…. Don't eat me.
So much for updating about four times in the summer….
Disclaimer: It's chapter 23, so don't look at me! I don't own, so just leave me alone…
Yeah, lame rhyming. But I own Sahara, David and Tort. XSTICKYXNOTEX (did I get that right?) owns Haru and Hikaru, and Applecake owns Kotoko.
Responses:
Review: LAUREN WOW! THIS FANFIC IS BEAUTIFUL! tears, cries KEEP IT UP! I'M ROTTIN FOR YA! ANYONE ELSE WHO IS INDIFFERENT SHALL PAY FOR THEIR MOCKERY! GR! Anyways, good job and try to update soon, sumimasen. Gomen ne, I go on rants on any daily basis.
Response: … Wow. That's probably one of the very best "rants" and reviews I've ever gotten. You reviewers sure know how to make a girl happy.
-shot for not updating-
---
"I'm here to ask you to come back and help me free the rest of the kids stuck in there."
Sahara made a choking sound in the back of her throat. Haru's face lost more color. "Oh my god," Haru whispered.
Keiichiro had stopped icing the cake he had been working on, and Mint, who had been drinking tea, spit some back into her cup.
"Are you serious?" Sahara choked out. "Oh, man…"
Kotoko cocked her head slightly. "Oh course I'm serious. I wouldn't be asking if I wasn't, would I?"
"Totally out of the question. How are we supposed to do that?!"
Kotoko turned to face Haru. "I'm not sure. But I know we can do it! Sahara's got the firepower and you two are a great team. It could work!"
"What the heck do you mean by I've got the "firepower"?" Sahara tried to ask innocently.
"I saw you up on that screen. I know it's you in that Tokyo Meow Meows."
"Mew Mews," Sahara muttered.
Ryou opened the door from the basement and came into the kitchen. "What's going on?"
Pudding grinned at him. "Kotoko-nee-chan knows our secret, na no da! We don't have to hide it, na no da!"
Ryou's eyes darted to the charcoal-haired girl to Sahara, who refused to meet his glare. "Aw, crap, Sahara! Another one? Jeez, I swear to God, you've told the most people! It's three now, right? And to a perfect stranger?!"
Sahara stiffened. "Hey! It's not my fault! She figured it out, just like Hikaru! Cut me some slack! And she's not a perfect stranger, I know her!"
"Oh yeah? Who is she to you and what's she doing here?"
"Oh, for God's sake, Ryou!" She spit his name out in frustration. "She was at the same hell hole I spent most of my life, and she's here to ask me to get the rest of the kids there out!"
By this time the rest of the Mews had gathered into the kitchen, while Zakuro stood at the door and glared at the customers to keep the curious one away.
"Out of the question!" Haru and Ryou growled in unison. Haru raised an eyebrow in his direction.
"I know it doesn't seem that possible, but we could try! You don't know what it's like to live there, Ryou! I know Haru-nee has a good reason, but COME ON!"
"S-sahara-chan… It would probably be d-dangerous if anything…" Lettuce suggested weakly from the side.
Kotoko just looked on, casting glances at Sahara hopefully.
"I know that, but I've been pushing the line of 'dangerous' for quite a while. I don't see the reason to stop now!"
"Sahara-chan, there's a fine line between 'stupid' and 'dangerous', and I think you may be ready to pass those over too." Most of the group threw surprised glances in Keiichiro's direction.
"But…"
"He's right. Maybe some other time, but you have duties here too," Zakuro stated from the doorway.
Sahara pushed her lips into a thin line and released the tension in her shoulders. "Fine…" she muttered.
As the group slowly split to finish their duties, Sahara turned to Kotoko and mouthed, "Later, okay?" Kotoko grinned back.
"Sure."
---
Kotoko decided to stick around until the café would be closed, so she took up residence in the kitchen so not to hold up a table. Keiichiro gave her small tasks to do around the kitchen.
After much whining (not only from the customers) and an exhausting few hours later, the café turned out the last few customers and was ready for the closing cleaning.
Each of the girls grabbed a broom and began to work on sweeping to get the job done quicker. Within fifteen minutes the job was finished.
"What a day…" Mint groaned, pulling at her uniform to change into her street clothes.
"Yeah, we know it's a day if you actually do a bit of working," Ichigo commented loudly, yanking off her shirt.
The two began to bicker and the rest of the employees laughed.
Sahara slammed her locker closed and slumped onto the bench. "Ugh. Those customers get grabbier by the day. I almost got mauled by a group of little kids."
"At least school will be starting next week, so there won't be as many running around," Lettuce offered the 'hopeful' idea.
Ichigo, Mint and Pudding groaned loudly. "Pudding does not like school, na no da…."
"School?" Sahara prodded.
"Oh yeah,,," Mint trailed off as she stared at the fully changed Sahara and Haru. "You two probably have to get registered. I bet Ryou can handle that."
The two former escapees exchanged nervous glances.
When everyone and the group had finished changing they all moved from the room back into the now empty main café area. Ryou leaned against a table, and Kotoko perched on the edge of a different table.
Ichigo thrust her thumbs at Sahara and Haru. "Those two need to get registered for school."
"No, I'm sure we'll be good…" Sahara mentioned, waving her hands in a "heck-no!" gesture.
"I'll see what I can do," Ryou said with a smirk at the two school-less girls.
"Dang," Haru murmured. Sahara grunted in agreement.
Kotoko took the time to add into the conversation. "Not to be pushy or anything, but where am I going to stay?"
A silence fell over the café, and seven pairs of eyes moved to Ryou. Realizing he was outnumbered, he sighed. "There's a room upstairs… On the far left." A grin formed on Kotoko's face.
"Thanks!" she chirped happily.
The group of girls moved out the cafe main doors and began to go their separate ways. Goodbyes were exchanged and people began to leave.
"Haru-nee, you and Pudding-chan can go ahead. I need to talk to Kotoko-chan for a few minutes," Sahara said.
"See you then." Haru raised her hand in goodbye.
As Haru and Pudding walked off, or in Pudding's case ran, Sahara motioned to Kotoko to go closer to the café.
"Listen up. I don't care what they said about not helping you. I'm going to help you and those kids, and I have a plan. But first I have a question. How did you get here?"
Kotoko shrugged her shoulders, as to say 'no problem'. "You know that town that that place is close to?"
"Yeah."
"Well, the people there know what goes on in that place. And when I told them that I escaped… To put it in short, the paid for me to get here, with almost no questions asked."
"Yeah, those people are REALLY nice. That's how we got here too. I'm glad they could help you. It's just a shame they won't tell the government about there, or even the major public."
"That's very true…"
A silence filled the air between them. Sahara broke the silence with a sigh.
"I know this is going to sound crazy, but get everything you brought here and keep it ready to run. I'm going to swipe Ryou's credit card and get us two tickets to the village. I'll pay him back later… And once at the village, we can plan the break in. We'll hopefully by the day after tomorrow. I'll see what I can do."
Kotoko blinked at the conclusion of Sahara's plan. "It may be crazy, but I think it'll work. Thank you so much!"
"I'm going to totally get busted for it, but it'll be worth it. Now I'm going to go find his credit card, but I need you to distract him for about seven minutes. Can you do that?"
"Yes, of course."
"Let's do this."
---
Sahara tiptoed down the stairs. After the two had gone into the café, Kotoko managed to get Ryou's attention, while Keiichiro was in the kitchen, and drag him up the stairs to get him "show her her room".
As she reached the bottom, she darted to Ryou's desk and immediately began to shuffle through the drawers. She would have to make sure they didn't look disturbed later, and she needed to hurry.
After about three minutes of searching she held up Ryou's wallet triumphantly. "Jackpot!" She yanked the first credit card out and quickly rearranged the drawers and their contents.
The dirty-blonde haired girl jammed the credit card into her pocket and moved up the stairs swiftly. She moved stealthily across the main café area and out the front doors. Once outside she whistled loudly three times and darted away from the building.
She hoped Kotoko got the message.
---
Racing across the sidewalk, maneuvering between the many people, Sahara let out a surprised yelp as she was roughly grabbed by the back of her shirt. As she whirled around to yell at the culprit, she came face to face with Hikaru. She inwardly groaned.
"Hey," she muttered. "You don't have to yank so hard, you know."
Hikaru rubbed the back of his head apologetically. "Sorry 'bout that. If I had grabbed your arm you probably would have had instincts to kick me in the gut."
"Probably," she replied, shrugging.
"You're in a big hurry. What's the rush?"
"Just promised to be home soon."
Hikaru motioned to her that they should move out of the traffic's way. "Something wrong?" he asked as they moved aside.
"N-nothing. Why?"
"You just looked kind of troubled. But I guess it's nothing," Hikaru smiled as he delivered the last words. "Sorry for holding you up. I just wanted to say hi. I'll maybe drop by tomorrow. Is that ok?"
"It's fine with me."
Hikaru waved his hand at her. "You can go. Sorry, again."
"No problem," Sahara shot back, as she started her race down the sidewalk again.
'Now,' she thought. 'I just have to find a computer where I can buy some tickets. I'll see if I can use Pudding's family computer.'
---
After the Fong's and Haru had long gone to sleep, Sahara rose like a vampire from its' coffin from her futon and made her to the old family computer. She clicked the screen on and stared at the screen. 'I saw that ad on the street for good plane tickets. I'll try that website…'
She typed in the address and grinned happily as the bright yellow screen popped up. 'Perfect. Now, to find two plane tickets to Marzuq, Libya."
---
Fifteen minutes of searching later, Sahara nodded satisfied at the screen. The cost was pretty expensive (she wouldn't be getting paid for quite a while, she wagered), but it was for a good cause. She had entered Ryou's credit card number, and set up plane tickets for both herself and Kotoko. She registered them both as the age of fifteen to hope that they wouldn't ask parental or guardian signatures. 'I really hope this works…'
She printed out a passport for both girls as well. Hopefully security wouldn't notice that these were only temporary passports.
She logged out of the site and carefully deleted the history of the website she had been on and turned off the screen. Slinking quietly back to her futon, she collapsed. After a few minutes of tossing and turning, she was fast asleep.
---
A yawn and stretching was the second thing that Sahara did the next morning. The first was to swear violently as Haru chucked Suzume, the rabbit, at her stomach. "Up and at 'em, Sahara-chan!"
Dragging herself from bed, into the bathroom and into the shower was enough of a bother. As she rubbed her hair with a towel, she realized she would still have to pack for the next day's "adventure". Mumbling to herself, she emerged from the bathroom fully dressed and almost ready for work.
Pudding was busy flinging scrambled eggs across the kitchen, as Haru fiddled with the rice cooker. Hanacha handed Sahara a plate, and was surprised as a rush of yellow flung itself at her. Sahara raised the plate up in defense, only to catch the eggs Pudding had cooked.
"Pudding! Warn me!"
"Sure, next time, na no da!" Pudding returned to flinging, that time more gently, because she was throwing plastic bowls of rice.
Dodging the flying food, she placed the plate on the counter, and stuck her hand out for a bowl of rice. Three seconds later, her wish had been granted. Muttering something about soy sauce, she barely managed to grab the bottle as it hurdled in her direction.
Once the Fong kids had finished eating, it was time to drop them off at daycare. Sahara knew she was going to be feeling back pains the next day from carrying three of the kids on her back most of the way to their daycare.
Arriving at work, already exhausted, everything didn't get much better. Much to all the worker's relief, there was no special that day, so the customer amount wasn't nearly as high.
But, unfortunately, Café Mew Mew was still a very popular destination for girls (and a few guys) of all ages.
Work hit it's peak around noon, when Hikaru decides it's a good time for a visit.
"Hikaru-nii, if you had chosen any other time then now, it would have been nice," Sahara complained, as she took his order.
"I told you I was coming didn't you?" he asked, grinning at her.
"Hmph." She stuck her tongue out at him. "You just came to see Haru-nee-chan, anyway."
"Not quite true!" Hikaru said, waving his finger at her. "This café also has come of the best cake in town. And if one my little friends," he further proved his point at that sentence by ruffling her hair, "and a very nice girl I know works here. See? Coming to see Haru-chan was just half of it!"
She groaned and walked back to slap his order on the counter.
---
A little after two o'clock, the aliens (more so Turn, Torte and Tart) decided that it would be fun to wreck some havoc in Tokyo. Leaving only Haru, Keiichiro, Kotoko, and Ryou behind, the Mews set off for a brief -though exhausting, they all agreed- battle. Apparently it had been Tart's brilliant brainchild to use flowers as Chimera Animas. Unfortunately for him, they remained normal-sized and easy to squash. Though, unfortunately for the Mews, there was a plethora of flowers in the area they were sent to.
The aliens had teleported off within five minutes into the battle, which left the Mews to stop on the seemingly never-ending amount of flowers. After a long ten minutes later, Masha finished sweeping up the rest of the para paras and the Mews set back for the café.
A few hours later of serving customers and the workload finally ended. Ichigo turned the 'Open!' sign to 'Closed' with a content sigh. "At last…" she moaned happily.
The girls with uniforms crowded into the changing room and began to strip off their clothes to change.
"Is it just me, or do the customers get grabbier by the day?" Haru asked the others.
"Definitely grabbier," Mint muttered.
Sahara sighed and sat on the bench enjoying the air on her bare back. Pudding leaned over to Sahara. "Hey, nee-chan, you've got a scratch on your back," the monkey-girl observed.
"What? Oh…" Sahara embarrassedly began to reach for her shirt. "It's nothing. Don't wor-" Zakuro cut her off by placing her hand on the girl's shoulder.
"Let me see," she said softly.
Sahara shifted uncomfortably, but reluctantly turned so that Zakuro could see her back. Zakuro took in a small gasp of air.
"It's nothing, okay? It's all over with so it doesn't matter."
Pudding observed Sahara's back as well. "You've got a lot of scratches, nee-chan."
Zakuro lightly traced a large scar between Sahara's shoulder blades, and Sahara grimaced at Pudding's words. "It's okay. Really," she urged.
Before Pudding could reply, the locker room door banged open. "Hi, girls! Did you miss me?" cried Hikaru enthusiastically. He was rapidly bombarded by a barrage of clothing and one shoe (courtesy of Sahara) and screeches of "YOU PERVERT!" and "Hikaru!!"
With a shift motion Ichigo, who was closest to the door, pushed it shut, along with Hikaru.
Sahara laughed. "Haru-nee, you should go an attend to your 'boyfriend'."
Haru shot her a look. "He's not my boyfriend." And then softly she added so only Sahara could hear, "Not yet." and she winked as she pulled on the rest of her clothes and left the room.
Lettuce smiled. "Well, that was entertaining."
---
As the girls departed from the café Sahara talked to Kotoko on the side. "We'll meet tomorrow morning at 6:30. The plane flight is at 7:45, so hopefully we can get through security in time."
"And we'll meet in front of the café, right?" Kotoko whispered back.
"Yeah." She took a step backwards to join the group headed toward the Fong's house. "See you tomorrow!" she called.
Kotoko did a little wave and smiled.
Sahara quickly caught up to her group. Hikaru stood comfortably next to Haru, who was blushing slightly. Pudding was doing cartwheels on the sidewalk. "We can go!"
The group began walking in the direction of Pudding's house. "Hikaru-kun, I hope you've learned not to burst into the changing room to do that."
Hikaru grinned sheepishly. He winked at Haru and said, "Yeah, I've learned that I have to do it more quietly." His retort earned him a punch on the arm. "Ow! Jeez, you don't go easy on me do you?"
"Nope," was Haru's simple reply. "If I had Suzume, I'd smack you with him."
"I think you should be more gentle with me."
"Maybe some other time."
Sahara and Pudding exchanged glances before they both began to laugh.
Halfway to the Fong residence, Hikaru parted from them. Haru stayed with him for a second, and sent Pudding and Sahara ahead. Haru shook her head and sighed. "You can be so impossible, Hikaru-kun."
"Only for you," he returned, smiling as he joked. He softly brushed away a few stray pieces of hair from her face. Haru flushed. "You're cute when you blush," Hikaru observed, wiggling his eyebrows. The red and black haired girl slapped his arm lightly. "See, I knew you could be more gentle!" cried the boy in triumph.
"You got a lucky chance," Haru muttered.
Hikaru leaned down close to her ear. "I don't think so," he whispered into her ear. Haru blushed an even deeper shade of red. The redhead pulled back a bit and let their foreheads meet. When Haru's face became darker and darker, Hikaru finally closed the distance between them. He kissed her gently at first, and then moved his hands around her waist. Haru moved her arms up to his chest.
Much to the girl's surprise, Hikaru broke the kiss as suddenly as it began. To her utter embarrassment, she let out a slight groan of annoyance, which made Hikaru smirk. "You so want me." As Haru opened her mouth to fire back an angry reply, his swiftly cut her off in another kiss. Her knees shook slightly until he pulled off again. "See you tomorrow," the boy said suggestively.
Haru stood and watched him go, speechless.
---
Sahara had slipped a bunch of her supplies into a bag that she hid in the nearest closet. She looked around, and when no one was watching she slipped into the closet and stuffed a handful of clothes, maps and personal hygiene items. She also added a notebook and a pack of note cards. She slid out of the closet just as easily as she had gone in.
As she walked back to the living room, she passed a still red Haru. She raised an eyebrow in a questioning manner, but Haru didn't meet her gaze. The dirty-blonde haired girl shrugged and went to sit down and the dinner table.
---
Sahara let out a soft swearword as her watch began to beep quietly, telling her that the time had arrived for her to wake up. Stealthily, though she was tired, she stopped the watch and slid towards the bathroom. 6:05 in the morning was not her ideal time to wake up. Moving quickly, the snake-girl pulled on her capris and light red t-shirt. She squeezed some drops of the liquid that Ryou had given her into her eyes and placed it with her pajamas. Wondering about the outside temperature, she opened the window and let the cool wind blow in her face. She shivered and grabbed the tan zip-up hoodie she had borrowed from Pudding. In fact, she had to borrow a bunch of clothing from Pudding for herself and Kotoko, as they were all roughly the same size. Kotoko had a limited clothing supply, so she hoped Pudding wouldn't mind.
Looking both ways as she opened the door, she stepped soundlessly into the hallway. Halfway down the hallway she froze as a small voice inquired, "Sahara-nee-chan?"
Sahara whirled around and let out a sigh of relief. It was only Hanacha. "What is it?" she asked the small girl.
"What are you doing, na no da?" Pudding's siblings had also picked up on Pudding's catchphrase.
Sahara ruffled the younger girl's hair. "I'm just going for a walk. I'll be back soon, okay? Anyway, are you just going to the bathroom?"
"Yes, na no da!" stage whispered the monkey-girl's sister back.
"Make sure to be quiet."
"Okay, na no da."
As soon as the bathroom door closed behind Hanacha, Sahara darted to the closet and pulled out her duffle bag, jamming the eye color nullifier and her pajamas into it. She went to the front door, opened it and shut it silently behind her. The blonde straightened her jacket, as she realized that it was cooler that morning then most July mornings. She walked away from the house and when she reached the sidewalk she smiled appreciatively back at the house. "See you soon!" she called softly at the home. A quiet voice in the back of the girl's mind whispered, 'If you even make it back,' but the girl brushed it away.
Sahara began her slow jog in the direction of Café Mew Mew.
---
"This sucks," muttered the disgruntled boy. David was not very enthusiastic about being up this early. Especially when it was cooler outside.
"I don't see why this couldn't wait," he grumbled to himself as he carried a package down the street towards the post office. The brunette recalled what forced him to be up at the early hour.
His mother had woken him up cheerfully, singing, "Wakey-wakey, David-kun!" David had just groaned and rolled over. "I need you to deliver a package for me!" chirped his mom.
He groaned and sat up. "Why can't it wait?" he groaned.
"David-kun, the package is for your aunt's birthday and I want it to get there as soon as possible. The post office opens at 6:15 and I want you to be there so that they can delivered the package as soon as possible!"
"Isn't her birthday not for a week or so?"
"Why of course not, silly! It's in two days!"
David rubbed his eyes unhappily. "I could swear it was later…"
"Why wouldn't I know my own sister's birthday, David-kun?" she sang sweetly. She lifted his mattress so he fell off the bed. He let out a cry as he hit the ground. "Hurry up, sweetie!"
David moaned and pulled himself out of the sheets that had fallen onto of him. "Fine, fine."
David sighed. His mother had hurried him along and handed him a bagel and bribed him with a large breakfast when he got home. He shifted the package in his arms. 'What did she put in here? Bricks?'
He looked around at the other people walking around him. Most of them were businessmen and women walking on their way to work. He saw some college students who looked like they had just spent the night partying. As he walked grudgingly down the street, he continued to look around at the Tokyo morning workpeople's' migration. His eyes darted around and locked on a familiar head on the other side of the street. "Sahara-chan?" he called loudly to get her attention. The dark-blonde head shot up in his direction.
"David-kun?"
He moved through the small crowd of people, looked both ways, and darted across the street to get to her. She slowed down her pace to meet him. "What are you doing out here?" she asked.
"I think I should be asking you the same question," he replied, smiling. Sahara's nose and cheeks were draped with pale pink. 'Is she blushing?' he observed silently.
Sahara stared in wonder at him. "L-let's move out of the way," she managed, grabbing his sleeve and pulling him out of the path of people. She let out a quiet sigh, hoping he wouldn't hear. She was shocked to see him out this early, and was even more shocked at her reaction to seeing him. Her heart had sped up, and she began to breathe heavier then usual. It was the same feeling that she got after running a mile at full speed. The girl scolded herself mentally. 'You shouldn't freak out just because you look at him.'
Noticing David's gaze on her, she flinched mentally. "Umm… I asked first," she started.
He grinned. "I guess so." He moved the package in his hands so she could see it better. "My mom had the sudden urge for me to drop this off when the post office opens so it will reach my aunt in time for her birthday. Moms," he said, answering his questions.
"Oh… I see."
"And you?" he questioned curiously.
"Ahh. Right!" She shifted her duffle bag uncomfortably. "I'm going, uh... 'home' for a while, so I need to catch my flight. I don't know when I'll get back."
"Home?" he asked, surprised.
"Well, at least where I was raised," she replied.
"I guess your catching the 'red-eye' flight, huh?"
"I guess so," she said, smiling slightly.
An awkward silence hovered between the two teens. Sahara shuffled her foot on the pavement and played with her transformation pendant in her pocket while sneaking glances at him. David stared at the building behind the girl.
David finally broke the silence. "Well, I guess I'll be seeing you. Sorry for holding you up."
Sahara looked at him, startled. The tiny voice from before came back. 'What if you don't see him again?' it whispered evilly. She desperately tried to push it away. Her voice came out sounding a bit odd and thick. "Sure; no problem." She fiddled with the strap of her bag. As David turned to go back to the other side of the street, she hesitated. The little voice got louder, chanting the possibility of not seeing him again in front of her. A split second decision carried her body forwards at the brunette boy and put her hand on his shoulder. When David turned his head to face her, she leaned up and pushed her lips against his.
When realization of what she was doing hit her like a ton of bricks, she pulled away and threw a, "Bye!" in David's direction. She turned on her heel and began to hurtle through the crowd of people.
David blinked as he watched her leave. "Maybe that was worth getting up for," he decided out loud.
Sahara squeezed her eyes shut tightly and then opened them again. 'Focus!' she urged herself. She slowly poured on the speed as she rocketed in the direction of Café Mew Mew.
----------
-runs to hide in shed from angry mob-
I hope that's long enough to make up for being gone sooooooooooo long. I'm sacrificing my homework right now to finally wrap up this chapter. My dad isn't to happy with me spending four plus hours doing my 'homework', so I hope you are all grateful. I don't know if he'll let me use the computer whenever anymore.
Anyway, on a lighter note, how are you guys all doing? Well, I hope. Please send me suggestions of good fanfictions to read; I can't stand all the bad grammar and n0ob stories much longer.
I hope to see you guys in the next chapter. Because I love to end things on a cliffhanger like ending. :D
Leave a review if you feel like it. (You know you want to.)
I give you all a virtual cookie for reading. –smiles- Man, 29 pages in word, double spaced. Holy guacamole.
Oh crap, the mob is breaking in. Got to go! Chao!
(By the way, if there are any spelling mistakes, I know. I very rarely check over my writing. I will, one of these days, because I don't want to be a bad authoress. See you all soon, I hope!)