When All Hope Is Lost

-Chapter Two-


DISCLAIMER: Tokyo Mew Mew and its Characters © Mia Ikumi


The girls have finally faced the difficult challenges that they must overcome. Ichigo has learned of Masaya\'s lies and is now running to the cafe to look to Ryou for comfort. Retasu has encounted Pai who wishes to convince her that a dying tree can be saved. Mint has found that she and Masaya love each other and must figure out what to make of their relationship. Purin has told Tart of a game that may be different than they had imagined. And now that Zakuro has the help of Keiichiro, she must try to finally create a good cupcake.


Warning for this chapter: There is one brief adult-content sentence in the Ichigo segment of the story. In the Purin segment, there is slight adult-content, though there is not such strong details as of yet.


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Stepping into the empty cafe, Ichigo looked at her surroundings with her tears pouring down her face. She still did not know why she had run to her cafe at this time of lost hope. She closed her eyes, once again remembering the sight. Mint had sat on top of Masaya with nothing but a black laced bra as she rocked her hips on top of Masaya\'s strongly erected member. It was definately not an image Ichigo had wanted going through her mind, but what was she do. It was the most terrifying picture that was placed in her brain.


Racing up the steps that led up to the second floor, Ichigo\'s tears drained out of her eyes even harder. She still could not believe the fact that her best friend in the whole wide world had been sleeping with her long-time boyfriend with her not having a single idea of it in her head.


Masaya had never exactly seemed like the cheating type either. He was simply perfect and kind and completely understanding. He would never have the heart to hurt someone even if he had the chance. But that was a complete lie. He had hurt her. She didn\'t understand. Didn\'t he love her? Apparently not. Though he had repeated the words in her ear several times. But of course, he had lied to her.


Reaching the top of the steps, she stood in front of Ryou\'s bedroom door. What was she doing there? She asked her self once again, still confused about her reasons for running to find comfort in the arms of her rude employer. Still, there was no time to think, as she quickly turned the handle to his bedroom, and rushed in without warning, as she had usually done.


Ryou looked up from sitting at the edge of his bed, shock (though not too surprised) about Ichigo bursting into his bedroom, unannounced. \"Ichigo! What are you doing here!? When are you going to learn how to knoc--?\" He froze his words in place, as he spotted the tears running down her pink-colored cheeks. \"I-I-Ichigo?\"


She did not speak to him. She did not say a single word. Only did she cry as she stood in front of the blond-haired boy, too lost to find the words to say to him.


Standing up from his bed momentarily, he grabbed her hands and brought her over to his bed and sat her down next to him. \"Ichigo...I need you to look at me for a second and tell me what it is that\'s wrong with you.\" He whispered quietly, as he held her chin in his hands. He had suddenly become quite worried about the girl, afraid of what it was that had made her cry like this.


Ichigo hesitated to look straight at his face. She did not stop her crying for a second and kept thinking back of when she had caught Masaya and Mint in the act. Finally, focusing her eyes on his own, she tried to cough up the words to speak. \"Masaya...he...he was with her...and...Mint was...It was all just a lie...They both lied...\" She sniffled, between her words, as she cried harder after speaking up.


Ryou was shocked to hear what she was telling him. He still did not know exactly what happened, but he could sum up the basic details from what she had said. Masaya had cheated on her. And apparently it was with Mint, if that was what she was trying to say. \"That bastard!\" He shouted, growing angry. Ryou had loved Ichigo with all his heart, yet he had let her go after accepting how much she had loved Masaya. And knowing, or so her thought, that Masaya would never hurt her, he had left them alone. \"I could kill him for this!\"


Ichigo shook her head, surprised about what Ryou had said. She had not expected her employer to grow so angry in her defense about what Masaya had done. She was actually expecting something like, \"Oh, really? That\'s really no surprise. I expected him to cheat on you sooner.\" But he hadn\'t said that. \"Ryou, it\'s okay. You don\'t need to get so upset. This has nothing to do with you.\"


\"Ichigo! That jerk actually hurt you! After all that about loving you so much for years, he goes ahead and does a stupid thing like that!\" He shouted the words which were very unlike him. Finally realizing this, he lowered his tone and tried to act like it hadn\'t been that big of a deal for him. \"I\'m just saying....that he\'s a real jerk to do something like that. And a real coward for just doing it behind your back like that. I mean, expecting that you had caught him and Mint together, right?\"


Instead of saying a yes, Ichigo nodded to him. She hated to be reminded about that moment. It made her want to rip her hair out. Ichigo returned to her tears and began to cry again. \"I\'m such an idiot.\"


Shaking his head, Ryou tried to find words that would comfort her. \"You\'re not an idiot. He is. I mean, how could he possibly be so stupid to go ahead and do something that would make him lose you!? He\'s a total idiot for giving you up when he had you.\"


Staring into his eyes, Ichigo did not understand why Ryou was saying the things he was saying, but she didn\'t care. She needed to hear his words. She needed to know that she should not put the blame on herself and to not give up on everything. Not holding back any longer, Ichigo leaned forward and put her arms around Ryou, hugging him tightly as she continued to cry.


Not currently having more words to say, he simply looked down at her sadly, as he wrapped his own arms around her.


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Retasu had no idea what Pai was talking about. She blushed more than she had before as she felt his breath combining in with her own. Why was he so close? Why was he even there talking to her all of a sudden? Before she could ask more questions to herself, Pai walked a few steps back.


\"The tree\'s going to be just fine.\" He said, giving a small smile. \"It may seem like it\'s just losing its life right now, but spring will come back and it\'ll have its leaves back. It just has to learn to trust hope.\" He spoke, picking up a leaf and concentrating his eyes on it.


It was then that Retasu began to wonder what he was really talking about. Was he really just speaking of the dying tree? Or was he compating the tree to her? It all seemed so confusing to her. She was definately in a position she didn\'t want to be in. She had never been alone with Pai before, and it was just confusing her mind and making her thoughts go in circles.


\"I really don\'t think I can agree with you. By the way it looks now, it seems it\'ll be gone by Winter, don\'t you think so?\" She asked, returning to believing he was actually speaking of the tree like it sounded. Leaning against the tree, she sighed, wondering why life had to be so hard, even for those of nature.


He gave a chuckle, looking back at her as he let the leaf float away in the wind. \"Why must you give up on it so easily? Can\'t you just even have the slightest beliefs that there\'s still some chance for the tree to be saved?\"


Retasu didn\'t want to speak about this further. It seemed that the conversation would just go back and forth in circles and they both disagreed about each other\'s beliefs and continued to state one\'s own opinion. And besides, she really did not want to further be alone with Pai. \"I-I-I should really go.\" She stuttered, as she stood up straight, preparing to leave.


Rushing back to her, he held her arm softly, shaking his mind. \"Why must you go so suddenly?\"


She wondered what it was of why he even wanted her to stay and bit her lip. \"I really must go. I have something I must attend to and I must leave quickly.\" She said, hoping he\'d understand, though she knew it was easy to tell she was lying.


\"Why must you not trust me? I am not here to hurt you. I am simply here to help you.\" His words had really made her even more confused. Why would she need help? Was there really something wrong with her? She just wanted to leave, away from here, and away from Pai.


\"It\'s not that. I just really need to leave. You and I may talk some other time when I am not busy, okay?\" She said, closing her eyes, not wanting to look straight at him any longer. His eyes only made her more nervous than she already was and she only wanted to return home or anywhere else that she could just be alone.


With her eyes closed, she had not seen Pai as he leaned forward, kissing her softly on the lips, but she had definately felt it. Opening her eyes, she did not have a response to say about what he had done. She only stared back at him, with her mouth wide of shock.


\"This is why you feel like such an outsider. Like you don\'t belong. Because you have never learned to trust anyone else, as you just keep things to yourself.\" She did not know how she had read her mind. It was like he was spoken words that described how she had felt. Though she couldn\'t understand more of what he meant by not trusting.


\"I do trust others! I don\'t know what you\'re talking about!\" She protested.


\"Then prove that you can trust me.\" He said to her, before once again, kissing her.


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It had been several weeks before at Zakuro\'s birthday party when it had first begun. Mint sat in a guest room upstairs in the cafe, tired from the dancing and game-playing that had been going on. Looking for relaxation, Mint had gone upstairs to take a small break, while the others continued to enjoy their fun. It wasn\'t long though, when Masaya had appeared in the doorway of the room.


\"Oh!\" He exclaimed, spotting Mint sitting on the bed. \"I apologize. I didn\'t know anyone else was here.\" He said, scratching the back of his head, giving a nervous smile.


Shrugging her shoulders, she wasn\'t too bothered by him as she simply laid against the pillows, too tired to care about much else anyway. Besides it was just her friend\'s boyfriend. What could possibly go wrong with him there? \"It\'s okay. I\'m just tired from the party. You can stay in here too if you\'d like.\"


Smiling, he closed the door behind him, as he sat on the bed as well, beside her. \"Yeah, me too. I never knew how crazy those girls could act at a party.\" He noted with a chuckle. \"I don\'t think they ever get tired at a party. They just go on for hours.\"


She laughed at his comment. \"Oh, I so know how crazy they can get. Years and years of spending time with those girls everyday can teach you a thing or two about their crazyness.\" She sat up, so she wouldn\'t seem so lazy or so tired. Giving a small yawn, she covered it with her hand. \"I\'m just tired since I\'ve been up since four in the morning, organizing this part.y. It was a surprise for Zakuro and I wanted to make it sure everything went okay.\"


Masaya nodded, still smiling at the girl. \"I understand. You\'ve done a very good job at putting this party together. The decorations were beautiful too. It\'s a shame though, that they had to be ruined with the girls going all over the place.\"


Mint really didn\'t mind. The party had made Zakuro happy and that was what had really mattered to her. \"Yeah, well, I really don\'t mind. They\'re having fun. That\'s the important thing, right? Those girls are my best friends and if they\'re happy, that\'s all I want.\" It wasn\'t like Mint to say things like that. She was always the spoiled type, saying words that sounded like she didn\'t care, but she felt comfortable with telling Masaya how she really felt.


He stared at her silently, listening to her words. \"I can see how much you care about them.\" He whispered, really touched by her words. \"It\'s a nice thing to have such dear friends close to you. That\'s very important, of course.\"


Still, she frowned. She had friends. But she had no love. Even with the girls with her, she still felt a sort of lonliness, being without someone she could really spend her life with. \"Yeah, I guess so...\"


He noticed her frown, and looked down at her. \"What\'s wrong? Is something bothering you?\" She did not reply to him, and he just stared at her face which had lost the happiness that appeared there not so long ago. Getting a hint of what had been the matter, he brought out his hand and lifted her chin. \"Don\'t be sad. I\'m sure there is someone out there.\"


Shocked that he had read her mind, she stared at him, wondering what to say. \"...Do...do you really think so?\"


He smiled again, nodding his head. \"I\'m sure of it.\"


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Tart scratched his head, as he heard the name of the game. \"What\'s that supposed to mean!?\" He questioned, feeling quite confused. \"What are we supposed to be showing anyway?\"


Purin shrugged, giggling. \"Well, I didn\'t really get the point of the game, but the girl said it made her feel so much older. Maybe if we play this game, we can be older too!\"


Tart frowned at her comment. She really was so much of a child. Though he was the same, he wasn\'t quite at the same level as she. \"Purin, you\'re sixteen, you should already be older, don\'t you think?\"


She nodded. \"I know! But I just never knew how! Maybe this game can completely fix that!\" She said, as she continued to let out her constant giggles. She stopped rocking back and forth and looked straight at Tart. \"So do you want to play or not?\"


He shrugged, not having much else of a choice. \"I guess so. But I have no idea what it is, so you have to tell me how to play.\" He said, as he stood up and she followed the action as well.


\"Okay! I\'ll tell you everything I saw the people do when they played!\" She said, excited about the game they were to play. \"First, you have to put your pants down!\"


Tart gasped, blushing deeply. \"WHAT!? What kind of game is that supposed to be!? I am not putting my pants down!\"


Purin did not understand why he was acting so upset about the game and what she had said. \"What are you talking about? That\'s how they played the game. You said we can play! So we can feel older!\"


Sighing, he thought a moment, wondering what to do next. \"Alright, alright, I guess.\" He finally agreed to the procedure, as he slowly untied the top of his pants and pulling them down his legs.


Giggling, she stared at his private member which was something she had never before seen. \"Why do you have that big thing there? What\'s that supposed to be!?\" She laughed, pointing down at it, making Tart blushed deeply.


\"Hey! What are you laughing for!? What\'s wrong with it!?\" He shook his head, finding this to be a silly game. He noticed he was the only one getting made fun of and wanted this to be even. \"Well, I pulled down my pants! So now you have to take off your skirt! It\'s only fair!\"


She nodded, without protesting. \"I know! That\'s why the game\'s called, \'I\'ll show you mine if you show me yours\"! So now I take off my skirt for you to see what I have!\" She said it so simply, not finding it to be a big deal, since her mind was so innocent and she was so much of a child. Unzipping the side of her skirt, she pulled it off, before taking off her cotton underwear as well. \"There! Now this is mine!\"


Tart ws deeply shocked about what he saw. Like Purin had never seen what he had, he had never seen what she had. He saw the small hole that was placed between her legs and wondered how it was possible. \"Well, you made fun of me! But you don\'t even have anything at all!\"


Purin shrugged, not bothered by it. \"So? It seems fine to me!\" Standing there, with their private areas being revealed to one another, the two did not know in their minds about what was going on.


Purin simply rocked her feet back and forth freely, as Tart stood there, still wondering about the point to the game they were playing. \"Anyway, what are we supposed to do next anyway?\" He asked, crossing his arms.


\"Only the obvious!\" She shouted, joyfully. \"Now we put them together!\"


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Zakuro squeezed out the last bit of frosting on her cupcake, as she looked back and stared at it. A large smile growing on her face, she jumped up happily. “Oh my god! I actually did it! I made a cupcake!” She grew with excitement, as she hugged Keiichiro, who was slightly surprised at her actions.


Keiichiro was shocked by her sudden ways, but smiled, proud that she had grown so happy and that he was able to help her become that way. He noticed that her smile made her so much more beautiful than she already was, though it was a shame that it happened to be a rare sight to see.


For he had been wondering for such a long time, he decided to go ahead and ask her. “Zakuro, I wish to ask you….why is it that you rarely let out a smile?” He stated out the question, simply hoping to receive an answer from her.


She was surprised about his question. There was never a time that someone else had asked her such a thing, though she could tell that many people did wonder. She sighed, deciding that it was okay to talk about her feelings with Keiichiro. She seemed so comfortable around him and that she found it surprisingly easy to talk to him. “I guess…I’ve just been afraid of people…”


Stopping for a moment, she took a slight breathe before continuing. “When I meet someone, I just suddenly become afraid of what they’ll think of me and afraid that maybe they won’t like the way I am.” She began, leaning back against the kitchen counter. Staring back down at the cupcake she had made. “It came to a point that I just didn’t seem to bother with it anymore and just gave up on everything. It’s been such a long time since I was able to give out a real smile.”


Keiichiro listened to her words, slightly shocked of what he was hearing. Though he seemed to recognize the story from someone else, he really did not expect to hear this from Zakuro. Walking closer to her, he placed his hand on her cheek. “Zakuro, you should not be afraid of others. You should just try to be exactly who you are, no matter what the others say or think. If you are happy with yourself, then that is all that matters. If you like the person you are, then there is nothing else to worry about.”


Zakuro stared at him, noticing that he was right about it all. She shouldn’t have to be afraid. She shouldn’t have to worry about the other person’s thoughts. She was happy with who she was, and should not try to hide it from the world. She should smile to them, to let them all know that she was proud to be the person she was.


Looking away from him for a moment, she kept with her thoughts. Suddenly, she looked back at him with a large smile. “You’re right, Keiichiro. I’m happy with myself, no matter what anyone else thinks of me. I shouldn’t have to hide my smile. I should really show it more often.”


Happy with her realization, he smiled back at her, nodding his head. “There you go, Zakuro. Be happy with who you are. And don’t be afraid. And look! Now you know how to make a cupcake! You could start helping me back here when you wish and give your cupcakes to the others! With your smile on your face too, of course.”


She actually made a giggle, staring up at him. She did not understand what it was about Keiichiro. He could always easily help a person with their problems, always knowing the exact words to tell them. She loved that about him. How he could always tell her the right things. She stood there in silence for a moment, staring helplessly at him, before she lunged forward and kissed him.


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-To Be Continued-