Fire and Ice: Chapter 3
"Yes Ma'am, I'll be sure to tell her to be back before ten tomorrow...all right...yes, and thank you very much for understanding...sorry for the short notice...good-bye then..." Keichiro hung up the phone and sighed. The caretakers at the shelter where Pudding lived had drilled him to the bone when he called to ask permission for her to stay the night. Eventually though, when he mentioned that all her friends were going to be there as well, and lied about it being a party/lock-in, they had agreed to let her stay. Keichiro had to admit, Pudding was in good hands with the people there...they were very cautious...
Keichiro walked out of the kitchen to where everyone was gathered and gave a thumbs-up, signifying that everyone was allowed to stay the night at the café. Pudding jumped up and down a few times before sitting down and yawning. The gang smiled a bit at the girl, whom was always so upbeat...except for that moment...she was just beat...
The group heard muffled thumping and looked up in time to see Hekele and Kachie coming down the stairs in their pajamas. Hekele in her flamingo set, and Kachie in her skull one. Ryou smirked a bit, but tried to hide it; seeing Kachie in skulls when she had been so dressed up earlier seemed slightly humorous to him, but it oddly seemed to suit her as well. Ryou thought that the flamingos fit Hekele's shy personality too; between her and Kachie, the only thing they were missing were the matching slippers...
Hekele caught the group looking at Kachie and herself and blushed slightly. "Hi...is everyone able to stay the night?" she asked quietly, still very upset about earlier. Keichiro smiled kindly and nodded.
"Yes, everyone's able to stay...that reminds me; Pudding, you have to be back before ten tomorrow..."
Keichiro handed Mint and Zakuro some warm green tea and honey while Lettuce patched them up; they had some nice cuts from the Chimera Anima that needed a bit of stitching. Keichiro also placed a cup of the tea on the table for Lettuce when she was finished. She looked up from her work and smiled gratefully.
"Thank you Keichiro-san; I think we all need the tea..." she said truthfully as she finished with Mint and moved on to Zakuro's remaining wound. Mint took a sip of her tea and sighed happily.
"Yes, thank you very much...this tastes wonderful..." she said, in her own little bliss. Zakuro only smiled and nodded her thanks to Keichiro, who smiled at them all.
"Anytime ladies...how are you doing?" he asked politely. Lettuce smiled.
"These two will live...and I'm not too bad off myself...how are the others?" she asked worriedly.
Keichiro sat next to them and smiled once more lightly, "Ichigo-san and Pudding-san are attempting to bandage each other up at the same time...but it doesn't appear to be working out too well..." Pudding was seen hopping by wrapped like a mummy and Ichigo was chasing her around frantically, looking closely related.
Zakuro sighed, "Who started the insanity this time?" Keichiro laughed at how dry and unconcerned her tone was.
"Pudding-san...Ichigo-san was wrapping her arm and she started spinning in circles...then she grabbed the other set of bandages and attempted to have Ichigo-san do the same..." he said as he observed Pudding hopping in the other direction with Ichigo running after her, half the bandages ripped off and scattered.
Lettuce smiled at this sight and returned to Zakuro's bandage, "...How are Hekele-san and Kachie-san? They both seemed very upset earlier...especially Hekele-san..."
Keichiro sighed and ran his hand through his hair, "...Hekele-san...after she used her powers...for some reason or another, couldn't stop the flow of her power. She began to panic and her flames began to engulf her; which made her panic more, so Kachie-san tried to put them out using her melted ice. Her ice ended up evaporating, so we had Shirogane-san try to calm her down enough for the flames to weaken so that they could be put out. Eventually, it worked. Then Kachie-san almost lost control of her powers...but she figured out what was happening because it had happened to Hekele-san, and was able to calm herself down and suppress it..."
Lettuce's eyes were wide and her hand was covering her mouth in shock, "Are they all right? Are they hurt at all?" Mint's eyes were wide and her mouth was partially open.
"...I can see why they seemed so out of it...poor things..." she said slowly, genuinely feeling compassion for them. Zakuro appeared to be deep in thought, but said nothing.
Keichiro held up his hands, "Physically, the two are just fine, but emotionally, they're a wreck...at least Hekele-san is...Kachie-san isn't as bad...but Hekele-san was crying for quite a while before you showed up..."
Lettuce sighed sadly, "Is there anything we can do?"
Keichiro shook his head, "Until they learn how to control their powers better, there's nothing anyone can do...it'll just take time and practice..."
Hekele sighed as she stood on the balcony. It felt nice outside, and she was enjoying her solitude. She felt safer now that she was home.
Heh...home...I've only been here for less than twenty-four hours...and I can call it home...but...what happens if I lose control of my powers again? What happens if I hurt someone next time?
"Hekele?" came a voice behind her. Hekele looked behind her and saw Ryou standing there. He was holding two small banana-splits as he walked up to her. He smiled slightly and handed one to her.
"I promised you a banana-split; here it is," he said nonchalantly. Hekele blushed a bit as she accepted the treat.
"Thank you Shirogane-san...you didn't have to you know..." she said. Ryou shrugged.
"Yeah I did; if I say it, I mean it...even if it's as dumb as a banana-split at eleven-thirty at night..." he said. Hekele rolled her eyes.
"Shirogane-san, you're eating a banana-split at eleven-thirty as well..." she said pointedly. Ryou smirked as he took a big bite of his own dessert.
"That doesn't mean that it isn't dumb..." he replied. Hekele smiled again and began eating hers as well. The two stood there in silence for a few minutes as they ate, both enjoying the peace and quiet. Finally, Ryou spoke once more.
"Are you all right?" he asked casually. Hekele was a bit taken aback by the question, but answered him truthfully.
"...Not really..." came her solemn reply. Ryou sighed and looked at her.
"You know, it's ok. You've probably only used your powers a few times, haven't you?" he asked. Hekele nodded and he continued, "Well then, it's only a matter of using them in small doses and working your way up to bigger things...having you and Kachie fight Kisshu so soon wasn't the best idea...but Keichiro and I were, and are, very impressed with how you two did...despite the mishap at the end." Hekele listened to him, and offered him a small smile in gratitude.
"Thank you for the kind words Shirogane-san, but I'm still afraid. What if I mess up and hurt a friend or an innocent person next time?" she asked. Ryou looked at her oddly.
"Didn't I say that we'd work on it? Besides, you're not the only person having troubles right now; Kachie's downstairs eating a banana-split and feeling crummy too. Did you know that she almost lost control of her powers back there? The only reason she didn't was because it had just happened to you, and she knew what was going on...maybe now that you know what it feels like, you won't be so afraid of it and you'll be able to suppress it if it happens again..." he pointed out. Hekele seemed to contemplate this information for a few moments before looking back at Ryou.
"...Maybe I'll go downstairs and talk to her...we have to stick together, ne?" she said, slightly cheered. Ryou nodded and Hekele smiled a bit. It was then that Ryou noticed something; something he mentally berated himself for forgetting.
"Wait, your arm! It's..." he drifted off as he looked at her still smiling face.
"I'm the phoenix, ne? The phoenix can heal herself with her flames...it happened when I lost control..." she dropped her sentence, enjoying the shocked expression on Ryou's face. He looked at her, disbelieving for a moment as he touched her arm and looked at her shoulder carefully. Hekele smiled.
"I can also heal others as well, though, not with my flames. My tears also hold healing properties, and work extraordinarily well..." she offered. Ryou was stunned.
"I...never knew that. My father didn't write anything about either of those things in his journal..." he said. Hekele's smile broadened.
"Perhaps even he didn't know of them..." Hekele paused for a moment before speaking once more. "Thanks again Shirogane-san...for everything..." she said shyly, blushing a bit once more. Ryou smiled a little, satisfied that he had helped somewhat, though he was still a bit awed with the information he was given, and nodded lightly before motioning to lead her downstairs. Hekele blushed once more as she followed him, still holding the remains of her banana-split. She took another bite and smiled to herself.
At least now Kachie-chan and I have friends to help us...maybe we'll eventually be of some use to them in return...
Kachie looked up from her table in the kitchen as Keichiro walked back in. She was only half way through her banana-split, and it was beginning to melt. Keichiro pulled up a chair and sat next to her.
"You know, they won't bite, Kachie-san...you don't have to eat in here all by yourself," he said, resting his chin on the back of his chair. Kachie sighed and shook her head.
"...I know that...it's just that I want a little alone time, ne?" she said, hoping he'd understand. Keichiro nodded slowly, but gave a tiny smile.
"You and Hekele-san aren't alone anymore...you don't need to go through the hard times by yourselves. All you need to do is ask, and everyone here would bend over backwards to cheer you up...especially our residing monkey..." he joked.
Kachie smiled a bit, "Let me guess...Pudding-san?" Keichiro laughed a bit and nodded.
"Yes, she's quite the talented acrobat if you give her the time and space...which we try not to do for fear of broken dishes..." he said, continuing with his little joke. Kachie actually giggled slightly.
"Too bad for you she seems to do it all the while she's taking orders and serving...you're master strategy isn't working..." she said. Keichiro laughed again.
"Ah...but she hasn't broken anything yet, so it isn't a terrible loss on our part..." he reasoned. Kachie smiled once more.
"Do you always poke fun at the girls behind their backs?" she asked slyly.
Keichiro shook his head, "No, but I'm sure in this case Pudding-san would be laughing with us...she has a good sense of humor and is mature enough to laugh at herself once in a while."
Kachie took another bite of her banana-split and smiled, "Thank you for cheering me up Keichiro-san, it was nice of you..."
Keichiro grinned, "It was my pleasure Kachie-san; just remember that we're all here to help you when you're down...that's what good friends are for."
Kachie smiled a bit more, "We've all only been acquainted with one another for less than a day, how can we be considered 'good friends' already?"
Keichiro laughed and looked behind her at the door to the kitchen, "Because the girls and Shirogane-san seemed to have already inducted Hekele-san and yourself into their club..."
Kachie looked at him oddly before turning around and looking with him to the door. Crouching there, peeking through the crack, were all of the Mew Mews, Ryou, and Hekele.
As soon as their cover was blown, Pudding and Ichigo attempted to make a mad dash away from the scene, but since they were in the middle of the group, they ended up tripping everyone else.
After much yelping, 'ouching,' and even a bit of cursing on Ryou's part, all that remained of the group was a large heap of confused and dazed bodies. Kachie just stood their frozen for a few minutes, contemplating the odd sight, before bursting into laughter. Keichiro followed suit after a moment of trying to contain it. Eventually, everyone was laughing or smiling...well...almost...
"Hey! You guys are heavy! Get off already!" Ryou yelled from the absolute bottom of the pile. Hekele, who was partially on top of him, was seconds away from yelling herself; the group of laughing and giggling girls was crushing her.
"Yes, please do get off...Shirogane-san isn't the only person at the bottom you know..." she said, rather placidly. After hearing their tones the Mews on to began either standing up or rolling off the flattened pair, still muffling laughter. When the two were the only ones on the ground, everyone giggled at the expressions of complete misery on their faces.
"Ow..." was all Hekele muttered as she rolled the rest of the way off of Ryou and onto the floor. She then sat up and glared at Pudding and Ichigo.
"What on Earth was that about?" she asked. Pudding twiddled her thumbs.
"Well, you and Ryou came downstairs and started heading for the kitchen, but then you stopped and peaked in the doorway na no da. The rest of us were curious as to why and we came up and peaked in the door behind you; then we got caught and thought we were in trouble na no da..." she explained matter-of-factly.
Ryou groaned from the floor and sat up, rather annoyed, "We came down to cheer Kachie up and when we saw the Keichiro already seemed to have it covered, we decided to wait to go in there so we didn't interrupt their little chat..." Hekele nodded in affirmative. The group 'oohed' and quietly crept away from the grumpy pair sitting on the floor.
Keichiro kindly walked over to the pair and helped Hekele up, seeing as Ryou seemed to still be contemplating how annoyed he should be, or he most likely would have done it himself. Hekele quietly thanked Keichiro, who only smiled in return, and walked up to a still giggling Kachie.
"Was it truly that amusing Kachie-chan?" she asked apathetically. Kachie nodded.
"Yes, it was..." she said, as calmly as she could. Hekele graced her with a small glare before smiling herself.
"I suppose I'd find it amusing as well if I hadn't been stuck at the bottom..." she stated.
Ryou growled as he stood up from the floor. "Ok, that's it, time for bed, or else I'll open up the café four hours early to make up for today..." he threatened. Ichigo and the others 'meeped,' (aside from Mint and Zakuro, who hardly allowed their eyes to widen in recognition of the threat,) and rushed upstairs, leaving Hekele and Kachie with Ryou and Keichiro. Ryou gave them a look.
"That goes for you two as well..." he said, turning and stalking up the stairs. Once he was gone, Keichiro winked at the girls before ushering them up the stairs.
"Don't worry, he always gets grouchy when he gets embarrassed...he doesn't mean anything by it..." he reassured. The girls nodded a little and followed him up the stairs.
Maybe a full night's rest would do everyone some good...
Kachie awoke in her bed to the early rays of sunlight. It was still quite dark outside, but the golden orb in the east was beginning to rise none-the-less. She sat up and stretched in her bed and sighed. She had the gut feeling that she was the first one up, and she didn't relish the thought. Kachie felt like being around people at the moment, but if people were sleeping, then that could present a problem.
Hekele-chan... Nothing.
Hekele-chan...wakey, waky... Still nothing.
Hekele-chan...if you don't wake up soon I'm gonna come into your room and pounce on you... That did it.
Kachie-chan...Why are you waking me up at this hour? I've only had a few hours of sleep...go back to bed... Hekele said through their mind link. Kachie smirked.
But I can't...I'm wide awake!
No more banana-splits before bed-time for you then Kachie-chan...now let me sleep!
No! I don't wanna! Hey, I have a question.
Do I have to hear it?
No, wait, seriously, I've always wondered this...but have always forgotten to ask.
Big surprise there...
Hear me out!
Fine...as long as you let me get back to bed...
Sure! Ok, here's the question: Why can we communicate with our minds?
Kachie-chan! Weren't you the one to tell me not to question a blessing!
So what? I'm still curious!
Maybe it's because of what we are. Maybe it's because our powers are getting under control, or better yet, maybe we can communicate with anyone we want as long as one of us creates a mind link! Take your pick! Now let me sleep!
Awe, come on...you're the only other person awake...you CAN'T ignore me now...
That's because YOU woke me up! And I can ignore you whenever I want!
So do it...
I am!
Nuh-uh...
Shut-up, goodnight, and good riddance!
Kachie remained silent, quite happy with the early morning turmoil she had caused her friend. She could see that the sun's ascent had taken it higher in the sky, and it was much brighter outside. She was certain that at least one of her new friends had to be an early riser, and with the sun as high as it was...it was only a matter of time before...
"Good morning na no da!" came Pudding's loud and cheerful shout. Almost as soon as the words left her mouth, tired groans reached Kachie's ears, and even a rather loud crash from one of the other rooms. After a second of rather faint cursing, Kachie heard the buzzing of an alarm clock, which resulted in another loud crash and more quiet cursing. Smiling to herself, she got up and exited her room, only to be confronted by a large group of zombie-fied teenage girls. Even Zakuro and Mint, whom were naturally beautiful, calm, and graceful, seemed dead on their feet with bags under their eyes and hair sticking up everywhere. Only Pudding seemed like herself.
Kachie watched as Hekele walked out of her bedroom, just as unstable as the rest of the girls. She had made it a total of three steps out of her room before tripping over Ichigo and falling flat on her face. Kachie stifled a giggle and watched as Ryou made his grand entrance into the living room. He was armed with both an absent and rather pissed off expression, and a broken alarm clock.
"Who shouted?" was all he asked, trying to gain focus in his vision. Everyone pointed at Pudding, who smiled and bounced up to him.
"It was me na no da!" she said cheerfully. Ryou shoved the broken alarm clock into her hands.
"Then you get to fix it, here," was all he said as he turned around and walked back into his room. After a moment of everyone sitting there, (or lying there in Hekele's and Ichigo's case,) the group heard a shower turn on. Minutes later, Keichiro walked up the stairs and stared in shock at the normally vibrant, or at least better groomed, group.
"Well, it seems we've only two bright and early-birds in our bunch...would you two care to help me finish up breakfast?" he asked Kachie and Pudding politely. Hekele suddenly looked up, a realization dawning on her.
"How long have you been awake Keichiro-san?" she asked suspiciously. Keichiro looked at her oddly.
"I've been awake for almost an hour now...why Hekele-san?" he replied. Hekele only narrowed her eyes and glared at Kachie.
"You woke me up for nothing!" she yelled, getting ready to dive at her friend, but she tripped over Ichigo once more, sending her back to the ground. Everyone stared at her for a moment before looking at Kachie.
"What was that all about Kachie-san?" Lettuce asked. Kachie grinned slightly.
"Hekele and I have the ability to communicate with one another through our minds...and I sort of woke her up at the crack of dawn so that I'd have someone to talk to..." she explained. Everyone stared at her in mild confusion.
"You can communicate with her through your mind?" Mint asked. Kachie nodded.
"We figured it out about three years ago...we just so happened to both really need to communicate with someone, and our minds crossed paths and we spoke for the first time to one another. Eventually, we were able to control this ability enough so that we could force the other person to hear us, to initiate conversation on purpose and not by chance and luck," she replied. The group then turned to Hekele, who was staring up at Kachie with a rather annoyed look on her face.
"Next time, bug HIM!" she scolded, pointing her finger at Keichiro. She stood up and attempted to walk back into her room, though she did so rather ungracefully.
The group stared at the door before Keichiro cleared his throat, "Umm, help with breakfast?"
Kachie shook her head and walked over to him, grabbing Pudding and dragging her with her, "Yes, Keichiro-san, we'd be delighted to help...just don't trust anything that actually has to do with food with me until I learn my way around that kitchen of yours..."
Keichiro sighed slightly and led the two downstairs, leaving the rest to their own devices, "No problem..."
By the time Ryou made it downstairs, Mint and Zakuro looked more like their glamourous selves, Ichigo wasn't being squashed by a stumbling Hekele, Pudding was relatively calm, Lettuce was awake enough to chop things up, (which, given it was trip-and-fall-Lettuce, Ryou still thought was a bad idea,) Hekele was drinking her first ever cup of coffee, (well, Ryou hoped it was her first cup,) and both Keichiro and Kachie were working together happily on breakfast. Ryou paused long enough before entering the room to check out what was being made: omelets.
"Well, it seems that everyone is more awake now..." he said nonchalantly as he entered the room. He pulled out a seat between Hekele and Zakuro and slumped down. Hekele looked at him and smiled.
"Except perhaps for you Shirogane-san...maybe you would like a cup of coffee?" she offered kindly. Ryou nodded a bit and started to get up, fully intent on draining whatever the coffee maker had left in it, when Hekele shot up and went to the cabinet and grabbed a mug. He blinked a few times in confusion.
"I could have gotten it, Hekele," he said. Hekele turned to him and smiled.
"Why would I offer you some and then make you get it yourself? Would you like cream or sugar?" she asked. Ryou shook his head and Hekele handed him the now full cup of coffee.
"No thanks...I drink mine black...Umm, may I ask when you suddenly became a coffee expert?" he questioned, taking a sip. Hekele smiled.
"I'm on my fourth cup of coffee, I've had one with cream, one with sugar, one with both, and now one plain...or black as you called it. I think I prefer mine with a little sugar though..." she answered. Ryou nearly spat out his coffee.
"You've had four cups of coffee already? Keichiro! Are you insane? You let her have that much?" he exclaimed, turning his head between the supposedly intelligent man who had raised him for the past five years and the soon-to-be hyper teenager next to him.
Keichiro smiled sheepishly from his position by the stove, "Well...one cup hardly seemed enough...and then she really wanted to try it different ways so she'd know which way she'd like it in the future..." He shrugged it off and helped Kachie with scrambling the eggs, not seeing his crime.
Ryou slapped his hand to his face, "I can see it now...she'll be just like Pudding, only taller and much less controllable..." Pudding, in reply to his mention of her, stuck her tongue out childishly and made a face.
The rest of the gang watched Ryou's altercation with Hekele, and the ensuing dispute, with much interest. After all, Ichigo and Mint had money on when Hekele and Ryou would get together, and the entire group had decided to keep tabs. So far, since they had begun keeping track, the two had had only two or three cute altercations. They weren't sure what had taken place on the balcony the previous evening, but since Hekele had come downstairs in a good mood with Ryou right beside her, the group had unanimously decided to toss it in the cute pile. They weren't sure what to call Hekele and Ryou being stuck at the bottom of a pile of teenage girls like had happened the previous night, so they had placed that incident in the maybe pile. Then there had just been that adorable coffee scene a few minutes ago...
Definitely worthy of the cute pile...but I still think that one week is way to quick for the two of them...and two weeks is pushing it... Mint thought to herself. She watched as Ryou drank his coffee and warily watched Hekele, almost as if he expected her top to blow at any given moment. Then her eyes traveled over to Kachie and Keichiro, who were diligently making omelets with the materials that Lettuce was chopping up.
She observed them quietly, out of the corner of her eye, and noticed quickly that Keichiro had seemed to have taken quite the shine to Kachie. He was smiling and chattering with her like she was an old friend, he was calm and patient with her learning, and was there in an instant when she asked for assistance. Mint's eyes began to dance mischievously.
How precious...it seems that Keichiro-san and Kachie-san are also a possible couple...hmm, I think that I'll keep this one to myself though... she thought to herself. She continued to watch them quietly, attempting to assess how long their budding relationship would take to fully bloom. She paused, seeing how comfortable they seemed to be in the other's presence, and smiled to herself.
If Ichigo were to say that their relationship would bloom in a week...I'd believe it... she thought. Suddenly, a plate was placed before her, knocking her out of her revery.
"Eat up everyone...you don't want it to get cold..." Kachie said proudly, happy to have helped in making the food.
Mint smiled as she took a bite of her food, "Wonderful...it tastes great you two!" Kachie beamed at the fact that she had been given credit and began serving the rest of the food. Mint looked at Lettuce and winked slightly, earning a small smile from the girl.
Lettuce knew that Mint was trying to make Kachie feel good, and so didn't mind when her non-fatal chopping hadn't been mentioned. But when Mint winked at her, she knew that it was her way of giving Lettuce her due credit as well, and it was good enough. Lettuce then looked at Hekele and Ryou once more as she took a bite of her omelet, completely oblivious to the second relationship that was forming between Keichiro and Kachie, and smiled.
Maybe she'll be good for him; make him happy...he always seems so lonely...since he excepted that Ichigo-san would never leave Masaya-san... she thought sadly. Like Keichiro, and the rest of the Mews, she knew of Ryou's rather large crush on Ichigo, and, like everyone on the entire planet, she knew that Ichigo and Masaya were in love, and that nothing could ever separate them. Seeing Ryou upset had left her heartbroken, as it had done the others in one way or another. So, if he excepted Hekele into his heart, everyone hoped that maybe he'd heal...
Keichiro and Kachie continued to talk blissfully about nothing in particular. At one point, Kachie said that the café should offer the omelets as part of their menu, which made Keichiro smile. This led to the two of them talking about Kachie possibly working in the café sooner or later.
"When you get better at cooking, you can help me out in the kitchen...it gets rather frustrating when you're the only chef and there's close to forty teenagers wanting food..." he said. Kachie giggled.
"Yes, I remember your little breakdown from yesterday...I think it'd be kind of fun, working in here I mean...I sort of liked cooking...however little I did..." she said honestly. Keichiro's smiled broadened as he looked at her vibrant face. He would like working with her when she was ready. Hell, at that point, he would be happy to work with anyone...but having Kachie around would be, dare he think it, more enjoyable?
"So, Kachie-san, when would you like to start learning?" he asked out of the blue. Kachie smiled.
"How about at dinner time? And I can watch you while the café is open too!" she said excitedly. Keichiro grinned.
"Deal, you watch me during the day, and we'll work together hands-on at breakfast and dinner..." he suggested. Kachie grinned as well.
"Awesome!" she said, nearly jumping up and giving him a hug. Nearly...
Mint watched the pair from her seat and grinned to herself as she finished off her omelet. One week? At the rate these two are going, they'll be together by closing time tomorrow!
Five minutes after the café was officially opened, there was a multitude of customers. Ichigo was seen running back and forth like there was no tomorrow, Zakuro wasn't caring when she gave the customers the wrong order, Pudding was rolling around on her giant ball while serving her tables, Lettuce was trying not to break her dishes or get hit by the ball, and Mint was doing everything possible to not work.
In the kitchen, Keichiro was working his butt off over the stove, while he also made up the cold treats. Kachie watched sadly as he ran back and forth with the orders, wanting to help, but not quite sure where to start. She saw the dishes start to pile up in the sink and sighed, Keichiro really had too much work.
Kachie tied up her hair with a rubber-band and began filling the sink with soap and warm water as she had seen Keichiro do after breakfast. As soon as the sink was ready, she got to work washing everything. Keichiro was so busy, he didn't even notice until clean dishes began appearing at his side, ready for food to be placed on them. He looked over at the sink curiously and saw Kachie washing the dishes and silverware quietly, not saying anything. A smile swept onto his face.
"Thank you Kachie-chan, this is most helpful of you..." he said truthfully, looking at her as he spoke. Kachie looked up at him and blushed slightly at the suffix '-chan.' She smiled.
"I can't have you too tired to teach me to cook later Keichiro-san. It's the least I can do for now..." she said as she continued to gracefully wash the dishes. Keichiro went back to working diligently on the orders he was given, quite relieved that he wouldn't have to stop every now and then to wash a few dishes, and then have the huge load when the café closed. He also idly wondered why Kachie's blush pleased him so.
After a few more minutes, Keichiro struck up another conversation, "So, what do you think we should fix for dinner tonight, Kachie-chan? It probably won't compare to the buffet that you and Hekele-san had last night, but I promise that it won't be horrible."
Kachie smiled at him from her newly acquired station, "I'm not sure Keichiro-san, what have we got to work with?"
Keichiro grinned, "Almost everything you can think of; the greatest perk to living in a restaurant of sorts is the limitless amount of ingredients you have within your reach..."
Kachie shook her head as she placed a stack of the dishes on the counter next to him, "Ah, how true...but, specifically, what do we have to work with that doesn't involve pastries and ice-cream?" Keichiro laughed a bit.
"We've got turkey, chicken, steak, taco fixings, ground beef..." he trailed off, thinking. Then he grinned, "How about spaghetti and meatballs? I know that Shirogane-san doesn't mind it, and I certainly don't, how about you?"
Kachie's eyes lit up at the mention of spaghetti, "Keichiro-san, you've just said the magic words...I used to inhale spaghetti like it was a main food group...I think that Hekele-chan would like it as well!"
At this point, both of them were smiling and quite content with how things were turning out. Kachie couldn't wait to start her first official cooking lesson, and Keichiro couldn't wait to start teaching her. After a few minutes of silence, however, Keichiro began to feel a bit guilty as he watched Kachie continue to wash the dishes; he didn't want Kachie to think that she had to help him. It didn't matter how tired he was after work; he wouldn't shirk his self-proclaimed duties as her cooking teacher. He didn't want her to feel obligated...
"Kachie-chan? You don't have to do the dishes you know, it's quite all right for you to just sit and observe if you'd prefer it..." he said quietly, not wanting to offend her. Kachie only shook her head at his comment and kept working.
"That's ok Keichiro-san; I like helping you, and I honestly don't mind...or else I wouldn't do it..." she said honestly. Keichiro seemed to ponder this and nodded slightly.
"If you insist..." he said to her, putting a dirty pan in her sink purposefully. Kachie smirked at him, grabbed the pan, and began scrubbing.
"As a matter of fact, I did," she said, mimicking a conversation the two had engaged in before. Keichiro remembered the conversation as well and laughed once more.
"You certainly know how to throw things back at a person Kachie-chan..." he replied.
Kachie smiled at him and handed him the now clean pan, "I aim to please..." Keichiro smiled again and resumed fixing his meal orders. After twenty more minutes of comfortable silence, Pudding came into the kitchen brandishing a new order...atop her giant ball.
A giant ball and a medium-sized kitchen don't work together well...
Pudding's ball bumped into a cabinet corner, causing the said girl to lose her balance. She fell forward, right into a quite oblivious Kachie.
Kachie fell forward into the her sink, getting completely soaked. Keichiro hurriedly helped the girl out of the sink as Pudding began apologizing at a mile a minute. He patted her back gently and tried desperately to resist the urge to laugh. Kachie caught this, and looked at him with a rather hurt expression on her face.
Keichiro gave her a small smile as he grabbed a small dry towel and gently wiped the soap suds from her face, "Ne, it wasn't that funny Kachie-chan...don't worry, I wasn't laughing at your misfortune, only at the suds on your face..." He looked her over and sighed, looking at a very regretful Pudding.
"Now we know not to walk the ball into the kitchen, don't we?" he asked. Pudding nodded and darted out of the room, not wanting to get in trouble.
Keichiro sighed once more as his gaze met a very wet and perturbed Kachie. He smiled, "Perhaps you should get changed Kachie-chan..." Kachie sighed and motioned for the towel, which he gave to her. After wiping her face a few more times herself, she looked at him and smiled.
"It only got the collar of my shirt, I'm ok..." she said, getting back to her dishes diligently, completely ignoring her dripping and soapy hair.. Keichiro sighed and walked over to her. He took his apron off and gently put in on her instead. Kachie blushed a bit but smiled.
Keichiro looked at her and smiled once again, "There...now you won't ruin your brand new clothes...I have a feeling that before we close tonight, you're going to either get even more damp, or you'll end up covered in flour or something the next time Pudding-san bursts in here..."
Kachie paused for a moment as she rinsed off a plate, "Thanks, Keichiro-kun..."
Keichiro paused for a moment, strangely delighted at the '-kun' at the end of his name, before smiling back at her, "Anytime Kachie-chan..."
Hekele walked down the stairs to the basement cautiously. After two hours of shear boredom, she had asked Keichiro where Ryou was. She had been directed to the spooky stairs that led down to the basement. Hekele idly realized that she was quickly developing a fear of the dark.
When she reached the bottom, she slowly opened another door and poked her head inside. She saw a bunch of computers and lots of scientific equipment laying around, and eventually saw Ryou as well. He was hunched over one of the computers looking over what appeared to be stats. Upon closer inspection, Hekele realized that one side of the computer held her stats, and the other side held Kachie's.
Hekele froze dead in position. Why was Ryou looking at their stats? He sort of was a scientist, even if he was only her age. Hekele felt a wave of fear wash over her; memories of her entire life flashed before her eyes: all the tests, all the experiments, all the observations, the poking and prodding, and then she remembered the tanks...
Hekele's breathing increased, and she began to grow dizzy. She didn't know what was happening to her, but she was glad that it wasn't happening while she was using her powers...she knew that she'd be up in flames if it had. She began to panic, but was frozen in place. Then she wasn't aware of anything.
Ryou heard something behind him and turned around, expecting it to be Keichiro. What he saw surprised him. Hekele was standing there, with her hand on her throat, breathing heavily. Concerned, Ryou jumped out of his chair and ran to her. She didn't seem to recognize his presence.
"Hekele? Hekele, answer me! What's wrong?" he asked. When he didn't get an answer or any recognition, he led her partially trembling form to one of the rolling chairs and sat her down. He pulled his chair up next to her and sat down facing her, wanting to know what the matter was. He idly realized that she was having a panic attack of some sort and raked his mind on what to do in this situation. He began stroking her back like he had done the previous night and tried to calm her down. After a good twenty minutes, her breathing became a bit more regular and her eyes looked a bit less distant than they had.
He tried again, "Are you all right now? What happened?" Hekele seemed to realize where she was and backed away from him.
"W-why were you looking at Kachie-chan's and my statistical information?" she asked accusingly, pointing at the computer screen.
Ryou looked at her, quite puzzled as to how that had triggered such a reaction out of her, before looking around a bit. After a moment, he understood her fear of what she had seen. She had been reminded of the base, and basically of her entire miserable life. She was afraid that they had turned on her and Kachie...
Ryou smiled as gently as he could at her, "No...it's not what I think your thinking. I'm just looking into an idea I had about how to help you and Kachie control your powers...and, mind you, I think I may be onto something...Let me show you..." He gently grabbed Hekele's wrist and attempted to pull her up. After a moment of hesitation, she complied. He led her to the computer with the stats and starting pointing things out.
"The girls have something we call Power Pendants to help them transform...you've seen them, right?" Hekele nodded and he continued, "What they do is allow the girls to access powers that, on most occasions, lay dormant in them. They also aid in controlling them. What I was thinking is: What if we made you and Kachie each a sort of reversed Power Pendant? What they would do is suppress your powers instead of luring them to the surface. That way, you would have complete control, with no chance of losing it. And, as you two gained more and more experience, we would lessen and lessen the amount of power being suppressed, until you would eventually not need them at all..." He spoke quietly and slowly, not wanting to sound like he may be lying.
Hekele seemed to calm down a bit, but didn't let it go completely. She still couldn't shake the feeling that there was something else; something that Ryou wasn't telling her, and it made Hekele feel rather uneasy...
"Shirogane-san...what else were you using our stats for?" she asked firmly. She was surprised when she was graced with rather large smile.
"Why Hekele, you aren't easily fooled are you?" he asked. Hekele froze in her spot, not liking the smugness in his tone. Ryou felt her wrist tense and winced slightly; maybe playing with her head wasn't the best idea at the time...
He sighed, "I was joking Hekele; it was supposed to be a surprise for you and Kachie..." Hekele looked at him apprehensively, and Ryou smiled gently at her once more.
"We need your stats so that we can both make the pendants as efficient as possible, and so that we can make weapons that channel it properly...it was very difficult to calculate the power levels and abilities of the other girls; in fact, we found it impossible, so we had to resort to guess work. Using relatively new stats would speed the process up immensely..."
Hekele looked at him oddly, "What are you getting at Shirogane-san?"
Ryou's smile turned into a grin, "How would you and Kachie like to be Mew Mews?"
Kachie brought the plates of spaghetti to the table as quickly as Keichiro put it on them. She smiled to herself; it hadn't been that difficult to make the sauce from scratch, it had just taken patience. She had been pleasantly surprised by this revelation.
Keichiro watched her gracefully walk back and forth with the plates of hot spaghetti, and idly mused that she would make a decent waitress if the whole cooking thing didn't work out. He didn't think it would come to that though; she had proven herself to be a very fast learner, and a very competent student. He looked around the room and frowned. Ryou and Hekele were still in the basement. He had assumed that the aroma of food would have brought them upstairs, but it hadn't.
"Kachie-chan, let's go and see what's keeping those two...I figured they'd be up here by now..." he suggested. Kachie nodded and the two headed downstairs. When they got there, Keichiro opened the door for Kachie and the two peaked inside.
Ryou was sitting in his usual chair while he worked on the computer in front of him. He was putting in stats for something it appeared, and had a rather satisfied grin on his face. Hekele, on the other hand, was sitting in Keichiro's normal seat, both watching Ryou and rolling around back and forth.
Disappointed that he hadn't caught Ryou doing anything incriminating, (like speaking nicely to a human being for instance,) Keichiro opened the door the rest of the way and walked in. He was mere inches from Ryou's seat before either he or Hekele realized that they had company.
"Oh, hi Keichiro, café closed up already?" Ryou asked, not really that interested. Keichiro shook his head absently.
"Yes, and it has been for an hour, Shirogane-san...Kachie-chan and I have already made dinner as well," he informed the teenagers before him.
Ryou raised a curt eyebrow when Keichiro referred to Kachie as Kachie-chan, but shrugged it off as he stood up and stretched, "Ok...what did you make?" He watched as Hekele stood from her seat and walk up to the trio eagerly, and smirked slightly; she had been so bored...
Kachie smiled broadly, "Keichiro-kun and I made spaghetti and meatballs! Hurry up or it'll get cold!" Ryou raised another eyebrow at what she had called Keichiro but ignored it. People were allowed to have good friends once in a while and, apparently, these two were very good friends...
Ryou nodded to himself, "That sounds good to me...let's go eat..." He set the computer on Standby and started walking towards the stairs. Kachie and Keichiro followed, but Hekele stayed still for a moment.
"What are spaghetti and meatballs?"