Sumomo Hanako dropped her bags onto the thin mattress of her bed and stared at them for a moment, wondering if she should unpack now or wait till the last minute. She was in her new dorm room at Meiji University. When she first stepped off the plane, she figured she would unpack and then explore Tokyo, having never been to the city before. Now, staring at the rather large bags, that plan didn't seem too appealing.
"I could wait…" She murmured, turning to look at the rest of the room. The other side of the room, which belonged to her roommate, was completely neat. The bed was made; the covers folded back and tucked under the mattress. The small bed-stand next to it had only an alarm clock, lamp, and book. After she poked her head into her roommate's closet, she discovered the clothes that weren't neatly folded and stacked in the drawers were hung up and arranged in type-order: skirts together, dresses together, ect. The desk was just as neat as everything else. Sumomo groaned and closed the closet door. "My roommate's a neat-freak!" She moaned. "Now she'll probably nag me to be neat as well." She had just gone back to her bags when the door opened.
"Hi there! Are you my new roommate? Great! I love meeting new people, don't you? It's just so fun and exciting! I'm sure we'll get along great! As you see, I've already unpacked and organized everything! Isn't being organized great? You know where everything is!" Sumomo turned around to see whom the chipper, fast-talking newcomer was. A short girl about Sumomo's age stood in the doorway, a huge grin on her face. The girl had raven-black hair pulled into a low ponytail. "Oh! I completely forgot! I'm Tachikawa Reiko!"
"I'm Hanako Sumomo. Nice to meet you," Sumomo told her with a forced smile.
"Are you unpacking? Can I help? I'm really good at unpacking and finding places for everything. It'll be easier with two people working, anyway! Plus we can get to know each other better!" Before Sumomo could answer, Reiko was already at her bags, zipping open one. Sumomo just shook her head and started to unpack.
Sumomo wandered along the streets of Tokyo, studying a map. Reiko was babbling beside her.
"Have you been to Tokyo before? I haven't. I've only seen pictures. My uncle's been to Tokyo though. He said it was a great place. But I think it's too big. What do you think, Hanako-san? What do you thi-"
Sumomo cut Reiko off by clapping a hand over her mouth. "I can't think about anything if you keep talking. So if you could be quiet for just a second, I'll be able to figure out where we are," Though her words themselves weren't rude, there was an edge in her voice that made Reiko shut up… kind of.
"Quiet? Sure! I'll be quiet as a mouse! You won't even know I'm here. Except I suppose you would know I'm here since I'm walking next to you and all…" This time Reiko stopped herself, catching the glare that Sumomo was giving her. There was only so much babbling a person could endure, no matter how patient. When Reiko clamped her mouth shut, Sumomo turned her attention back to the map, turning it one way, then flipping it upside down.
"This map isn't making any sense," Sumomo muttered. After examining the map for a minute more, Sumomo dropped it back into her purse. "Oh well. Guess we'll find our way on our own."
In a lab, Ryou Shirogane and Keiichirou Akasaka were studying a screen and various readings. On the screen, Sumomo and Reiko were walking down the streets of Tokyo.
"Is this the one?" Keiichiro asked softly.
Ryou nodded. "Yes. She will be the test subject," Keiichiro nodded and, reaching forward, pressed a button. Up on top of Café Mew Mew, A beam of light shot into the streets of Tokyo.
Back where Sumomo and Reiko were, the earth started shaking! People looked around; a few started screaming, and tried to keep their balance. Sumomo wobbled, took a step, and tripped.
"Ack!" Sumomo cried, fully expecting to land smack on the pavement. Instead, she ended up floating in space. Intrigued, she looked around at all the bubbles floating around her. "Interesting," She murmured, her voice echoing. Then she turned and saw, floating in front of her, a tiger cub and a bird fighting. Both paused and glanced at her, then flew towards her, still fighting. They entered her chest, Sumomo gasped, and everything went black.
Sumomo woke up a little while later, lying on the sidewalk. She sat up, blinked, and looked around. Some people were picking themselves up off the street, while others were looking rather confused. Reiko knelt next to her.
"Are you okay? Everything was shaking! You tripped and I-I don't know! You seemed to space out just as you landed then you fell unconscious! Are you okay?" Reiko looked down are her, concerned.
As Sumomo stood up, she could hear people muttering about the strange earthquake, but she heard no one mention bubbles or floating animals. "I'm okay. I think. Say, Tachikawa-san, did you see anything odd? Like bubbles or floating animals?"
Reiko stood as well, thinking. "Bubbles? Nope. Floating animals? No. But I did see flying animals. Birds, I mean. Lots of birds."
"I guess it was just a weird dream," Sumomo muttered, shaking her head. She bent to pick up her purse. "How long was I out?" She glanced at the sky; it was almost evening.
"Not long. About ten minutes. I tried waking you, but you wouldn't wake up. I thought about going back, but I decided not too. My knees hurt now. But I didn't leave. Friends have got to stick together, haven't they?"
Sumomo was a little surprised by Reiko's diligence. She could have left, but she stayed anyway. "Yeah. Friends do. Let's go home, Tachikawa-san."
"Okay, but you have to call me 'Reiko'," The girl insisted.
Sumomo grinned. "Okay, but then you have to call me Sumomo."
The next day, Sunday, Sumomo was once more out in Tokyo. She had managed to get away from Reiko and get some time to herself. Nice as Reiko was, her unceasing chatter tended to get on Sumomo's nerves. She was turning the corner towards the park when she heard a scream. Curious, she decided to go closer. She hurried to the park at a fast walk, but quickened to a run when she heard more screams. She rounded the corner and screeched to a halt. There, in the middle of the park, was a huge… mushroom? No, that couldn't be right, yet… it was. A giant, pale mushroom with arms and legs was destroying the park!
"This city just keeps getting weirder and weirder," Sumomo muttered. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, a group of girls jumped out and attacked the monster! It was the Myuu Myuus. Even Sumomo, who was from Urawa, which was quite far away, knew of them. She was about to turn and leave when she heard something.
"Sumomo Hanako!" A voice called. Confused, Sumomo spun around. Who would be calling her? A young man with blonde hair standing on the other side of the monster was gesturing to her and tossed something when she turned. "Catch!" Sumomo reached up and caught a gold pendant out of the air. "Say the words that come to your heart!" The young man was shouting to her.
"'Say the words that come to my heart'?" Sumomo muttered, staring at the pendant. "You're insane!" She shouted to the man.
"Just do it!" He called back. Sumomo looked around. Then Myuus were still fighting the monster, and people were running, screaming. This seemed like an odd time to play around, but she might as well humor him.
"Myuu Myuu Sumomo! Metamoropho-sis!" She cried. In a swirl of bubbles, she once more saw the eagle and tiger cub. Again, they seemed to fight for entrance into her body. The tiger cub won, and leapt into her body. She emerged from the transformation and looked down. She saw she was wearing a burgundy dress and pink boots. Looking at her hands, she saw she also wore pink gloves. Looking behind her, she saw a white striped tail. With a gulp, Sumomo hesitantly reached up and felt on top of her head. There, poking out from her brown hair, were cat ears!
"I'm part animal!" The university freshman-turned-Myuu shrieked, fingering her white tiger ears and swishing her tail. Suddenly, she remembered the battle at hand and heard words coming to her: "Sumomo Spear!" She yelled, a short burgundy spear with a pink ribbon tied around it appeared in her outstretched hand. "Ribbon, Sumomo Slash!" She flung the spear at the mushroom-monster, piercing its side. The other Myuus spun around, having been concentrating on the fight and not the young woman watching, and were caught off guard at the sudden attack. The blue-haired one was the first to recover.
"Myuu Ichigo, now!" The girl with blue hair cried. The pink-haired one nodded and summoned her weapon:
"Strawberry Bell!" A pink bell appeared in Myuu Ichigo's hand. "Ribbon, Strawberry Check!" The attack flew out and hit the monster, disintegrating it.
Sumomo watched the monster disappear, rather stunned. But whether it was from the monster's appearance, or the fact she had tiger ears and tail, she herself didn't know. Myuu Ichigo bounced over to her.
"Cool!" She exclaimed. "Another Myuu!"
Sumomo waved the pink-haired cat-girl away, looking for the blonde young man. She finally spotted him, walking away. "Hey!" She called, running after him. "Wait just a minute!"
The young man turned around. "Yes?"
"I'd like an explanation, please," Sumomo stated, bracing her hands on her hips. "You just turned me into an animal-girl, and you think you can walk away without explaining anything?"
The young man sighed. "Fine. Come with me to the Café," He turned away again but Sumomo stopped him once more.
"How do I turn back?" She demanded.
"Just imagine yourself normal again," The blond young man told her. "Now hurry up!" Sumomo did as he said and once she was back to normal, trotted after him.
Soon Sumomo, Ryou, and the Myuus were seated around a table at Café Myuu Myuu.
"Okay, now what's going on, and who exactly are you all?" Sumomo asked.
"I'm Momomiya Ichigo, but you can just call me Ichigo," The pink-haired girl told her, smiling.
"I'm Fon Purin, but you can call me Purin, na no da!" The youngest, a shorthaired blonde little girl, announced.
"I'm Fujiwara Zakuro," This time a purple-haired young woman spoke.
"I'm Midorikawa Retasu," The green-haired girl who spoke had been so quiet, Sumomo had almost forgotten she was there.
"And I'm Aizawa Minto," This girl seemed a little snobby, sipping tea while they were talking.
As the blonde young man didn't seem to be in a hurry to introduce himself, Sumomo spoke up: "I'm Hanako Sumomo, but you can call me Sumomo. It's very nice to meet you all," She braced her elbows on the table and turned her attention to Ryou. "But what in the world is going on?"
"Well, you've heard of the Myuus, correct?" Ryou asked. Sumomo nodded and he continued. "We decided to continue the project, and we needed a test subject for the double-DNA."
Before he could continue, Sumomo interrupted. "'We'? Who is 'we'?" She asked.
"Akasaka Keiichiro and I," Ryou indicated a young man who had emerged from the kitchen behind him. The handsome young man had long brown hair pulled into a ponytail and a friendly smile. "Anyway, we needed a test subject for double-DNA, and we chose you. Only something went wrong: You can only access one DNA at a time, and apparently you can't choose which one."
Sumomo groaned. "Of course. Two more questions: What DNA do I have, and what was that monster in the park?"
Ryou frowned at her. "I was getting to that. Your DNA is the Bald Eagle, and the White Bengal Tiger. As for that monster in the park, we're not too sure. They've been popping up all over Tokyo lately and we don't know who's sending them. Your job, as well as the other Myuus, is to fight them. Oh, and before I forget, you start your work here tomorrow."
Sumomo took a deep breath. Or rather, several deep breathes. It's okay. You're in college. You need the money anyway. Okay, true as it may be, she really wanted to explode. And when she thought she had herself under control, she spoke. "Work? I can't do work! I'm a freshman in college! I'm going to have enough work to do without having a job as well!" Oh well. Turns out she didn't have herself under control. Ryou shrugged and stood to leave.
"Shirogane! That's not much of an explanation!" Ichigo huffed at Ryou's retreating back. Ryou didn't seem to hear and left.
When he was gone, Keiichiro approached the girls. "I apologize for Ryou's rudeness. Let me explain a little better…" He offered. Keiichiro started at the beginning, explaining the whole project to Sumomo. When he finished, Sumomo had calmed down considerably and was able to answer without yelling.
"…Fine. See you tomorrow," With that, she took her purse, and headed out of the Café, lost in thought.