Two years—two years had seemingly passed since the Tokyo Mew Mew's had had their last battle. Finally peace among Earth and all of humanity had been here. No threats, no battles, nothing but love and togetherness. Despite the Mew's regaining their normal selves, no longer infused with animal D.N.A, they all still gathered together at Cafe' Mew Mew, keeping the place alive. After all, how could they drift apart after all they had gone through together? It just didn't seem natural... not possible at all.
Zakuro was still busy as ever with her modeling career, with Pudding worked at the cafe' and still made extra money performing her tricks in the park, during her time off. Mint had gained even greater experience in dance and Lettuce had finally begun to break out of her shell. Well...almost. Then there was Ichigo who along side Masaya had returned from their studies abroad. Everything was so wonderful. For them there was nothing they wanted more but to stay in each others company.
"It's fun, isn't it?" A tall brunette male had chuckled, warmly, while handing his partner a cup of hot coco. "Nothing's changed. It's hard to believe how much time has passed up by, don't you agree?" He had inquired curiously. Keiichiro's warm smile had brushed along his lips and those gray orbs rested on the girls as they ran around the cafe' tending to the tables of all their customers. "Your father would be proud, knowing how you've accomplished his greatest project—Project Mew."
Accepting the cup and bringing it up to his lips, the platinum blonde had taken a few sips of the hot chocolate, before bringing the cup down to the level of his chest. "Yeah, time flew by us... didn't it?" He had replies. Cerulean colored orbs had also been on the girls, watching as Pudding attempted some tricks, to only fall off the her giant ball, and breaking some plates. Lettuce was right behind her cleaning up the mess, and Mint was sipping on her tea, as usual. Zakuro had been off on some photo shoot, while Ichigo had been tying up the two big bags of trash, preparing to take it out.
"I didn't complete the project on my own. I couldn't of done it without you, Keiichiro." Once more the tanned male brought the cup up to his lips and fully took in all of the hot chocolate, until there wasn't even a single drop left. Making his way over towards the sink, he turned the water on and began to wash the glass mug and then dried it, shutting the water off, he neatly placed it away.
Approaching the blonde male, Keiichiro had lightly placed his hand on his friends shoulder, as he spoke. "You know I'm always going to be there for you, Ryou." He playfully sent him a wink. After all, the two of them had been together for eight long years now and he didn't plan on leaving anytime soon. He'll forever remain by his side.
Motioning a single nod the Project Mew leader had smiled, faintly, at his words. "I know. Thank you." Making his way for the door, to depart the kitchen, he glanced back to gaze upon the older male. "I'll be in my room. Have the girls wrap things up and shut down for the day, alright?" With that he had exited the kitchen and headed for the stairs which led to an upstairs area, which included his bed room.
Ryou Shirogane had been orphaned since the age of ten, after his parents died in an explosion. Keiichiro who was also an orphan and who had been studying under his father, as his assistant, after being accepted as a student for the gifted, had been the only one to befriend the tanned male. At the time Keiichiro had merely been only fourteen years old. He convinced Dr. Shirogane to allow Ryou to go to college, to be surrounded by those were of the same level as him. Ryou had been a genius and always found himself following in the foot steps of his father. When that explosion occurred he had done just that. Memorizing all of the material, all of the notes, of his fathers research, he had finished college and left America for Japan.
The two had been working endlessly to accomplish Dr. Shirogane's project, Project Mew, which infused the D.N.A of endangered animals on five girls to fight against the aliens who had come to attack Earth and make this planet their own—but that was long over now. Two years since the end of that battle and now here they were.
Stepping into his bedroom, those bright cerulean orbs had locked onto the framed photograph of his parents, Keiichiro, and himself from back then. His mother could of lived and survived it, but when it happened she had decided to go. She asked Keiichiro to take care of him, as she walked into the burning mansion, to die along side her husband. From that day on, Ryou never saw them again, but they still lived on in his heart. The achy feeling that tugged at him always hurt, but he knew he didn't have much time to feel the pain. Not when he had a job attend to and that was to always look out for and protect these girls.
As he sat on his bed, he leaned back, bringing his hand to his forehead, and heaved a sigh, now in a flat laying position. "Are you really proud of me? I've completed your project." It was the only thing he seemed to gain. The achievement of the project had been a complete success... But other things such as gaining the heart of Ichigo Momomiya ended up in a failure. Why was it that he had seemed to always lose the things that he wanted most in life? His family... the girl in whom captivated his heart... It was like everything he loved the most was taken from him. Over time he had managed to accept that he and her were not meant to be and he had even been a bit more supportive of her relationship with Masaya Aoyama. He couldn't dwell on the past—he needed to focus on the present and future.
But—just what was the future?
Suddenly he had snapped out of his daze upon hearing a knock on the door. "Come in." He had spoken, while pushing himself back up, into a sitting position.
Opening the door and stepping in, the prince-like baker had shut the door behind him and slowly furthered his way into the room. "The girls are just now finishing up the rest of the cleaning and will be leaving shortly." He had informed him.
"Ah, is that so? Thank you, Keiichiro."
Kneeling down on on knee, before the blonde, the brunette male gently placed a soft hand upon his cheek, caressing it gently. "Ryou... I can sense it. The pain you're feeling inside. What's troubling you?" He had said he would always be there for him and he refused to go back on his word. "Are you thinking about ...them? Or perhaps... Momomiya-San?" His eyes softened gently. "I'm here to listen. No matter what's going on, I said I'd be here for you, didn't I? You're always protecting everyone else... I want to be the one... the one... protecting you,"
"Keiich—" Unable to continue, he had been cut off by the next set of words and actions.
The brunette male had gently leaned in, softly pressing his own lips against those of the younger males. His hand had never once left that sweet cheek of his. As a matter of fact, he had lifted up his other hand to cup the other cheek, while his digits gently ran through those platinum locks. "I'll be your shield..." He whispered, softly, against those tender lips, not daring to part from them.
Oh no... It was still far too soon to drift away now.