Chapter Text
Mint.
Lettuce.
Pudding.
Zakuro.
Her fallen sisters. Her fellow Mew Mews. Her friends forever gone.
With trembling fingers, Ichigo delicately placed a flower upon the four cairns. The flowers were white daisies, small and shrivelled, but some of the few surviving native plants left on Earth. Mint would scoff at them, not wanting inexpensive weeds anywhere near her. Pudding and Lettuce would love them. Zakuro probably wouldn't care.
Ichigo smiled softly, kneeling before the graves and clasping her hands together in silent prayer.
Like each time she visited the graves, she wishes she had something better to mark their resting place - something more fitting for fallen heroes. Perhaps a beautiful statue of them, a marble tombstone engraved with their heroic deeds, or a mausoleum to shelter them. Instead, all she had been able to do was build small mounds with stones and bricks from the fallen city of Tokyo. They rested not far from where they had died, within the centre of the decaying city, the site of their final battle. A battle they had lost. Each of their weapons, cracked and dirt-stained, rested upon each cairn.
Tears trickled down Ichgio's cheek. Even after five years, the pain had yet to wane, not even a little. It hurt seeing the graves but she had to come see them, had to pay her respects. They had given up everything to try and protect the Earth. Someone had to be left to mourn them, to remember them; even if the only one who could was her.
The last Mew Mew.
She had never made a grave for Ryo, Keiichiro, Masha or the Blue Knight - she had not seen them die that day and hoped against all odds that they, along with her beloved parents and dear Masaya, had somehow miraculously, impossibly survived. It was unlikely, she knows. Very few people had survived the battle. The Chimera moth had made sure of that, swiftly laying waste to the city and its inhabitants.
With her sister mews deaths, it had been all too easy for the Cyniclons to take over the planet with aid of their monsters.
Ichigo tried her hardest not to remember that awful day. The roar of crumbling buildings, the screams of terrified people, the evil laughter of the Cyniclons and the shriek of the creature. Every night they echoed in her dreams, a vicious reminder of her failure, of her weakness. If she had been faster... stronger... smarter... maybe everything could have turned out differently. Maybe-
Warm amber light spilt over her, the cairn's shadows reaching out to her like a ghostly touch - a reminder, a warning. Ichigo glanced up, noticing the rising sun.
She could not stay here any longer. Soon it would be daytime and the Cyniclon warriors would be searching the city, looking for any humans who still remained. Most had been killed or captured. Ichigo wasn't sure what the Cyniclons did with their prisoners, but she could not imagine it was anything good. And if they found her - a Mew Mew who had opposed them - they would show no mercy.
Ichigo bid one final goodbye to her friends, promising to visit again next year.
Provided she survived that long.
Earth was no longer the planet it had once been; not since the Cyniclons began to colonise it, carving it out to suit their own needs and wants. Ichigo didn't know what the rest of the world was like, but she knew it could not be a far cry from the hostile environment that Tokyo had been transformed into.
Cities, towns and villages had become wastelands of rubble and debris, destroyed by armies of Chimera Animas. What little buildings and structures were left were in ruin, nothing more than empty skeletons, abandoned and left to rot. Nature had consumed everything, turning Tokyo into a feral jungle. Gone were the roads, pavements and bridges; swallowed by endless green.
For themselves, The Cyniclons had created sparkling cities, protected by shimmering forcefields. Everyone outside the domes lived in constant fear. Cyniclon warriors hunted in the jungles, capturing any remaining humans. There were all manners of beasts now, Chimera Animas prowling unbridled among Earth's natural predators. Many of the new species of plants that the aliens had released into the wild were carnivorous and dangerous.
It was not an easy world to live in. Each day was tolling. There was no peace, no relaxing, no fun; not when at any moment something or someone could lash out from the shadows, intend to kill. Even other humans couldn't be trusted. Those who survived were not always friendly, the desperation to survive driving them to wicked means of acquiring food, medicines, and other essentials. It was survival of the fittest npw., with few kind hearts left.
It was in this cruel world that Ichigo learned to survive - all on her own.
She wishes she could say it came naturally to her, but everything was very much trial and error - sometimes with harsh lessons to be learned.
As Ichigo made her way out of the city and deeper into the jungle towards her hideout, she kept a sharp eye open.
She knew to avoid the greyish nettles that grew around the trees - they were poisonous and induced mild hallucinations. The twisty trees with periwinkle, star-shaped leaves were safe, and she made sure to snatch up some leaves, as they glowed in the dark and made perfect nightlights. She didn't step on the bluish moss splattered about the ground - it would swallow your foot up to your ankle and only let go with extreme heat. Ichigo scowled as she passed by a green bush filled with purple, heart-shaped berries. She had learned the hard way they were highly toxic and caused severe fevers, a dry cough and a terrible rash.
With each new discovery, Ichigo would take a note in the tattered notebooks that she had salvaged, lest she forget. It was something that Lettuce would do, the girl having been so eager to learn and study. Ichigo liked to think Lettuce would be proud of all the intel she had collected.
The cute butterfly creatures with pointed wings could breathe fire.
The high pitched chirp with a subtle ringing to it was not any Earthly birds, but a large crocodile-like Chimera that used the sound to lure prey.
The vines on the alien trees were sentient, so touching them was a no no.
The oversized gooey looking mushrooms with googly eyes were safe to eat, though they were gross. Oh, so very gross.
Ichigo made a mental note to pick a few of the mushrooms up tomorrow. She was running low on food supplies and would need to do some scavaging, especially with winter approaching. With a sigh, Ichigo hurried through the thick jungle. Her hideout wasn't too far now. Just a few more minutes and she would see the-
Something made her pause. Her cat ears were out, twitching and listening to something near-by. Someone was shouting; they sounded angry and distressed, pained perhaps. Ichigo didn't hesitate, she rushed into the surrounding jungle, leaping over fallen trees and jutted out roots, careful not to trip. It didn't take long to find the source of the commotion.
There in a small clearing was a Chimera.
It was tall, standing on two feet with long claws at the end of its hands. It was covered head to two in a dull yellow fur, with a touch of white at the tip of its bushy, swooshing tail. As it turned its face, a long snout with a black nose came into view. It looked almost like a fox - and perhaps it had been a fox before a wandering Infusor had found it.
A pained groan brought her attention away from the creature. There was a man lying at its feet, bruised and battered and barely moving.
Ichigo grabbed her power pendant, brought it to her lips and cried out.
"Mew Mew Strawberry! Metamorphosis!"
Pink light burst through the clearing, blinding he Chimera as Ichigo transformed. She placed one hand on her hip and pointed accusingly at the startled creature.
"For those of Earth, I'll be of service," Ichigo said, finishing with a confident meow and flick of her tail.
She summoned her Strawberry Bell and send a powerful blast of power towards the Chimera. It screamed and howled as it was consumed in a swirl of fur and light. Ichigo shielded her eyes, watching as the Chimera was destroyed. When no Infusor or innocent animal appeared in its place, she frowned. That was different. There was always-
The man on the ground groaned.
Ichigo shook her head, running over to him.
"Sir, are you-" Ichigo froze. For a moment, she didn't believe what she was seeing. All to quickly, reality smashed against her like a freezing wave, sending a shiver down her body. She stared down in horror at the man. With a choked cry, she took a stumbling step back, then another.
It couldn't be him - it couldn't be him - and yet...
Green hair with red ties. Elongated, pointed ears. Skin so pale it was almost grey. Two daggers with emerald jewels lying useless by his hands - the dragon swords. He wore the same clothes he always had, shorts with long tassels, a crop top with puffy arms and short boots. His face was hidden in the dirt, but she didn't need to see his face to know that it was him. It couldn't be anyone else.
Kisshu.
The last time she had seen him had been at Tokyo tower, floating above the unsuspecting city that his moth would soon destroy. She remembered the sickening triumph in his golden eyes, the stupid smirk on his face as he basked in her despair.
You're so stubborn. It's too late to use your barrier against it. But I'll give you one... last... chance.
Shame and regret ached within her heart. It had been a last chance that she had screwed up. She hadn't managed to acquire the Mew Aqua. She had tried to grab it but It had been too powerful, too overwhelming. And then the moth had came and-
Ichigo was shaken from her thoughts as Kisshu moaned again, his arm twitching. There was blood all over him and his leg was angled oddly, possibly broken or at the very least twisted.
She should leave him here. Leave him here to die of his injuries or fall victim to a prowling creature in the jungle. This man - this alien - had caused her planet nothing but pain, pain that he had dished out with sickening glee. He was cruel, merciless and violent. He didn't care about anyone but himself and his own selfish goals. He didn't deserve her help. He deserved to rot.
Ichigo clutched her Strawberry Bell close to her racing heart. Fury churned her stomach, making her feel ill with its intensity. She began walking backwards, eyes never straying from the unmoving alien. Around her in the foliage, she could hear the growls and roving footsteps of animals and monsters, thirsty for the freshly spilt blood.
He should suffer what he had done. And what a fitting end, turned on by his own Chimera animals.
Ichigo closed her eyes and turned away, hands clenched at her sides.
Leave him... leave him and free the world of one of the worst monsters there is...
If Kisshu were in her position, he would leave the enemy to die. He wouldn't have even entertained the idea of stopping the Chimera; he probably would have been the one to summon it with the intention of killing some poor innocent. He deserved this... he would do - had done - worse to others.
Ichigo sighed, tilting her head heavenwards.
But she wasn't Kisshu.
Killing him had never been her intention - it had never been any of the Mew Mew's intentions. Their duty was to protect and defend, not kill. She couldn't leave someone to die, not even a monster like Kisshu. She couldn't live with herself knowing she could have helped someone and chosen not to. This world with all its cruelties and hardships had changed her. It had robbed her of her innocence, her friends and her family, but she would not let it take her compassion too. Not without a fight.
Ichigo waved away her Strawberry Bell and made a decision.
One she hoped she wouldn't regret.
Kisshu was aware he was moving - being dragged more like it. His body ached from the attack, his leg taking the brunt of the searing pain. He could scarcely open his eyes or make out of the sounds around him. Everything was a blur. A painful, agonising blur.
Damn it all. He had been sloppy. Distracted. Feline phantoms haunting his vision.
It had been a routine patrol, nothing fancy or complicated. As he had stood upon the broken tower of the once-thriving city of Tokyo, he had been so sure he had caught a glimpse of pink. Fast and fleeting, darting between the foliage far below. It had been nothing but a wishful illusion, another trick of his mind. After all these years of chasing ghosts, you would think he would have learned. But no logic or facts could console a grieving, yearning heart.
Ichigo was gone.
Dead.
He had known it would happen, had accepted it. Yet when reality had arrived, he was unprepared for the brutality and finality of it. He had searched for after the battle in a panicked, desperate frenzy, crying out for her name, shoving aside tones of rubble like it was nothing. Pie and Tart had been forced to knock him out him in order to pull him away from the wreckage. He had been inconsolable for months. Not even the arrival of his people on their new planet had eased his anguish.
You gave her many opportunities to change allegiance, Pie had tried, in his own way, to comfort him. Her death was necessary for the survival of our kind. She did not die in vain.
Even the brat had tried to cheer him up; brining him his favourite foods, telling him all about the construction of the new cities, and how the three of them had become something kindred to celebrities. They were being hailed as heroes, the saviours of their species. Cyniclons wanted to meet him, to praise him and thank him.
It was a day he had dreamed about in his younger years. And although he had achieved his life goal, it seemed... empty. The price had been higher than he had ever thought possible.
All he wanted to do was go back in time and find another way. Surely, there had to have been a way to get everything he had wanted? The survival of his kind and the girl he loved. Why had he been forced to choose? Why had he been foolish enough to think he could? Life had taught him that he had to hold onto what he loved or the universe would rip it from him with no care or thought - just as it had his mother, his father and his sister. His weakness had allowed it to take someone else from him, his precious Kitty Cat with her cheery smile, perky optimism and dauntless determination.
It hardly mattered now. He couldn't bring back the dead. He should have realised sooner what she meant to him, how deeply his possessive love for her ran. If he had maybe he would have been able to keep her.
He winced, a shock of pain coursing through his body. Whoever or whatever was moving him had stopped, unceremoniously dumping him on the hard ground. As he drifted in and out of consciousness, he felt gentle hands tend to his wounds. When they touched his forehead, his hand snapped out and grabbed blindly, snaring his captors wrist.
He heard a feminine yelp, a woman most likely. Had a Cyniclon found him? Surely it must be; no human would help his kind.
His eyes strained open and through his blurred vision, all he could see was... pink? Pink... Ichigo's signature colour. Bright and vibrant and full of life and sweetness - so much like her.
Even in what was most likely his final moments, she was still there. Just as she had been in his dreams. Perhaps it had been her ghost he had seen earlier that day. Chasing after that flash of pink was what had led him to stumble upon the blasted Hybrida. Was this her revenge? No... she wasn't cruel. She was everything that he was not, with not a malice bone in her body. Kind, sweet, compassionate...
Kisshu closed his eyes.
Maybe he would be meeting her soon in the afterlife - if such a thing existed.
The Earthlings believed in so many things; heaven and hell, reincarnation, rebirth as new creatures. He wondered if any such things were true. If they were, he hoped that he would join her, wherever she was - a world without her was hardly a world worth living in.
His release from pain came quietly as he fell into darkness, one word falling from his lips in a silent breath.
Ichigo...
His head was aching. His body was aching. Everything was aching.
Someone was going to die for this.
Kisshu groaned, opening his eyes. A gentle, periwinkle light illuminated his vision, the source being the Tert-in Tree leaves strung around the room. As his eyes adjusted, an unsettling feeling of déjà vu washed over him. He had... been here before. He was sure of it. He was in a humans temple, a place of worship - a church, he believed. It was in ruins, broken furniture all around, only a hand full of pews left between the doors and the alter he was lying beside.
He gritted his teeth as he forced himself into a sitting position, back resting against the alter.
There were minor wounds on his upper left arm, a cut on his lip, severe bruises on his thighs and his leg felt broken. Fantastic. Just what he needed. His injuries were too great to allow him to fly or teleport, his body would be redirecting all his spare energy into healing his injuries. Until then, he was grounded; and far too vulnerable for his liking.
He reached into his pocket, looking for his communicator. He growled when his hand came back empty.
If he had lost it then that made things all the more difficult.
Was this the divine justice bratty little Tart had sworn would befall him for picking on him and his silly little girlfriend last week? Didn't matter, when he got home he was going to take out his rage on the twerp for hoping something like this happened to him. Pain without blame seldom allowed for satisfying retribution - tough luck for Tart, he was taking the fall for this. He certainly wasn't going to blame himself.
Something creaked in the darkness, just out of the light cast by the leaves.
Kisshu sharply looked up, narrowing his eyes. He couldn't see anything beyond the light, but he could sense that someone was there, watching him. It could be his mysterious saviour.
"Hello?" he called out. "No need to be shy. I'm hardly a threat in this state."
Not quite true, even wounded he still had one good hand that could throw his Dragon Sword with a quick summons. But his host didn't need to know that.
"I'm not in the mood for games. Come out," Kisshu demanded, voice losing its playfulness.
"How many times do I need to tell you, I don't have to obey you?"
He had held little expectations of his host's identity. His only theories were it might be Cyniclon or a confused human who didn't know any better. Never in his wildest dreams would he have imagined Ichigo - his Ichigo - stepping out of the shadows, into the moon and periwinkle light. His breath left him. All words escaped him. He was dead or dreaming - he had to be. She couldn't be standing there, eyes narrowed, glaring him down, clad in her Mew Mew uniform, ready for battle like the last time he had saw her.
His memory had lied, she was more beautiful than any dream or vision that haunted him.
Had madness finally overcome him as Pie had predicated? Was this the grand finale of his unrequited obsession? If so, what a stunning ending it was.
"What's the matter, Kisshu? Cat got your tongue?"
Kisshu blinked and swallowed hard. He didn't want to move, afraid that even a breath could blow away this beautiful mirage. When she stepped closer, her boots crunching branches and glass, he allowed himself to hope. When he caught a whiff of strawberries and something distinctively Ichigo, he felt that hope cement. It was her. It had to be. None of his fantasies had been this real. This perfect.
"Ichigo," Kisshu whispered, eyes staring at her in awe. "You're alive."
Ichigo's jaw clenched. There was a bitter, hateful look on her lovely face. "No thanks to you."
It shouldn't have cut him, but her words did as painfully as his own blades would. He should have tried harder to persuade her to join him. Should have ignored her protests and declarations of contempt, and dragged her kicking and screaming to safety. A mistake he would not make again. He had convinced himself before that he could live without her; now he had lived in a world without her and refused to go back to the colourless, lifeless hell that it was.
"I'm sorry, Ichigo," Kisshu murmured. "I should have protected you."
Ichigo's scowl deepened, her tail swishing furiously behind her. "You're not sorry. You're not sorry about anything!"
"I am sorry!" Kisshu said, his voice rising with conviction. "It wasn't until you were gone that I realised how much I needed you. Your absence was like a thorn in my heart, giving me nothing but pain. I promise from now on I'll protect you from everyone else. I'll never let you go again, not now that I've found you. I protect what's mine."
Ichigo scoffed. "I'm not yours, Kisshu. I have never been - nor will I ever be - yours."
Kisshu frowned, displeased by the familiar odious words.
She had never understood that he wanted her, had thought he was only playing with her. And yes, he was playing with her at first - still had been the last time they had spoken, truth be told. But playing was his nature, it would always be his nature.
Ichigo had been an interesting new toy, a novelty to alleviate his boredom. He didn't know when it had become deeper than that. When games had twisted into a possessive desire and all-consuming need. She was his favourite toy. One he wanted to keep forever. She wasn't like other toys to be played with and tossed aside; she was too valuable, too precious for that. He would keep her forever, adored and protected. When he claimed something, it was his and his alone. His to play with. His to protect. His to cherish. To love. To destroy - if he chose.
Why couldn't she see that she was different? That she was special to him?
He tried to move. He wanted - no, needed - to get closer to her. He wouldn't be at ease until she safe in his embrace, where he could nuzzle her hair, pepper the column of her neck with soft kisses and feel every inch of her against him. Thanks to his wretched injuries, he only succeeded in winding himself. His body cried out in protest with pain, causing him to grit his teeth from crying out.
"Come here, Koneko-chan," Kisshu demanded, sounding breathless.
"No."
"Koneko-chan... I said-"
"I heard what you said and the answer, as always, is no."
Kisshu growled at his stubborn kitten. Typical. He had forgotten how disobedient she was.
"Stop trying to move and rest," Ichigo said, not a hint of softness in her voice. "In case you didn't notice, you're badly injured."
"I did notice." Kisshu tried to smirk, but it was weaker than normal. "I also noticed all my wounds have been tended to. I suppose I have you to thank for that. My heroine."
Ichigo let out a harsh breath of air but said nothing.
"You were the one who saved me, weren't you? Couldn't bear to let me die." He was taunting her, falling back into the comfortable old pattern. He hid his pain behind venom. His viciousness his protective mask. "Doing things like that makes me wonder if you've been harbouring a little crush on me all this time."
He refused to let the look of disgust on her face affect him. It didn't hurt - it didn't.
"I saved you just as I would have anyone else. You're not special, Kisshu," Ichigo ground out.
How he wished she would let him indulge in his fancy, just for a moment. Couldn't she let him pretend that she cared for him even a small bit and that that was the true reason she had saved him and revealed she was still alive? He wasn't a fool though. He knew she spoke the truth. His Ichigo didn't have a drop of evil or spite in her. She would spare Deep Blue himself. Morals like that would get her killed one of these days - well, not while he was around, he would make sure of that.
"It's late and I'm going to go to sleep. I'll change your bandages in the morning," Ichigo said, grabbing a quilt and pillow from a stack on a pew. "If you try anything I swear I will blast you off this planet without batting an eyelash."
Ichigo lay her quilts out on a pew several rows back. Once she lay down he knew he would be denied the sight of her. Kisshu pouted and crossed his arms, displeased. Before he could help himself, he smiled slyly.
"So I take it there won't be an offer of me joining you in bed toni-"
Ichigo launched a pillow at him, hitting him in the face.
The beat of wings... howling winds... Frightened screams... Mint falling... Lettuce leaping out of the way of metal beams... Pudding crying out... Zakuro's whip slicing through the air, towards the moth... four hands grasping for her... her fellow Mew Mews calling her name... shouting for her... but she wasn't fast enough... she couldn't help them...
Ichigo jolted awake with a gasp. Her cheeks were flushed red, sweat trickling down her neck. Another nightmare - just a nightmare.
"Trouble sleeping, Koneko-chan?"
Ichigo glared at Kisshu as she sat up. He was leaning against the altar, the blue glow of the leaves giving him a deceptively tranquil look. How long had he been awake? Oh dear, she hoped she hadn't been crying out in her sleep. She didn't want him to know about her nightmares, to know that he held such power over her. He was a constant figure in her worst dreams, always taunting and laughing and scaring her with his intensity.
"It wasn't a nightmare," Ichigo lied. "I thought I heard a noise."
"If it makes you feel better the Chimera won't hurt you, not while I'm here."
"Wasn't it a Chimera that hurt you?" Ichigo asked.
"That wasn't a Chimera. Not anymore anyway," Kisshu muttered darkly.
"Then what was it?"
"I'll tell you for a kiss."
"Tell me and I won't smother you in your sleep," Ichigo retorted sweetly.
Kisshu looked amused before sighing dramatically. "A convincing argument. It's called a Hybrida"
"Are they from your planet? The one that attacked you looked like a fox from my world."
"No, they're from here."
Ichigo tilted her head, puzzled. It couldn't be from here. She had never seen or heard of anything like it. Everything about it had seemed like a Chimera.
"The humans have started genetic experiments on animals to combat the Chimera," Kisshu continued, sensing her confusion. "Their results have been lacking. The creatures are unstable, aggressive, and bloodthirsty. They don't care if their victims are humans, Cyniclons or animals. They'll attack anything they happen upon."
Which explained the lack of Infusor or freed animal when she had destroyed the creature earlier. Ichigo bit her lip and wrapped her blanket around her shoulders. This wasn't good. Not only did the surviving humans have to deal with Chimera, alien warriors, deadly plant life and wild animals, but now to top everything off they had to fight man-made genetic, unpredictable monsters. Couldn't Earth cut a break? Not even a little one?
"How many are there?"
Kisshu shrugged, wincing in pain.
"Don't know. It depends on the resources available to those making them. Pie hazarded a guess that it can't be more than a few dozen. Not without a large lab, sufficient food supplies and a place to keep them until they mature - though again, it's all theory. We don't know how exactly they're making them or what resources they have."
Ichigo sighed, her head flopping down. When would the problems cease piling up?
Glancing up, she noticed the sky was brightening. As much as didn't want to, she knew it was time to change Kisshu's bandages. She still wasn't sure what she was going to go about newly acquired alien. Her best plan was to leave him here while she made a run for it. She would need to pack her things up and gather a few supplies first. She would need a couple of days. She could endure him till then... maybe... if he kept his mouth shut. And if he didn't there was always the option of duck taping it shut - that would work and would be much more satisfying.
"I'm going to have to change your bandages."
Kisshu perked up at that, an excited smirk on his face. "By all means, Koneko-chan."
Ichigo gathered her medical supplies as slowly as she could. She was stalling, she knew, but she didn't want to go near him. He was going to try something, he did so without fail anytime they were close. She assured herself that she would be fine, she was still in her Mew Mew armour and could summon her Strawberry Bell if anything happened. She just had to remember to keep her guard up, even injured Kisshu was still a threat.
Kisshu behaved long enough for her to change his bandages, though the entire time he watched her without a hint of shame. It took everything she had not to snap at him, to make it clear that his staring was getting on her nerves. So long as all he was doing was looking, it was fine. She could deal with that.
But of course, Kisshu being Kisshu, would not behave well for long. He reached out before she could pull away, catching her chin and tilting her head up to face him.
"I was wondering how you ever got any sleep with being so jumpy," Kisshu mused, his other hand brushing aside her bangs. "But judging from the bags around your eyes you don't."
Ichigo swatted his hands away, glancing away.
"There's danger everywhere. A peaceful night sleep is a luxury no one can afford."
No one besides the Cyniclons anyway. They were all tucked away in the safety of their cities while the humans were left to perish. Kisshu most likely hadn't missed a night's sleep since he destroyed Tokyo and took over the world. Ichigo inhaled deeply, trying not to let herself get worked up. She was tired of feeling angry all the time, of holding such hatred in her heart. All it did was burn.
"If you come with me you wouldn't have to worry about being unsafe ever again," Kisshu said quietly. "I'd protect you."
Ichigo couldn't help it, she looked at his face, pink eyes meeting gold.
"You're the reason all this happened in the first place," Ichigo hissed. "I'd rather die than go with you and be your little plaything."
"You wouldn't just be my plaything, Ichigo," Kisshu tutted. "You could be so much more. You don't deserve to be cowering and living in squalor."
"You're right, I don't. And neither does anyone else yet look what happened. I wonder who's fault that is?"
"I didn't think it was possible for you to get more righteous than you were before," Kisshu said dryly, quirking an eyebrow. "Colour me surprised."
Ichigo fastened the last bandage around Kisshu's arm with a purposefully harsh tug, earning her a satisfying hiss of pain from her patient. She shot to her feet, glaring with as much contempt and anger as could muster.
"You disgust me, do you know that? Do you even care about all the pain you've caused? All the lives you've taken. The people you've hurt? Does any of it matter to you?"
"I did what I had to do to protect my people. I would do it all again a thousand times over," Kisshu said seriously, not a hint of his impish grin anywhere. He spoke strongly, with utter conviction.
"And what about my people? Why did my people deserve to die and suffer?"
"If your people had appreciated their planet more, it wouldn't have come to this!"
"You liar," Ichigo snarled. "You wanted this planet for yourself and you're using any means you can to justify your actions. Yes, some humans have mistreated the planet but they can change - could have changed, if they had been given the chance. Everything didn't have to be this way. Things could have been different. We could have helped you, you and your people!"
That was the heart of this tragedy. How different things could have been if the aliens had just... asked?
"Earth has wanted to know if there were other life forms out there since we first gazed up at the stars. We wanted to know if we were alone in this vast darkness. We send out probes to find life on other planets. Send signals into deep space. People have searched the stars with telescopes for centuries. And you found us... you found us and rather than asking for friendship you sought out our demise."
Ichigo shook her head, wiping away the tears that had fallen down her cheek.
"We would have helped you and your people if you needed help. We would have found a way," Ichigo finished, her voice choking. "No one had to die -on either side."
"I consider myself optimistic but you're bordering on delusional," Kisshu said blandly.
Ichigo stomped her foot, letting out a growl of frustration. Her cat ears and tail were out, her fur bristled. Why was she wasting her breath on him? He would never see things from her side. Would never bother to consider the damage he inflicted on others - of course not, he enjoyed it!
"Oh, I'm delusional? This coming from you!"
Kisshu half-heartedly shrugged one shoulder, conceding the point.
"You don't know how things would have turned out if you'd only asked!" Ichigo snapped.
"I'll tell you what would have happened, Kitty," Kisshu hissed darkly. "Your people wouldn't have helped us. Humans can hardly accept other humans sharing the same land as them. What chance was there of them accepting aliens?" Kisshu sighed irritably. "And even if you had how could we live here with how fast your kind were destroying the planet? Humans were given a paradise and squandered it."
It took everything she had not to slap him.
"You're being unfair," Ichigo grit out. "Most pollution is the fault of a few selfish corporations. Most people did try to keep the Earth healthy! None of us wanted the planet to die, it's our home!"
Kisshu didn't look convinced, if anything he looked bored by her outburst. It only served to make her more furious. It had been so long since she had felt this kind of rage. She was always alone, there was no one to fan the flames purposefully like Kisshu seemed to strive to do.
"We did not deserve to be killed off. And that, that will forever be your and your people's legacy. A civilisation saved by the massacre of another!"
Ichigo kicked aside her medical supplies and returned to her bed. She buried her head in her pillow, her body shaking with barely repressed sobs. She wouldn't let them out. She would not give Kisshu the satisfaction.
Three days passed and she refused to speak to him.
She tended to his wounds, gave him food and water, but other than that, she wouldn't so much as look his way.
Unsurprisingly, Kisshu was not pleased with this new dynamic. He tried his usual tricks; flirting, teasing, even tried to make small talk. She wouldn't take the bait. This infuriated him. She could see it in the narrowing of his eyes each time she walked by. Feel it in the heat of his glare. The downwards twitch of his lips and tightening of his fist.
Good. It gave her ample pleasure knowing she was infuriating him as much as he was infuriating her.
Ichigo busied herself outside the church, gathering herbs and plants. She had already stalked up on supplies earlier that day and didn't need anymore - she was just using this as an excuse to avoid her unwanted guest.
It begged the question.
What to do with Kisshu?
It wouldn't be long before he was healed. When she had battled the Cyniclons in the past they seemed to recover quickly, leading Ryou to theorize they had enhanced healing capabilities. Once Kisshu was healed all cordialness would be gone. He would try to kill her. Kill her or capture her. He certainly wasn't going to let her disappear.
She would need to come up with a plan. The best she could think of was packing up her supplies and heading off to another hideout. She had several scouted out in case she was ever forced to leave the church.
But she also couldn't leave Kisshu alone and unguarded, not in his condition. It would be too easy for an animal or Hybrida to find him - and as nice a thought as that was, she couldn't be that cruel.
What to do? What to do?
While he was here she could try and wriggle some intel out of him. It was unlikely she would find out any super classified information that could save the world but Kisshu would know what was going in the planet that she had been disconnected to for years.
What was happening in other countries? Were they the same as Japan? How many humans were left? What happened to those captured? Did he know... if any of her family or school friends had survived?
He had the answered she was unwilling to ask for. She didn't want to ask anything of him. Devious creep that he was, he would ask for something in return. And if she said denied him what he asked for, he would lord it over her that he knew things she didn't.
She refused to ask, her pride still strong.
Besides, she didn't want to speak to him after their previous argument. How someone could be so heartless she didn't understand.
"I've been in this church before, haven't I?"
Kisshu watched as Ichigo closed the doors to the church behind her. She had been just outside, collecting plants and other nicknacks, doing what she could to avoid him. She didn't even glance at him as spoke, so he continued, determined to be heard.
"This is where we fought once - before Wolfie joined your team."
It had taken him a while, but in the fading sun of yesterday, he had placed the broken stain-glass windows, the fallen crosses, wooden rafters and gothic architect.
This was the church where Ichigo, Birdie, Fishy and Tarts little monkey girl had first encountered Zakuro in her Mew Mew form. Where he had tried to kill the Mew Mews fifth member before she could join them and bring them to their full power. Where he had sicced a swarm of Chimera crows on them, that Wolfie had defeated with a blazing slash of her Ribbon Zakuro Spear. It was the same place that the same wolf had slapped away Birdie's offer to join them. The same place the last Mew Mew had rejected her fellow sisters.
It wasn't a place that held many fond memories for Ichigo, so why had she chosen to hide here? There was no sentimentality, surely. Practicality, then? Was this the safest place she could find to hide away from the Cyniclon scouts and roaming Chimera? It sickened him the idea of her hiding away in such a dismissal place that held no happiness for her. She deserved better. He would give her better.
Ichigo ignored him - as she had been doing for the last three agonisingly, boring days.
She busied herself with arranging her stocks, far away from him at the other side of the church. She was too far from him, always too far.
Kisshu's hand clenched into a fist.
He hated when she ignored him.
"Do you miss them?" He taunted. "Do you think if you had been stronger they might still be alive?"
He licked his lips when he saw her flinch. He saw an opening and opportunistic snake that he was, he slithered in, prying it open further.
"Do you blame yourself for their deaths? Is that what keeps you awake at night? Thinking what you could have done differently? Do you wish you could go back in time and undo everything? Stop them from dying the painful deaths that they-"
A glass plate shattered against a nearby wall. Ichigo was standing now, her breathing ragged and eyes gleaming with furious tears. Even without her Mew Mew armour, dressed in plain clothing and weaponless, she looked powerful and breath-taking.
"Why are you so cruel?" Ichigo screamed. "Why?"
Because he needed her attention to be on him, always him. He wanted her thoughts consumed by thoughts of him, as his were of her. If all he could get was her fury and sorrow so it be it - he would take what crumbs he could get until he could have everything. He wanted every tear, every scream, every smile, every blush to be his. He didn't want to share a single part of her.
"I hate you. I hate you more than any other Cyniclons who has destroyed my planet. I hate you more than Pie, than Tart, than any Chimera you have ever thrown at us. I should have left you to die in that jungle. The world would be a significantly better place without you in it, even a world as horrible and hopeless as this one!"
The doors to the church slammed shut as Ichigo stormed out. A sight he was becoming all to intimate with.
Kisshu slumped against the alter, tilting his head back to watch the clouds through the broken window.
Pie had once told him he that was too cruel to Ichigo, even considering she was his enemy.
Pie was practical and sufficient, he saw no need or point in engaging with his enemies in anything other than battle. He dealt with them as quickly and cleanly as possible. He didn't play with his food like Kisshu did. Kisshu's more personal touch had never sat well with Pie, but he allowed the younger man his vices - not that Pie could tell him what to do. It wasn't until later when Kisshu's feeling for Ichigo had deepened, that Pie had told him off.
Pie had reminded him that nothing could happen between him and Ichigo. That they were enemies. And that worse still, she would never have him. Why would she want the one who tormented her so? Pie couldn't understand why Kisshu was so severe to the one he claimed to want. Kisshu hadn't truly been aware of his feelings for Ichigo at that point, he only knew she was his toy - his favourite, most interesting toy - but one he thought he would be willing to part with for the greater good of his people.
Looking back on it, he supposed Pie had already figured out what he wanted with Ichigo, long before Kisshu himself had known. If he was right about that, there was a chance he was right about her love to.
Affection could not be gained through cruelty - but it was all Kisshu knew.
On the fourth day, Ichigo made her decision.
She stared down at the slumbering Kisshu. He looked impossibly innocent while he was asleep and it didn't sit well with her that someone so dangerous could look that way. A monster should look like a monster, fangs, claws and all. They shouldn't be allowed to be beautiful in any way, it was too deceptive.
Ichigo nudged Kisshu awake with her foot.
With an incoherent mumble, Kisshu slowly woke up. He yawned widely, revealing his pointed fangs. All the better to eat you with, Ichigo mused grimly.
"Going somewhere, Koneko-chan?"
"You might have noticed you're missing something. This is your communicator, I took it off you after saving you," Ichigo said, holding up the small device. "I'm going to give you it back and you're going to wait a day before contacting your buddies to come and rescue you."
Kisshu nodded, eyes never straying from hers.
Ichigo nodded and began walking away.
"Eh, Koneko-chan. Aren't you forgetting something?" Kisshu drawled.
Ichigo glanced over her shoulder, watching his outstretched hand.
"The communicator?" Kisshu continued, quirking an eyebrow.
Ichigo ignored him, waking away until she reached the doors at the end of the long aisle. She placed the communicator onto a broken pew.
"And just how am I suppose to reach it from all the way over here?" Kisshu asked, looking perfectly indignant.
"Do you think I'm stupid enough to just hand it to you? The second you get your greedy little fingers on it you'll call the other Cyniclons. You can crawl for it."
With a broken leg and no flying or teleporting abilities due to his injuries, it would hopefully give her a few hours to get a fair distance away. Kisshu was no fool, he was not going to give her a day to get away, not when he wanted her captured. She might not be as daunting a threat without her sister Mews, but she was still a hindrance to their plans. There was also the uncomfortable fact that he was still interested in her - so he might even want to keep her for himself.
"Ichigo! Wait!" Kisshu shouted. "You know I'll find you. Wherever you run, wherever you hide, I won't stop until I have you back. You can save us both the hassle by giving up and accepting it."
She picked up her rucksack and slung it over her shoulders.
"It's dangerous out there! You don't know what kinds of Chimera are lurking in the bushes. Other Cyniclons will kill you on sight. Why won't you listen to me for once in your life, Ichigo!
"Goodbye, Kisshu."
Ichigo left, ignoring his cries for her to listen.