A/N: This took me a bit longer to write than usual, sorry for the wait. Thanks for all the support so far! (:
After Amaya stumbled back into the café's dining room, the girls crowded around her to see what was in the box she held. When they recognized the uniform and pendant, they were just about as shocked as Amaya was. Well, at least that made her feel a little bit better.
Ichigo looked up at the floating pink thing. "Masha, how do you know that Amaya is a Mew Mew?"
Masha floated contently, wings hardly flapping. "Masha knows! Masha knows! Amaya has the mark!"
Amaya frowned and looked down at herself. "The mark? What mark? Where?" She searched her arms and legs and saw nothing that hadn't been there before. Was it in an embarrassing place? She hoped not.
A small gust of air blew across Amaya's cheek as Masha flew up behind her ear. "Right here! Right here!"
They leaned in, and suddenly Amaya felt like a zoo animal.
"I see it!" Pudding shouted, pointing in horror.
"She's right," Zakuro said. "It's there. You really are a Mew Mew."
Amaya touched her neck below her ear where the alleged mark was. She'd never noticed a strange mark there before. Then again, her hair usually covered her neck, and she couldn't actually see her neck for herself unless she was looking in a mirror. How long had it been there?
"Do you feel any different than usual?" Lettuce asked.
Amaya shook her head. "Not really . . ." she murmured. She felt her stomach grumble angrily. She flushed and covered it as if to hide the sound. "But, I'm really hungry all of a sudden."
"Try some of Akasaka's desserts! Ichigo does it all the time!" Pudding chirped.
Ichigo glared down at the younger girl, face red. "I do not!" she wailed.
Amaya pouted. She was hungry, but not for desserts. She was getting strange cravings she'd never had before: a craving for something carnivorous. Part of her wanted to go out and find something to satisfy her hunger, but a hand on her shoulder stopped her just as she was about to act. She looked up to see Zakuro.
"You should change. We'll be opening up soon. Shadow Ichigo for a while to learn what to do, after that you'll be on your own," she said.
Amaya nodded and made way for the change room.
When she returned, Lettuce was opening the store and a line of high school and middle school students were already stationed outside the door. Amaya was in awe. She felt her stomach tumble with nerves. She hoped she didn't mess up.
Ichigo bounded up to her and smiled. "What's most important is just to stay calm and be polite. As long as you have that, you're fine," she said supportively.
She smiled and nodded, but she was nervous regardless.
The day was long and Amaya felt as if she were drowning; every time she was asked to do something or to help a customer, she couldn't help but mess up once or twice. She'd never realized how difficult being a waitress really was. How the hell had these younger girls been doing it so long?
By the time her break came along it was just about the end of the day. She was leaned over a table with her head in her folded arms, sighing heavily as her back creaked like the hinges of an old, rusty door. She looked up, watching as the other girls continued working, dashing from table to table with plates upon plates.
They sure do work hard, even for a secret hideout. I wonder if I'll get better, too? she wondered.
"Ah, Amaya! Care for some tea?"
She looked up. To the table next to her, Amaya saw Mint sitting with a teacup in her fingers, one leg crossed over the other with her pinky up, daintily. The raven-haired girl smiled politely and gestured for her to sit at her side.
Amaya blinked. She found the girl odd, but she did as offered anyway. Walking over to the chair next to Mint, she poured Amaya a cup of tea and held it out to her. Amaya took it and sat. "It's Country Peach Passion, imported from the west. It's very good," Mint explained.
Amaya looked down at the amber liquid. It smelled wonderful, that was for sure. The cup was hot between her palms. She stared down at her reflection in the steaming tea and sighed. "I wish it were easy for me to be good at these things like you girls," she murmured. "All I can do is drop things and mess up orders."
Mint sipped at her tea and watched as Ichigo ran to complete an order at a table across the room. "Ichigo has always been a hard worker. Besides, she's had more practice. Don't beat yourself up because you're not getting it perfect right away."
Amaya continued to stare into her cup. She heard Mint's words but she was not listening, not really. She was too engrossed in her thoughts. In the end, she was just spoiled. She'd never worked a day in her life and yet here she was, feeling miserable after one shift. She had thought things had changed after she ran from the hospital, but she was just the same person in a different place. She was still the privileged little rich girl with privileged-rich-girl selfishness.
Ryou had done things for himself after his accident. He'd studied, researched, gone to America and came back. Amaya had run away and still ended up having everything done for her by Ms Rosbe. Even now, she depended on others for everything. She couldn't do anything for herself, not really. A spoilt crybaby like her; could she really be a Mew Mew?
Tears stung in her eyes but she bit them back. She felt as though reality had slapped her hard in the cheek and now she was caught in the embarrassing aftershock of her sudden realizations. A tiny drop rippled through the uninterrupted smoothness of her tea, making Amaya realize she had let her tears slip. She cursed herself and quickly wiped her eyes, hoping Mint had not noticed.
Sudden approaching footsteps made them all collectively pause what they were doing to look up. As the last few customers made their leave from the front door, Ryou entered the room. "Close up shop," he said. "Then come down to the basement. We have news."
Amaya watched him go. The others continued on their work and began with their closing duties: washing tables, collecting dishes and sweeping the floor. Zakuro was stationed at the cash register, counting out money.
Yet Mint never moved. Amaya frowned and looked over to her. "Is this . . . what you always do?" she asked the younger girl.
The dark-haired girl smiled. "Of course. What else would I be doing?" she asked haughtily.
Amaya shrugged and looked around as the others ran to and fro. "Um, helping?" she asked.
Mint laughed delicately and waved Amaya off as if she were a peasant. "Don't be absurd, Amaya. I don't do work around here, I just drink the tea. Leave all the dirty work for Ichigo."
Ichigo, who'd happened to have been walking by at the time, stopped and glared at her. "Mint! Stop teaching Amaya bad things! We've finally gotten another pair of hands to pick up your slack and now you're motivating her to slack with you!"
Amaya watched as the two of them continued their habitual bickering. Mint talked the talk, but when she really needed to Amaya saw her working all the time. She sighed. Perhaps if she worked hard enough, she could be valuable like them.
Ten minutes passed and the café was officially closed. The floors were mopped, chairs sitting upside down atop the tables, counters and dishes cleaned. With a long relaxing stretch, Ichigo turned to the others and smiled. "Let's go see what Shirogane's news is."
They nodded and followed through the hall, down the winding stairs and into a dark, spacious room. Amaya looked around as she followed. For the most part, the room was empty, save for a few computers, a table and a large projector. Akasaka and Ryou were stationed on either side of the projector, which was emanating a large photo of the earth.
They stood in a horizontal line, facing the screen. "What's this about? Have the aliens made another move?" Zakuro asked, arms crossed.
Ryou shook his head. "Not quite. But it can only be assumed that they will once they realize that Amaya has joined us. This is more for informational purposes than for actual updates," he explained.
"Informational purposes?" Ichigo asked.
Akasaka nodded. "Yes. Amaya, even though it's been quite a while since Tokyo Mew Mew has been established, you were not found until now. To be honest, it's obvious that you will be a bit behind in comparison to the other Mews. You will need to work very hard to keep up with them."
Amaya felt her heart clench in her chest. Even in the battlefield, it seemed Amaya was lacking. She was beginning to feel like she couldn't handle this.
Pudding raised her hand as if she were in class. "So what animal is Amaya infused with?"
Akasaka smiled politely. "We won't know until she's transformed," he explained.
Pudding looked up at Amaya with sparkling eyes, making take a step back in confusion. "Maybe you're a squirrel! Or a raccoon! Or a starfish!"
"Pudding, we're supposed to be infused with endangered species," Lettuce said politely.
Amaya looked up at the photo of the earth, creeping upon her as a constant reminder. She looked down at the ground beneath her feet. Her wavering heart was enough to make her want to cry. Looking back up, she raised her hand, making everyone go quiet.
"Amaya?" Ryou said.
Amaya slowly lowered her hand to her side and felt her fists clench. "I know that I have this weird mark thing on my body and everything, but how do we know I'm even a Mew Mew? I mean, I appreciate you giving me this job and everything, but how am I supposed to be cut out to save the world? I'm just a girl . . ."
"Amaya . . ." Ichigo murmured quietly from behind.
She said nothing, just stared at Ryou, waiting for a reply.
Arms crossed, the blond shrugged. "Your father begun the Mew Project probably years before you were born. When he was able to, it explained in his notes that he injected the gene into you to see if his research was correct. Luckily for you, you were a match."
Amaya frowned. "Luckily?" she muttered angrily. "So my dad made me like this?"
Ryou's eyes faltered for a moment, as if he had regretted telling her something so personal. "Yes."
Suddenly Amaya felt a hand at her shoulder. She looked up to see Zakuro standing behind her. "Don't worry Amaya. We all feel like we're not enough once in a while. Nobody feels like they're enough to carry the weight of the world on their shoulders, but somebody has to regardless. We're all here to help you shoulder the burden too."
Ichigo smiled and nodded, stepping up to her other side. "That's right Amaya. We're all here for you, too. You're one of us now. I didn't like the idea of becoming a superhero freak at first, but it's not so bad as long as I can protect the ones I love."
Amaya looked from Zakuro, to Ichigo, then to the others standing before her. She looked back down toward the floor. She wasn't sure what to think or what to feel. All she knew was that this was too much for her.
"Whether or not you like it is inconsequential," Ryou said sternly, cutting through her reverie like a knife to her heart. "This is more than a little high school drama, this is the world we're talking about. You're the only ones who can do it. There's no room for complaints."
Ichigo turned to the blond and glared. "Shirogane! You don't need to be a jerk!"
Amaya drew in a deep breath. She looked up and saw blue. Ryou's eyes were staring sternly into hers. Not in a rude way, but in a determined, confident and uplifting way. She suddenly felt the need to counterpart his unwavering confidence. She cracked a tiny grin. He'd said nothing directly to her, but she knew what his eyes were saying: I trust you. I am confident you will not fail.
"You're right," she said, making the others look to her. "Sorry. I was being stupid."
Ryou grinned. "Good. That'll be it for now. Everyone go home and get some rest."
They began to disband. The lights turned on and the image faded to black. Normal conversation buzzed around her as the other girls began making their way back upstairs, but Amaya stayed where she was, looking down at her hands.
"Amaya?"
She looked up and turned toward the voice. Ichigo stood a few feet away, waiting for her. "Coming?" she asked.
Amaya glanced behind her toward Ryou, but he was deep in conversation with Akasaka and looked like he did not want to be interrupted. With a small smile, she nodded. "Yeah, I'm coming," she said, jogging to catch up with her and make her way home.
"I'm home," Amaya called as she walked through the cluttered halls of the shelter. After the long day she'd had, she was surprisingly thrilled to be back. She went to her room, knowing that Mamaya would be there, and flopped down on the bed. "Man, what a day."
Mamaya looked up from her homework and lifted an eyebrow. "You were gone for an unusually long time. I thought you just went to talk to Shirogane? Did one thing lead to another?" she smirked.
Amaya's face went fire engine red. She glared at her younger sister and tossed one of her fluffy pillows at her. "Don't be stupid!" she wailed. "We were talking, but then he ended up offering me a position at the café and all of a sudden I was in some weird maid outfit and waiting on tables. I was working all freaking day."
Mamaya pouted. "And yet you still didn't bring me back anything. What a horrible older sister I have," she whined.
Amaya rolled her eyes and smiled. It was easy when they were talking like this. Natural. "Sorry," she said. "Now that I sold my soul to them, you can get all the desserts you want, so I guess that's going to have to suffice."
The younger girl shrugged. "I guess it'll do."
Footsteps approaching from the hallway outside made Mamaya perk up. She looked frantically at her sister, as if panicked. "Oh yeah, by the way, you might want to get a good story set because Ms Rosbe is kind of, well, pissed."
Amaya frowned. "W-why?"
"Well-"
The girl's sentence was interrupted as the woman in question pushed the door open. Amaya looked up at Ms Rosbe's looming figure. "Amaya Nikini, where did you go today?" she asked.
Amaya gulped. What could she say? She was never very good at making up lies on the spot, especially to Ms Rosbe. How could she lie to the woman who had saved her life? It didn't seem right to her no matter how hard she tried. "Um, I was on a date. At a café," she stammered. It was only half a lie. She couldn't tell her that she had met with Ryou Shirogane. If she recognized the name, she would be in big trouble.
The look on Ms Rosbe's face made Amaya unsure of whether or not she had scraped through her situation and out of a long lecture. She sat next to Amaya on the bed suddenly and put a hand on the girl's shoulder. "You were on a date?" she asked.
Amaya swallowed the lump in her throat. "Well, um, yes?"
She threw her arms around Amaya, making her eyes pop, blinking rapidly in confusion. Mamaya was snickering from her position on her own bed, watching the fallout. The older woman held Amaya in her tight arms for a few moments before finally pulling away and holding her by the shoulders. "I'm so happy for you! Your first date!" the woman squealed. "How did it go? Was he nice? What's his name?"
Amaya laughed nervously. "Well, ah, I blew it," she muttered. "I kinda ran out on him."
Ms Rosbe frowned. "Aw, so he wasn't nice? Oh well, don't you worry, honey. You're a gorgeous young girl, you're sure to have men lining up for you soon enough. Just you wait, that boy is going to regret losing you."
Amaya laughed meekly and nodded. "Heh, yeah," she murmured.
The woman stood and clapped. "Regardless, I'm very proud. You're growing up, Amaya!" She looked down at Mamaya and smiled. "Now all we need is for Mamaya to get on the dating game, too!"
Mamaya grunted and the lead from her pencil snapped in two. She looked up at Ms Rosbe with a face like she'd just drunk sour milk. "Me?! No freaking way! Dating is for people who want to get married and stuff!"
Amaya grinned, relieved that the attention had been shifted from her. "Don't worry sis, I'll teach you all the tricks of the trade," she smirked.
Mamaya glared at her.
Ms Rosbe smiled. "Now, clean up and get ready for dinner girls, it's almost ready." She said. She looked from one to the other, smiled proudly, then turned and left, closing the door behind her.
"You're a gorgeous young girl Amaya, you're sure to have men lining up for you soon enough," Mamaya echoed, snickering into her hands.
Amaya threw her remaining pillow at the girl, face red from embarrassment. "Shut up and get on the dating game!" she retorted.
Mamaya laughed. "Like that'll happen!"
Amaya frowned. "You were asking me for advice on what to say to your many future boyfriends about your family situations just days ago. What happened? Did a boy break your little heart?" she said, only half-teasing.
Mamaya grinned weakly.
Amaya leaned forward. "What? What happened?"
Mamaya fidgeted with her broken pencil and sighed. "Well, there's this guy," she muttered. "And he said he liked me but now he's talking about all these other girls and the other day I saw him with his arm around this really pretty girl so. Yeah."
Amaya sighed inwardly. Thirteen years old and her younger sister had more boy experience than she did. "Do you know the girl?" she asked.
She nodded. "She's really popular and she's really pretty. Most of the other girls I hang out with say that she's been friends with him for a while, but they've never really done anything together."
Amaya grinned. "Then it's obvious!"
She looked up at her older sister and frowned. "What is?" she asked.
"Maybe even though they've never officially dated, she's always kind of had a thing for him. But now that he has his eyes on you, she's all like 'no, he's mine!' so now she's getting jealous and hanging all over him so that he picks her instead. She's jealous of you, that's all, and he's too nice to say anything to make her stop because he doesn't know for sure if you like him, but with this girl he's bound to get what he wants," Amaya explained.
Mamaya blinked and stared at her older sister for a few moments. When she finally spoke, she said, "For a girl with no experience, you seem to know quite a lot about this stuff."
Amaya grunted under the impact of her words no experience. She pouted. "Here I am helping you and all you have to do is throw out insults," she muttered.
Mamaya grinned.
"Kids! Dinnertime!"
They shared glances and stood, making their way together down the hall and toward the dining hall.
For the majority of dinner, Amaya continued poking fun at Mamaya, talking to the other kids around her and cheerfully eating her food. Yet not once could she stop thinking about her day at the café or the rest of the Mews.
Ichigo was sitting at the dinner table but her mind was somewhere else completely. She could not help but wonder about Amaya and Shirogane, and how they might have known each other. It was obvious that they were more than acquaintances; Shirogane had pulled Ichigo over while Amaya was changing to talk to her privately.
"Make sure she's okay. She's been very alone for the last few years and well, there's more to her than you think," he'd said.
Ichigo had nodded, but she wasn't sure she understood. She thought back to the night she and Pudding had taken her home. Amaya had said that she was from "a part of his past he probably didn't like to talk about". What had that meant?
Part of her was being nosy, but a bigger part was genuinely concerned. Amaya was their friend now and it seemed she had a lot of pain hidden deep within her heart. She hadn't even allowed them to walk her all the way home.
Nonetheless, she had to respect the girl's privacy. The best thing she could do was to be friendly and make sure she was comfortable with the rest of the Mew Mews. Battling the aliens would be a completely different terrain.
"Ichigo? Ichigo!"
She blinked, slowly stepping out of her reverie. Her mother and father were staring at her from their ends of the table, eyebrows raised. "Ah, sorry," Ichigo said. "I'm just tired, hahaha."
Her father pointed at her in horror. "Ichigo! You're spilling soya sauce all over the table!"
She looked down and yelped. She must have picked up the soya sauce and begun pouring it into her dish before becoming lost in her thoughts. Now there was a puddle of soya sauce all over her plate. "Ah! I'll clean it, I'll clean it!" she wailed, standing for some towels. She whined. She had to stop zoning out in the middle of dinner.
Amaya woke with ravenous hunger. She blinked herself awake and the moment she'd opened her eyes, her stomach began rumbling.
She sat up and stretched her arms out, yawning tiredly. Quietly, so as not to wake Mamaya, she stepped out of bed and made way for the door. She tip-toed down the hallway and toward the community kitchen where most of the food was made for the shelter kids. She sniffed, but there were no smells. It must have been too early for anyone to be up cooking yet.
She stepped into the kitchen and made way for the fridge, opened it and peered in.
Amaya had never really been in here, mostly because when they were younger Ms Rosbe had told her and the other kids not to come into the kitchen so as not to harm themselves on knives or stoves. Amaya was older now, though; she could handle a few kitchen utensils.
The fridge was mostly full of fruits and vegetables and things Amaya had no interest in. She opened a few drawers and shelves, sniffing as she went. Maybe if she smelt something that caught her attention it would help her find something to eat.
It worked. A distinct smell came across her nose and suddenly Amaya was staring at a small box of leftover chicken. Her mouth watered. This was what she'd been craving.
She shut the refrigerator door and stepped up to a counter, immediately setting the box down and tearing into her newfound meal. Her stomach grumbled in appreciation.
As she continued ripping her teeth into her food, a small bit of movement caught her eye. She turned to the right to see what was there, heart pounding. If it was an adult, she would be in big trouble. But she saw nothing. She frowned. She sniffed the air but nothing came across her except the smell of her food.
There was a pile of wooden planks leaning against the plain white walls next to a large pantry. Amaya remembered they had been left around the shelter along with a few other things, like hammers and toolboxes, from last winter when there was a leak in the roof and one of the adults had tried to fix it. Amaya stepped toward the pile, wondering what could be hiding amidst its shadows.
She got down on her hands and knees as she approached it, leaning down close to the ground to peer into the pile of rubble. At first she saw nothing. After a few moments, she figured she'd just seen things and she began to raise herself.
But then she saw it again. Something moved in the tiny shadows. A part of her flashed back to the first accident when Amaya had seen the monster – no, Ryou had called it a Chimera Anima – in the shadows of her parents' bedroom. She ignored it. A far more feral part of her was dominant now. Her wide eyes watched in complete fascination as a tiny, grey mouse poked its nose out of the shadows.
Amaya's pupils were dilated. For a moment, the two stared at each other, eyes wide, hearts pounding for different reasons altogether.
Then the mouse made a run for it.
Amaya made an animal sound she'd never heard before and immediately sprung to life. She darted after the tiny animal and the chase began.
It was brief. In a few seconds, Amaya found herself with her hands covering the tiny mouse. She lifted her hands a few centimeters and leaned in toward it. The mouse's little chest moved rapidly, too afraid to move. Teeth bared, she began to open her jaws.
Then the kitchen light turned on.
"Amaya!"
Amaya snapped out of her strange trance and sprang to her feet. Ms Rosbe and two other woman in all white coats were standing in the doorway, their eyes wide with shock. The four of them stood like that for a few moments – the adults in complete shock, Amaya embarrassed and confused.
Then Ms Rosbe moved in, hands on her hips. "Amaya! Look at the mess you've made!"
She looked around. She hadn't noticed she'd made a mess at all, but now that the woman mentioned it, she gulped. Chairs were pushed over, utensils had fallen off the counters and onto the floor, even a few vegetables that had been lying out on tables had tumbled to the ground. It was a wonder she hadn't woken everyone long ago.
Amaya had nothing to say. She wasn't even sure what had happened herself. One moment she was satisfying a craving she'd had – for meat! When did Amaya ever crave meat? – and the next she was getting scolded. It had happened so quick she had no idea what to think about it.
"Well? What were you doing in here? You know you aren't supposed to be in here, Amaya!"
Amaya gulped. She had never heard Ms Rosbe yell like this before. For the most part, Amaya had always been compliant and done what she was told. The other children, too. The woman had never been given a reason to yell at one of her kids as far as Amaya knew. To think that it was her who had set her off made her throat tight.
"It's my fault!" a voice shouted from the doorway.
Everyone looked up and to the door. Mamaya stood in her pajamas, hair still messy. She must have woken when she heard the commotion and came dashing right over.
Ms Rosbe frowned. "Mamaya?"
The younger girl stepped into the kitchen. "I asked Amaya to get me something," she said. "I had a bad dream and I didn't want to leave my bed so I asked her to go to the kitchen for me. She didn't want to but I made her do it anyway."
Ms Rosbe looked down at Amaya, the anger in her eyes beginning to waver. "But then why did you make such a mess in here?"
Amaya gulped. "I, uh, I saw a mouse," she stammered lamely. "I got scared."
The woman let out a heavy sigh and brought her hands up to her temples, eyes shut. She looked from the elder sister to the younger and back. Amaya met eyes with her sister and waited.
Finally Ms Rosbe opened her eyes and pulled Mamaya over to stand next to Amaya. Then she knelt to see eye-to-eye with the two. "I understand that once in a while you two get bad dreams and sometimes you feel like you're the only ones there for each other, but I'm here. If you have a bad dream you can talk to me about it. But there are so many things in here that you can get hurt from. You got very lucky, Amaya. Promise me you won't come in here again."
Amaya thought back to her mother telling her to never go in the basement. Part of her was angry – why were there always places she couldn't go? She wasn't a little kid anymore! But she knew that Ms Rosbe had had enough of her trouble. Sighing, she nodded. "Okay," she murmured.
The woman flashed a tiny smile. "Good. Now, get ready for school. Breakfast will be ready before you go," she said.
The girls nodded and immediately made a run for the door.
"You owe me big time," Mamaya murmured as they made way down the hall.
Amaya groaned in response but she was paying very little attention. Now that she'd gotten out of trouble, she couldn't help but think about what had just happened. She had chased a mouse around the kitchen! That was nothing like her. What was happening to her?
Absentmindedly, she touched the mark on her neck, hiding beneath her hair. Perhaps it had something to do with her finding out that she was a Mew Mew. I'll go to the café and ask Ryou. Maybe he'll know something about it.
Ryou had just gotten out of the shower and dressed when he heard the café door open and close. He frowned. It couldn't have been a customer; the store wasn't even opened yet and Akasaka would not have allowed anyone to come in unless it was one of the girls. He sighed. Knowing his luck it was probably Ichigo here to run her mouth off at him again.
But when he walked downstairs and stepped out into the main room, the redhead he saw was not Ichigo. It was Amaya.
She was dressed in what must have been her school uniform. It looked a lot like what he remembered her uniform to be at their old school, back in the days when they went to school together. His memory brought about images of young Amaya with bruises and scrapes all over her arms and legs, fighting the boys who had been tormenting him for so long. Back then, she had been feisty, scrappy and completely untamed. The tortures of her first incident had affected her of course, but they hadn't taken the fire from her eyes quite yet.
But seeing her again, Ryou knew that the fire had been dowsed. She was apologetic and wary. The old her never would have apologized. Part of him ached for the thought that it was because of him that the fire had been taken from her.
Yet when the girl turned on him, he saw a glimpse of that old fire. He'd seen it that day, too, when their eyes met in the basement. He frowned. "Amaya. This is a surprise. What brings you to the café this morning?"
"A mouse," she said tightly.
He blinked. "A mouse?"
"Yes," she retorted. "I chased one around the kitchen this morning."
He fought back a grin. "Ah," he said. "I see. And you're telling me because?"
She growled. "You never told me I was going to turn into some freak who chased mice around and ate meat like a wild animal and hunted things! I got in so much trouble this morning and my poor clueless sister had to take the fall for me! Do you know how embarrassing it is to have to tell your sister you were chasing a mouse around the kitchen and that's why she had to take the blame?!"
Ryou lifted an eyebrow, arms crossed. "I can imagine. How is Mamaya, anyway?"
She fumed, steam rising from her ears. "She's just great, thanks for asking!" she shouted.
Ryou glanced above her, and for a moment she was going to scream at him and ask him what he was staring at that was so much more important than their current conversation. Then she saw her reflection in the window behind him. Her eyes went round. She stared, mouth agape.
"A fox," Ryou mused. "I suppose that would make sense. There's your answer, Amaya. That's why you're chasing mice and eating meat 'like a wild animal'."
She was too busy processing what she saw to understand the joke. She reached up with both hands and touched two warm, furry ears. They twitched underneath her touch, and it was strange to think that she could feel herself twitching them. "I thought we were supposed to be endangered animls," she murmured. "The red fox isn't endangered."
He shook his head. "Judging from the color and shape, you're not a red fox. You've got specs of grey in there. You're most likely something like an island fox."
"Huh," she muttered. She flushed. "Wait, how do I make them go away?!"
He smirked. "You calm down," he muttered. "They only come out when you're having strong emotions, like anger."
She pouted. "Great, so they'll never go away," she muttered.
He rolled his eyes. "You're too tiny to be angry all the time."
She fumed. "You want to test that theory?!" she exclaimed, hands clenched tight into fists. She stepped up to him, threateningly. She was frustrated. She was tired. She had years of anger pent up and ready to explode from her tiny fists. She would have taken any offer to let it out at this point.
Still, Ryou put his hands on her shoulders and pushed her gently away. "You need to calm down," he muttered. "I've seen you fight before and no way in hell would I sign myself up for that."
She huffed and crossed her arms. Part of her wished he had taken her up on her challenge, but she supposed she couldn't blame him.
He began to walk away, and suddenly her heart dropped. "Wait! Where are you going?"
He looked over his shoulder. "To work? Don't you have school?"
She fidgeted. "Well, yes, but I don't want to go. Can I stay here?"
He shrugged. "Do what you want, but I'm going to the basement so I won't be here to entertain you. Ask Akasaka for something to do if you get bored. He's in the kitchen," he said, waving as he disappeared into the hall.
Amaya felt relieved that she didn't have to go to school today. She knew that if Ms Rosbe found it, she would get scolded again, but she would make sure that she did not find out. A heavy weight lifted from her chest, Amaya set her bag down in the change room and changed into her café uniform. Akasaka gave her a list of things to do and she immediately set to it.
She was outside sweeping the sidewalk when she saw something in the bushes. She frowned. She was wary to approach the strange thing, not wanting to set herself off into one of her strange tangents like she had with the mouse, but she couldn't just stand there knowing there was something in the bush right next to her.
Nothing else left to do except investigate. She knelt to the bush and saw a long, brownish orange tail. The tip was white. She peered into the bush to see a tiny baby fox. It was tangled up in the vines of the bushes with thorns and bushels stuck in its fur. It gave a tiny mew when it saw her.
She smiled and set her broom down onto the ground, reached into the bush and carefully untangled the baby fox from the bush. She pulled it out and onto her lap and began picking the thorns from its coat. After a few moments, it was completely untangled and its fur was clean of thorns and leaves. It mewed happily and licked her cheek as if to thank her.
Amaya giggled. "You're so tiny. I wonder where your mommy is," she thought aloud.
The fox simply stared up at her with dark eyes.
"What have we here? Ichigo must have made a new friend!"
Amaya frowned. The voice was unfamiliar. She looked around her but saw no one. She expected to see someone from Ichigo's school, but the sidewalk was empty except for her and the baby fox. So who could have spoken just now?
"Up here!"
She looked up.
Yellow eyes were staring into hers. "Your soul looks extraordinary. Mind if I borrow it?"
Then everything went black.