Chapter Three: Monkeyin' Around, Lots Of Ears, And Daily Mews (touché, 4Kids, n.n)
Minto seemed freaked out through the whole slumber party. She kept looking over her shoulders and things. Purin got there as fast as she could after Minto told her something was in her house, but nothing was there. Everyone thought that she had been lying, but Purin started to believe when Minto wouldn't stop being so paranoid.
The next day Purin got to the café early, as usual. There's nothing to do at her house when there are no kids to take care of. She got into her uniform and saluted in front of Ryou.
"Ryou-onii-chan na no da! I'm ready for work no da! What can I do no da?" She asked.
"You're always here early Purin, and then wanting to work. Such a strange way to behave at the age of ten…." Minto philosophized. "Why don't you take a break every now and then?"
"Purin gets bored if she takes breaks na no da!" The answer came. "Now what can I do no da?"
"You can clean the dishes from yesterday that Ichigo never finished." Ryou suggested, scowling at the thought of Ichigo not finishing work…. again. Purin just nodded and ran off into the kitchen.
She picked the plates up and began cleaning them, throwing them into the air and catching them, fully dried, and set them in their place.
She messed up once when she got to the tricky part and was throwing five plates into the air at the same time. One of the plates missed its mark and broke on Purin's arm, slicing it open deeply.
"ITAI!" She shouted at the top of her lungs. She grasped the end of the cut, like she was blocking blood from getting into it. She ran into the lobby to find Ryou, Keiichiro, and three other Mews, one late. (Guess who?) They didn't know she was even in there and they froze right where they were.
Retasu's eyes became large and almost dilated-like. She had stopped in mid-step and with a tray full of plates.
Minto had been drinking tea and had the cup in her hand at the entrance to her mouth, her eyes also wide and the pupils very small.
Zakuro had been sweeping the floor and stopped, her eyes the same way.
Ryou had been at the cash register, fixing something, and had his hand in his hair, scratching it when he stopped moving.
Keiichiro was putting cookies on the table, and was still doing what he was doing. He looked up to see the others staying still.
"What wrong na no da?" Purin asked. "It's not that bad a cut no da…."
Keiichiro heard Purin and looked at her holding her arm. He gasped.
"Ryou! Her arm!" He said, one moment too late.
The flesh ripped open on Retasu's right arm, making her squeal in agony and drop her tray full of plates.
Minto's drinking arm was instantly cut open, leaving her choking in pain and trying to get all the tea out of her lungs from breathing in.
Zakuro dropped the broom and began grunting, holding her now bleeding and cut open arm.
Ryou had gotten blood all on his face, since his right arm was the one in his hair.
"Oh, great!" Minto manages to croak. "There goes my drinking arm!"
"Why—why did thi…this happ—happen?" Retasu asked, taking very deep breaths, trying not to shriek again from pain.
"I would think it happened because you all were injected with animal DNA." Keiichiro guessed. "That would explain why it happened to Ryou too. You're all connected in that way, so you—feel what the others feel?"
Retasu looked up.
"Shirogane-san is hurt?" She ran over to him and pulled his arm off of his head.
"It's not that bad," He said. She let go and blushed.
"G—gomen nasai…." She backed away, cradling her own arm.
"Then, what happened with Ichigo?" Zakuro asked. Everyone stared at each other at that thought.
At the park where Ichigo is, seconds before Purin's accident….
"Arigatou, Aoyama-kun, for taking me here! This place is beautiful in the summer!" Ichigo said, smiling. The park was very pretty in the summer, when all the people could come and see it.
"I think it's happier when you're here." Masaya said, tapping Ichigo's bell, making it jingle. "I know I am."
Ichigo's heart began racing again, thumping louder and louder.
"No," She thought out loud. "I can't get too nervous. I can't, I won't."
"Why not? Your ears will only pop out…." Masaya said. Ichigo looked up and him—
And froze. Her hair was in front of her face and her eyes were wide and full of fear.
"Eto…. Momomiya-san?" Masaya waved his hand in front of her. "What's wrong?"
She suddenly fell to the ground and grasped her arm.
"NYA! NYA NYA NYA NYA NYA NYA!" She shouted. She began tearing up at the pain. "NYA!"
"What's that?" Masaya asked, bending over to his girlfriend. She turned away from him.
"I—it's nothing. I have to go." She said, getting up and running.
She made it to the café finally and opened the door with a bloody hand. She instantly fell onto the tile floor.
"We've been wondering when you'd show up." Ryou's voice said, bandaging Minto's arm.
"YOU DID THIS TO ME?" Ichigo shouted, holding her arm. "I was in the park with Aoyama-kun!"
"Ichigo-san," Retasu came up to Ichigo with first aid boxes. "It happened to all of us, so it's not all on you." She grabbed a hold of Ichigo's arm and pried it away from her chest, which was where it had lain for the run to the café. "Though, this does look a little worse,"
Ichigo sighed. "Well, what did happen to make us all do this?"
"We all had animal DNA injected into us." Retasu said.
"Not again!" Ichigo whined. "What is it this time?"
"You didn't let her finish, Genius." Minto griped. "She means that we're all connected because of the DNA."
"And then Purin dropped her plate on her arm no da. And everyone got hurt na no da! Gomen nasai no da!" Purin screeched.
"So all of our arms split open, too." Ryou showed her his bandage. "Remember I injected myself with cat genes, too."
"Then we know that Keiichiro didn't get hurt. He doesn't have any animal DNA in him." Ichigo inferred.
"That's right," Keiichiro smiled. "I'm perfectly fine."
"There's a bigger problem than our hurt arms." Zakuro said. "This will complicate things to a whole new level. When someone gets a paper cut the others will feel it and get one too."
"It's all Purin's fault na no da!" Purin was crying.
"It's not your fault. We would have figured it out sooner or later," Minto said, trying to smile.
"And what about her ears and tail?" Ichigo screamed. "Only Purin and ears and tails came out! How come not the rest of us? Didn't we get hurt as much as she did?"
"That is something I can't answer." Ryou said, sighing.
There was a noise in the kitchen.
"What was that?" Minto asked, standing. Keiichiro stood in front of her, trying to see through the kitchen doors.
"Let's check it out." Ryou said. He walked into the kitchen, holding Ichigo's hand on one side and Retasu's on the other.
"Have your pendant out to henshin, just in case." Ichigo warned her friend.
When Ryou opened the doors, the thing disappeared. There was no trace of it.
But the kitchen was a mess. Pots and pans were everywhere, the pastries were splattered onto the floor, and the drinks were staining the tables.
And knife marks on the walls.
"Those look like the knife marks Kisshu's knives made." Ichigo murmured.
"We'll get this cleaned up later." Keiichiro said. "Right now, go watch the news. They're talking about the Mews on it."
Retasu, Ichigo, and Ryou ran into the lobby where they had installed a TV for the Mews before and after work.
On the news the bulletin said "Daily Mews" and had the five in a very familiar pose.
"We have had reports from one mysterious man about the identities of the Mew Mews. Tokyo Mew Mew was first seen on the Animal Show when a giant snake attacked Fujiwara Zakuro."
"Feh, very nice. I wasn't attacked. If anything I saved Ichigo's life."
"Here is the report we got from the man:"
There was silence as the Mews and company listened to see if the info was true.
"Mew Ichigo really has red hair and goes to the school near the park."
"They didn't even say the name!" Ichigo sounded insulted. (I can't remember/find the name of the school.)
"Mew Minto was recently transferred to that same school, and is very rich."
"It's all true! Who is this guy?" Minto asked, crossing her arms.
"I didn't know you were transferring to my school!" Ichigo sighed, letting the man continue.
"Mew Retasu goes to Okumura Daifuzoku Junior High and was behind the attacks on students"
"Oh!" Retasu brought up tears, gulling Ryou into letting her cry on his shoulder. They were both blushing.
"Mew Purin lives alone with her four siblings and goes to Inohara Park to entertain people and gets her money that way."
"Now I'll never be able to go back and do that na no da! They'll know it's me no da!"
"And finally, Mew Zakuro is actually a very famous person."
Click.
They turned off the TV.
"Great." Zakuro insisted.
"Who was that?" Ichigo asked.
"It had to be someone who knows who we are."
"Someone who is a traitor."
"It couldn't be Keiichiro or Ryou," Minto ordered. "They love us too much."
Both Ryou and Keiichiro began blushing.
"This can be dangerous. We need to find out who it is."
THE END!
AHH! SOMETHING'S HAUNTING THEM! Uhhh…. Yeah.
I think I might let the aliens come back in the next chapter. And that "you-get-hurt-everyone-one-else-does-too" thing will come in handy in later chapters, I assure you.
What's this? Someone is giving the right info to the media? Who is it? Why is he/she doing it? Will the Mews find who it is?
REVIEW PLEASE!