Ryou groaned, as he stretched in his seat. The twelve hour flight from Tokyo was a drain on his system. He felt completely exhausted. Which was a good thing, considering it was midnight when the plane taxied into LaGuardia National Airport. After he gathered up his luggage from baggage claim, he looked around the main lobby, as he re-familiarized himself with the English language. However, in the sea of faces, a cardboard sign stood out. 'Surprisingly, it was in Japanese Kanji, reading Ryou Shirogane." "I assume you are Keiichiro's sister," he asked, nodding to the brown haired woman holding the sign. She had the same cherry look that made Keiichiro famous, but surprisingly, had only neck length hair, opposed to her brother's back length ponytail.
"Yes, I am Asakura Akasaka, Keiichiro-chan's older sister,"
"You look a bit like him," Ryou commented, as she took him towards the parking lot.
"Keiichiro-chan told me about what you're doing," Asakura told him, as she started up the engine to the minivan. Thankfully, she must have gone to a different driving school than Keiichiro, for she was far calmer and not as much of a led foot as her younger brother.
"Any help you can give me is greatly appreciated Asakura-san," Ryou told her confidently.
"Well that's a good thing. I've already rented out a building for us to use. Two apartments, and plenty of space for a café. The lease has been signed and everything,"
"Pre-emptive, just like your brother."
"So where is this building," Ryou asked, when he noticed they were driving away from the impressive skyline of Manhattan Island.
"It's in a quiet, residential area of Brooklyn," Asakura replied, getting onto the Expressway. "I know the landlord fairly well. He's a good man and won't give us any trouble, so long as we have the rent every month."
"That won't be an issue, I assure you."
"Though we will have a problem," Ryou looked over at the woman, curious to discover the latest monkey wrench in his plan.
"The landlord, Williams-san, has two sons. Very nice boys, but very nosy. I've seen them walking around the neighborhood at all hours. Apparently they collect the rent for their father."
"Not so much 'enforcers' as they are spies," Ryou mused, stroking his chin.
"We'll need to find a way to keep them out of Mew business," Asakura told him.
"I'll think of something, don't worry," Ryou assured her. They spent the next ten minutes going back and forth about all the necessary arrangements for the new café.
"Renovations should be complete by Friday, we can open next Wednesday," Asakura rattled off. Ryou nodded, deep in thought. "What's the matter?" she inquired, finally getting off the expressway and turning onto a side street.
"I'm just not sure if I'm doing the right thing."
"You're worried that you're ruining the lives of more girls." Asakura stated, stopping at a red light.
"I don't want to make the same mistakes again, that's all," he confessed, watching the light change colors.
"Ryou-kun," Asakura began, as she pulled into a parking spot. "You're a smart young man, mature and knowing. What you're not, is open. From what Keiichiro-chan told me, you seem more comfortable perched in front of a computer screen, seemingly willing to let your life pass you by." Ryou sighed deeply, nodding.
"I already lost someone because of that." Asakura could swear that she saw the blond youth blink a tear away. "Then don't let it happen again. Try and be more open to everyone, especially the girls. It will let them know that you're in it as well."
The two of them got out of the van, as Ryou looked at the building they were parked in front of. It was a pleasant looking storefront, situated on the corner of a busy looking avenue. It was painted a pale pastel pink with gold-colored molding around the wide window and door. "The apartments are upstairs, one for me, and one for you," Asakura told him, handing him a set of keys. "I asked Williams-san to have another set prepared by tomorrow," Ryou nodded, as he pulled his luggage from the trunk.
Asakura lead him up a flight of stairs to the second floor over the store.
"This is your apartment. It's not fully furnished yet, I think we can take care of that tomorrow after we meet with Williams-san,"
"Alright," Ryou agreed, unlocking the door. "Good night Akasaka-san,"
"You can call me Asakura, Ryou-kun," she replied, before heading upstairs to her apartment.
()()()
The next morning saw Ryou looking over the newly delivered furniture for the café. Asakura had gone out to purchase some breakfast, when there was a click at the door. In walked a large man, flanked by two boys. The man was somewhat fat, with short, messy black hair and narrow eyes. The two boys shared his look, but with dull brown hair instead. The three of them each had the same, narrow framed glasses.
"May I help you," Ryou asked, switching to English.
"I hope you can," the man began. "I'm Jackson Williams, the landlord. I'm looking for a," he took out a piece of paper, eyes squinting at what was written.
"It's Asakura Akasaka, dad," the taller of the two boys whispered.
"Thanks Peter," the man replied.
"She's out getting breakfast. I'm Ryou Shirogane, the owner of Café Mew Mew,"
"Is this your name," the man, Williams asked, pointing to a spot on the paper.
"Yes it is,"
"So you're the manager of this café?"
"Yes I am, is there something I need to sign,"
"Yes there is," Williams told him, handing him a pen and the paper.
As Williams began explaining what the paper was, Ryou watched the two boys out of the corner of his eye. They wandered around the room, looking around, running their hands over the woodwork, muttering things to themselves.
"The only thing that isn't mentioned in the lease," Williams concluded. "My sons, Peter and Michael will be collecting rent monthly,"
"I have no problem with that," Ryou replied. "It'll be in the mailbox every month."
"Oh, Mr. Williams," Asakura had returned, clutching a brown paper bag in one hand, and balancing two cups of coffee in the other.
"Ms. Akasaka," he replied, his two sons generally ignoring the triad. "Do you have an approximate time when the café will open,"
"By next Friday at the latest." She motioned around the room at the bubble-wrapped furniture. "As you can see, all the necessary furniture has been delivered, the kitchen appliances have been installed, and the interior renovations are nearly complete."
Mr. Williams looked around, nodding in approval. "It looks good, glad to see Charlie lived up to his reputation,"
"He was very helpful, thank you for recommending him."
"If there's nothing else you need, Peter, Michael, let's go." The three of them left with Peter, the taller of the two boys, locking the door behind them.
"They seem nice," Akasaka sighed, as she unwrapped the bag.
"Williams looks like he knows what he's talking about. But those two boys might be trouble."
Asakura sighed, as she handed him a cup of coffee. "You don't need to be a chess grandmaster all of the time Ryou-kun." Opening the bag, she handed Ryou, what looked like a sandwich on a bagel.
"What's this," he asked, holding the food item.
"It's a breakfast sandwich, sausage egg and cheese," Asakura replied happily, as she began eating her own.
"American food always mystifies me," Ryou sighed, as he took an experimental bite. "Not bad."
The rest of the day was spent in Asakura's car, driving Ryou around to purchase furniture for his new apartment. He was relatively quiet throughout the trip, agreeing to everything Asakura suggested. His silence continued once they returned later that afternoon. He spent his time assembling most of the furniture himself, while Asakura inspected her kitchen, cleaning, organizing, and preparing a list of needed ingredients. Until finally, the late spring sun had set, casting the avenue into a pale purple night, broken by the numerous lights that defined urban living.
Asakura took one last look out the window at the streets below before closing the curtain. She and Ryou were in her apartment on the third floor, seated around several computer monitors. On those monitors, were the grinning faces of the seven Tokyo Mew Mew, and Keiichiro.
"Long time no see Keiichiro-kun," Asakura laughed. Keiichiro blushed, ducking away from the web cam, letting Ichigo and Pudding fill up his head room.
"Shirogane onii-chan," Pudding cheered.
"How's America?" Ichigo asked.
"I've only been here a day Ichigo-baka," Ryou snapped back. Ichigo narrowed her eyebrows and huffed off.
"Keiichiro, are you ready," Ryou asked, once Keiichiro slid back into view.
"I have six pulses ready for the DNA cannon,"
"How are you going to infuse people halfway around the world," Minto asked, in her usual, delicate, if not obnoxious, way.
"We plan on bouncing the pulses off a satellite once it's in perfect alignment," Keiichiro explained.
"It'll ricochet the pulses down into New York City. From there, it'll be a simple matter of finding them," Ryou finished. "We already have the café set up, so we're ready on our end."
"Five more seconds," Keiichiro called out, eyes glued to the monitor. "Infusing, now!" He pushed a button on the control panel. The machines around them whirled to life, startling Lettuce and Ringo.
"It's alright everyone," Keiichiro assured them, as the noise increased to a crescendo. Then suddenly, it fell quiet.
"It worked," Asakura shouted. "The pulses just hit their targets. We now have six new Mews running around out there,"
Ryou's gaze grew heavy, as he slumped down in a chair.
"Shirogane-san, what's the matter," Lettuce asked, noticing his weariness.
"Nothing, I'm just tired," he shrugged off.
"Then get some sleep mister," Asakura commanded, hauling him from the chair, and pushing him towards the door.
"But I still need to do something," he protested.
"It can wait until tomorrow," she told him, dragging him down the stairs and over to his bed.
"This isn't necessary," Ryou grumbled, as Asakura proceeded to tuck him into bed. She kissed him on the forehead, giggling at his blush.
"Don't worry about it, Ryou-kun. Sleep now, you'll feel better in the morning." She switched off his lights, plunging his room into darkness.
Ryou laid there, gazing at the ceiling, lying in the darkness. His forehead still burned from where Asakura kissed him. He felt his body tingle slightly, as he drifted off to sleep. He never remembered what his mother felt like. In all the years since her death, he'd almost forgotten what it felt like to be hugged or kissed by a mother. His last conscious thought, before nodding off completely, was how good it felt. How good it felt, to be treated like a child.