Chapter Ten:
"And? What is the name of this nuisance?" The childlike voice asked as Pie knelt before it in the dark, the dimly glowing infusers floating around the blue orb.
"They identify themselves as Mew Lettuce, Mew Mint and Mew Ichigo, respectively," Pie answered without missing a beat.
"Is that so?" The voice said almost curiously.
"The true identity of these beings is unknown," Pie said. "They appear to be human. However, be it genetic annomoly or the species is either slowly evolving or un-evolving, they have animal features while still maintaining a human appearance. I am looking into what has changed them into such. With that information, their weakness will reveal itself and they will be destroyed."
"Good. This entirety of this inferior species must be wiped out." The voice said with a slight hiss. "I cannot forgive this 'human race' who soil this beautiful planet and think they are the true owners of it… And now they are going against us, the rightful owners. Destroy them. Immediately! I do not care what it takes, they must be eradicated!"
"I have devised a strategy that will do just that," Pie said, keeping all pride out of his voice, though he did feel it surge through him. He reached out and plucked an infuser out of the air, holding it in both hands. "Inside each of these infusers contains the condensed Deoxyribonucleic Acid of the animals on this planet. When combined with a human spirit, a soul, it will create a Chimera Animal that will effectively destroy the human race."
"Get onto it right away," The voice instructed with approval.
"Hai," Pie said, nodding his head. Dismissed, he disappeared.
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Ichigo glanced over her shoulder and growled. Mint sat and stirred her tea before taking a dainty sip. Lettuce pretended to ignore them both as she continued to vacuum.
"Hey, Mint!" Ichigo said with a tone of annoyance.
"Yes?" Mint replied sweetly.
"We're opening soon, don't you think you should help get the Café ready?" Ichigo demanded, hands on her hips.
"But I am, dear Ichigo-Chan," Mint said, her eyes twinkling. Ichigo looked confused
"Doing what?" She asked as Mint continued to sip the tea.
"I am taste-testing today's special tea," She said with a smirk. "It has quite an elegant taste." She looked Ichigo up and down. "Something around here has to and it is clearly not you."
Ichigo fumed, a tick-mark forming on her head as she looked like she wanted to strangle Mint.
"Ichigo-San, I'll help you," Lettuce said to pacify the cat-girl.
"That is not the problem!" Ichigo yelled, stamping her foot.
"Did you finish the cleaning outside the store yet?" Ryou demanded as he entered the dining room. Ichigo's mood seemed to get even worse. For some reason, Ryou and Ichigo just did not get along well and it felt like they were constantly at each other's throats.
"Uh, not yet," Lettuce said, biting the corner of her lip.
After a brief argument between Ryou and Ichigo—that somehow in the end resolved around Ichigo's all-you-can-eat-for-free cake privileges potentially being taken away if she didn't go sweep the front in a timely manner—Lettuce and Ichigo went outside to sweep the path.
"I cannot fight against those words," Ichigo said darkly as she swept. "Keiichiro's cakes are so good… And taste even better when they're free."
"Let's do our best, Ichigo-San," Lettuce said with a smile as she swept.
"You're always so optimistic, Lettuce," Ichigo said with a sigh as she leaned on her broom dramatically. "And so carefree…"
[Excuse me?]
The two girls turned to look a tall blond woman standing there, smiling. However, neither girl had a clue what she was saying as she proceeded to speak in English.
"What should we do?" Ichigo whispered as they both stood there, looking like deer caught in headlights. "She's asking us something…"
"Y-yes. Yes she is," Lettuce said, with wide eyes. She took a deep breath and started searching for a way to introduce herself, "Uh, I am 'a Lettuce'?"
"You don't put an 'a' in front of your name…" Ichigo said softly.
"Uh, [Lettuce! Me Lettuce!]" Lettuce exclaimed, using one of the few words she knew in English, which happened to be the direct translation of her name.
[Lettuce?] The woman repeated, very confused.
[Strawberry!] Ichigo proclaimed with a wide smile, a finger in the air. [I am strawberry!]
[Lettuce? Strawberry?] The woman repeated, looking even more confused than she had. She then asked another question, but again neither girl knew what she was saying.
Both girls froze for a second, then next thing Lettuce knew, Ichigo was gone.
"I'm getting help!" She called behind her, her arms in the air in a universally acknowledged signal of panic.
"Wait, Ichigo-San, don't leave—" Lettuce called, but it was too late. "Me." She squeaked. She groaned slightly and rested her forehead against the broom handle.
The woman continued to ask questions in English and Lettuce responded with every English phrase she had been taught in school. Which didn't help either of them. At all.
[The sky is blue! That is your pen! I like chocolate!] Lettuce squeaked out to the woman's confusion, trying to understand what she was trying to say.
"Onee-Chan?"
Lettuce looked over her shoulder and her eyes brightened some. Uri was coming down the path with his bright smile.
"Uri, what are you doing here?" Lettuce said.
"I was on my way to a friend's house. Is something wrong?" Uri asked, looking at the strange woman.
"Yes!" Lettuce squeaked out. "I can't understand her at all!"
The woman spoke again, causing Lettuce to jump. To Lettuce's surprise, Uri began speaking in broken but coherent English, explaining that he had picked up some from American television. The two conversed for a moment, the woman speaking slowly so Uri could understand and he nodded a few times before turning to Lettuce.
"This is McGuire Mary-San, from San Francisco in the United States. She is looking for someone named Shirogane Ryou-San?" Uri said.
Suddenly, Ryou and Keiichiro were coming down the path, both speaking in English with the woman and shaking her hand in a pleasant tone with a smile.
"He acts so different from usual," Ichigo quipped softly as she and Mint came over to stand by Lettuce. They barely noticed that Ryou had taken a glance at the green-haired boy and frowned ever so slightly. Uri met his eyes and frowned slightly as well as Ichigo continued to mutter, "It kinda pisses me off."
A moment later, Keiichiro and Ryou were leading the American woman inside the Café.
"Onee-Chan?"
Lettuce looked down at her younger brother.
"Is he a friend of yours?" Uri asked, his brow furrowed. "That blonde guy?"
"That was Shirogane-San, my manager, and the other man is Akasaka-San, the cook," Lettuce explained. She gestured to Mint and Ichigo. "These are my friends: Aizawa Mint-San and Momomiya Ichigo-San. Mint-San, Ichigo-San, this is my little brother, Uri."
"Nice to meet you, Uri-Chan!" Ichigo said with a smile.
"It's nice to meet Onee-Chan's friends!" Uri said with a large grin.
"Thank you for helping me," Lettuce said. "I thought I was going to die…"
"Death by the English language?" Mint said, an eyebrow raised.
"It could happen," Lettuce said, blushing some.
"Would you like to come inside and have some tea, Uri-Chan?" Ichigo asked.
"Thank you for the offer, Ichigo-San, but I was actually going to a friend's house," Uri said.
"Maybe some other time," Mint said. Uri nodded and said his good-byes before walking down the sidewalk again.
"He's a cute little kid," Ichigo observed. Lettuce smiled some.
"He is," She said. "He's probably the most important boy in my life."
"Well, he'll be that until you get a boyfriend," Mint said, causing Lettuce to turn scarlet.
"I-I'm not, I mean, it's not something I really need at this time—" She stuttered, turning redder and redder, clutching onto her broom. "Oh, let's just go inside!"
As the girls entered the Café, they heard the sound of beautiful piano music and saw the woman, Mary McGuire, sitting in front of a grand piano with Ryou and Keiichiro standing around, listening to her play.
"What a pretty melody!" Lettuce said, smiling.
"Where did the piano come from?" Ichigo asked vaguely.
"Who cares? Just listen…" Mint said with a small sigh.
When the song ended, they all clapped.
"Bravo!" Keiichiro praised. The woman gave her thanks in English. Keiichiro then turned to the girls. "Ms. McGuire is going to perform for a party that Ryou is throwing on Friday."
"A party!" The girls said together, Ichigo and Mint excited and Lettuce a little confused.
"Yes, to support wildlife conservation," Keiichiro said.
"This Friday?" Lettuce said, still confused.
"Yes, and all of you are invited," Keiichiro continued. "It will be a gorgeous and elegant party, and we have prepared wonderful dresses for each of you."
"Dresses?" Mint said excitedly.
"Can I bring Aoyama-Kun, nya?" Ichigo asked and Ryou shrugged, which Ichigo took as approval as she started squealing and twirling excitedly, jabbering away about dancing with Aoyama-Kun and him seeing her all dressed up.
"So, does this mean that Shirogane-San is the host?" Lettuce asked.
Ryou merely smiled at her and went over to speak with Ms. McGuire then left the room.
Ms. McGuire stood up from the piano and approached Lettuce.
"Oh, oh… oh, no… Keiichiro-San, tell her that I don't speak English!" Lettuce insisted, waving her hands to discourage the woman from speaking to her. However, Ms. McGuire took her hands and smiled at her, speaking briefly in English, recognizing only her own name. Lettuce blinked in confusion. "Huh?"
"She said, 'I'd love to play the piano for pretty girls like you'," Keiichiro translated.
"Pretty?" Lettuce repeated, smiling up at the woman. She bowed some. "Arigato, McGuire-San."
Ms. McGuire said her good-byes and left the Café.
"She's so…" Mint breathed.
"Cool and grown up and amazing, nya," Ichigo finished with a small sigh of awe.
"Ryou fell in love with her music," Keiichiro said. "The song you just heard her play, she composed it herself. Ryou says that she has a good, pure spirit. Insisted that no one else would be fit to perform at this party but her. I feel the same way."
As they got back to work, Lettuce wondered briefly if Ryou had any idea that Friday, this upcoming Friday that the party was scheduled for, would be her thirteenth birthday.
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Lettuce was struggling with getting the trash can out to the dumpster that evening.
"What's in this, rocks?" She muttered to herself.
"That kid this morning. Who was he?"
Lettuce looked over to see Ryou, who had his arms behind his back like he was hiding something.
"My little brother, Uri," Lettuce said. "He was just passing by on the way to a friend's house."
Ryou nodded, his eyes not leaving Lettuce's face, making her turn scarlet.
"Here," He said, bringing out a white box for her. "It's your dress for Friday. Try it on tonight and if it doesn't fit bring it back and I will get it fixed in time for the party."
Lettuce opened the box and her eyes widened as she smiled at the pretty green dress inside.
"It's beautiful, thank you," She said.
"It's your favorite color, right?" Ryou asked, having turned away. "I thought that was your favorite. I can change it if you want."
"No, it's perfect, I love it, thank you so much, Shirogane-San!" Lettuce said, smiling brightly.
He glanced over his shoulder.
"Call me Ryou," He said.
Lettuce blinked and blushed some. The only boys she was on first-name basis with was her brother and her male cousins.
"Shirogane-San?" She whispered.
"Ryou," He insisted.
"Ryou-San?" She repeated, forcing his name out awkwardly, turning red the entire time.
Why does my heart feel like it's going to jump out of my chest? She asked herself as she hugged the box to her chest.
"You got it," Ryou said, giving her a grin. With that, he tucked his hands behind his head and walked away, leaving her standing there with her heart pounding.
Ryou smiled to himself.
He really hoped Lettuce would enjoy her birthday party.
Next chapter: PARTY TIME! :D
EDIT: So, when I started this chapter, Aoyama appeared instead of Uri, like in the anime episode, but I later changed my mind as it didn't really make sense. Apparently I didn't proof-read well enough to catch the one 'Aoyama' I forgot to change. ^_^ Fixed it now, though.