Hello! Sorry it's been so long since i updated, I meant to do this ages ago, but I had so much homework... I've actually written up to chapter 11.
Anyway, hope you enjoy! 3 ^^
Chapter Seven – Anyone wannabe a Mew Mew?
Back in the basement of the café, everything was relatively silent. Zakuro's cut had been washed and bandaged. "Perhaps the only good thing about the numbing power of Mew Spice's attack is that I can't feel the pain from the antiseptic," Zakuro said to Keiichiro with a sad smile. Now that she was no longer running for her life, Zakuro was already feeling better.
Licorice didn't hear Keiichiro's response, but it sounded as though he was apologizing for something. After this, he returned to his conversation with Ryou. Their urgent, hushed voices became the only sound in the otherwise quiet atmosphere. Licorice didn't like the silence, but knew it would be wrong to break it. So instead, to distract herself, she began pondering over the fox-girl – "Mew Spice" – she had seen the Mew Mews battle with from the camera somewhere in Masha on Keiichiro's computer. For a scary moment, Licorice had thought there was something she recognised about her – but then it was gone.
In the end, it was Mew Spice's sudden disappearance that scared her most. Where had she gone? And why so suddenly, when she'd had such a good chance of severely injuring – perhaps even killing – the Mew Mews?
Then Ryou stepped forward, and everyone turned to him. Licorice felt slightly surprised – the expression on his face was worry, something she hadn't – even though she'd known him for such a short time – expected to see.
"I think we owe you an apology," Ryou said, sounding like he actually meant it.
"Apology?" Ichigo asked. "For what?"
"We didn't tell you the real reason we thought there was a connection between Licorice's appearance and the new enemy," Ryou explained. "We didn't want to make you worry about it… but I guess there's no point in hiding it anymore. So now, here it is – the missing links." He glanced at Kishu when he said this, and Licorice couldn't help but suppress a smile.
"As we've told you," Ryou began, "only those with a certain genetic structure can become Mew Mews. People with this structure are very rare, and we were surprised when beginning the Mew Project at the number of people with this structure living in Tokyo," he paused. "We no longer see this as a coincidence, however…"
There was a moment of silence. No one yet saw what this had to do with Licorice.
"To find the people with this structure, we set up cameras and sensors to detect it. After Tokyo Mew Mew was complete, they were no longer needed, and we nearly forgot about them. They never reacted again… until this morning, when Licorice stumbled past one of them."
This time, the silence was from shock.
"I see," Zakuro said slowly. "You knew that Licorice was… special, and didn't take that combined with the fact she wondered out of nowhere with no memory of her past as a coincidence."
"Exactly," Ryou said. "And after seeing Mew Spice, I'm even more sure than ever. However they're doing it, and for whatever reason, this enemy is using Mew Mews to fight us. There is a chance that Licorice was targeted by them, and somehow escaped… whatever it is they do."
Ichigo looked over at Licorice. It was almost impossible to think that this girl may have come close to becoming her mortal enemy.
"But this means… Licorice could become one of us?" said Lettuce.
"That's exactly what it means," Ryou replied. "And that's what I'm offering her a chance to become."
"Offering her?" Ichigo demanded. "We didn't get a choice! Why is she different?"
Ryou ignored her, and turned to face Licorice. "We're going to need much more than we've already got to fight this new enemy, and if my suspicions are correct (and they almost always are), you may already be a target for them. You'll need to be protected. What do you say? Will you help us?"
At first, Licorice didn't know how to answer. She thought of the danger that would come, the pressure of having to save the world, and what might happen if she failed. But in her heart, she'd already decided.
"Yes."
"You're going to regret this," Minto warned her, but Licorice just smiled. It was already too late to change her mind.
