Chapter Four

New Mew Number 2

"Where are we going Ichigo?" Suika asked her cousin. "You promised me you'd show me around Tokyo again. And I want to know what went on the other day. What was that thing, and who were those girls who were fighting it?"

"Oh, um…"Ichigo began, not knowing exactly how to answer the questions being thrown at her.

"I saw them the last two times I was visiting you too." Suika continued. "You promised, oh and how's Masaya?"

Ichigo froze for a second at the mention of her husband's name, but not wanting her cousin to see the effect on her, she continued walking down the street. "I want to show you were I work." Ichigo said, switching topics.

"Awww, the school again?" Suika groaned. "I'm here for the summer, I'm supposed to be out of school."

"No, not the school." Ichigo said, taking Suika by the arm. "I work somewhere else too."

"Really?" Asked Suika, her face perking up a bit. "Where?"

"Here." Ichigo said, stopping in front of the pink Café Mew Mew. She took her cousin inside and they made their way through a maze of tables and chairs, empty because the café had not opened yet.

"Where are we going? I mean it's cute and all, but are we supposed to be in here?" Suika asked anxiously.

"It's fine, I want you to meet some people." Ichigo replied, taking her down into the basement. When they reached the bottom, they were greeted by Ryou, Keiichiro and the rest of the Mew Mew team.

"Hi." Suika said uncertainly.

"Welcome, my dear." Keiichiro said, crossing the room and placing a kiss on Suiko's hand.

"Ooh, I like him." Suika said out loud, getting a laugh from the crowd.

"Knowing Ichigo," Ryou began, "she probably hasn't filled you in on anything right?" He asked Suika.

"Fill me in on what?" Suika asked, giving her cousin a sidelong glance. Ichigo however, was making a point of looking at her shoes, ignoring her cousin's stare.

Ryou sighed heavily and walked across the room from where he had been sitting. "My name is Ryou." He introduced himself. "That's my partner Keiichiro, this is Mint, Lettuce, Pudding and Zakuro. Keiichiro and I own and run Café Mew Mew and these girls, along with your cousin, work here. But that's not all they do. You see," he said, taking a deep breath, "there are aliens on earth. You saw one yesterday. For some reason, they keep popping up even though their masters left years ago. In order for the city, and even the entire world to survive these attacks, a group of superheroes had to be formed. That's were these girls, and now you, come in."

"Wait a second." Suika said, shocked. "You mean this is a secret lair for a team of superheroes who fight evil monsters and protect the city? And my cousin Ichigo is a member of this team?"

"I know it's a lot of information…" Ryou started, but Suika interrupted him.

"How come you never told me you were a superhero?" She shouted, turning to look at Ichigo. "All those letters and phone calls and you didn't even mention it once!"

"Well that's the thing about having a secret identity." Mint said. "It must stay a secret."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Suika said, thinking about it. "Wait a second," she thought, "how can I be a Mew? Did you all just suddenly become mews too or what?"

"No, it's a bit more complicated then that." Ryou stated. "These girls were injected with DNA of various animals and that is how they became Mews. You however," he continued, looking at her confused expression, "are something rare. You didn't need to be injected with anything. For some reason you are a "natural mew". That is to say, you have naturally mutating DNA inside you which has chosen to fuse with a certain animal. What is that animal Keiichiro?" He asked, turning to his friend by the console.

"The Rare Ruby Wild Dog." Keiichiro confirmed, pulling up the animal's statistics on screen. A picture came up featuring a small coyote looking dog, with dull red fur and large ears. "The Ruby Wild Dog has not been photographed in nature for over half a century." Keiichiro said. "It is believed to live in small dwindling packs on the continent of Australia, and at last count there were only one hundred left." He finished, turning back towards Ryou and the girls.

"Wow." Suika said, trying to take all this in without running out the door screaming. "So what do I do now?" She asked, looking lost.

"Well, you can start waitressing here as soon as possible." Ryou said, his eyes unwavering from her face. "We are sure that there are more aliens out there to fight, but until we come up with anything concrete, we need you to be available at a moment's notice. Since you are staying with Ichigo, you should probably work the same shifts as her so you're not alone and a potential target. That means starting now." He concluded, handing her a box which contained a waitress' outfit in a deep red color. "Now you and Ichigo should go change, we open in five minutes. The rest of you, go get some rest, you'll need it."

As Ichigo was leaving to don her outfit, Ryou caught her by the arm and dragged her to the side.

"What is it Ryou?" She asked, in a confused voice.

"I had Keiichiro stop by the hospital the other day to check on Masaya." He said in a low voice. "After about an hour of running tests, Keiichiro has confirmed that something inside Masaya is scrambling his DNA. It might just be an after effect of becoming Deep Blue, but it's not good, and has the potential to become worse. Don't cry!" He hissed at Ichigo, noticing tears welling up in her eyes. "I need you to act normal around the other girls so they don't get distracted, especially Suika."

"I'll…I'll try." Ichigo said, her voice shaking as she wiped her eyes on her frilly apron, and walked out of the room with her head held high. Ryou sighed heavily and turned around to find Keiichiro staring at him with one of his all-knowing smiles.

"What?" He asked.

"Oh, nothing." Keiichiro said simply, and walked away shaking his head slightly.

Note: I don't actually know if there is any such animal as a Rare Ruby Wild Dog. I just thought the name sounded good, and would match Suika's hair color (a deep red). There might be such an animal, but I completely made up all the information…..like I said, it's my story…..so there.