Chapter two: The One and Only
Ring
Minto froze with a very ticked off expression. She'd been stretching, so she could practice the dance Zakuro would be teaching her, and she hated being interrupted. She picked up her cell phone, cursing at herself for not turning it off, and decided to answer it so she could take her wrath out on the caller... provided that caller wasn't Zakuro.
"What do you want?"
"All these years and still no manners, Minto-kun?"
"Ichigo! How'd you get my number?"
"Lucky guess," Ichigo held a photo that showed the five mew mews and there was a blue heart drawn around Zakuro. Ichigo remembered how mad she'd been at Minto for that one, but now she laughed.
"What's so funny?" Minto went back to a bad mood.
"Nothing," Ichigo lied. "I called to invite you and Zakuro-san to a mew mew reunion."
"Why?"
"Well, it'll be like a high school reunion, except it will only be the eight of us."
"Eight?"
"Me, you, Zakuro-san, Purin-chan, Rettasu-kun, Ryou, Keiichiro, and Masaya."
"What if Rettasu and Purin have someone they want to bring?"
"As long as they don't mind that someone knowing they used to be half animal super girls."
"Mew mew sounds so much nicer," Minto looked over as the door opened. Then she blushed.
"What are you doing on the phone?" Zakuro asked, "you should be practicing. We're shooting the video tomorrow."
"I know, onee-sama, but Ichigo called and--"
"Ichigo? Let me talk to her."
Minto nodded and handed over her cell phone, the turned around and growled enviously.
"Sorry if Minto was rude, Ichigo-kun."
"Oh, that's quite alright," Ichigo giggled.
"I can barely hear you," Zakuro sighed, "hold on, I'm going to transfer the call to the house phone."
"I'll wait," Ichigo nodded, and she did. There was some rustling and a series of clicks, and then silence. Ichigo tilted her head.
"Can you hear me?" Zakuro's voice came back suddenly.
"Yes," Ichigo confirmed.
"Alright."
"Why did you make Minto-kun get off the phone?"
"She needs to practice, and we haven't talked in a while. Why'd you call?"
"To invite you and Minto-kun to a mew mew reunion."
"That sounds fun. When and where?"
"Well it has to be a Sunday because that's the only day I'm free... unless I can find a replacement for my shifts..."
"Sundays are good," Zakuro replied. "Next week?"
"I want it to be soon but I wasn't sure if a week would be enough time. Nobody knows where Ryou and Keiichiro are."
"I can track them down. But if you'd rather play it safe we can wait two weeks."
"Alright. And I was thinking we'd meet at Café Mew Mew."
Zakuro pulled out her day planner and scheduled the reunion in its calendar. "We'll be there."
"Thanks so much. I know Minto-kun will go if you do."
"Heh," Zakuro rolled her eyes, "that's too true."
"Okay, well, that's all I wanted. Now that you have my number feel free to call anytime. Oh yeah, and you're allowed to bring guests to the party as long as you don't mind them knowing you used to be a mew mew."
"I'll keep that in mind."
"Good luck with your video shoot."
"Thanks. I'll keep you informed when I find out anything about Ryou and Keiichiro."
"Much appreciated. See you in a couple weeks."
"Two weeks it is."
Ichigo hung up the phone, then smiled at Masaya who was now standing over her shoulder.
"So Zakuro and Minto will be there?"
"Yes they will."
"And the others?"
"I left a message on Rettasu's answering machine earlier, I still haven't got a hold of Purin, and Zakuro's going to track down Ryou and Keiichiro."
"Are you going to try to contact Purin?"
"Not yet. I asked Rettasu about her, so I'm going to wait and see if she can tell me anything."
"Okay. So, now what do we do?"
Ichigo shrugged. Then she looked down at the picture and sighed. "For the future of the earth, I am at your service, nya..."
"Oh, Ichigo," Masaya hugged his wife, "I know you miss being a cat girl, but you told me Ryou said that the process of extracting the animal DNA is irreversible."
"He did," Ichigo dried softly, "I just..." she sighed.
"I know," Masaya held Ichigo's chin to make her look at him, and then he kissed her gently. "But neko or not, you're still Momomiya Ichigo."
Ichigo wiped her eyes. "The one and only, nya"
Masaya laughed softly, "the one and only."
