisshu smirked. "So the kitty has her claws out." He summoned his sais. "Then let's play, koneko-chan!"
He dove at her front, sword poised for the heart. Ichigo managed to summon her Strawberry Bell just in time to deflect the attack. Kisshu quickly attacked with the opposite sai. Ichigo deflected that too, before backflipping to avoid a third attack. Kisshu followed and Ichigo protected her front, only for Kisshu to whip to the right at the last second, landing a slash in Ichigo's side. Ichigo cried out before balling a fist and launched it into Kisshu's face. Startled at the sudden punch, he stumbled back a few metres, giving Ichigo enough time to get to Amu.
"You've got to leave!" she said to Amu. Amu snapped out of her reverie.
"What? No way! I'm going to beat this guy into the ground!" she opened her jacket, flicking open the egg case on her belt. Ichigo noted that there were four colourful eggs in there; red heart, blue spade, green clover and yellow diamond. "Ran!"
The heart-printed egg cracked to reveal a tiny pink cheerleader. "Yay! Ran at your service!"
"What are those!" Ichigo yelled, pointing at the new rosette. The little person lifted her tiny pom-poms.
"I'm Ran!" She greeted Ichigo. She then proceeded to do a little cheer dance. "Its. Nice. To. Meet. YOU!" she said with each move.
"They're shugo charas." without furthur explanation, Amu and Ran faced each other. "My own heart: Unlock!"
The Humpty Lock burst into life.
~SCTMM~
Ikuto trudged through the park. How they hell did he lose Amu? Of course, the other girl cheated and used Ran to run faster as to catch up with the red-haired waitress. Ikuto thought he could still keep up, being to lazy to use a chara change. As if the cat sleeping in his jacket pocket would wake up to do so anyway.
So here he was, wandering aimlessly in the general direction he last saw Amu. I should just go get lunch or something, he thought, it's not as if she can't take care of herself.
He would have probably done it too. But there was something about how that waitress, Ichigo, he remembered, was so flustered over that robot toy of hers that made his worry. What if Amu was in actual danger? What if she was fighting some monsters while he was munching on sushi and onigiri (5+6)?
So, after much thinking, he poked the cat chara. Yoru stirred slightly before going back to sleep. Ikuto sighed. He could do one by himself, as long as Yoru was near, but frankly, the sunlight's warmth was making him lazy so he couldn't be bothered. So again, he poked Yoru, harder this time. The little cat opened his eyes blearily.
"What do you want ~nya?" Yoru yawned, rubbing his eyes with his oversized paws. One look told his all he needed to know. "Whatever ~nya." Yoru lent Ikuto his energy. One flash of light later, Ikuto had his cat ears and tail. The cat chara was already back asleep.
Ikuto sniffed the air. With his enhanced sense of smell, he easily picked up Amu's strawberry scent, along with another scent that also smelt suspiciously of strawberries.
He quickly hopped in that direction.
~SCTMM~
Amu dodged to the left as a dagger sailed past her ear, cutting a few threads of hair. Twisting her body, she aimed a kick at the dagger's wielder, who had shortly sailed by after his weapon.
The blow landed in Kisshu's gut, forcing him to drop the sais and fly into a tree, rather hard. "Itai! (7)" he yelled.
Amu retreated. Ichigo ran to her side as Kisshu got up and summoned the fallen sais. Both weapons back in his hand, he charged the two rosettes again. Ichigo crouched for a low attack while Amu cocked her Heart Baton like a baseball bat. Faster than a cheetah, Ichigo sprung forward and took out Kisshu's feet, causing him to fall foward. Amu swung the Baton. It caught Kisshu like an uppercut, launching him upwards. Ichigo leapt up a tree and pushed off its trunk. She kicked Kisshu back down to earth. Kisshu landed with a thud.
When in the hell did they get this strong? he asked himself angrily. Picking himself back up, he pulled a sharp right turn. No bothering to summon his sais, he teleported to their back and launched a kick that hit Amu square in the back. Said girl lurched forward from the blow, landing on the grass.
Ichigo noticed her ally down and quickly swung a fist at Kisshu as he flew by after the kick. It didn't connect.
Kisshu retreated to the other side of the clearing. "Well it was nice to see you again." With that, he teleported.
"Matte!" Ichigo yelled. She ran towards him, reaching for him, but he disappeared as soon as she was within touching distance, leaving her clutching at air. "Dammit! Almost had him!"
A groan grabbed her attention. "Ah! Amu!"
She helped up the fallen girl. The cheerleader groaned again. "Itai..."
"Sorry Amu. He got away." Ichigo told her. Amu's transformation released itself. Ran hovered by Amu's shoulder.
"Ah, it's fine. As long as the pervert's gone." Ichigo giggled a little. She agreed with Amu on the 'pervert' part.
A figure jumped from the trees. Ichigo summoned her Bell just in case it was another alien.
"Oh no, you got me." Ikuto said, raising his hands in mock-surrender. Ichigo scowled, then let her Bell disappear. Ikuto looked around the clearing. Tree branches were broken, a portion of grass had been uprooted and a massive net lay disheveled in a corner. "What the hell happened here?"
"A fight." Ichigo stated, crossing her arms. "Where the hell were you?"
Ikuto stroked his chin in mock-thought. "I was pondering the meaning of life and the universe."
Amu scowled. "You liar. You were probably having a nap."
"Ichigo!" A new voice yelled. The bushes rustled as a blue-haired girl walked through it. The girl looked annoyed.
"Ichigo, why the hell did you send a distre-" her words were cut short as she realised the presence of the two others. "Oh, it's them."
"Them?" Amu repeated, looking at Ichigo, who in turn looked at the other girl.
"Yeah, well, we've been wondering whether you were on our side or not." Ichigo said sheepishly. Amu raised an eyebrow.
"Really? Couldn't you just figure out the answer from what just happened?"
The blunette coughed to gain their attention. "You two," she pointed at Amu and Ikuto, "have some explaining to do."
Amu looked at Ikuto. Ikuto nodded his head ever so slightly. Amu turned to the girl.
"Sure."
They all exited the clearing.
~SCTMM~
(1) Ne = um/hey/er
(2) Matte = wait
(3) Koneko-chan = kitty cat/cute kitty/kitten
(4) Nani = what
(5) Sushi = various vegetables and meats wrapped in rice and dried seasweed on the outside.
(6) Onigiri = rice ball
(7) Itai = ow/ouch
All hail crappy fighting scenes! I know that it was more physical attacks than magical, but I find that using the standard attacks they have are so boring. So I decided that they would use some hand-to-hand combat. I believe this has stemmed from my recent watching of some action animes (when I first started this story, I hadn't watched much besides shoujo). I've watched the first season of Naruto, Bleach, Fairy Tail and I even watched a few episodes of One Piece with my brother (I also stayed to watch one episode of Blade of the Immortals). Anyway I guess that I felt that the shoujo animes in this story didn't have as much action violence (well duh, its shoujo not shounen) so I added some.
Signing off,
Xxsarbear-chanxX