Enemy Mine?

Chapter 4: Realization

Disclaimer/Author's Note: God, did this chapter ever take a long time to write. Glad to have it out of the way. Has anybody figured out who the assassin is yet? If not, it's okay. I'll just stop going on and on and on and just start the story. Enjoy!

I don't own Tokyo Mew Mew, but I do own the plot. Don't sue me. And I might want to add that there are some spoilers as well.*

Ichigo screamed at the sight of Tokyo when Ria was finished teleporting. Kisshu put a hand on Ichigo's shoulder, the expression on his face as shocked as hers.

There was smoke, spiralling upwards from every building. Rubble was everywhere, lying around on the ground in chunks varying in size from dust to blocks nearly the size of most houses. Everything was demolished, and everywhere you looked you could see burn marks and enormous craters. A few blobs of broken PuddingRings were scattered here and there.

Ichigo dropped to her knees, her eyes open as wide as they could go.

"What happened?" she muttered, her voice choppy and tense. Ichigo felt like her heart had turned to stone and dropped down into her stomach. In her heart she knew what had happened. Tokyo had died while she was in outer space with Kisshu. Another thing she knew deep down inside was if Kisshu hadn't saved her, she would be a part of this mess. Together, the two of them began to walk around, investigating the wreckage. Ria was nowhere to be found.

"I don't know… but…" Kisshu began, then froze halfway through his sentence. His entire body tensed, flashing back to when Deep Blue had annihilated Japan with one blow to the ground with his sword.

Not noticing, Ichigo fell forward, breaking into a run as she made her way in the direction of Café Mew Mew. Kisshu was running after her, still unable to fly, calling something out. Ichigo couldn't hear him. All she was thinking was what happened to her friends.

She reached the park, or rather, where the park used to be, and entered. Racing toward the Café, her heart pounding. Ichigo looked around, but she saw nothing but dark haze. Kisshu caught up to her, panting from trying to keep up with her. (A/N Before you say that Kisshu is out-of-shape in the reviews, he's panting because he's not used to running, because he's able to fly.)

"What's with the rush?" Kisshu muttered under his breath. Ichigo simply stared at the deep fog before her, unblinking. "What's wrong, Kitten?"

"There's something behind this mess." Ichigo smiled feebly. "My friends are only hiding. They're as scared of this ruin as me." Kisshu recognised this tone of voice, once again from the Deep Blue incident. Ichigo had spoken like this when she was in denial of Masaya being gone.

This isn't how she should be feeling… Kisshu thought, a small frown on his face.

"Well, we'll never know unless we go check on them." He tried to smile, keeping the sadness at bay. For now, at least, Ichigo had calmed down.

"What is this stuff, anyway?" she muttered, her voice returning to a neutral tone. Leaning forward, Ichigo held her hand in the mist, but quickly withdrew it with a shriek of pain. Kisshu immediately ran forward, steadying Ichigo as she held her hand in front of her face.

It was coated in burn blisters.

Ichigo gasped at the wounds on her hand. Kisshu motioned for her to sit on the dry, cracked earth as he knelt next to her. He removed one of the bandages on his arms, and wrapped it around Ichigo's burned hand. She couldn't help but notice what the skin on Kisshu's wrist was like. All the aliens had something covering their wrists and ankles, and she had always been curious as to what they were hiding.

There was a small, dark blue pattern on the inside of his forearm. It resembled a thin line with a semi-circular design at the end nearest the elbow.

"What's that?" Ichigo asked, pointing at the marking. Kisshu covered it with his free hand, blushing.

"I guess I could tell you…" Kisshu muttered under his breath. "This marking gives us abilities like flight and teleportation. This one, along with its twin on my other arm, is for teleportation. It's supposed to glow when these abilities are being used, but mine won't. I don't know why, though. Pai and Taruto have them too." He explained as Ichigo rubbed at her hand.

"And you hide them… why?" she asked, motioning for Kisshu to continue.

"Only on Earth. There's something in the air, nitrogen, that makes the markings unstable, usually resulting in something exploding. Have you ever seen a huge lightning strike?"

Ichigo nodded. She had seen a few of these. Blue lightning, nearly twice as large as a normal flash. She had usually simply hidden under the bed when there was a storm like that.

"That happens when these marks are uncovered and our powers are used." Kisshu finished. "So it would be rather bad to expose these if you want to stay alive."

"Wait—how long have the aliens been coming to Earth?" she remembered seeing them a lot as a toddler.

"A while now. We've just never acted until the Mew Project began. We wanted to give humans at least a fighting chance, or it would've been too boring." Kisshu explained, and Ichigo sighed.

"Huh." Ichigo muttered. "Okay. In the meantime, how do we cross the acid mist?"

"I have absolutely no idea. How about I see if I can walk around it, just stay here." He said as he stood up. Ichigo watched from the ground as Kisshu walked away.

Just like she did on the day the Mew Mess began, she lay down on the ground and closed her eyes.

What's going on? I'm so confused… Ichigo thought. Why is my enemy helping me? Why does he care? Her eyes flew wide open in shock.

Am I… falling for Kisshu?

Kisshu was walking along the edge of the dense golden haze. The ground was hurting his feet, but he continued walking. He had to find some way to cheer Ichigo up, no matter what happened to him in the process.

The cloud seemed to surround the Café Mew Mew from every direction.

There has to be some way through it… what is this stuff, anyway? Kisshu thought, rubbing his forearm. It was a natural thing, the tingling on his skin. It basically warned you that a mark was exposed to something it shouldn't be. Kisshu knew that he couldn't use his powers anyway, so it didn't really affect him whatsoever. Trying to ignore it, he kept attempting to find openings in the barrier. Nothing seemed to be working. Kisshu needed to sit and rest, he felt like he'd been walking for hours on the solid earth.

Wow… I never realized how dependant I am on flight. He wondered, unwrapping one of the bandages on his calves. The sapphire-blue mark was there, (not like he expected it wouldn't be) looking like a thin vine wrapping around his leg from knee to ankle. Again, more tingling.

"I have enough to deal with already…" Kisshu mumbled, irritated, as he re-wrapped the bandage over the mark. He stood and continued walking around the perimeter of the fog. Suddenly, something occurred to him.

I must be out of my mind. Kisshu thought, rolling his eyes at himself. Look at what happened to Ichigo. But maybe… he stopped thinking and thrust his hand –the one with the mark exposed- into the mist. Expecting a burning, he winced. But the feeling didn't come. Instead, what came was a very loud siren, echoing through the empty city. It wouldn't normally have carried far, but it seemed to get louder as the sound blared on.

Ichigo was running toward Kisshu, holding her cat ears in her hands. The alarm had taken her by surprise, and made it worse for her in the process. Kisshu stopped holding his own ears for long enough to reach Ichigo, before realizing that there were shapes closing in on them.

The sonic assault became too much to bear for Ichigo, causing her to topple over and fade out of consciousness. Seeing this, Kisshu figured that it was only a matter of time before he was knocked out as well.

If only I could block it out… but of course, that's yet another natural defense of mine that isn't working. Kisshu scowled as his swords appeared in hand. SHIT! It's too loud!

Fighting to keep the dark figures away from Ichigo and fighting to close off his ears was too much for him, however, and Kisshu fell to the ground beside her in a matter of seconds. After that, there was a sharp pain throughout his body and everything went black.

"Is she awake yet?"

"I see her eyes moving!"

"Ichigo's waking up. Keep calm, everyone, and be ready to explain what's going on."

Ichigo's eyes fluttered open, but immediately shut again when they were exposed to a huge light around her. After blinking a few times, she regained her bounds and began to look around. The floor of the room she was in was made of the same thing as the floors in the ship. The walls were a dark purplish, and there was a large statue in the center of everything. It was carved of some form of black rock, into the shape of a human figure with golden wings emerging from a silver egg. Ichigo's arms were above her, bound to the ceiling of a clear dome. Her legs were just dangling below her. Looking up, she turned to her right to see Mew Mint, restrained in the same manner she was. Mint was looking Ichigo in the eyes, her Mew outfit singed and her hair a mess.

"Where have you been?" she said, her voice almost silent. Ichigo had a hard time hearing, but she could tell what Mint was telling her.

"Mint, don't be rude…" Lettuce's voice sounded from behind Mint.

"We're all pretty glad you finally showed up." Taruto said from somewhere. Ichigo couldn't tell where, but she guessed he was across from her behind the statue. "In a way."

Stupid statue… can't see a thing..

"Kisshu still hasn't woken up yet." A voice Ichigo recognised, but couldn't quite place. Looking to her left, she saw Kisshu. He wasn't moving much, but Ichigo could see he was breathing. On the other side of him, Ichigo saw Ria, who gave a small smile.

"We were pretty worried about the two of you when you showed up in here. It took you a while to open your eyes." Ryou had said that.

"It's so good to see you again!" Pudding's voice came from somewhere else behind the statue.

"What happened?" Ichigo asked, surprising herself at the sound of her own voice. It wasn't any louder than anyone else's.

"It was all so fast. First, they were explaining to us what you and Kisshu had told us when you made contact." Pai was speaking now.

"Before we knew it, there were explosions outside." Lettuce continued.

"When I ran to a window for a look at what was going on, there was fire everywhere." Mint explained. "The entire city was on fire."

"Tokyo Mew Mew, to the rescue." Zakuro muttered sarcastically. "Not exactly. We did try to help, but nothing worked."

"Pudding tried her hardest to stop the fires. But the fires melted the PuddingRing." Pudding said. She sounded upset, and was probably tearing up a little.

"The city took a lot of damage, as you probably saw." Keiichiro muttered. "They spared Café Mew Mew to use as a base."

"Can someone please tell me who?" Ichigo yelled impatiently.

"Who? WHO? Ichigo, you really are so naïve." Mint smirked.

"Spare me the scolding, Mint!" Ichigo screamed. "Just tell me who killed my home!"

"Your boyfriend." Zakuro finished bluntly.

"W-w-what?" Ichigo stammered, shocked. "How can you say that?"

"Because it's true." Ryou finished. "The Blue Knight destroyed the city."

"It wasn't that guy, it was Ne'so-e! (A/N That's pronounced "Nea su-ey", just in case you were reading this out loud) Hey, Kisshu's moving!" Ria interrupted. Everyone turned in Kisshu's direction.

Kisshu was shaking slightly. Then, he began to cough and his eyes opened wide as he looked around at everyone.

"Glad you're finally awake." Pai muttered.

"What happened?" Kisshu glared around the room.

"Very long story." Lettuce tried to muster a smile, but failed.

Kisshu's eyes fell on Ria. "When did you get here?"

"When I teleported here, my signal as an alien was detected and I was somehow re-routed here." Ria explained, trying to shrug, but her arms were paper white and wouldn't support any weight. "Ne'so-e caught me immediately and shut me in here."

"What's a Ne'so-e?" Ichigo asked. "And what is wrong with everyone's voices?"

"I was just about to say the same thing, I can hardly hear a thing…" Kisshu muttered.

"There's nothing wrong with our voices." Taruto answered, confused.

"What happened before you got sent in here?" Ryou asked the two of them.

"There was this acid vapour surrounding the Café when we got here. It burned my hand." Ichigo gestured to her hand with her head, as it was all she could move.

"Then what?" Pai asked.

"Out of nowhere, this siren began to blare at us. It got increasingly louder and louder, until I passed out." Ichigo explained.

"The siren was my fault, I think…" Kisshu muttered. "I wanted to see what would happen to me if I tried touching it. After a couple of seconds, this alarm was sounding."

Everyone looked at Kisshu, who looked pretty damn embarrassed about what had happened. Ichigo was blushing furiously, trying not to see him.

"I know what happened." Pai said, looking back at Ichigo.

"You two might've been deafened by that siren." Keiichiro finished.

"WHAT?" Ichigo and Kisshu exclaimed together. The idea of deafness wasn't very pleasurable, especially when contained like this. Nothing was going right. This couldn't be happening, whatever was happening.

"So… what happens now that we haven't got a hope to cling to?" Lettuce whimpered.

Silence. Nothing but silence filled the room. This silence, however, was something Ichigo couldn't deal with.

"There's always hope." She muttered.

"Not this time." Zakuro replied. "I hate it too, but you and Kisshu being off Earth was our last chance."

"There's always hope!" Ichigo repeated, louder this time. "I'm sure everyone remembers Deep Blue, right?"

Everyone Ichigo could see nodded.

"We managed to defeat him, even though the odds were against us in every way possible." She continued, managing a thin smile. "I'm sure we can do it this time, if we keep positive."

Ichigo's prep speech was cheering her friends up. Everyone's faces were lighting up at least a little. There were a few reasons Ichigo was the leader, this, her ability to alleviate the tension in a no-win situation like this, was one of them. The optimism was soon cut short, however, by footsteps coming from outside the room.

"Ne'so-e!" Ria whispered harshly. "He's coming back!"

"Who's Ne'so-e?" Ichigo asked again, impatiently.

"Ne'so-e is a mythical demon from our mythology." Kisshu explained, glaring at Ria. "No-True-Soul, in your language. He doesn't exist."

"Yes he does too, and he's coming!" Ria insisted. Just as the words left her mouth, a dark figure entered the room.

The figure stalked to the center of the circular formation in which everyone was being held. The figure belonged to a male. Mostly dark hues of black and purple clothed him, every part of his face but his eyes (a sharp shade of cyan blue) were covered. Alien ears showed on either side of his head. He was holding a sword as long as his leg in one hand. Ichigo took a sharp intake of breath, realizing that this was the one that kept trying to kill her. She kept quiet, hoping she would be overlooked.

It didn't work.

Ne'so-e walked right over to where Ichigo was dangling, unable to move. In a surprisingly warm tone of voice, he began to speak to her.

"Hello, Ichigo. I haven't seen you in a long time." He smiled wickedly. "Did you have fun without me?"

"What are you talking about?" Ichigo shouted. "Who are you?"

"Mint was right, you really are so naïve." Ne'so-e ignored Ichigo's question, as he continued.

"You could hear what we were saying?" Taruto asked angrily.

"Yes, I could."

"Wah…" Lettuce muttered.

"Who are you?" Ichigo asked again, yelling.

"I go by many names. Ne'so-e, is one of them." He answered, looking at Ria, who hid her eyes. "So is Deep Blue, and Ao Kishi, the Blue Knight. But you probably know me better as Masaya Aoyama."

Masaya Aoyama.

Masaya…

Ichigo came to a shocked realization when the truth was revealed.

Her boyfriend had been trying to kill her.

And she had been stupid enough to refuse what she had known since she saw those eyes before.

Ichigo had known it in her heart the whole time.

After a few more wayward thoughts, Ichigo passed out again, unable to do anything other than dangle limply from the ceiling. Voices she could hardly hear were bouncing around the room, overlapping each other, until everything just went dark.