*You begin reading this fic by thinking;
"What would happen if Tokyo Mew Mew lost the Café?"
Now you get the basic idea of the story. It may all seem a little stupid (even I think this as I read this author's note… I had to re-write it quite a few times), but I'm sure it'll get better as it goes along. You know, provided Critics United doesn't demand I remove it.
You don't want to hear me babbling on and on and on, do you? I find listening to people ramble on and on about the same thing over and over again even more boring than watching grass grow, or racing snails.
I am such a hypocrite.
Let's start the story.*
"ICHIGO!" Ryou bellowed at the top of his lungs, crumpling a small piece of paper in his fist. Ichigo was rushing out of the kitchen and into the main room, flinching when she saw the blistering fury covering his face.
"W-w-what i-i-is it, S-S-Shirogane-s-s-san?" Ichigo stammered nervously. Ryou was furious with her. Ichigo knew just how scary he could be when he was this mad. Her ears made a sudden appearance, and she was babbling the same little meows over and over again like a broken record of fifty cats on caffeine.
Ryou shoved the crumpled paper into her hands, obviously making a futile attempt at venting his anger so he wouldn't explode.
"YOU AND YOUR DAMN FUR!" he gritted loudly through his teeth, which were clenched. Mint and Lettuce ran out of the kitchen behind Ichigo at the sound of Ryou's shouting voice. As the doors flew open, Pudding and Zakuro were visible, their eyes wide and startled. Keiichiro ran down the stairs at the back of the Café Mew Mew.
"What about Ichigo-san's fur?" Lettuce questioned, soon falling back from the surprise of Ryou's response and the way it was delivered.
"You remember that last customer yesterday?" Ryou snarled. "That was a health inspector."
"A… health inspector?" Mint asked.
"Yes. A health inspector." Ryou smiled very fakely in the same way you'd a mental clown that was about to murder you in your sleep. "And, oh! Wouldn't you know it? The floor had ICHIGO FUR ALL OVER IT."
Ichigo trembled.
Here it comes… she thought, bracing herself both physically and mentally for the oncoming storm.
"This note is a note from him." Ryou continued. "The Café's been shut down due to allergenic hazards and filthy conditions."
These words immediately caused Pudding and Zakuro to come racing in from the kitchen with panic in their faces.
"WHAT?" Pudding squealed. "We can't close the Café!"
"We have to, Pudding-chan. If we don't, they'll make us." Zakuro explained, putting her hand on Pudding's shoulder.
"But I don't want to leave!" Pudding began tearing up a little bit.
"Ichigo! This is all your fault!" Mint scolded. "If you hadn't shed all your tail fur everywhere, we wouldn't be shutting down now!"
"Oh yeah?" Ichigo removed her arms from her face. "If Ryou hadn't made me part cat in the first place, I wouldn't have had any tail fur to shed! And I'm no expert on fur-shedding, but it's not like I can just not shed!"
Keiichiro walked calmly up to the group of feuding people, holding his head in one hand. Every piece body language he was giving screamed 'MIGRAINE'.
"Stop fighting! We won't get anywhere if we just blame each other for everything!" he shushed the group, and they all flung themselves into chairs, exhaustedly.
"Akasaka-san is right…" Lettuce muttered. "Fighting is never the answer."
"Whatever. The whole point is, they're kicking us out of the Café whether we like it or not." Ryou crossed his arms. "We're going to need a new base of operations, preferably not one to do with food. Health inspectors don't like cat fur." He glared in Ichigo's general direction.
"It's not my fault! It's-" Ichigo began, her voice filled with contempt, when she was interrupted by Zakuro.
"NO. It's nobody's fault! But Shirogane-san is right in saying we need a new base of operations if the Mew Project is to continue!" she said, her voice as sharp as a knife.
"Anybody got any ideas?" Mint asked, throwing her hands in the air, her voice full of frustration.
The silence was deafening.
Ichigo's eyes drifted around the room, looking for possibilities. Her eyes fell on Lettuce.
Namely, her Café uniform.
*Well, hello there! The Mew Mews have to shut down the Café! Of course, that was kind of hinted at the beginning of the story, but… I wonder what they'll do next… how about you, do you think you know what Ichigo's planning?
Ichigo: I know what I'm planning!
Me: We all know that!
Pudding: WAH! Aelerra, you're so mean! I don't want to leave the Café!
Me: You'll be surprised at what I have in store for all of you… various odd jobs fluttering about in my head. Here's a hint: Magical Fairy Dust helps them change around the Café and turn it into different buildings of employment!
JK.
No Fairy Dust.
No Magic.
Sorry.
Just a lot of Renovations.
Hey, Ryou is rich, I'm sure he doesn't mind at all.
Ryou: I DO SO MIND!
Me: (slapping hand over Ryou's mouth) Whatevs. Don't worry, it gets funnier. This was just the pilot chapter, so I needed to make it short. Ever since I was forced to take down my ToD, I've needed something to spit my Random out on. This is it. Happily not in scripted format, for the most part. I didn't even insert myself. CU has no reason to shoot me for this one.
I hope.
Please continue reading! And if you have any ideas of what they should endeavour to do, just drop me a PM. I'll see what I can do.
Aelerra out.
Peace.*