10Epilogue.
Emptiness.
It was all he felt. All he could feel. The last hours could have passed in a nightmare from which he had just woke up, still drowsy, part of the mind still asleep and taken by the sensation and shards of Dante-esque visions.
It was just a feeling, caused not by nightmares, but by reality.
It wasn't only him.
Dr. Katsura didn't seem to have any more words or the strength. Ryou took notice of the man's fallen shoulders when he went out of Zakuro's room, took notice of his dull eyes for the first time. It was the only time when he allowed himself to think, truly think, that the man was among the ones who took daily care of the girls.
His mind had been dominated by mist. If before he had needed strength and patience to go in, aware he would have to deal with Katsura if he wanted to see any of them, now there was nothing left, no space for thought or strength.
There was only tiredness, in the every way it could be felt. At times, images of the day tore his mind. Ichigo throwing herself against a wall and scraping her head against it in a frenetic attempt to skin her own ear off. Mint's empty eyes that belonged to a doll rather than a living being. Lettuce's words, lacking intonation or life. Purin's eyes, burning feverishly insisting to see people who weren't there, trying to keep a cocoon that would at least resemble a normal life… And Zakuro's bloody teeth, how she was as lost as the others, but still aware of what happened around to promise him death should she ever see him again…
The words of Katsura were lost among it all, but the meaning remained.
Ryou said nothing either on his way out. He barely paid attention when, in the hall, he gave his visitor's pass back to Hiroyuki, who had a hellish coldness in her stare. He wasn't truly there, he wasn't truly paying attention to reality. Past mixed with the images of the present and, like so many other times, it was almost hard to correlate a time with another.
When had things reached that point? Was it to be like this since the beginning, a spiral that could be slowed down, but not avoided?
He didn't like to think about it.
His car's seat was warm. The temperature of the day had risen and he had spent hours in that hospital. He didn't feel warm, though.
His hands held the wheel, but he didn't start the motor. His eyes remained in the building, thought still caged in the special ward, in the girls he had known and what had happened to them.
He remained like that for a long time.
A shiver ran through his body. Ryou had no mind to try controlling it. The things he had to say, even the ones that had been said, were still inside him. It was of no use…
His words, like his actions, were useless, with no effect in the reality.
Slowly, needing to focus himself in what he was doing, he started to car and left.
Even when the physical distance between him and the building grew, it wasn't enough.
The gazes, be the animal-like or lost, insane or cold, were still inside him.
And Ryou knew he would carry them with him. Forever.
They were his consequences.
Ana: Not the best ending, but I thought the whole point of this story had been made, so I just needed a last scene to tie it all up, you know? I hope you guys have enjoyed it!
Continue: Yup, it's done. It was really quick, huh? But, then again, it was a short story. I'm so glad you liked it so much! Although Zakuro isn't any better than the others (she needs to be there as much as the others, it isn't as if she is "all there" either) she still has sanity enough to know what happened and their current situation. I was going to make her as "disconnected" as the others, but I thought it would be way worse if she was forced to watch her friends deteriorating and being unable to do anything about it. Well, now it's done. I'll keep posting some one-shots, but I plan to write longer Tokyo Mew Mew fics soon, perhaps even with some OCs, who knows? Let's see. Once again, thanks so much!