Chapter Nine:

"Rin? Rirī? Rozū?" Tart said in disbelief. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, just crashing through," The youngest girl—Rozū, Ichigo realized—said. She looked around the room and her eyes widened as they landed on Kish. She jumped to her feet, getting cries of pain and anger from her sisters as she accidentally stepped on them, and threw her arms around Kish. "Kish-Chan! You're alive!"

"Yeah, I guess I am," Kish said, grinning as he stroked the girl's hair.

"We were worried when Pie said you disappeared and were hurt," Rirī said, accepting Tart's hand as she climbed to her feet, giving her brother a side-hug once she was righted. "Mama-San was frantic." Rirī said as she too hugged Kish, though with less vigor than her younger sister. Rirī smiled as she let go of Kish. "I can tell you are better, your aura is bright again."

"Why are you not with Mama-San, Papa-San and Asagao?" Pie asked, his brow furrowing as his twin brushed off her skirt.

"Mama-San and Papa-San sent us here," Rin said. Her smile dropped and her eyes went as serious as her brother's. "Pie-Chan, we need to talk. Things are bad, really bad, on Cynnth."

"We will talk," Pie promised, laying his hand on his sister's shoulder. Rin gave him a small smile in response. Pie then introduced his sisters to everyone in the room and vice versa.

"So you're the famous Mew Mews we've heard so much about," Rozū said with a grin. "The only people in the entire universe who can lick our brothers in a fight and they be stupid enough to go back for more."

Tart gave his younger sister a smack on the back of the head, and she returned it with a pinch on the arm. They glared at each other for a second before glancing away.

"What our dear little sister is trying to say is that we're really happy to meet you, though wish it was on better circumstances," Rin said. She tugged on one of her curls and played with it while she spoke. "Since you have no doubt been informed of the Mylo situation, and probably have already faced him by now in battle, you should know that he's the reason we are here."

"What do you mean?" Tart asked, his brow furrowing.

"Bad things have been happening on Cynnth in the short time you guys have been gone," Rirī said. Her eyes were full of sadness. "Mylo's men took over. The government is under his control. Everyone who was supporting the restoration through Mew Aqua has been fired, even Rin."

"That's terrible!" Lettuce exclaimed.

"It gets worse," Rin said with a sigh. "I was the first to be fired. The rest were fired so that it didn't look like targeting. Which it was. The entire family has been targeted. I lost my job, Rozū was kicked out of school for nothing, Papa-San's grain fields were scorched by Mylo's soldiers-"

"Is Papa-san alright?" Pie asked, cutting her off.

"He has a few burns from trying to put out the flames before they got too close to the house, but is otherwise unharmed," Rin said, giving her worried brothers a comforting smile. "Mama-San has tended to him, so he will be fine. He's frustrated over the crops."

"I don't blame him," Tart said with a scowl. "It was so close to harvest."

Rin nodded sadly.

"And yet it still gets worse," Rozū said. "Some of the plants are dying, and a river is polluted with toxins. Mylo made some grand speech about how it was determined that it was the Mew Aqua's fault and has declared you three traitors for bringing it to Cynnth. If you're seen on Cynnth, you'll be arrested and executed. He also made it perfectly clear in that speech of his that he was going to find you and kill you, and capture earth in the process."

"Does anyone still have faith in the Mew Aqua?" Kish asked. Rozū shrugged.

"If they do, they're smart enough not to say so," She said. "Mylo has threatened imprisonment for whoever still believes in the Mew Aqua or is against the seizure of earth."

"So, basically, what you're saying is that if we fail," Ichigo said with a frown. "That Kish, Pie and Tart will be executed, and the rest of us would be put in Cyniclon jail for protecting earth and supporting Mew Aqua?"

"You've hit it right on the head," Rin said.

"Yeah, can't get much worse than that," Kish said with a scowl.

"Oh, it does," Rin said mock cheerfully. "Guess who is Mylo's second-in-command, and who is currently running Cynnth in his absence?"

The three alien boys paled.

"No, not her, please not her," Tart groaned.

"I'm afraid it is," Rirī said with a sigh.

"I'm almost scared to ask, but who is her?" Mint asked, looking concerned.

"Mylo's cousin on his mother's side, Topaz Yuuka," Kish said with a grimace. "In short, she is Mew Ichigo's evil twin. All pink, all sparkles and all of Mylo's insanity. She'll give you a sweet, innocent smile as she runs you through with sword. She and Mylo thought they were born to rule everyone and made sure anyone they met knew it. She is bona fide crazy."

"And she's got a thing for Pie," Tart added in a murmur. Lettuce sat up straighter at that. She felt something gnaw at her, something she had never felt before.

Pie glared at his younger brother.

"You swore you would never mention that," Pie growled.

Tart grinned sheepishly.

"Topaz has a harmless crush," Rin said, rolling her eyes. "But I do not see her playing a major role in Mylo's campaign for capturing earth. Here on earth, at least."

"Speaking of here and there, you still haven't told us why you're here." Kish said, turning to Rin.

"Mama-San and Papa-San sent us," Rin said, smiling again. "They knew you would be here, and that Mylo wouldn't be too far behind. That's why we're here. To help you fight."

"Mint Onee-Chan, Pudding believes we found that miracle you requested, na no da," Pudding said with a grin.

"You are not equipped with the same training we have," Pie said to his sisters. "Nor do you have any weapons."

"Not true and you know it," Rin said. She held out her hands palms-up and what looked like two traditional folded fans materialized into her hands. "I have the other half of the heirloom fans." Rin said, raising her eyebrows mischievously.

She unfolded the fans, revealing them to have the look and texture of paper, with purple-blue flowers painted onto them. Ichigo's curious cat nature kicked in and she reached out her hand to touch it, stopping herself to look up at Rin for permission. The older girl smiled and nodded. Ichigo carefully touched the fans and was surprised to find that they were cold and hard.

"Tessen fans," Ichigo whispered in amazement, her eyes widening as she saw the glint of metal at the top.

"The blades and fan are made out of steel that never stains, never rusts, and gleam no matter what is on the blades," She explained to the watching humans, who all stood in awe. "Mine belonged to our maternal grandmother. Pie's belonged to her brother, our great uncle and our grandmother's twin. They were given to us on our tenth birthday and we were both trained in how to use them. If either one of us—or one of our children—has a set of fraternal twins, they will be passed down to them, as per family tradition."

Rirī then too materialized her weapon, a bow similar to Mint's though Rirī's was white and had a quiver full of arrows to accompany it.

"The arrows were made so that they always return to me, even if they are lodged in something or someone. The arrows won't kill, but they will maim or seriously injure," Rirī explained. She grinned. "Don't worry about me hitting you. I'm a very good aim."

Rozū took her turn. She grinned and yelled, "Rose Thorns!" In her hands were sai swords similar to Kish's, but the tsuka* of her swords were dark red wrapped with white and had a rose emblem engraved at the moto*. "I use swords just like Kish-Chan!"

"Forget it, Rozū," Pie said as soon as he saw the swords. "You are not fighting."

"Yes I am!" Rozū insisted, putting her hands on her hips, the sword tips pointing away from her body. "I'm the same age Pudding was when she became a Mew Mew, and she beat all three of you and your Chimera Animals on a daily basis!"

"She's got a point there," Kish murmured.

"See!" Rozū said, grinning.

"This is why you are her favorite," Pie said with a scowl aimed at Kish, who brushed it off. Pie looked at Rozū. "Fine. But if you are told to leave a fight or to not come at all and you disobey, I will have you back on Cynnth faster than you can say 'It is not fair.'"

"Deal," Rozū said with a short nod.

"Well, that settles it," Ichigo said, looking at each of the alien girls' weapons. "Welcome to the team."

Rin, Rirī and Rozū beamed.

"Now that we have the numbers, we have new problems," Ryou said. "School starts Monday."

"With all that's been going on these past few days, I forgot about school," Lettuce said. "But why is that a problem?"

"You'll all be spread out across the city," Keiichiro said. "Mint and Lettuce at their school, Pudding at her school, and Ichigo at her school. If Mylo finds out where any of you are, he might strike."

"Well, we can't drop out of school," Mint said with a frown.

"Yeah, my parents would kill me before Mylo's cronies got a chance to," Ichigo added.

"Which is why we are lucky that your school and Pudding's school are co-ed," Keiichiro said to Ichigo, his brown eyes gleaming.

When everyone stared at him in confusion, Rin spoke up,

"What you're saying is," She said, her violet twinkling. "Is that it'd be best if there was two or more teammates in the same location."

"Exactly," Keiichiro said, smiling at Rin. "Lettuce and Mint will already be together, and with Berry as well in case her Mew powers come back like Ichigo's did. Then Ichigo, Kish and Rirī can go to the same school and have classes together because of their closeness in age. Then Pudding and Tart do the same."

"What about me?" Rozū asked.

"You'll stay at the Café with the rest of us," Keiichiro said. "You'd have to go to a separate school altogether and will be safer here." At seeing the young girl's pout, he knelt down beside her and whispered into her ear. "And you'll be the official taste-tester for all the sweets we sell."

Rozū's large ears perked up at that and she grinned. Inwardly, her siblings groaned. The last thing anyone needed was Rozū on a sugar high. The girl had enough energy to rival Pudding.

"Well, if you're going to play human for a while, you might as well look the part," Mint said as she stood up. "And I've got a credit card I haven't used in thirty-six hours and it's been driving me insane. Let's go."

Two hours later, the aliens were admiring their purchases proudly. Rin had chosen a short, feathery blue skirt, a dark blue tank-top and a pair of sandals. Rirī had picked out a knee-high white pleated skirt, baby pink ballet flats, and a pink short-sleeved top. Rozū loved her brand-new outfit consisting of red pants, a red and white striped shirt and red sneakers. Rin was also enticed with the idea of nail polish and bought a few bottles to paint her long claw-like fingernails. She and her sisters had been stopped several times on their outing to ask if their nails were real, which confused the girls, not knowing that fake fingernails existed.

Kish wore blue jeans, a t-shirt with a long-sleeved shirt underneath and skateboard shoes. Tart wore jean capris, a red t-shirt and sneakers. Pie, with Lettuce's suggestions and guidance, had decided to opt for a gothic look. He wore black jeans with lots of pockets and a few silver chains hanging off of it, a black t-shirt with a red dragon on it, a black jacket, and black boots. After a lengthy argument, the group came to the conclusion that the alien males would be allowed to keep their hair the way it was. Tart's saving grace on that matter was that his hair was long enough that he had stopped wearing it in the double pigtail style and had it swept back into a ponytail.

As they had come to the agreement that the Café would also serve as part of the aliens cover, they were also presented with their very own Café Mew Mew uniforms. The girls had uniforms similar to the Mew Mews. Rin's was violet, Rirī's was hot pink, and Rozū's was bright red. The boys wore nearly matching uniforms consisting of black slacks, black shoes, a white long-sleeved dress shirt, a black vest and a tie. Each tie was a different color: Kish's was emerald green, Tart's was red and Pie's was a black-purple.

"What about uniforms for school?" Kish asked Ichigo, remembering that Ichigo's school required a specific outfit.

"After you pass the entrance exam, you'll be given three sets of the same uniform," Ichigo said as she folded a pair of Rozū's new jeans. She saw Kish and Rirī's ears droop some and look at each other in a panicked way. "Don't worry, the entrance exam isn't too hard. It just tests how much math you know and how well you read." Both aliens relaxed somewhat.

"Do we wear uniforms or have entrance exams?" Tart asked Pudding.

"No to both!" Pudding exclaimed from where she sat on the floor with Rozū. "Compulsory education is awesome, na no da!"

"You guys look very human," Ryou said from where he leaned against the Café wall, looking around at the room coated with clothes. "There's just one little thing that's hindering the look."

"Oh?" Rirī said. Her ears and those of her siblings went back with confusion to accompany the befuddled looks. "What is it?"

"Here's a hint," Ryou said. He put his wrists on the sides of his head beside his ears and made his fingers point straight away from his head. For extra emphasis he wiggled his fingers.

"Ah," Ichigo said, comprehending Ryou's message. "The ears."

"They aren't quite human, are they?" Kish said, running his fingers over one of his ears. "How are we going to explain this?"

"I've got that covered," Keiichiro said as he emerged from the basement. "Just say that you are immigrants from the island country of Boola Boola."

"Won't people figure out that Boola Boola isn't, you know, real?" Zakuro asked.

"Anyone suspicious will do what anyone with a computer does and run an internet search. I've already made up some fake websites talking about Boola Boola," Keiichiro said.

"You did all that in the two hours we were out shopping?" Tart asked, amazed.

"No. Ryou and I have been working on this for the past few days, just in case you all would be staying longer than we originally thought," Keiichiro said.

"That's cool," Rin said with a grin. "So, you guys seriously have an entire lab in the basement?"

"Yes," Keiichiro said proudly. "You can come see it whenever you want." He told Rin.

"If I can help you with anything, I'll be happy to do so," Rin said, a grin on her face.

Ryou ordered pizza and the team sat around eating a late supper. The aliens were amazed with the pizza, but were hesitant to try it. But after taking the first initial bite, they fell in love with the food. They sat around long after the pizza was gone, laughing and chatting and exchanging stories.

Over the course of the evening, Ichigo realized something. They had all come from different backgrounds and places. Had different lives and talents and trials. Different tastes, loves and triumphs. And yet they all sat around the table like they had known each other their entire lives, knowing they all had the same goal: protect my home from Mylo.

Ichigo felt Kish take her hand underneath the table and squeeze it. They smiled at each other.

They were all the same at heart.


Terminology:
Tsuska: The handles of the sai swords.
Motto: the space in the handle between the prongs.

There will be some Kishigo fluff and some backstory information about the Ikisatashi sisters in Friday's chapter!