13) Playing Games

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Cafe Mew Mew was like a ghost town. The darkness that dwelled within was frightening but I made myself walk further into it. I noticed on the front of the door, Ryou and Keiichiro must have put up the ‘CLOSED’ sign, but it was only 11:30 on a Saturday.

     ‘Hello?’ I said louder, knowing not to expect anyone to answer. I jumped as the front door I opened shut with a sudden bang behind me. Full darkness surrounded me. Then, I heard a faint high pitched voice struggling. My hopes had risen and I felt a little better. Not knowing where to put my feet next, I still ran towards where it came from. As I came closer to the small struggling voice, I noticed a small light was on in the kitchen and that’s where the voice had come from.

     ‘Hello?’ I repeated, peering into the quiet kitchen. The voice stopped. There was no one in there, until I saw a tiny movement at the corner of my eye. As I turned around to see what had moved, there was nothing. ‘Is someone here?’ I said quietly, still searching for more movement.

     This time, I saw what had moved. It was an upside down silver mixing bowl sitting on the bench. It seemed as though either something small was under it or a poltergeist was moving it. Both of those seemed silly to me but that was all I had to go by.

     Placing my bag down, I quietly approached it. At the sound of my bag hitting the floor, the bowl moved again. I placed my hands softly on either side of the bowl, heart beating fast. I slowly lifted it up and there, staring back at me, was what seemed like Ichigo’s little Masha creature, but different.

     This one had black fur and cloudy, white eyes. Its little wings and tail were black, also, and it stared at me, scared out of its little mind. Its wings were flat against the bench and it was shaking uncontrollably.

     ‘Oh,’ I said, my voice getting higher at how cute this little guy was. ‘Are you okay?’ I put the bowl down and reached for it. It inched away a little but stopped and let me pick it up. It was very warm and its fur was soft. It seemed to have calmed down a bit. It blinked at me and then moved its gaze to the top of my head, leaning forward a little.

     Its little wing flapped hard as it shot out of my hands and flew behind me. I turned around but didn’t see it. I could hear it behind me as I kept turning around. I stopped as I realized my panda ears were out as the little guy was flying around them.

     ‘What are you doing?’ I reached a hand up to try and grab it but it pressed its body against my hand and pushed it away. I couldn’t help but giggle at the way it was acting. ‘You know what you remind me of?’ I said, not knowing whether it could hear me or not. I reached my hands up, trying to grab it again, but it flew in front of my face, white eyes mesmerizing.

     It blinked and I was hypnotized, watching the colours of its eyes swirl.

     ‘Mew?’ it said.

     ‘What?’ I blinked.

     ‘Mini Mew!’

     ‘But that’s the name of Ichigo’s fuzz ball! I was gonna say you look like a blackberry!’

     ‘Berry!’ It chimed happily.

     ‘Mini Berry.’ I smiled.

     ‘Mini Berry! Mini Berry!’ It sang.

     Before I could say another word, a crash sounded from upstairs. I spun around, Mini Berry flying just above my shoulder.

     ‘You wanna go check it out?’ I asked Mini Berry. He stayed still, next to my shoulder, and silent. ‘Mini Berry?’ I asked. When I thought Mini Berry wouldn’t be moving any time soon, I walked out of the kitchen, not knowing if Mini Berry was behind me or not, but I didn’t really care. I didn’t know what he could do. I didn’t know if he could protect me from something or turn into a huge beast to help us fight cyniclons and their chimera animas.

     I crept up the stairs, my intentions to look around the whole place for some form of life other than myself and the blackberry, Mini Berry. As I looked down the dark hallway, I heard someone humming. It sent chills down my spine and my legs didn’t want me to keep moving but I did. I stopped in front of Ryou’s door where I thought the humming was coming from. As I curled my fingers around the doorknob, the humming stopped abruptly. My heart skipped a beat and my hands felt clammy. I turned the knob and pushed the door open fast. What I saw standing at his window, back facing me, made my legs feel like jelly. I was so scared at what I might have found but it was only Ryou hanging out in his room. His room had a happier glow about it than the rest of the Cafe, probably because sun was sinking into the room from his one window.

     ‘Ryou,’ I said, relieved. ‘I thought I would never be happy to see you. Listen,’ I took a step into his room. ‘I just ran into Kisshu at the park and he was filling my head with these awful ideas. I’m so glad you’re okay. Where’s Keiichiro?’

     Ryou turned his head slightly but didn’t say anything.

     ‘Ryou? Are you okay?’ I took another step and regretted it as soon as Ryou turned around to face me but it wasn’t Ryou at all. It was Kisshu dressed in his clothes and a blonde wig. ‘Kisshu, what are you - ? How did you - ?’ I couldn’t finish my sentences. I took a step back and Kisshu lunged at me, an evil smile across his face. Before I could think clearly, I had slammed the door shut and ran down the stairs, heart racing a million miles an hour.

     The main room of Cafe Mew Mew had somehow become darker. The kitchen light wasn’t on anymore and I had no idea where Mini Berry was. I could hardly see anything in front of me but apparently I had some idea of where I was going as my hands reached out in front of me and they opened the front doors, causing me to squint at the shining light of the sun.

     I stopped, breathing hard, and spun around, hoping Kisshu had stayed in Ryou’s room or gone somewhere else far away. The front doors slowly closed by themselves. I shut my eyes after watching the darkness inside the Cafe disappear from sight. My eyes were filled will scared tears.

     ‘Mini Berry!’ I heard a newly familiar voice chant. I turned around, heart fluttering, and saw that the floating, breathing little blackberry was alright.

     ‘Mini Berry, what happened?’ I asked, approaching it.

     ‘Ran away! Ran away!’

     ‘Of course,’ I muttered. I grabbed hold of Mini Berry and hugged him close to my chest.

     Everything was silent and the feeling of Kisshu’s presence had gone. Somehow I knew he wasn’t here anymore. I closed my eyes and pictures of the first night I found out I was a Mew Mew flashed into my head. The flashes continued from that night up until this moment. The only sounds were of the wind racing through the leaves of the surrounding trees and very distant voices and cars.

     I was relaxed until I heard an all too familiar scream that tensed me up again and my panda ears popped out.

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