Author's Note:
So, this an old story of mine, that I've revised and decided to post on here. It's rated M for language and future chapters. Who knows, there may be lemon involved. Not sure yet. OcXKisshu. Sorry ladies and gents, the ol'lover boy isn't here quite yet. But fear not! He shant be long. ;)
Chapter One: Welcome to the Mew Mew's.
Have you ever been in a completely new place before? A place where you know nothing of the area or the people? That's pretty bad, don't you think?
Thought you'd agree.
But you know what's worse? Being sent off to a new country and having to learn the language and customs. And the best part; it's been arranged so you can live on your own with the new government checking in on you every now and again.
Well, welcome to my life; having to move from America to Japan with little help from the 'rents, learn a new language, and continue on as if everything is completely secure.
Oh joy.
Could it be that you're possibly wondering why in hell I'm going through this? Well, the 'rents thought it would "give me a boost in life!". Yeah, I know.
So, here I am, my 14 year old self (Almost 15) stuck in a new country for the remainder of my eighth grade year.
So far, this sounds kind of shit-y and irrational, doesn't it? Well, I think so too. How in hell they managed to pull this off without really getting the Gov. into this is beyond me. But there is a slight upside to this whole ordeal. From my first month in Japan, I have made some amazing friends. We clicked instantaneously. The fact that their rather off-beat only made the friendship more complete.
Watari Shiki and Hiroki Ichiru; they pretty much gave me the run down of this new world, school and otherwise. We've been hanging out since my start of school. It's like we've known each other our whole lives.
So, anyways-
"Hey Sky! Um, Sky; Earth to Miss Schuyler Ryan, anyone home? Oh kami! Shiki! We've lost contact with our dear Schuyler!" hollered a boy to my left. I looked up at the green haired spastic boy from under my shaggy brown bangs.
"Ichiru, I'm writing."
"Really, who would've thought?" muttered the calm, yet sarcastic, voice of Shiki.
Laughing, I stuck my tongue out at the shorter, white haired boy.
"Fine," I said, closing my leather-bound notebook. "Be mean and wreak my creativity time!"
Shiki snorted, "You're 'creativity time'?"
I shot him a look of mock hurt, "Yes! I use that time to work on my award winning book!"
Shaking my book at him, Ichiru leaned over to examine it closer.
"Award winning book? This, I believe, is a journal. Oh, and look! It even involves us Watari-kun!" Ichiru laughed, snatching the journal and skimming through it.
"Give it back!" I screeched, reaching for it.
"Well, nope!" Ichiru jumped away from me and ran behind Shiki, still skimming through my chicken scratch.
"Ichiru," I pulled myself up off the clumped grass and cracked my knuckles. "I swear I'll kill you. And I can promise there will be no forensic evidence left behind."
Ichiru just laughed at my statement and tossed back my book.
Catching it, I hugged it close to my chest, pouting as I did so.
"Assholes"
----
"So," Hiroki started, "Why don't we check out that new café down town?"
Shiki and I exchanged glances. "You mean," Shiki started,
"That pink house of horror?" I finished my face the definition of disgust.
"Well," Ichiru stuttered, his face turning twenty shades of red. "I mean, all the girls said it was good, and I thought it would be a good laugh. You know," He trailed off, turning to hide his embarrassment for having suggested it.
I narrowed my eyes at him. "You just want to go hit on the girls."
"Pretty much!" he said with a wide grin.
"Alright; who's buying?" Shiki added with a smirk.
"Perverts" I mumbled, taking my shoes from the shoe locker.
"Aw, don't be like that Sky," Ichiru slung his arm around my shoulders, his previous embarrassment forgotten. "You know you're our favorite, babe."
I rolled my eyes and brushed off his arm while Shiki pushed him forwards, knocking him down.
"Ouch, Shiki-kun, that was mean!"
I ignored them and stepped onto my worn skateboard. "Come on idiots, schools out, so let's go."
Nodding, Shiki and Ichiru both did the same, and we started off down to the pink café.
"So, why did you agree to go to the Mew Mew Café?" Ichiru asked.
"Yeah, seeing as you loathe all things pink, frilly and girly, I figured you'd skip out on us." Shiki added, jumping a step on the sidewalk.
"Well," My turn. Jump. "I have absolutely nothing else to do, and I heard it has good tea." Confused, they looked back at me with raised brows.
"Yes?"
"You came for tea?"
"Yeah, tea is good. There a problem?" I asked, a little annoyed by their question.
They shrugged it off as we continued on our way to hell on earth, otherwise known as; Café Mew Mew.
----
"Can I take your order?" stuttered a green clad waitress. She seemed shy, but familiar.
'Weird.' I thought.
"I'll have one soda and chocolate cake thing." Ichiru said, thrusting the menu in the poor girl's face. She stumbled back and turned to me. I shot him a rotten glance before ordering.
"Do you have green tea?" I asked.
She nodded quickly, and turned to Shiki. Not even looking at her, he slouched coolly in the booth. "Coffee: black."
The green clad waitress blushed furiously and ran to the back. I believe I heard her yell something, but I wasn't sure.
"Shiki, you're so weird." I remarked. He just winked, and added in his famous line, "You know you like it"
Rolling my eyes, I studied my two friends for a moment. Both were dressed in our school's male uniform.
Actually, all school uniforms at our school looked almost identical to those in the anime Lovely Complex. Males wear the basic gray pants with the white collared shirt, red tie and gray cardigan.
The girls was similar as well, pleated gray skirt with a gray sweater vest. Only, ours had a red tie instead of a bow, and our school crest on the chest.
But when you looked at the two wearing the uniform, they were nothing like the characters on the television. Shiki was about as tall as I, 5'7, with a fairly muscular build. His shaggy white hair fell into his onyx eyes, no matter how much his mother urged him to get it cut. There was a kind of cool-yet stoic look to him. Though, when you got to know him, he was basically your average perverted, cocky boy, with a somewhat calm persona.
Ichiru on the other hand, was on a whole different level. He was quite tall, about 6' ft, and had brown hair that he gelled up in spikes. He had a wide grin that lit up his emerald eyes. He was extremely strong, but not so much on the bulky side. Any one could tell he was handsome, but his loud personality was sometimes a draw back.
Ichiru was very much a flirt. He would flirt with any girl. Maybe if he was drunk, any man. And I wouldn't be surprised if he would flirt with a log, even. But besides being loud and flirtatious, he was very sweet and comical. His emotions spilled out of him like running water from a broken faucet.
Compared to these two, I felt very plain. I had dark blond hair that fell past my shoulders in light waves. My eyes were a plain blue, my complexion pale. Like every other teen on the planet, I had my share of acne, but it was fading rapidly. I had a muscular build that I have always been self-conscious about. I wasn't like the other girls who were stick skinny an overly graceful, but I was still an average size.
Soon enough, our booth had a small group of girls surrounding it. Their uniforms told that they were from a different school, and their faces gave their ages; about 12 at most.
"Hey, do you happen to go to Hiroshi Middle?" a small girl batted her eyes in Shiki's direction, and standing in an awkwardly positioned stance that someone must have told her was 'sexy'.
Shiki took one look at the child and sneered. His patience for flirting was scarce, and it annoyed him greatly. Before anyone could respond, an older blond stepped out from the back room, calling us to attention.
"Excuse me, we are closing up early. Please vacate the area, arigato."
As soon as that was said, the man disappeared behind a wall and the waitresses began ushering everyone out of the café.
---
"Well that sucked."
Our group of three had relocated to the park across the street. The lights were dimming as the time sped forward, a sign it was late in the evening. We must have spent more time there than we had planned to.
"Yeah, I got to head home anyway. See you guys tomorrow?" Ichiru said, taking a step backwards.
"Sunday; can't. 'Rents want to drive out of town for a few days." Shiki sighed. He wasn't a big fan of the whole "family togetherness" thing. Though, who was nowadays?
"Then I guess it's just you and me, sweet cheeks." Ichiru grinned, slipping his arm across my waist in a mocking suggestive manner. Jabbing him in the gut, he retreated and groaned, still smiling.
"Wrong. Tomorrow I plan on going grocery shopping and cleaning my apartment."
Ichiru pouted, slightly, and continued with dampened spirits, "Fine, I'll see you guys at school then?"
"Yeah"
"Whatever," Shiki was already walking off towards his home. "Shiki, that's so mean!" Ichiru called, running after him.
I chuckled and reached down for my shoulder bag, in hopes of picking up my iPod. When I didn't feel anything, I glanced downward, noticing for the first time that my bag was missing.
'Crap, I guess I left it inside' I kicked up my skateboard—which I did have with me—and tucked it under my arm, walking back to the sickening house of pink.
"Hello?" I called, peering into the now empty building. I hadn't realized it was so big before. I stepped inside, and called out again, "Anyone there?" No answer.
I crept over to the booth that I had sat at not ten minutes before, and say my gray bag lying forlornly on the leather seat. Snatching it up, I checked through it quickly. I sighed in relief once I had confirmed that everything was in it's place. It would have been a nightmare if I had lost my iPod or journal.
Or even my keys.
"Mew Mew's, listen up." There were faint voices emitting from the back room that I could barely make out if I strained my ears.
"Did they say Mew Mews; those weird super people that supposedly fight aliens?" Well that was odd. I followed the voices until I reached a door leading downwards. I peeked through a crack in the door, spotting the waitresses all lined up in a row.
"The aliens set a group of chimera animas loose down town," a man who was sitting in front of what seemed to be a large computer told the others. I think it was a man, but it had a long pony tale swaying behind him.
After a few more seconds of chit-chat, the blond man from earlier called out "Tokyo Mew Mew's: go!" The five girls all seemed to scream something out that sounded faintly like 'Mew Mew muffin-fairy, metamorphosis!" It was hard to tell with them all speaking at once.
I stood for a moment before stepping back quickly. Too quickly, might I add, for I stepped directly onto my board and fell downwards? The board skidded backwards, colliding with the wall. I groaned slightly at the pain, my ears ringing.
When my vision cleared, I looked up into the faces of the now transformed Tokyo Mew Mew's, Mr. Pony-tail, and the Blondie.
"Shit."
----
I was sitting on a bed in a room upstairs. The Blondie had told the girls to go take care of the aliens while he dealt with me. I had to smirk at that; was it just me, or did it sound like I was being dealt with by a mafia gang?
Sir Blondie – who has been deemed as Blondie until further notice—ended up dragging me upstairs and dumping me on a bed, me mumbling about rape and assault. Mr. Pony-tale had bandaged up the back of my head, seeing as I had cut it slightly on the wall. How the hell that had happened, is beyond me. The blond stood leaning against the opposite wall, glaring.
"So," I started, not really knowing what to say at this point.
Blondie got right to the point; "How much did you hear?"
"Enough." Even with a band-aid on the head and having seen teenagers morph right in front of my eyes was not enough to keep the smug tone out of my voice. The older man's glare deepened, as he repeated the question making sure to enunciate each word clearly.
"How much did you hear?"
I just clicked my tongue, and wondered how I could act so coolly in a situation such as this. Just as this happened, Mr. Pony-tail walked back in. Having heard the transaction from the doorway, he scolded the younger male.
"Ryou, if you continue to act coldly to our guest, she will never answer you."
Ryou just stood stiffly against the wall, averting his cold gaze.
The man with the pony tail smiled warmly and continued, "Hello, I am Keiichiro Akasaka. And this," he gestured to the blond, "is Shirogane Ryou. We own this café."
At this, I could feel my eyebrows rise at least an inch. I mean, I should have guessed as much, but who would assume that two men would own a café such as this? Could it be that they are…
"And you are, miss?"
His question snapped me back to reality. It took me a moment to regain my focus and answer.
"Schuyler Owens." I said finally, rubbing my sore head gingerly. Keiichiro-san's smile brightened at this quite pleased with himself. The Blondie, however, had become even more agitated.
"Schuyler, could you please tell us how much of the earlier conversation you overheard?"
I deliberated silently. At the moment, I had nothing to loose. And the odds did not seem in my favor if I had decided to run. Why not tell them, what harm could it cause?
I nodded, and began telling my tale.
"I had overheard you explaining the situation down town, and how it affects the Mew Mew's. You explained the dangers, the consequences, and how things had to be stopped. Then the waitresses had somehow changed into the Mew's, and that's about it."
So, all in all, I knew almost the whole story.
"Though, I still have no idea what a ceramic animal has to do with anything." Okay, maybe not the whole story.
Hearing this, Ryou smirked, "Ceramic animals?"
I could feel my cheeks burning, and I raised my hands defensivly. "I don't know! I'm new to the whole alien vs. super hero shit! Give me a break."
"I guess it's time to explain the 'alien vs. super hero shit' then."
Ryou pushed off from the wall and walked over to where Keiichiro-san stood in front of me.
"Welcome to the Tokyo Mew Mew's."
----
"Whoa, okay, hold on. So, the Mew Mew's are waitresses here at the café and have to save the world from aliens. And the aliens are trying to kill off the humans so they can take the earth for themselves."
They had been explaining the workings of this scheme for the past fifteen minutes. I doubted that my face has relaxed since they started attempting to explain how they know this, and how it was done.
"Yes, that is exactly what we mean. And since you have found out, you've got yourself a job here."
"So, this is all completely true?" The two males nodded. "Holy shit"
I stared at the men incredulously. I couldn't believe that it was all true. Yes, I had seen the news reports, and heard the stories, but I never believed any of it to be true. How insane that I would end up getting to work with them.
"Wait, what? I have to work here?"
Ryou nodded again, seemingly annoyed with my constant late confirmations.
"Why?"
Ryou folded his hands and rested his chin on his knuckles. With a sigh, he explained.
"The fact that you know, is the reasoning behind your question. You will now be helping us keep this secret so we don't have any more incidents like you."
I thought about this for a moment.
"If I work here, will you explain how everything works? How everything is done and how to use the lab? It seems interesting." I smirked a bit, thinking about how weird this all must sound from any other perspective.
Neither of the men really answered, just exchanged glances. Ryou rolled his eyes, while Keiichiro chuckled.
"Tomorrow, we'll show you the ropes."
I stood up then, smiling as I did so. Nodding, I reached down and grabbed my school bag and skateboard. With a laugh, I bounded down the stairs and was out the door.
Five crime fighting girls, evil aliens, and mad scientists; how am I being so calm about this? I didn't know. Maybe it was the fact I dead tired from the long day. Maybe it was because this was something I had always hoped for.
Whatever the reason, I continued by rolling down the sidewalk towards home.
"What have I gotten myself mixed up in?"