1. Arrival
The volatile city of Tokyo, is set right in the center of Japan, populated with twelve million, seven hundred and ninety thousand citizens. Moving back here since I was a Akachan brought back childhood memories, brought back the moments I spent with Daisuke, my personal helper. He's in college now, he contacted me to boast about his grades, achievements, and how he'd been transferred to an upper, advanced placement in Canada. Living the life of my childhood on replay, would be a dream come reality.
Though, the plot thickens to the fact that my Otousan was offered a job as a client in one of the main top school districts, in which I was most probably able to attend, considering my connections with one of the major clients. Hitomi, my Hahaoya helped me load the rest of my bags into the back of the car, whereas Isao, my Otousan was currently in an important phone call with the super-intendant. I sighed, closing the hood of the station wagon before climbing into the back-seat. This was going to be a long drive.
Twenty-four hours and thirty-three minutes later, Hitomi shook my shoulder ever so tenderly.
"Cream, sweetie," my eyes began fluttering open, my field of vision a blur from the adjustment to the sunlight. "Wake up, dear. Time to see the new house." Hitomi flipped her cherry coated wavy hair over her shoulder. I inherited her hair color, except mine had more precision against even the best straightness, adding just a shade darker than her own.
"Wha. What time is it?" I asked between a continous yawn, unbuckling my seat belt.
"Just gone noon," she paused, looking towards six girls who were outside my new neighbors house. "Seems like our new place doesn't have a distance of a fifteen minute walk radius, until the next house." She winked at me, smoothing my bangs into place. I giggled.
"That's true. Well, we better get inside." Hitomi got out of the car first, carrying my suitcases inside. My carry-on items was a rare ring, only found in some cities, they were on the road to extinction. I took a deep breath before stepping out of the car.
Once my feet touched the cold asphalt, all eyes of the six girls were on me, their lips curved. I smiled tentatively, smoothing down my checked dress. "Hahaoya, I'll be back later. I'm going to tour the sights of Tokyo. You never know what's change throughout the past sixteen years." I said in a polite manner, squaring my shoulders. I closed my eyes, inhaled a breath of fresh air, and planned my tour.
A map was never needed, neither did I tend to have a walking Global Positioning System. All of the routes were in my memory. I decided to visit my old friend, Inohara Park, where I spent most days having picnics and making daisy chains with my kazoku.
The fountain was still set, right in the center of the park, lanes spreading outwards in different directions, leading to new discoveries. That was the most reoccurring experience that happened to me in everyday life of living in Tokyo. I would always discover new elements every single day. I smiled at the sight of an Ane playing with her Imoto.
"Mika! Be careful, Hahaoya will go into a mental trance if she finds even the slightest scar." The girl said to her Imoto, who was self-invitingly climbing monkey bars.
"Ooo, Oo, Oo, Oo, Ah Ah Ah! I'm a monkey na no da!" Mika exclaimed, when suddenly, she slipped on one of the bars. "Ane!"
"Mika!" The little Shojo's sister yelled from afar, she had just left her Imoto to play to go and get some refreshments.
"I've got you!" A boy who looked around the age of sixteen saved the little monkey from hurting her self. His blonde hair waved gracefully in the sunlight, blue eyes matched up to his perfect features.
"Arigato, no tame ni setsuyaku watashi no shimai!" Translation: Thank you for saving my sister! The current protector of Mika thanked the gentleman, whereas I just stared.
"No problem. Be careful little monkey," he flicked the little girls nose and she giggled. "You remind me of one of my employee's at Café Mew Mew," he continued, lowering down to her level, handing her a bag full of cookies. "Stop by sometime, we'd be delighted to have another entertainer." His smile was filled with radiance.
"Arigato sir," the taller girl answered for her shimai, obviously speechless about how handsome this boy was.
He put his hands behind his head. "No big deal, just keep an eye on her," he advised, and then made a dramatic exit.
"Hm," I thought, kicking a pebble stone out of my way. "Obtainable reflexes, excellent physical shape. What is he, an acrobat?" I asked myself. Sighing, I continued to walk down another lane.
I sat down in the middle of the field, watching the birds fly past in the sky. Exhaling sharply, I fell flat on my back, knee-to-knee with my legs spread out, eyes closed.
Sigh. "What a nice day," I mumbled to myself, re-opening my eyes to spot a shade of pink out of the corner of my eye. A cute café rested down a path-walk. The design had intricate details, adding a flare of castle-esque. Curved stairs carved around the side of this phenomenal building, heart windows everywhere I turned. If they weren't heart windows, they'd just be hearts glued to the pink bricks. What rested on top of this building, was a golden statue of a cat. I stood up, storing the view into my memory.
"Kawaii! It's so cute!" I couldn't help but shout aloud, resting both of my palms on my cheeks, smiling. I noticed that there was a stand just near the entrance, so I travelled over to take a peek. It read; 'Café Mew Mew.' This must be the café that hero works in. I sighed, debating whether I should continue the tour on my schedule, or test out the refreshments in this beautiful café. I chose the latter. It would be a tour with lunch breaks. Without another word I walked down the path, opening the doors to the café.
"Welcome to Café Mew Mew! I'll be your server for today, please continue to table five please. Arigato." A girl with carmine hair wrapped in pigtails offered, and I obeyed her instructions. Chewing on my lip, I marched over to the table chosen.
I took a peek at the menu, deciding to have crembule. "I'll have crembule please, with a whip of cream." I asked the waitress, who had an adorable outfit on.
"Of course," she finally opened her eyes, she had them shut for the past minute of my being in her presence. "Oh, hey! Aren't you my new neighbor?" She questioned me. That was why her face looked familiar.
"Guilty," I admitted, and she gave a polite smile.
"I'm Ichigo Momomiya,"
"I'm Cream Miyuki," I introduced my self as I saw on movies, holding out my hand in which she genuinely shook.
"Nice to meet you Cream," she was interupted by the boy I saw earlier.
"I don't pay you to make friends," he moaned, in which she grunted and turned on her heel.
"You hardly pay me at all, Shirogane! And I'm the only one who does work around here!" Her face shade changed from white to red, fury over-whelming her welcome.
"Berry works, Lettuce too even though she is clumsy. Pudding works as well, just uses entertainment to make the service fun." He boasted.
"Well I'm fed up being treated like a slave! It's not fair!" Ichigo sulked, I just sat there, staring. My legs finally found the effort to raise.
"I'm going to go," I squeezed passed the two of them, who were face-to-face as if they were in a staring competition. "See you later, Ichigo." I turned to her and bowed, then I turned to Shirogane. "Shirogane," I said, not adding the 'see you later' part. He turned to me and I bowed.
"My name is actually Ryou Shirogane, but Shirogane is fine." He bowed at me, took one last look at Ichigo's raging face and walked away through some door flaps, with his hands behind his head once again.
"Sorry about that Cream, he's just obnoxious." Ichigo explained, in which I let out a chuckle.
"He doesn't seem that bad actually," I admitted before I could stop myself.
"You don't know him, if he was your boss, you'd understand." She defended her opinion, in which I was about to change.
"Well, he saved a little girl from hurting herself," she took interest in my words, turning towards me.
"Really?" Ichigo asked, disbelief in her voice.
"Yes, I witnessed it. She was just about to fall from monkey bars when he suddenly caught her. She never even touched an inch to the ground." Shock covered Ichigo's expression. I smiled, polite yet vague. "I better rush, I'll come by for my crembule tomorrow." I offered, but she grabbed my wrist.
"We do door-to-door delivery, if you give me your phone number..." she was cut off mid-sentence when she noticed a mark on the inside of my wrist. "What's that?" She asked, eyebrows raising while she observed the paw-print mark.
"I'm not one hundred percent certain. I think it's a birth-mark or something," I admitted, curiosity filling her eyes.
"Come with me!" She dragged me along through the flapping doors that Ryou went through, whereas all the other waitresses stared before following. Even the waitors who worked here followed.
"Why are you dragging this innocent girl into the kitchen Ichigo?" A girl with blue hair, almost black, asked. Her hair matching with her outfit.
"Ichigo, not to sound rude to your new friend but, this is employee's only," a charming guy with long brown hair tied back into a pony-tail said, icing a cake he was creating.
"This is important!" Ichigo yelled, everyone stared.
"Ichigo, as much as I'd love to stay, I really need to get back to my house. Dinner will be ready soon, and Peach will decide to have my share." Peach is my little sister, although she is more like a best friend, just a one year old.
"Ryou, I need you to run some tests on this girl," she said, still holding onto my wrist so that I had no chance of escape from her grasp.
Ryou shrugged in confusion. "Why? Does she feel unwell?" He asked, looking at me in concern.
"Quite frankly, I don't even know why she's brought me here, so Ichigo.. if you'd please let go of me." I almost begged, but she gave me a death glare and I had to whither away from those brown eyes.
"No! She is not sick, nor does she feel unwell. But... look!" She rolled my sleeve up to my elbow and turned over my wrist. Everyone gasped, in which my face fell confused.
"Come with me please Miss..." The guy with the pony-tail began. I finished the sentence for him.
"Miyuki. Cream Miyuki." He smiled.
"Miss Miyuki. My name is Akasaka Keiichiro, and I'm second companion for what we call, the Mew Project." I've heard of that some where before, they were the six girls who saved the earth from any danger.
"Who's first companion?" I asked, curiously, yet I already knew the answer.
"Ryou Shirogane here. We need to run some tests on that mark of yours." He tapped the inside of my wrist with his finger.
"Ooo..kay?" It sounded like a question. He left outside the back doors, in which I followed, along with the rest.
After running some tests on the mark I had inherited a while back, they finally came to a conclusion.
"It is in fact, her destiny to be a Mew. This may seem like a surprise to everyone but, Cream is actually infused with three animals that are non Red Data Animals but are on the road to extinction, and one that is infact related to the species. Now, these test results were a confusion at first. Her blood cells are a mixture of red, which could lead to her having also an enemies blood. Her three animals are as follows;" Akasaka-san flicked on a switch that was wired up to a projecter, and images of animals started to appear on screen. "The White Lion, the Iberian Lynx, and the Amur Leopard." He clicked pause, turning towards us all. "Her Red Data Animal blood is an O possitive, of a Siberian Tiger," another image. It was a pure tiger, very rare. I'd studied this species before in an advanced class back home. These are rarely found, but lie in the wilderness of China. I took inventory on my feelings. Confusion, curiosity, happiness, anger. "Her other types are a mixture of A and AB, causing a disfunctional illusion to her body." I sat there, stunned at what I was hearing now. "We have had some readings lately, but we didn't want to worry you girls too much" The girls faces went blank. "None of the damage was permanent, just little explosions that cleared up." My face was not only confused now, and Keiichiro offered to explain. "There is infact, a new enemy; worse then the Cyniclons and the Saint Rose Crusaders. They are called the Crescentors, and we think a drop of their blood lies in her body. Maybe more." Everyone listened, whereas I had to grip hold of the desk that the computer rested on.
Ryou noticed my expression and raised an eyebrow. "I know this is a shocking discovery after you've just moved here but, the future of the earth's safety is in your hands now. You are the only one with four animals infused. You are a lucky girl, the fate of earth begins in your heart. All of your hearts." He gestured to the waitresses in the room.
"I'm free-falling with fate," I whispered, but everyone noticed the murmur and looked directly at me.
"Pardon Cream?" Ichigo asked, and I had to make it clearer.
"I've always been free-falling with fate, since I had that strange dream. That warm dream..."
"About animals jumping in your body?" The girl with purple hair who I'd known to be Zakuro Fujiwara asked, stating accuracy.
"Yeah. Four animals shaped like the ones you listed." A tear escaped my eye, and I wiped it away before anyone noticed.
"You have a choice, none of us did." Zakuro added.
What was I meant to say? Was my decision that important? I sighed once, before thinking about my final decision.
