Fire and Ice: Chapter 6
Yo guys! I'm back! Sorry I took so long, but I made a promise to my 'Inu-fans' to update twice in a row...but I'm back to my regular schedule now! Yay!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything! Oh, and I was listening to My Chemical Romance's song 'Helena' for the last...page and a half...so in order to fully get the mood...if you could...put that song on repeat while you read that part...
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Kachie smiled happily to herself as she washed the dishes. It was a rather comical scene; Keichiro was running back and forth in the background with all of the orders he had to fill, while piling dirty pots in Kachie's pile as the Mews ran in and out behind her taking and giving orders as well as piling their own dirty dishes onto her unusually big pile to wash.
It had been like that all day; giant piles of dirty dishes, insanity in the background, and Kachie smiling distractedly while humming every now and then. Tonight was her official date with Keichiro, and Kachie couldn't even find it in her to be anything but happy...even when Pudding drenched her in dish soap and she had to go upstairs to change.
Finally, ten minutes before the café closed, Kachie was able to get on top of her pile and actually have nothing to do until the Mews kicked everyone out. She sat at the table as Keichiro finished up his last order and shoved it out the door with Lettuce. He too sat at the table and rested...with only five minutes to go.
"So..." he began looking at Kachie affectionately, "I was thinking about going out for Italian...what do you think?" Kachie smiled to herself, and him.
"It sounds good...I haven't had any Italian food besides spaghetti, so this'll be interesting..." she said honestly. Keichiro returned her smile.
"'Atta girl...you love the food where we're going; I promise..." he said. Kachie nodded, her smile still in place. It seemed that Keichiro was looking forward to their night out as well, and that made Kachie happy.
"Oh, and remind me to take Ryou's credit card..." Keichiro stated, out of the blue. Kachie stared at him oddly.
"Why?" she asked. Keichiro grinned slightly and took her hand in his as he faced her with all the seriousness that he could muster.
"So that he can't cheat his way out of our plan and order Hekele and himself take-out..." he replied. Kachie laughed at him and he released her hand, laughing as well. Their moment was ruined, however, when all the Mews came into the room and declared that they had closed the café doors and that they were leaving for the night. Keichiro and Kachie smiled at them awkwardly and bid them farewell; Mint and Ichigo hadn't told the rest of the Mews about what Ryou had said the previous night about Keichiro's feelings for Kachie, but that didn't make it any less unnerving that they 'knew'. After the Mews left, their dirty dishes piled high, Keichiro and Kachie set back to work, plotting all the while on how they would get out of the café without Hekele and Ryou finding out for a while...
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Hekele sat at one of the computers, staring at the screen and pushing buttons every here and there as she was prompted to do. Ryou had taught her how to dial up a satellite undetected and scan for Chimera Anima. Though it had been difficult at first, Hekele was now a pro at that particular task. She was currently working on decoding information, which was confusing her to no end.
Ryou walked over as soon as he saw a frustrated frown appear on her face, "What is it now Tweety Bird?" Hekele's frown only deepened.
"This thing is frustrating...I can't pick up a pattern..." she admitted. Ryou looked at the letter matrix that he had set up for her to try to decode, trying to see how far she had come in getting the message. Three letters...
He laughed, "This pattern isn't as basic as the other ones...try a hexagonal format..." Hekele frowned further and did as she was told, only to have the message decode right before her eyes. It read: "Baka Tweety Bird"
Hekele glared at him, "There have got to be more simple things that I can learn to do on a computer to start off with! This is probably stuff that you learned in college!" Ryou grinned.
"Yep...what I am currently teaching you to do is hacking...and you're a born natural...just a bit on the slow side..." he commented. Hekele's glared deepened.
"That's an oxymoron! You can't be a born natural and then be slow at learning it! You're just trying to frustrate me again!" she accused. Ryou grinned and ruffled her hair.
"But of course...what else can I do for entertainment around here?" he asked teasingly. Hekele crossed her arms and looked away from him, bent on giving him an extreme case of the silent treatment for purposefully making her feel stupid. Ryou tried to ruffle her hair once more, to make peace in his own way, but she moved away from him.
He frowned, "What's got you so mad Tweety Bird? Did I rub your feathers the wrong way?" Hekele said nothing to him, nor did she even look at him. Ryou quirked an eyebrow, unfamiliar with the silent treatment, and grabbed the back of her chair. He rolled her over to his chair and sat down in it, staring at her. Still she didn't look at him, or speak.
"Why aren't you talking to me Tweety Bird? Is it because I was teaching you the hard stuff first? Come on...you can't stay quiet forever..." he tried. When Hekele only turned her chair around, so that her back was to him, he glared at her childishly. He stood up and walked towards the door.
"Fine, be that way." He shut the door behind him as he left and headed up the stairs, deciding that he would get a snack to tempt her with. She hadn't had lunch, so he was hoping it would work.
"Keichiro...Hekele's being a brat...don't ask why, but I need food to use against her..." he said as he reached the kitchen door. When he opened it and found no one in the kitchen, he was surprised. He looked around, wondering if Kachie was getting ready to jump out of somewhere to scare him, but still found no one in the room. Frowning, he went to the refrigerator, deciding that the two were probably upstairs watching television before making dinner.
He opened the fridge and took out some grapes and washed them off for Hekele. When he put the rest back in the fridge and shut the door, he saw a note stuck to it. He frowned and took it off, reading it over curiously.
'Ryou and Hekele,
Kachie and I have gone out to dinner; you'll have to fend for yourselves for the night. Oh, and just to warn you...we've got your credit card Ryou, you won't be ordering any food while we're gone...have a good night!
--Keichiro'
Ryou's jaw dropped as he realized what Keichiro and Kachie had done; Keichiro knew that he couldn't cook, so they left him and Hekele behind without any means to eat unless they wanted to potentially poison themselves. Ryou groaned and slapped his head; he just had to get even with Keichiro the night before when he had been caught kissing Hekele on the cheek...obviously, Keichiro had decided to retaliate too...
He ran back down the stairs to the lab and burst through the door, with the note in hand. Hekele jumped when he entered, and graced him with a very confused and alarmed face.
Ryou held up the note, "We have a serious problem..."
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Keichiro and Kachie walked hand-in-hand to the restaurant that Keichiro had reserved for the two. They had decided that since it was such a nice evening that they would take a detour walk through the park rather than get a cab. Both were all smiles; they could just picture Ryou's reaction when he got the little note that they had left for him. Sure, they'd get a decent scowl and a formidable annoying lecture when they got home, but neither cared; it wasn't like Ryou could do anything to them anyways...
"Keichiro-kun? Do you think they'll actually survive on their own cooking, or should we tip off poison control?" Kachie asked, half seriously. Keichiro smiled and tried to suppress a laugh at picturing Ryou attempting to cook, but shook his head.
"No...I'm sure Hekele'll stop Ryou from doing anything too stupid, and she's too timid to try to cook...so I'm sure the two will be fine..." he replied. Kachie shrugged.
"If you say so..." she said, not quite believing it herself.
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The restaurant was packed. Kachie's eyes were wide in their sockets, "Keichiro-kun?" she asked. He looked down at her questioningly.
"What is it? Getting cold feet?" he teased gently. Kachie blushed and shook her head. She motioned to the completely full room before them.
"How are we suppose to walk in there? I mean...I don't see an aisle or anything..." she stated. Keichiro followed her gaze and chuckled a bit. It was true; it looked nearly impossible to so much as breathe in there, let alone walk through to their table. Ironically, their waiter looked just as confused.
"Booked to the brim?" Keichiro asked candidly. The waiter nodded, a bit nervously.
"Apparently so sir...would you like for me to check the availability of one of the party rooms? It wouldn't cost anything extra, as we're unexpectedly so packed..." he offered, knowing that he himself wouldn't want to sit in a room that packed if he could help it.
Keichiro nodded to him gratefully, "Yes please...if it wouldn't be too much trouble..." The waiter smiled and waved him off, leaving to check it out. After waiting for a few minutes, he returned.
"We have a table in the third room open still, and it's rather spacious in there; sorry it took me so long by the way..." he offered kindly. Keichiro looked at Kachie and then nodded to the waiter.
"Thanks; we'll take it..." he accepted. The waiter then nodded and led the two to the room.
It was a nice room, and very spacious indeed. Kachie and Keichiro settled into their chairs comfortably and started looking at their menus. Keichiro couldn't help but laugh as Kachie's face turned to one of confusion.
"What, doesn't anything look good?" he asked jokingly. Kachie shook her head.
"No...and that's the problem...it all looks great...I have no idea what to choose..." she admitted. Keichiro looked at his own menu and had to agree; everything sounded, and looked, fabulous. He smiled as he looked back up at her.
"It certainly puts my cooking to shame doesn't it?" he asked. Kachie shook her head.
"I'm sure that you could cook as well as any of these highly paid chefs...who're too busy yelling at the people doing the actual cooking to make a good meal..." she replied. Keichiro chuckled and nodded slightly.
"If you say so...why don't you try the Shrimp Alfredo?"
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Hekele watched Ryou with a bemused face as he stared at the refrigerator with a scowl on his face. He had been doing that for the past few minutes. Had this happened any other time, Hekele would have said something to try to cheer him up, but she still held firmly to her decision not to speak with him...
Ryou, noticing this fact, turned to look at her, "Are you still giving me the silent treatment Tweety Bird? Would you hurry up and get over it?" At his annoyed outburst, Hekele only raised an eyebrow and turned her head away, refusing to even look at him once more. Ryou gave an exasperated sigh and turned on his heel, intent on calling Lettuce for help...Lettuce wouldn't tease Hekele or himself about the situation...
He dialed her phone number and was groaned when no one picked up. He was about to leave a message when Hekele walked up and grabbed the phone, hanging it up on him. Ryou stared at her like she had gone insane.
"What the heck was that about! I was trying to get us help!" he growled at her. Hekele merely shook her head and held up a cook book. She shoved it into his hands and walked towards where the pots and pans were kept, leaving a confused Ryou by the phone. Noticing that there was a page marked in the book, Ryou flipped to it and found a recipe of tuna noodle casserole.
He walked over to where Hekele was getting the ingredients ready and looked at her skeptically, "So, basically, you mean to tell me that the best way to get even with those two is to actually attempt to cook and not poison ourselves at the same time? You're really going to try to make this, even though you've never cooked before?"
Hekele looked up at him with a mischievous smile, and nodded.
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The food was as delicious as the service was wonderful. Keichiro swore that he could not have picked a better restaurant for his night out with Kachie. And he could tell just be looking at her that she was having a good time too; that pleased him more than anything.
"Enjoying the pasta?" he asked her casually. Kachie looked up at him and smiled.
"Of course, I'm glad you recommended it! How's your food?" she asked politely. Keichiro smirked.
"Like I said before, it's better than anything I could have made..." Kachie shook her head at his modesty, knowing full well that he could do just as well as the chefs at that particular Italian restaurant.
It was then that something caught her eye, or rather someone. Kachie wasn't quite sure, but the person seemed familiar to her. It was a man, a rather tall man, with short black hair and glasses in a business suit. He was with another man, one just a bit taller than Kachie, who was quite round and stubby. His eyes were almost like slits, and his greying hair appeared to be balding slightly. He too was in a business suit, a considerably fancier one. He didn't seem familiar in the least though, it was the first man that aroused Kachie's undying curiosity.
"Keichiro-kun..." she said uncertainly. Her companion across the table looked up at her with concern; she sounded troubled...
"What is it?" he asked, looking at her carefully. Kachie nodded her head ever so slightly to where the two men were sitting.
"I can't be sure...but the tall one seems familiar to me...do...do you know him?" she asked quietly. Keichiro stole a quick glance at the men and shook his head slightly, puzzled.
"I want to know what measures are being taken to ensure the return of my property...those specimens were quite difficult to obtain..." Keichiro over heard the elder man say. He hadn't meant to, but the man had spoken rather loudly. The other man, the one Kachie found familiar, was quieter, but Keichiro was now curious as well, and he listened closely to his response.
"I can assure you that while the location of the creatures is currently unknown, we are taking every precaution to find them. It will not be long now...sir..."
"I want to know how they escaped to begin with! I had the best guards in the armed forces watching the base. No one can remember anything!"
"It would appear that they were taken by outsiders...or one of our own...but that is highly doubtful, we've already given every man and woman with knowledge of the creatures' existence a lie detector test...and all passed. The cameras were tampered with as well. We have nothing." the tall one admitted remorsefully.
The elder man leaned over the table slightly with a ferocious anger burning in his eyes, "I want this city and every city within a fifty mile radius turned upside down. You will find my dragon and my phoenix...or you, your colleges, and your families will pay the price. You have one month."
Keichiro's eyes were wide with alarm. He turned back to Kachie and found fear written on her face as plainly as though someone had written it there with a marker. He had to get her out of there; her naturally silver streaked hair would be a dead giveaway as to who she was if and when the two men bothered to look their way.
"Kachie-chan...wait for me out front...I'll be there in a minute...try not to draw their attention to yourself..." he whispered to her as quietly as he could with her still able to hear him. Kachie nodded, frightened, as she quietly stood to leave. Her eyes never left the men as she made her way out of the room.
Once she was gone, Keichiro called for the check. The two men looked at him momentarily, and then went back to their now quiet conversation; Keichiro was glad that he had sent Kachie ahead of him. Once the bill was paid he hastily left the room, making a mental note of the two men's appearance so that he could sketch them out later.
Keichiro exited the restaurant and looked around for Kachie, finding her partially hidden by some plants. She didn't look suspicious though, and Keichiro was glad that she had the sense to look as normal as humanly possible while hiding herself from immediate view.
Kachie looked up slowly when she heard his footsteps. He could see tears forming in her eyes and he reflexively pulled her into a tight embrace. Keichiro desperately wanted to make her happy again and to see her smile, but somehow he knew that it'd be more difficult than merely getting even with Ryou and Hekele...
He looked up as the sky became overcast, almost as if it too felt their inner fear and uncertainty, "Kachie-chan?"
"Hm?" she answered quietly. Keichiro stroked her hair a bit and released her. He took firm hold of her hand and turned towards the sidewalk.
"...Let's go home..."
Kachie didn't protest once as he led her back to the café.
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Ryou was genuinely surprised at how well the casserole had turned out. It looked nowhere near as appetizing as it would have if Keichiro and Kachie had made it, but it tasted great. The only thing that troubled Ryou was that Hekele had yet to say a word to him.
He looked over at her from his end of the couch and sighed, "So, you're still not talking to me, are you? Did I really upset you that much?" Hekele said nothing in return to him, but did grace him with a quirked eyebrow. Ryou rolled his eyes at her and began flipping through the television channels, looking for something to keep his mind off of his current predicament. The volume was down pretty low, so he could hear the rain begin to pitter patter outside. According to the weather channel, when he got there, it was only suppose to get worse. Wonderful...
After a few minutes, Ryou heard a cab pull into the driveway and stood up to look out the window. It was Kachie and Keichiro. A glare appeared almost instantly upon his face as his eyes began to narrow. As if reading his mind, Hekele stood up and began to head towards the stairs. When Ryou looked at her however, he could see a look of concern on her face. Curious, he followed her downstairs.
When Ryou reached the bottom, he found Hekele sitting with Kachie at one of the tables; Keichiro was standing right behind Kachie with his hands on her shoulders, almost protectively. He looked pretty downcast, and Kachie looked like she was about to start crying.
"What happened? You two ok?" he asked as he sat himself in the chair next to Hekele. Neither Kachie nor Keichiro answered at first, but eventually Kachie spoke.
"Hekele-chan...they're looking for us..." she said, barely above a whisper. Ryou watched as Hekele's face paled to a ghostly color and instantly understood.
"The scientists at the base?" he guessed. Keichiro nodded.
"And their boss, a rather disagreeable man, is on the war-path...he's set a rather unreasonable deadline, one month, and so we must take extreme caution. There's no telling what the scientists and the military may do to find these two and take them back..." he informed grimly.
Ryou looked at Hekele out of the corner of his eye and found her looking at the floor, deep in thought. He sighed as he turned his line of vision back to Keichiro, "What are the odds that they'd look for them here?" Keichiro shook his head.
"I haven't the slightest clue. There are bound to be people who saw what happened at the carnival, however, only from a great distance. If these people are found, then the odds are that they'll turn every building upside down in search of these two...if they don't find out about the incident at the carnival, we've got a much better chance...they're to search every city within a fifty mile radius, and that means that none of the searches will be that thorough. We can't allow anything to draw their attention to this city..." he stated. Ryou held his head in his hands as he rested his elbows on the table.
"That would mean no Mew Mews, Keichiro. If the aliens were to attack, we'd be sunk either way. All eyes would be on us in an instant, in fact, because of the Mew project, we're already probably the city they'll search the most thoroughly..." he admitted. Keichiro nodded.
"Yes...I thought as much as well...but we cannot sacrifice the Mews...if the aliens attack, we'll have to respond...and if we've learned anything from these aliens, they'll attack us when we wish it least..." he responded. Ryou took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, trying to think.
"...We should get the Mews over here and let them know what's happened...they'll need to keep their eyes peeled for anything that might tip off where these people are searching..." he suggested. Keichiro nodded.
"I'll call them all up...Kachie-chan, why don't you come with me?" he asked, lightly taking her hand. Kachie nodded mechanically and allowed him to help her up and lead her to the kitchen, where the phone was.
Ryou sat there, alone with Hekele. He sighed to himself and turned to look at her once more. She hadn't moved a muscle. She was still staring at the floor as though it would reveal all the answers to life's problems to her.
"You ok Tweety Bird?" he asked gently. Hekele sighed to herself and shook her head a bit. She had tears brimming her eyes, just like Kachie had.
"Ryou..." she began, looking up at him slightly, "...I'm scared..." Without a second's worth of thought, Ryou was next to her and wrapping her in what he hoped was a comforting embrace.
"What are you so worried about Tweety Bird? Keichiro, the Mews, and I aren't going to let those bastards anywhere near you two...you've got nothing to be afraid of...I promise, ok?" he offered. Hekele nodded into his shoulder a bit, allowing those few tears of hers to fall. She idly realized that Ryou had willingly, truly, hugged her for the first time; somehow that comforted her a little.
"I'll hold you to that promise you know..." she warned. Ryou shrugged as he let go of her and looked her in the eye.
"If it was a promise that I couldn't keep, I wouldn't make it Tweety Bird."
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The Mews sat around the basement lab looking shocked at the information that they had been provided. All except for Zakuro anyway, who seemed as impartial to life as ever. Ryou and Keichiro were standing in front of them, waiting for a response. After all, a response was tangible, and could be interpreted as well as acted upon. Silence, which was what the two were currently being graced with, was misleading and incomprehensible.
Finally, the aloof Zakuro closed her eyes as she broke the ice, "Part of us had to know that something like this was going to happen. For the military to just up and ignore that their most powerful and unique, 'weapons' had been taken from them would be unthinkable. It simply does not work that way, but we've gotten attached to our new friends and took for granted that we now have them and gave in to the thought that we always would. We never thought things through, and that is going to make the next few weeks much harder..."
At her words, which made so much sense, both Ryou and Keichiro looked at the ground, as if in shame. They were supposed to be the brains behind Tokyo Mew Mew, and they had failed to think their rescue operation through. In truth, it wasn't over yet, not as long as there were people after Kachie and Hekele, and that could be for a very long time...
"But...the question isn't what we should have done; it's what we're going to do now. Tokyo Mew Mew can't just fade into the background for the next month...but we can't let those men even think that they might be here..." Lettuce reasoned timidly.
"Why not na no da? The aliens always seem to find us anyways, so why not fade into the background for a while and let them follow us na no da?" Pudding chirped. Keichiro sighed.
"Pudding...I don't-"
"Actually, it might work..." The whole group turned to see Ichigo, looking deep in thought. She was staring at her clasped hands, looking hesitant, but at the same time, quite determined.
"Ichigo, are you out of your mind! Those aliens would show up the instant we left! I'll bet you anything!" Mint exclaimed, staring at her friend as though she had gone insane.
"No...I'm serious Mint...The aliens...think that they're doing what's right, remember? They feel like we humans are killing the Earth, and in truth...we are...they hate that animals are going extinct, they hate what's happening to our atmosphere, and they hate us for causing it all...so it stands to reason, that if they felt that they could prevent things from getting worse, they'd do it. Hekele and Kachie aren't simple animals either; they've taken human form over thousands of years of adaptation, but they are still part of this planet's history, and they're alone in that they are all that's left of their species probably...and Hekele's technically been alone since the dawn of time...so...the aliens, even if they ended up capturing the two...wouldn't hurt them...they'd want to...in a sense...help them..."
"Ichigo...what are you getting at? I don't think I like where this is going..." Lettuce said apprehensively.
Ichigo only continued, "...I think we need to try to make a temporary truce with them...at least long enough to solve our current problem...think about it; if the military were to get a hold of Kachie and Hekele again, the aliens would have an impossible time trying to get them. We would have an impossible time trying to get them...but if they help us protect them until the threat has passed...then they would have the chance later on...and that's better than no chance at all."
Zakuro looked at her thoughtfully, a rare sign of emotion, "I think that Ichigo may have something here...we may be able to lure them to us with the Mew Aqua...we would come unarmed of course, to let them know that we didn't want to fight, and then we could try to explain the situation to them...if it doesn't work the diplomatic way..."
Ichigo, who had been thinking along the same lines, picked up the train of thought, "We could use force to make them hear us out...but...in order to gain their trust...we'd need to..."
It was then that everyone was silent. No one knew how they could prove to the aliens that they could be trusted...even if they got that far into the plan. Pudding bit her lip, a sign that she had a controversial thought.
"Well...we could always give them a small piece of the Mew Aqua...that would work na no da..." she said honestly. Everyone was silent. They knew that it was probably their only shot.
Ryou shook his head, "I don't think that this is the safest idea...how do we know that the aliens will keep their word? Giving them any of the Mew Aqua would mean giving them a new multitude of power, and I hate to be realistic here, but it's hard enough for us to hold our own against them. If they were to double cross us..."
Keichiro nodded a bit, "It would be disastrous. Any cover we did have would be blown in an instant, and for all we know, the military would end up searching this area first...and despite how well prepared we are, the military would be able to get into our secrets if they tried...and then the secret of Tokyo Mew Mew would be revealed..."
"...And we'd be in the same boat as Hekele-chan and Kachie-chan na no da..." Pudding said sadly. Everyone nodded in agreement.
Ichigo only shook her head, "All the more reason that we wouldn't double-cross the aliens...we need their help...there's no escaping it...without their help we could easily fail...but with their help...we could deter the military away from our city...don't you get it?"
Lettuce sighed resignedly, "I suppose you're right Ichigo...I hate to admit it...but you are..." Mint stared at the two of them for a moment before shaking her head.
"My god...Now I know that you guys are a bad influence on my intelligent thinking...I'm actually agreeing with you..."
Zakuro gave a ghost of a smile, "And the signs of desperation reveal themselves...you already know my vote; I don't have to say it again..."
Pudding began bouncing up and down with excitement, "This'll be an interesting experiment na no da! The Mews and the aliens working together; I wonder if it will work na no da!"
Ryou and Keichiro looked at each other helplessly. Both knew that the Mews were right, but neither liked the idea of putting their fates and the fates of all their friends in the hands of the aliens. It just wasn't...well...safe.
Keichiro sighed, "Well...I suppose there really isn't another way...is there?" Ryou whipped his head back to Keichiro so fast that the girls swore they heard it crack.
"Keichiro!"
"Ryou, if you've got a better idea, I'd love to hear it. Trust me, I'd like nothing more than a fool-proof, alien free plan to keep the Mews, Hekele, and Kachie safe, but one just doesn't seem to exist," he said sternly, clearly not liking the plan anymore than Ryou.
Ryou held his gaze defiantly for a moment, long enough for the Mews to edge away from the two a bit for fear of being caught in the cross-fire of a major argument. Ryou, however, could sense that it was an argument that he would lose, especially since the rest of the Mews were all for the plan. He sighed dejectedly.
"Fine, but at the first sign of trouble, we're all done for."
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Keichiro knocked on Kachie's door lightly, knowing that the girl was awake. After a moment, she opened it slowly, almost as if expecting the bogeyman to jump out and take her. Upon only seeing Keichiro, she opened the door a bit wider and looked up at him solemnly.
"Hey..." was all she said. Keichiro gave her a rather charming half-smile.
"Well, we have some good news and some bad news...which would you like to hear first Kachie-chan?" he asked. Kachie stepped out of his way and he entered her room, sitting on the corner of her bed. She left the door open and followed him, sitting on the other end corner.
She sat Indian-style as she faced him, "I suppose I'd rather hear the bad news first...that way, the good news could possibly cheer me up..." Keichiro nodded in approval of her choice.
"Well, the bad news is: we have a plan, a very, very, very risky and possibly dangerous plan. It involves trusting the aliens. Don't make me get into the twisted logic behind it now; we can sort through it later..." he said with a note of finality. Obviously, Kachie concluded, this plan had been discussed and the verdict of 'horrible-but-only-plan-we-have' had been bestowed upon it.
"All right then...I'll ask about it later. Now, what's the good news?" she asked curiously, confused as to what good could have possibly befallen the group in such a frightening time; well, frightening to Hekele and herself at least.
Keichiro smiled, "The Mews, Ryou, Hekele, you, and myself will be going to stay at Mint's summer home. As of tomorrow at closing time, we are through with the café for a few weeks and off to a well deserved vacation."
Kachie smirked dejectedly, "We're hiding..."
"That too...but what else can we do really? It's not like we can just fight the government...right?" he asked. Kachie sighed and shook her head.
"If we were to, it would be a lost cause...I understand..." she said. Keichiro sighed and scooted closer to her, wrapping her into a protective hug.
"We'll beat this one way or another...it's either we stay here and force you two to hide like prisoners, or we all hide and you get to be more free...we thought it would be better this way..." he said. Kachie leaned on him reflexively as tears started to form in her eyes.
"Thank you...it means a lot that everyone would go through with this just to take care of Hekele and myself...I mean...we aren't anyone special or anything...you know we'd just be happy that you cared about what happened to us...right?" she said, looking up at him. Keichiro nodded.
"We know...and we just didn't think that it was good enough to simply declare 'tough love' and then let things happen. We take care of our friends and each other...and that includes you and Hekele." He gently wiped a few of the tears from her eyes and gave her another gentle squeeze of encouragement.
"Look at it this way," he began, releasing her enough so that he could see her face, "now we get to find out how good a swimmer you ice dragons are..." Kachie giggled a bit despite herself and gave Keichiro another hug, glad that he was there trying to cheer her up when she needed him.
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Hekele stepped lightly down the stairs to the basement, not wanting to make too much noise. The Mews had left some time ago, and after talking to Kachie for a while, Keichiro had gone off to bed, but Ryou hadn't even come upstairs yet. Hekele had idly decided to stop worrying about herself for long enough to get him to go to bed. Hopefully.
Hekele opened the door to the lab quietly and snuck in, spying Ryou by one of the computers. She idly decided that he must be extremely tired, for she was only steps away from him and yet he still did not notice her there.
"Ryou? It's going on twelve o'clock...maybe it would be good for you to get some rest..." she voiced quietly, as not to startle him. Ryou, however, jumped a bit and had to look around him before finally finding her.
"I'm not tired...why aren't you in bed?" he defended. Hekele sighed and sat in the rolling chair near his and scooted closer to him. He had bags beginning to form under his eyes...
"Ryou, don't try to change the subject...you got up early this morning and it is at least three hours past your usual, self-proclaimed weeknight bed-time..." she stated in a motherly tone, though she hadn't meant to.
"...Tweety Bird...did Keichiro happen to talk to you about the plan...the Mews...came up with?" he asked, ignoring the current topic for one he felt had more importance. Hekele seemed annoyed at this, but she decided to oblige nonetheless.
"No, I'm afraid he hasn't...would you care to inform me?" she asked. Ryou bit his lip.
"...We're going to try to make a temporary truce with the aliens...if they were to attack while the military were looking for you, especially if they were already looking in the city, then the search would become more focused...and they'd almost certainly find you...and Tokyo Mew Mew...the Mews would be in the same danger Kachie and yourself are. So...if the aliens accept our temporary truce, they wouldn't attack, and it would make things easier. Also, we're going to go spend the next few weeks at Mint's summer house...her family hasn't used it in a few years apparently...so we'd be undisturbed. It's about a hundred miles away too, so it's a ways out of the military's search radius..." he explained. Hekele nodded slightly and stifled a yawn, being more tired than she'd rather let on.
"...When is all this going to happen? And...what happens if the aliens go back on their word or don't give it altogether?" she pressed, concerned.
Ryou sighed, "...Tomorrow...we're going to use the Mew Aqua to lure them out, and then we'll make our proposal. And sometime after that...we're leaving the city...so you'll want to pack ahead of time tomorrow..."
Hekele looked him in the eye, "What happens if the aliens do not cooperate Ryou?"
Ryou averted his gaze, something that worried Hekele, as he spoke, "Tweety Bird...if they don't help...we're screwed..."
Hekele stared at him, startled and blank, "...Oh..."
Neither of them said anything for the next few minutes. Ryou didn't want to look at Hekele's face; he felt like he had failed both her and Kachie by not thinking things through when he asked everyone to help rescue them.
Hekele sighed to herself and curled her knees up to her chest, so that she was curled up in a ball on her rolling chair. She cocked her head towards Ryou and offered him a small smile. Out of the corner of his eye, Ryou noticed this, and returned his gaze to her curiously.
Hekele's smile broadened a small fraction at this, "Thank you for telling me...and thank you for caring for Kachie-chan and myself despite how much trouble keeps coming your way...You...Keichiro...and the Mews...you're probably the kindest people on Earth...not many others would stick with even their closest friends in a time like this...Arigato..."
Ryou watched her expression carefully, not understanding how she could possibly smile at such a desperate time. But she did, and somehow...he couldn't help but give her a small grin in return. She was definitely not helping his oversized ego problem...
"Tweety Bird...you are an odd one...here...I've got a present for you..." he said, wheeling over to the nearest computer desk and opening a drawer. Hekele looked at him curiously, wondering what he could possibly have to give her.
Ryou motioned for her to hold out her palm and Hekele obeyed hesitantly. Was Ryou pulling a prank on her? He always seemed to do things like that whenever the two of them had some sort of peaceful moment with one another. Ryou smiled at her reassuringly and placed a small, cold, metallic object in her hand. Hekele cocked her head at him curiously and pulled back her hand, staring at him the whole while. When she finally looked into her hand at his gift, her eyes grew wide.
"...This is..."
"You're new Reverse Power Pendant. I finished it about an hour ago...Kachie's is still in the drawer. You use it the same way the Mews use theirs..." he explained, a bit uplifted by her awed expression.
"Wow...Ryou...thank you! I can't wait to show Kachie hers! She'll be so excited! This is incredible!" she bounced, with newly found energy. She leapt at Ryou and gave him a huge hug, once again surprising the boy. He sighed and rolled his eyes; she was too easily pleased...
"...I just wanted to get those done before tomorrow...just in case..." he admitted. Hekele nodded and let go of him. She stood up and stretched, giving Ryou the 'evil-eye' suddenly.
"Ok...now that that's accomplished, you need to get to bed! I'm tired and I refuse to go to bed until I know that you've done the same! Come on!" she ordered, grabbing him by the wrist and attempting to pull him out of his chair. Ryou chuckled and stood up, allowing her to pull him a couple of feet before fully complying. Once he was walking beside her, Hekele let go of him and flashed him a sleepy smile. Ryou rolled his eyes and ruffled her hair lightly, causing her to giggle a bit.
When they reached the top floor, Ryou walked her to her room gentlemanly and ushered her inside. He ruffled her hair once more and grinned slightly at her tired expression.
"Get some rest Tweety Bird...we've got a long day ahead of us tomorrow...sleep tight..."
Hekele nodded a bit as she moved to shut the door, "Same to you...you look like you need it..." Ryou narrowed his eyes at the door as it shut and he distinctly heard her giggles on the other side. He then rolled his eyes as he went to his own room. The next day would definitely be long...
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Keichiro had woken Kachie up early so that she could pack for the group's 'vacation'. Since she would be helping Keichiro in the kitchen all day, it was the only time she could pack. The poor girl was sleepy beyond belief and could not seem to concentrate on her current task. She was too worried about the confrontation with the aliens later that day to think about anything else...
It was seven in the morning when Keichiro went to check up on Kachie, and when he found her only half packed and stumbling into her dresser, he sighed.
"Kachie-chan...why don't I make you breakfast? Then you can get back to packing...I doubt you'll get much more done anyway on an empty stomach and being as tired as you are anyway," he offered. Kachie looked back at him, startled, but nodded.
"Thank you Keichiro-kun, I'd like that very much...just don't startle me like that!" she responded tiredly. Keichiro smiled a bit and motioned for her to follow him downstairs.
"I'm sorry I had to wake you up so early...I know you're not exactly a morning person..." he stated remorsefully. Kachie gave him her best smile.
"It's all right...but where are Hekele and Ryou? They are usually up at this hour and already downstairs...but I didn't hear them get up..." she said. Keichiro chuckled.
"I heard them come up last night. Ryou was downstairs until almost midnight when I heard Hekele go down...and then the two came up a few minutes past the hour. I was tempted to spy...but I was too busy trying to get back to sleep..." he admitted. Kachie sighed.
"I suppose none of us had a decent night's sleep...have we?" she asked. Keichiro shook his head.
"No...I suppose not..." he replied as they entered the kitchen. Keichiro ushered Kachie to the table and began to get to work making the two of them breakfast. Pancakes, he decided, would do.
He turned to her as he began preparing the batter, "Are you doing any better this morning, Kachie-chan?" Kachie slumped so that she was resting on the table.
"Yes and no, I guess. Yes, as in I have faith that you and everyone else will do everything possible to keep us safe; no, as in I'm tired as all get out and am still scared out of my mind that things won't work out..." she proclaimed. Keichiro nodded a bit, as if expecting that answer, and sat down next to her, abandoning the batter. He took her hands in his, causing her to look him in the eye curiously.
"Kachie-chan...if there is one thing that I can guarantee you...it's this: No harm will come to you while I'm still standing in your defense...understood?" he said, meaning every word. Kachie's cheeks steadily turned red as she looked at him, not quite sure what to say to his thoughtful words.
It was at that precise moment when Ryou decided to make his entrance. When he saw Keichiro holding both of Kachie's hands, he rolled his eyes, "Get a room you two...I'd rather not puke up my coffee once I've ingested it..."
Keichiro, taking note of Ryou's sour temperament, grinned, "Well, we did have a room to ourselves, but you just happened to walk in during a rather private moment..." Kachie blushed a bit more, even though she knew that Keichiro was only teasing Ryou.
Ryou himself, who was putting the water into the coffee maker, froze for a moment before turning back to the duo. "I'm going to pretend that you never said that, mostly because I don't know what the masculine term for, 'eewww,' is..." he said tiredly. Keichiro looked at Kachie and both of them grinned a bit more.
"Oh...so then you giving Hekele-chan a kiss on the cheek must have been the most disgusting thing known to mankind...and if that's the case, why did you do it Ryou?" Kachie asked teasingly. Ryou narrowed his eyes at her.
"Who said you could call me by my first name?" he challenged, trying to divert the subject. Kachie took advantage of it, however, now getting into the spirit of annoying the cranky boy.
"Oh, so only your darling Hekele-chan has the esteemed privilege of calling you by your first name? And here I didn't think you held her in such an affectionate regard..." she said sarcastically. Ryou narrowed his eyes further.
"Then next few weeks will be hell for you two...I promise..." he said, before turning around and making his way out of the kitchen, "...Just so you know, I did have a surprise that I was going to share with you two this morning...but now I'm not so sure..." Keichiro's brows furrowed a bit in confusion; he hadn't the slightest idea as to what Ryou was talking about. Perhaps it had to do with why Ryou had been locked up in the basement more than usual...
"Ryou...what are you up to?" he asked. Ryou shrugged.
"Who knows..." he replied indifferently. He went through the stairway door and down to the basement, a bemused expression playing about his face.
Keichiro and Kachie stared at the door for a moment with mixed looks of confusion, curiosity, and apprehensiveness upon their faces. Then, as if scripted, they looked at one another with the same expressions. Suddenly, they jumped up from their seats and raced to the door and down the stairs.
"Ryou!"
"Shirogane-san!"
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Hekele packed her belongings remorsefully. She had just gotten used to her daily routine, and now she would be breaking it. It was something so trivial, and yet she was sad about it. How odd it seemed to her to feel that way.
She had woken up due to the commotion downstairs. No doubt Ryou was going to give Kachie her Reverse Power Pendant as he had done Hekele the night before. Hekele smiled at the thought. Kachie would be so pleased with the idea of becoming a Mew. She had already known about the Reverse Power Pendant, but she didn't know that it would make her one of those 'champions of justice' heros that her friends were. She would be surprised, undoubtedly, but quite pleased with the thought.
Keichiro may be a different story, however. He seemed to be leaning towards wanting to protect Kachie and make all her pain go away. He wouldn't want her to fight for fear of her life, just as he and Ryou feared for the other Mews...only more so with Kachie. The dragon would need to learn to fight her own battles, just as Hekele herself would, and this was probably the best way.
Keichiro would know that.
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Keichiro stared at Ryou with a blend of awe and annoyance. He had made Kachie the pendant to help control her powers...and had made her a Mew. Kachie seemed thrilled by this information, and Ryou had given her a choice as well. He could still alter the pendant. But no, Kachie wanted to be a Mew. She wanted to help save the world.
Apparently, Hekele had been given the same information the previous night, though she had already known about it ahead of time as well. This only annoyed Keichiro further. He had not been included within Ryou's plan, and it bothered him a bit. What if something had gone wrong?
"Keichiro-kun?" Keichiro came back to reality and looked at Kachie, who had been trying to get his attention.
"Yes, Kachie-chan?" he replied. Kachie looked at him with concern.
"Keichiro-kun, are you all right?" she asked. Keichiro offered her a smile and waved off her concern.
"I'm fine Kachie-chan...why don't you head upstairs...I'll be there in a minute, ok?" he said. Kachie nodded a bit and gave him a smile of her own, knowing that his was forced and wanting to make it genuine.
When she was gone, Ryou spoke up. "You know she'd want to help anyway; Hekele's the same way. With the pendants though, and with them being Mews...it makes it easier for them and the rest of us. They'll have weapons at their disposal, better control of their powers, and they wouldn't feel as alone. They'd be part of a team."
Keichiro allowed himself to glare at his young friend, "They're already part of a team, Ryou. Why didn't you tell me you were planning this?"
Ryou sighed as he met Keichiro's gaze, "You're right, they are part of a team; the problem is that they don't feel like they are. To them, they are part of a group of friends; friends who have done everything within their power to keep them safe, friends who set them free. They feel weak in that sense, and they need to feel stronger to be stronger. You know how it works..." Ryou leaned against the wall as he continued, "As for not telling you; it was supposed to be a surprise. You entertained the idea of making them Mews in the future, and I set it into motion when I felt they needed to be. And you can't say I didn't take them into consideration, because I gave both of them a choice; Hekele when I just began the necessary research and Kachie just now. If they didn't want this then they weren't obligated."
"Another thing; why did you include Hekele, and not Kachie?" Keichiro questioned, sitting down in a chair.
Ryou rolled his eyes, "That was a spur of the moment thing; she came down here looking for me and saw me looking at hers and Kachie's stats. She ended up freaking out and having a sort of panic attack because she was reminded so much of the base, and she thought the worst. After I finally calmed her down, I had to explain what I was doing. I told her everything so she'd...well...be ok I guess. It's not like I could just lie to her."
Keichiro looked at him oddly, "When did this happen?"
Ryou shrugged, "The third night they were here...about a week ago. Since then she was all for the idea. I didn't intentionally include her; it was necessary."
Keichiro took a deep breath and nodded to himself, "Just...don't do it again. If something had gone wrong with chemicals and what-not, I wouldn't know what to do to clean it up or treat you since I wouldn't have known what you were up to. At least let me know next time, I know you're not a toddler that needs a parent around constantly, but even so..."
Ryou smirked to himself, "Sure, I'll let you know, oh great parent from the underworld."
Keichiro chuckled, "And don't you forget it you dumb brat."
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The end of the day couldn't have come any slower. Everyone constantly watched the clock, both with apprehension and a hint of excitement. Sure, they were going to confront the aliens in what was probably the most hopeless plan ever concocted, but they were still going to the coast to Mint's summer house for 'vacation.'
After Hekele had finished packing, she and Ryou had retreated to the basement to perform some security measures to the computer system. There was no telling if and when the military would find information leading them the cafe's computer files, and to the Mew Project. Fire walls, grid systems, and tracking systems were put into place, as well as a few 'door prizes' if the bad guys were able to get past the lines of defense.
Keichiro and Kachie had finished packing before the café opened so that they'd both be able to work in the kitchen still. Both of them were tense; they didn't know what to expect later on, and both were worried. The customers seemed especially vindictive that day as well...but maybe that was just their imagination. Three 'incorrect' orders within the first hour was normal...wasn't it?
The Mews felt the change in figurative atmosphere as well. Pudding wasn't doing tricks, Mint was actually working, Lettuce hadn't broken a single plate or glass, Zakuro didn't mixed up any orders, and Ichigo was dealing with the customers that tried to mess with her mind with calm dignity and an apology. Creepy and completely backwards, no?
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Pai looked on Serenity's monitor and narrowed his eyes. His computers detected a large concentration of the Mew Aqua, and it was out in the open. The only large concentration of Mew Aqua he knew of was in the Mews' possession, however, this concentration was in some woods near the city.
"Kisshu, Taruto, you two should see this." The two aliens appeared next to him then, staring at the screen with mild interest.
"What is it Pai, did your precious computer break?" Kisshu asked in a bored manner. Pai glared at him.
"No, Kisshu, my so called 'precious' computer didn't malfunction; it's detected a large concentration of the Mew Aqua...in the woods near the city..." he replied cooly, clearly not liking Kisshu's disrespect towards him. Kisshu shrugged.
"And, your point being? The Mews have it, and in case you haven't noticed, we seem to fail at stealing it from them every time..." he said nonchalantly.
Taruto, however, picked up on Pai's reasoning, "It's a trap huh? Those stupid humans thought we'd fall for it..." Pai switched views on the monitor so that the exact location of the Mew Aqua was visible on the screen. There the Mews were, (including the two males, the dragon, and phoenix,) sitting out in the open, with the Mew Aqua, completely untransformed, and looking to the sky. The three aliens stared at the screen critically.
"You know Pai...I think those little goodie goodies want to talk to us," Kisshu suggested, an eyebrow raised. Taruto narrowed his eyes then.
"We ain't gonna, are we?" he asked. Pai stared at the screen for a long time, taking in the sight of their foes all sitting there, as if looking to and for the three of them. The expressions on their faces, their eyes mostly, stirred something in Pai that his logical mind wanted very much to dispel. He saw need in their faces, and he had never seen that in the group before...not like this. He closed his eyes in thought. Something had to be up, something the humans couldn't control, and for some reason, they sought the aliens help.
Kisshu also felt stirred by the image on the screen. He also saw the need in their faces, and he also saw hope. One face in particular, that of 'his' strawberry, (as he had long ago deemed Ichigo,) struck him close to home. Her eyes were pleading, all their eyes were. He had never seen them plead before, and had thought them too proud for him to ever see it. Something must be terribly wrong...and for the group to call upon the aliens, Kisshu had a feeling it might be bad for them too.
"We're going. Something's up with those wack jobs and it concerns us to some extent, or else they wouldn't let us know about a potential weakness...see my thought?" he asked, looking to Pai. Pai opened his eyes and nodded. Taruto groaned in irritation.
"Fine...so long as that annoying pipsqueak doesn't bug me..." he commented. He then teleported off the ship. Pai and Kisshu were less than a second behind.
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Me- Well, here you fine reviewers are! I was informed by a reviewer that the military wasn't doing much to get their 'weapons' back, and I would like to inform this very observant person that because of them, I decided to abandon most of what this chapter was about just to move my plot along...you are officially one chapter ahead plot development wise. Now... wants to freeze us authors for answering reviews in the story, so I shall refrain from mentioning this person by name so that he/she can't possibly get into trouble later. But I still salute this person! gives due credit to nameless reviewer
Ryou- Oh, and even though this is not a fic dedicated to me and Ichigo, Tweety Bird here wants everyone to know that she supports the 'Anti-Masaya Movement.'
Me- That's right folks! I hate Masaya! Ichigo does not belong with him! She belongs with Ryou! But since that isn't going to happen in this fic...
Ichigo- Shhhh! You'll tell them our secret!
Me- Oh come on Ichigo, the reviewers aren't that dumb...they know what's gonna happen! Free kudos to the reviewer who can tell me how and what will happen to remove this insect from the picture!