Brought Together Chapter 25:
Decisions to be Made
Soon after Pai's voice faded, the ship got pretty bumpy. After a bit it evened out, and with a final bump, they landed. Then Pai teleported into Kisshu's room and said, "We should leave the stuff here, we have to talk to Kuro-sama before we start unloading."
"Okay," Ichigo said. "Come on, Mom and Dad."
Sakura and Shintaro nodded, and followed Ichigo, Kisshu, Pai and Taruto off the ship. Almost as soon as they got off, a young couple, about the age of Ichigo's parents, came running up. "Kisshu, Pai, Taruto! How are you? We haven't seen you in ages!" the female said.
"We're fine, Mom," Pai said. "How's it going here?"
"Things are coming along nicely," the male Cyniclon said. "We've already got some buildings up. But we've been ordered to take all of you to Kuro-sama. What's going on?"
"We have some guests," Pai said. "Weren't you here when we came back the first time?"
"No, what happened?" the female asked.
"It's kind of a long story, so if Kuro-sama wants to see us, maybe we should talk to him first," Pai said.
"Oh, right," the male said. "Come with us."
Pai nodded to the others, and they followed him and his parents. Pai and Taruto's parents led them to a small building, and said, "You should go in, we were told to lead you here and go back to work."
"Thanks, Mom and Dad," Pai said. Then he went into the building, followed by Kisshu, Taruto, Ichigo, and Ichigo's parents.
When they got inside, they saw Kuro-sama waiting for them. Kisshu, Pai, Taruto and Ichigo bowed, Sakura and Shintaro copying them.
Kuro-sama smiled and said, "Welcome. Ichigo, these are your parents?"
"Hai, Kuro-sama," Ichigo said. "This is my mom, Sakura, and my dad, Shintaro."
"Well, it's very nice to meet both of you, Sakura and Shintaro," Kuro-sama said.
"Thank you," Sakura said. "It's an honor to meet you as well."
Kuro-sama nodded, and said, "I'm assuming you would like to know more about this planet's way of life, so I'll try to explain some of it. For starters, you should know that we rarely use surnames or suffixes like -san, -kun, or -chan. The only ones who add those on are the elders, like me, and sometimes their children. Therefore, unlike on Earth, you will be called by your given names. It's customary for us."
"That's fine with us," Shintaro said. "I never liked suffixes anyways."
Kuro-sama smiled slightly, and continued, "As of right now, the males of our people are working on the building projects, so I'll get someone to show you the ropes, Shintaro. The females are doing a lot of the sewing and getting ready to move into the new buildings. Sakura, Ichigo has informed me that you are an excellent cook, so I would like to have you work in the temporary kitchens."
"I don't know about being excellent, but I like cooking, and I actually brought a lot of staple food items with me," Sakura said. "Pai checked the ingredients, and apparently everything I brought is edible to your people."
"You brought us food?" Kuro-sama asked, surprised.
"We don't want to be a burden on you," Sakura said. "I also brought a bunch of cookbooks and kitchen utensils."
"Thank you, Sakura," Kuro-sama said. "Before I go on, may I ask what else you brought?"
"It's mostly clothes, but we brought some other things, like toothpaste, soap, toothbrushes, our hairbrushes and combs, and shampoo," Sakura said.
"You wouldn't believe how many toothbrushes she made me buy," Shintaro said.
"Shintaro, they're not just for us," Sakura said. She turned to Kuro-sama and said, "I made him buy a lot because I wasn't sure what your people might need besides food. I heard that your planet was pretty bad before Ichigo gave you the Mew Aqua."
"We are in pretty short supply of most of the things you mentioned," Kuro-sama admitted. "You have my gratitude."
"I'm happy to help," Sakura said. "I wasn't able to afford some things, like sleeping gear, so I only packed ours, but I packed up all the blankets and comforters in the house, so you're welcome to have those for your people as well. I tried to come prepared."
"You certainly came more prepared than we expected," Kuro-sama said. "I'm impressed."
Sakura smiled.
Kuro-sama smiled back, then said, "Ichigo, I have a question. If you were the leader of Tokyo Mew Mew, you must be pretty powerful, correct?"
"I'm not sure about that, but in any case, I can't use my Mew powers anymore. I can use my Cyniclon powers, though," Ichigo said.
"Hmm… Kisshu, you were the one who trained Ichigo to use her new powers, correct?" Kuro-sama asked.
"Hai," Kisshu said.
"What level would she be on?" Kuro-sama asked.
"I'd say level 5, a level below me," Kisshu said. "She's a very fast learner, too."
"Can you create Chimera Animas?" Kuro-sama asked Ichigo.
"No, but Pai said he thinks I'm capable of learning," Ichigo said.
"Do you have a weapon?" Kuro-sama asked.
"Hai, the Inazuma no Yaiba," Ichigo said. "Kisshu and Pai taught me how to use it properly."
"What capabilities does it have?" Kuro-sama asked.
"It can shoot lighting at a target, and I can control it, Pai taught me," Ichigo said.
"And you can fly and teleport," Kuro-sama said. Ichigo nodded.
"Well, if you're a level 5 warrior in Kisshu's opinion, then I think I'll put you in the expeditionary force, with Kisshu," Kuro-sama said. "Level 5 is the second highest level that a Cyniclon warrior can achieve, and if you made it that far in such a short amount of time, I'd say you'd be better off in the fighting force rather than the worker force. It would be a shame to waste talent like that on building."
"What is the expeditionary force?" Ichigo asked.
"It's just a group of Cyniclon warriors who are going to explore the new forests and areas around what will be our village," Kuro-sama said. "I think it will give you more scope for your talents than building houses will."
"I agree," Kisshu said. "If anything happens, we could use someone with Ichigo's skill."
"That's fine with me," Ichigo said. "I like the woods anyways."
"Good," Kuro-sama said. "I should warn you, there won't be any females in this group. It's been over fifty years since a female warrior has even reached level four, and that's the minimum level for being in an expeditionary force."
"I'm sure I'll manage," Ichigo said.
"That's a good attitude, since some males might be skeptical," Kuro-sama said. "I have an idea if they get to be a problem, however. Considering I've heard your sword skills are excellent, I think you might be able to beat Kisshu. If I call the force together, will you two hold a practice match?"
Ichigo and Kisshu's jaws dropped.
This is getting interesting….