"Na na, Ryou-kun, how old is she?" Pudding hopped over Ichigo's shoulder, staring wide-eyed at the peculiarity. "Where's she from? What's her name?" Poing poing.

"She hasn't said," Ryou drawled, shrugging as he removed his arm from about her shoulder. "I'd have to suppose she's about fourteen… You're about thirteen, right?"

"Not me, not me, Ichigo onee-chan is though!" Pudding spoke up giddily, once again killing that promise that I would cut out the Japanese, regardless of her own Chinese origins. Rawr.

"Whatever age it is, she has to be just a bit older than us." Ichigo peered at her face, amazed how one person could allow everything in the world rush past her like this. She wondered if they even noticed they were talking about her. Something seemed to flicker in recognition as Momomiya spoke within her. Hmm.

"Why, since you're so immature compared to her?"
Concentration shattered, Ichigo stood upright, hotly. "What's THAT supposed to mean?"
Ryou grinned slyly. "Not that it's such a difficult thing to do…you're such an overeager brat."

Ichigo clutched her head, seething. "Why—I—augh!"

"Has she said /anything/ yet?" Mint interrupted, slightly annoyed. Ryou's mind took him back in an unpleasant flash, and grimaced inwardly. He averted her gaze by looking sidelong at the silent girl. After a beat, she felt his eyes on her and gazed back out of the corner of her eye. His eyes shot away, unnerved. Hers hovered on him, then emotionlessly floated her gaze forwards again. Ichigo caught this, and couldn't help but feel a bit confused. Just what exactly had gone on between them?

"…No." Ryou finally wrestled from his throat, shifting his weight. He caught Keiichiro's eye, giving him a significant glare. Akasaka nodded. He did not bring this girl on a whim- something was not right about her.

"/I/ just think nobody's home," piped up Pudding, who was getting fidgety, fast.
"Nothing at all?" Minto raised an eyebrow, yet Ryou had himself under control again. He gazed straight at her, very intent.

"Nothing."

Mint blushed for a moment, then shrugged it off easily, crossing her legs. "If you say so."

Lettuce brought up the courage to step closer, pushing her glasses up her small nose in bewilderment. "Could she maybe be… autistic?" she asked, in a hesitant, tiny voice.

Ryou pondered this for a moment, then shook his head. "She may be," he said, framing her face with his hands, "but I doubt it. Her face lacks any of the usual physical signs of autism, nor has she acted aware enough to be autistic. I doubt she would have been able to dress herself up in such an… outfit if she were completely incapacitated, either." He frowned thinly as he cupped the girl's chin in his hands again, checking again for any signs of intelligence or response. There had been something back there, he was sure…
Ichigo seemed put off by this action, something bubbling beneath the surface at his action. She knew that move of his too well, the jerk… odd thing was, though, she didn't react adversely at all, gazing forwards dimly at him. The unnamed feeling sloshed violently.

After a moment, Ryou let her go, sighing. "I don't know what's with her, truly…"

"Then why did you bring her with you off of a street corner like that?" Ichigo was surprised herself at the slight snap in her voice. There was something… unsettling about someone else getting 'special treatment'.

Pudding snaked beneath Lettuce and Ichigo's legs, leaping up to snatch at something about the girl's frill-laced collar. "Look look! She has on a necklace!"

It was a long, silver rectangle on a chain, slightly curved into the shape of a concave mirror (shiny as it was, it did reflect everything about.) It flashed as the blonde monkey flipped it upside-down, inspecting the katakana written on the back.

"Pudding, what are you-" Lettuce started, stuttering.

"Ooh, it says something inside…"

"Purin, You can't just go grabbing expensive jewelry on-"
"It's not real silver, silver's softer. It looks more like plain metal or pewter to me," added Minto unhelpfully.

"If you'll just listen for a minute, please!" Pudding insisted loudly, allowing her a moment of pause long enough to read the childish writing.

"Well…"

"Well?" asked Ichigo, curiously.

"At least we know her name now," she said slowly, trying not to giggle.

Keiichiro stepped forwards, gently taking the necklace 'pendant' from the child. "If I may…"
"Uhn," nodded Pudding happily, bouncing back to let the others peer in.

My Name is Licoris.--

Please take good care of me!♥--

Licoris, becoming more aware by the minute, gazed down at the flashing silver metal (or pewter, as the case may be) with several heads crowded about it. From out of her apron's front pocket, she withdrew a CD betwixt her middle and forefinger. She chewed gently on the clear rim, surveying the confused bunch.
"I…?"

Three pairs of heads shot up. Hoo boy.

x--

"Anata wa Licoris desuka?"
"
Anata wa Licoris desuka?"
"Iie, you say 'WATASHI wa Licoris desu'. Watashi, me. Anata, you. Watashi wa Purin desuyo!"
"Anata…wa Purin desuka."
"No no, -ka is added for question, -yo is for exclamation. Let's try this again. Watashi wa Purin desuka?"
"H…Hai."
"Hai…..?"
"Hai, watashi-"
"Nooo!"
"/Anata/ wa Purin desu. …Ne?"
"Hai haiii! Banzaii! Now, repeat after me. 'watashi wa Licoris desu'."

"Watashi…"
"You'd think she'd never spoken in her life," Ryou commented, watching Pudding teach 'Licoris' the Wonders of Speech at one of the empty tables. Lettuce had stuck around to watch(and try sneakily hiding that scuffed table), Mint long gone for ballet practice and Ichigo needing to report to her parents before it was completely dark. Ryou had made it clear they wouldn't be paid overtime. Keiichiro smiled. "Iie, she's learning much too fast for that." He turned his head, understanding the far-off look in his charge's eyes. "What do you think she is?"
Ryou watched on, deep in thought. "…I don't know."

"Shall we… 'keep her'?"

"Huh," he scoffed, dour. "Not like we have much of a choice. What are we going to do, turn her in to the authorities?" He fell silent again. "Besides… there's something… just off about her."

Keiichiro blinked, surprised. "Do you mean she's…?"
"Yes. No. Augh…" The blonde shook his head, clearing his troubled thoughts. "We'll find out soon enough."

o--

"No home?"
The black-enveloped doll shook her head lightly.

Ryou crossed his arms, thinking deeply on a plan of action. He couldn't just turn her out for the night. "Where were you before I… before you were near that alley?" he caught himself mid-sentence, cautiously rethinking his choice of words.

"Ha..ra..ju ku?" her head rolled onto her shoulder, looking for Pudding's face. The Tamarin(or tangerine)-infused Mew nodded approvingly, giving a thumbs-up. Her eyes flicked back to Ryou. She may only speak a word at a time, but it was an improvement.

Ryou sighed, exasperated. "Well, that was a bit of a given." He gestured towards her clothes. Her white, frilled maid's headband was drooping over her bangs, and one of the earphones from the radio Ichigo begrudgingly lent her was flopped on her lap. He resisted the urge to fix the disorderly mess. Must…make…everything…neat… ggahh… This isn't Ichigo, you can't afford to scare her off.
He needn't've worried. Licoris looked down at her outfit, forgetting she even had such an outrageous outfit on. "...uhn."

"sigh Not back to grunts again…"
"Grunts?"
"() Ahh, nothing, nothing! () ()"

"Hmm…"

"Anyways," Ryou cleared his throat, mentally smacking himself. "We need somewhere for you to stay. I can't just let whoever just walks up to the Café use this as an /inn/."

They all knew this to be true. They couldn't risk something like this, but most especially with their large secret hidden right underground. Lettuce glanced at the floor, nervously. Pudding pouted. "Where will she stay?"
"The doorstep always works."

Licoris blinked.

"Ryouuu-kunnn! Not funny!"

"I'd let her sleep at my house, but I don't think my parents would allow her on such short notice…" Lettuce spoke, softly.

Ryou smiled at Lettuce, nearly patting her on the head before he remembered himself. "Don't worry. We're not asking that of you."

"I've no room at my house, either. Maybe send her to onee Minto-chan's?"
"I-I don't think Mint would like that very much, either…"

"Ichigo?"
"Uwaa, you always pick on poor Ichigo-channn!"
Ryou raised his hands in front of him as a truce, wielding off the pouting monkey-girl. "All right! All right!" Keiichiro shook his head solemnly. "I'm afraid we have no alternative but to turn her out. I hate to say it, but…"
Ryou gave him a warning look, its meaning plainly written on his serious expression; 'We cant lose her. It's too risky.' Keiichiro gazed back sadly with those understanding eyes. 'I know.' Defeated, the young genius ran his fingers through his forelocks, as he often does when he's caught without a solution. How exasperating.
"It's the only way. We must turn her out."
"But Ryou! That's awful!" Lettuce started, quieting again quickly. "I know, we all know…how horrible it is to be alone…"

Pudding, as always, interrupted the potentially heavy silence with her antics. She bounced over to the poor girl's chair, her sunny yellow outfit contrasting the greytones drastically. "Especially in THAT outfit. You need to wear some regular clothes." She poked a finger at Licoris' nose, peeking her own over the chair's ornamental back. "We'll see what we can do to fix you up tomorrow, okeh? I'm latelatelate and I've gotta go home. I've four mouths to feed yet! Ja ne, matte!"

As Pudding raced out the door, waving her arms, Ryou couldn't help but chuckle. "Honestly, my life would be much less stressful without you girls…" Lettuce blushed beside Licoris, who looked up innocently at the girl's extremely heated face. Long hair fell from her shoulder, dripping onto the chair's seat like a river of ink.

"Uhn? …Re?"

"G-gomen ne…"

Ryou looked over at the two girls, one blushing furiously as the other stared up glassy-eyed, both in their own ways, innocent children trapped in a teenager's body. She really was a mess.

"What?" he asked, not quite getting what brought about the reaction- not that you needed such for Lettuce. The emerald girl bowed apologetically twice, then scattled out the door. Ryou shook his head after the girl in disbelief, Keiichiro laughing quietly at the charm of it all near the staircase. Life certainly was interesting with Ryou, not matter what flavor of personality he was with. It always had been.

x--

That face. It was so complex, so bothered. A childhood genius, who was stumped for an answer. He always looked like he was a belligerent three-year-old when he was visibly stumped, which granted had only been about thrice in all her time knowing him. Like he couldn't figure it out. Ryou ALWAYS figured out everything, and quite quickly. The machines and the data were only to help quicken the pace. Ryou always figured out what was going on, and consequently, he was the one who got them through their strange life. He was who they all counted on to tell them what they needed and where to go next, and… why they were even in this position in the first place.

Ichigo beat herself on the head with her fists, trying to knock the thoughts from her head. 'Gwaahhhh, why am I thinking about that jerk Ryou or even that weird girl when I have my date with Aoyoma-kun to worry about! What am I gonna wearrr, what am I gonna wearrrr…"

Still, as she calmed down, the thoughts floated back in. Why was Ryou so close to her? He never came PHYSICALLY close to anyone that wasn't Keiichiro or her, when he felt like annoying her. The times she's had her chin grabbed or cheek pinched or been nigh on MOLESTED were countless. Though, to his credit, most of the more embarrassing moments were due to Kisshu (or Kiss-You, which he had a despairing tendency to try to act upon that nickname more often than she liked!). The Chimera Animals lately had stemmed a little about here… maybe they'd just been getting better at this crime-fighting thing? Ichigo pressed a finger to her lower lip, humming to herself. Though was it really crime-fighting? It was more just passing back whatever volleys the aliens threw at them, and they just waited around 'til Ryou told them where they would serve on the court next. Not that her fuka wasn't absolutely kawaii, but…

Ichigo sat up on her bed in a panic. Oh no! She'd forgotten to take her cell phone from out of her pocket after changing into her Café uniform today! Poor Masha's probably in the washer right now! She scrambled over her stuff on the floor, running barefoot downstairs to the hamper and hoping her mother had forgotten the laundry again. "Muuuuum!"

o--