For the second time that day, Ichigo heard screaming coming from the dining room of Café Mew Mew. The shriek was quickly followed with "I have cake all over my dress!" and a bark of "Well if you didn't have your foot in the way I wouldn't have tripped!"
She looked at the clock. It wasn't yet 3PM.
Ichigo wiped the sweat off her forehead and dropped the notepad next to the cash register with a frustrated slap. Storming into the dining area, she shoved Tart aside, stepping in front of the upset high school girl with cherry cheesecake on her white dress.
"Oh my goodness!" she lamented, putting on her best, most pained expression she could muster. "I am SO sorry about this! Let me show you where the restrooms are and give you something to wash up."
The girl huffed and puffed about her ruined date as Ichigo escorted her to the restrooms, offering her clean towels and complementary desserts for the rest of the week. Once the door to the restroom closed, Ichigo let out a sigh and marched over to Tart, who was chatting with Pie next to the broom closet. Tart grimaced as he caught her eye. He crossed his arms into himself and righted his back as Pie watched with amusement.
"Who taught you to talk to customers like that?" Ichigo demanded, hands on her hips.
Tart blew his bangs out of his eyes. "Listen, old hag, I'm not here to be taking orders from you!"
"Yes you are!"
"No, you're not my boss!"
"I might as well be! I'm the leader of the mews, and this is OUR cafe!"
"Well Shirogane is my boss, not you!"
"Fine! I'll just tell Shirogane that you're yelling at our patrons!"
"See if I care!"
Ichigo narrowed her eyes, glaring down at Tart, who was still a few inches shorter than her small frame. Rolling his eyes, Tart stomped off towards the back room, muttering, "Whatever. I'm taking a break."
"You know," Pie started hesitantly, drawing Ichigo's attention back to him, "...this is all really new to all of us. I think Tart is simply … overwhelmed."
"I guess," Ichigo muttered lamely, her gaze drifting back to the dining room.
It had been just a few days since the aliens returned to Earth and battled the leopard chimera on the train with the mews, together as one team. Today was the first day Quiche, Pie and Tart were all employees of Café Mew Mew at Ryou and Keiichiro's insistence. After getting a crash course in what a café is – and what the wait staff do – the boys had been fitted in crisp uniforms they all hated in various degrees. Pie and Quiche quickly shed the vest that went with the boys' uniform, and Pie had adopted an apron.
All three of them, concerned about their unusual ears, took an injection of a masking elixir that Pie had been working on in the case they would need to stay on Earth for a longer period of time. The injection would shorten the length of their ears for a few weeks. The mews, Ryou and Keiichiro agreed that this lessened their inhuman appearance significantly.
That hadn't made up for three oddball behavior from all three boys, which ranged from not understanding basic pleasantries, to accidentally floating off the ground out of habit, to being downright rude.
Yet, to Ichigo's delight and her dismay, the café was filling up quickly; the rumor had gotten out that the famed Café Mew Mew had hired boys as waiters, too. Girls seated at tables were texting their friends to join them, and shooing away Ichigo and the mews in favor of being served by Quiche, Pie or Tart.
However, Tart was quickly falling out of their good graces, as his inability to fake pleasantries with guests was starting to show. Instead, girls were asking Ichigo to "bring over the boy with the dreamy gold eyes" or "can I talk to the tall guy with the muscley arms?"
Ichigo tried not to let her smile crack, gritting her teeth and obliging in the requests when she could and politely letting guests know when "all of the other wait staff are busy – so sorry!" Yet here she was, on a quiet Tuesday in March, completely swamped in a café full of teenaged girls who only wanted to be served by 2 members of the 3-part idiot circus.
Quiche was proving himself more of a natural than Pie – while Pie was quick getting orders out to tables and polite in his tone, he lacked the niceties the guests pined for. Quiche, on the other hand, reveled in the attention, lingering at tables to chit chat with girls who looked like they were ready to melt into their seats. Ichigo noted that Quiche was leaning against tables and placing a hand on the back of guest's chairs, but avoided physical contact with the guests. Ichigo had expected worse, so she was pleasantly surprised at his good behavior.
That didn't help with the stark reality that she was here, tending to a full café of guests, while her boyfriend Masaya Aoyama was in town for only two weeks on his spring break from university. Ichigo took comfort in knowing that Masaya was taking her on a date after work, but the aliens' arrival could not have been worse. It had been so long since Ichigo had spent time with Masaya, and having to bring her A-game to work was hard when all she wanted to do was daydream.
Ichigo's gaze snapped back to Pie.
"Sorry for talking to Tart like that," she muttered. Pie nodded.
"No need to apologize. He can be crass at times."
Ichigo sighed and regarded Pie with a nod before heading into the kitchen office nook to finish printing out the checks she was working on before the cheesecake incident.
Picking up her notepad, she began to tap orders into their rudimentary register.
One key lime slice …
Two fudge truffles …
Chocolate brown eyes …
… wait where was I.
Ichigo totaled the receipt, printed it and ripped it up, starting over again with a huff. Taking a moment to collect herself, she pushed her headband further back on her head and cracked her knuckles to relieve some stress.
Lettuce rounded the corner with a stack of plates as Ichigo had just started ringing up the second receipt.
"How are you, Ichigo?" she asked over her shoulder, dumping the plates in the sink. Ichigo shot her a nervous grin as she rang up another slice of key lime pie.
"Kinda freaking out!" she squeaked, realizing she had left off a guest's chocolate mousse from their tab. Lettuce watched her tear up the receipt. "Ergh! Can't freaking focus!"
"Here," Lettuce interjected, sliding over to Ichigo, "Take your break, I'll take care of this!" She picked up the pad of paper and smiled. Ichigo let out a sigh of relief and gave her friend a quick hug.
"Thanks Lettuce, I'll be back soon!" she sang, darting out of the kitchen. She headed to the back room of the café. Ichigo ignored Tart in the corner fiddling with the cell phone Pie had recently acquired for him. She pulled out her own bag from a small cubby space and flicked on her phone.
The home screen was a photo of her and Masaya, smiling and hugging on a sunny day sometime during her last extended trip to London. She had loved being in London with Masaya for those weeks studying endangered species, but she had also missed being with her friends at Café Mew Mew, not to mention being away from her parents for the longest time in her life.
She had also been away from her friends when they needed her to fight the Saint Rose Crusaders, only returning in time for the final battle. Now, it felt right for her to return as the leader of the mews – and the chimera attack a few days ago had shown her that her powers were still as strong as she remembered.
She sighed and put away her phone, thankful for Masaya being home, even if it was only for two weeks.
Her train of thought was interrupted by the sound of crashing plates outside. Flinching, she instinctively whipped around to glare at Tart.
"What?" he spat, gesturing wildly around the room. "What'd I do?"
Ichigo rolled her eyes and shoved her bag back in her cubby. Enough was enough – she had to speak to Ryou about the chaos around the café. Her working conditions were abysmal, and something had to give. Ichigo crossed the back room and jogged down the stairs to the basement computer room, her black mary janes clicking on the concrete steps as she went.
Ryou was sitting at a desk situated to the left of the room, with a study light illuminating in the dim basement. He looked deep in thought. Four half-full coffee mugs sat abandoned in the corner of his desk. A tall stack of stuffed manilla envelopes were off to his right, waiting to be cracked open. Ichigo strode up to the desk and crossed her arms expectantly.
"What now?" Ryou mumbled, not breaking his concentration. "I'm busy."
Ichigo blew her bangs out of her face. "Can we talk? For five minutes?"
Ryou glanced up briefly, his icy blues glaring into Ichigo with a look of hardened annoyance. "This had better not be about the aliens' arrival because from what I remember, we already discussed that. Thoroughly."
Ichigo stiffened up, biting the inside of her cheek as she inhaled. "Well I –" she started before abruptly pausing under Ryou's cold stare. She exhaled, then continued, letting the words tumble out of her mind and bounce off of her tongue. "I just think that – well with all of the chaos – and you should see how busy it is! It's so busy. And I really REALLY don't think this is a good idea!"
She sucked in a breath, biting her lip as Ryou continued to stare at her, his expression a mix of boredom and annoyance. Finally, he said, "Look, Ichigo – Quiche, Pie and Tart are part of the team now. Giving them a job here gives them something to do. You're going to have to put up with it."
Ichigo let out something between a grunt and a sigh. She ran her hands through her ruby red hair and turned around in a circle to calm herself. "But like…why do they even have to be here to start with?" she exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air, "Why are you defending them so much now of all times, when Aoyama is only here for two weeks? Like, can they at least wait a few days before trashing the place?"
Ryou leaned back in his chair and folded his arms. "Listen, I know it's not ideal. But after the chimera attack on the train two days ago we'll need all the help we can get."
Ichigo frowned. "What do you mean?"
"Well," Ryou started, rubbing the bridge of his nose, "I've been talking with Quiche and Pie about why we had an instance of a one-off chimera attack all of a sudden, when we haven't seen an attack since the Saint Rose Crusaders rounded up the remaining chimeras, and Berry was leading the mews. We're curious why the chimeras would suddenly become active again, without the influence of an enemy like the Crusaders."
Ichigo's frown deepened. Her gaze fell to the floor as she contemplated Ryou's words.
Ryou continued, "I'm also looking into Aoyama's transformation the other day."
This caught Ichigo's attention, her head snapping up to listen intently. "What about Aoyama?"
"You saw him on the train," Ryou said, "He was able to tap into his power left over from when he was Deep Blue's host. Even though his power is weak, the fact that he was able to take on that form is…fascinating."
Ichigo, concerned, opened her mouth and closed it again. She furrowed her brow. "So what does this have to do with the aliens being here?"
"Pie, Quiche and Tart are all keenly aware of what it takes to manifest chimeras," Ryou replied, placing his hands behind his head nonchalantly. "They also know everything there is to know about Deep Blue's power. We would be stupid not to adopt them as part of our team while we investigate both mysteries."
Worry washed over Ichigo's face as she crossed and uncrossed her arms in discomfort. "But Deep Blue is dead, right?" she murmured.
"Yes, we're certain of that," Ryou affirmed. "But some small amount of Deep Blue's power is still alive in Aoyama. I don't know whether that's cause for concern, or if it's simply a gift for Aoyama to wield as needed."
Ichigo nodded slowly. Glancing at the clock on the wall, she realized it was well past her 15-minute break.
"Th… thank you Shironage," she muttered to Ryou. Ryou nodded, picking up his pencil again and sitting up in his chair.
"It's best you don't mention this to anyone yet," he said quietly, locking eyes with Ichigo again. She nodded, then turned to go back upstairs.
"Oh and Ichigo?" Ryou called after her. Ichigo craned her head down from the stairs. "Don't interrupt my work down here again."
Ichigo rolled her eyes. "Fine!" she huffed, stomping her way back up the stairs into the bright, colorful lights of the café.
She was just in time to see Pudding dragging Tart out of the back room.
"Come on Taru-Taru! Time to get back to work!" she sang cheerfully, pulling Tart by his forearm. He slumped behind her reluctantly, shooting Ichgio a nasty glare as she looked on in amusement.
The rest of Ichigo's shift was a blur, the next hour flying by in a storm of broken dishes and a revolving door of patrons wanting a seat. Ichigo practically saw stars when she glanced up to see Masaya walking through the giant pink doors of the café. He was dressed in dark jeans, a grey tee and a white jacket – the very object of perfection in Ichigo's eyes.
She rushed into his arms, burying herself in his warm embrace. He smelled like grass and hazelnut.
"Ready to go soon?" Masaya asked, smiling down at Ichigo. She nodded enthusiastically.
"Yeah, I'll go get changed and I'll be right out!" she sang, losing herself momentarily in his deep brown eyes. She tore herself away from his embrace, walking backwards a few steps so she could look at him just a moment longer before disappearing into the back room to retrieve her change of clothes.
Changing in the restroom, Ichigo's conversation with Ryou began to bubble to the surface of her mind once again. She fixed her hair into a ponytail with a white scrunchie, observing her reflection in the mirror while musing over Masaya's supposed powers left over from Deep Blue.
She remembered sadly how Masaya deeply hated what he had become when Deep Blue began making himself known to Masaya. She had only spoken with him about it once or twice since that final battle — Masaya was sensitive to the topic, and rightly so. Ryou's hypothesis that Masaya's transformation stemmed from Deep Blue's leftover powers disturbed her, and would likely disturb Masaya too.
But we don't know anything for certain, Ichigo reminded herself, freshening up her appearance in the mirror. She let out a breath, then nodded. She would keep her conversation with Ryou to herself. No need to stress out Masaya on his spring break.
Ichigo took one last deep breath before leaving the restroom. She quickly found Masaya seated at a table chatting with Mint, who was enjoying her ritualistic afternoon tea. Mint regarded Ichigo with a smirk.
"Taking off already?" Mint quipped. Ichigo rolled her eyes, slipping on her backpack.
"You've been sitting here on your break for the past hour!"
Mint was unfazed. "I started my shift before you and I will be on my shift after you leave," she said dryly. Ichigo shook her head.
"Alright fine, you win this one," she sighed, cracking a half-smile. Masaya stood up and wrapped his arm around Ichigo's waist.
"Let's get going," he said, squeezing her waist affectionately.
Ichigo, blushing, waved goodbye to Mint and strode out of the café with her boyfriend into the sunny, warm spring air.
Cherry blossom petals floated delicately through the breeze as the two disappeared into the bustle of the city, unaware of the change in the atmosphere around them as they walked.
This will be the best two weeks ever, Ichigo thought to herself. She breathed in the smell of flowers and her boyfriend's linen shirt. I can do anything with Masaya by my side.
A/N:
A Tokyo Mew Mew fanfic? In the year 2020? I know, I can't believe I'm writing this either. I'm half-hoping for a fandom revival with the recent announcement of the anime reboot (anyone reading this who remembers the fandom's heyday in the mid-2000s?)
Confused? Not sure what's going on in this fic? You will not understand major plot points if you haven't read the manga mini-series by original TMM author Mia Ikumi. Read it now! Just Google "Tokyo Mew Mew Re-Turn Scan" and you'll see a download link on Tumblr!
A couple other housekeeping notes -
This fic is written in the manga-verse – all characterizations and events are based off of the manga.
I am using English translations of names where applicable, so Kish → Quiche, Pai → Pie, etc. I am also choosing to drop "-kun"s, "-san"s, as well as Pudding's "na no da" as these are all Japanese -isms that I don't think are necessary to the narration. The only plot point I am going to bend a bit is character ages – I'm leaving the time passed between the beginning of the TMM manga and this fic up in the air so that the characters are a bit older (think late high school age).
One last thing – I used to write in this fandom quite often when I was in middle school/early high school, but I'm choosing to start a new account to disassociate myself from some of my old fics. If you recognize me by my username, great! If not, no worries – my writing style is quite different from when I was 13.
With that, read on and enjoy! ~