Chapter 4: Broadway Musicals, English Profanities, and Ringo

Ringo happily skipped up the stairs. She took a while to find Ryou's room because she had never been upstairs in the café before. But when she found it (she peeked under the door to make sure), she knocked politely on the door.

A huge annoyed sigh came from inside the room. Seconds later, a Ryou with very messy hair showed up at the door. "What?" he grunted. As soon as he saw Ringo grin up at him, the boy moaned and groaned.

"Ringo's here to help you, Shirogane!" the apple-girl sang cheerfully. As we all know, Ringo refers to herself in third-person.

"What is it, Akaii?" Ryou asked in an irritated tone. He thought that if he had another Mew Mew visit him today, he'd burst! He shoved the apple-girl into his room and followed behind her, locking the door behind them.

"Sooo..." saccharine little Ringo continued in her syrupy way once they were in the room. "What are you planning on doing for Lettuce-onee-chan?"

"Well, Momomiya wanted me to write a poem for her, so she made some stationary; and Aizawa drew a picture for me to give to her..."

Ringo shook her head. "No, no, Shirogane. Ringo doesn't want to know what OTHERS want you do to for her. Ringo wants to know what YOU want to do for her."

Ryou stared at the apple-girl. "In that case, I have no idea," he stated nonchalantly.

The apple-girl was appalled. "No idea!" she cried. "How can you have no idea!"

"I don't know. I just don't."

Ringo became very thrilled. "Well, Ringo will give you an idea!" she exclaimed proudly. "Why don't you put on a show?"

Ryou looked confused. "A show?"

Ringo went into thought. "Yeah, a show," she pondered. "Like...a solo romantic song scene from a Broadway musical..."

"Broadway what!"

It was Ringo's turn to look confused. "Broadway musical," she repeated. "Don't tell Ringo you've never heard of that."

Ryou thought back to his childhood days when he was in America. He faintly remembered something called a Broadway musical, but the memory wasn't very clear. "What's that again?" the blonde boy asked shyly. Considering the fact that he's American teenager, he was sort of embarrassed to ask a 12-year-old Japanese girl what an American thing was.

Ringo, however, happily answered the question. "A musical," she explained: "is basically a play with a storyline, except the actors sing songs and dance as well. In America, when a musical is good enough, it goes on Broadway, a world-renowed theater and every actor & playwright's dream. After it's on Broadway, it usually gets made into a movie with new cast members and stuff. Sometimes the movies even get sold overseas, which is where Mashio, Ringo's big brother, got his collection."

Ryou listened intently, but he tried to hide his great interest. He was amazed at how much the apple-girl knew about Broadway musicals, even though she had never spent a day of her life in America. He had LIVED in America for two-thirds of his life, and he had completely forgotten what musicals were.

"So, are you ready to rehearse your show for Lettuce-onee-chan?" Ringo asked eagerly.

Ryou was instantly torn away from his thoughts and snapped back into business. "How do you know so much about this?" he inquired Ringo.

Ringo smiled cutely. "Ringo's brother Mashio has lots of Broadway musical movies, especially ones dealing with romance. Ringo sometimes sneaks a few while he's on ranger duty." Ringo then got business-like. "Enough about that. Let's work on your scene."

Ryou rolled his eyes. "I can't sing," he stated indifferently.

Ringo jumped back a few steps and beamed. "Don't worry about that; just follow me," she reassured him. "Now, where should we start? Oh yes...mi mi mi mi miiii..."

Ryou braced himself. He somehow had figured out earlier that Ringo and singing do not go together well.

"LOOOOOOVVVE...is a many spleeeennnnnnn-did thiiinnng..." Ringo blared out in thickly-accented English.

Ryou futilely tried to shut the girl up. "Akaii..." he pleaded desperately, but was unheard.

"It can lift me uuupppppppp...to where you AAAAARRRRRREEEE!"

"Akaii..."

"LOOOOOOVVVE...is a rare and treasured thiiinnngggg..."

"Akaii...!"

"If you want to ask me how I'm FEEEEEL-ing..."

"Akaii, please..."

"Well, if I were a bell, I would be RIIIIIIINNNG-ing..."

"Akaii...?"

"If I were a gate, I would be SWIIIIIINNNNG-ing..."

"Akaii!"

"If I were a bell, I'd be going DING...DONG...DIIIIINNNNNG!"

"AKAII!"

Ringo stopped singing and turned her head. "What?" she asked innocently, this time speaking in Japanese.

Ryou growled. "What the –bleep-!" he cursed out loud in English, causing the apple-girl to leap backwards onto the bed. Sure, the last time he really spoke the language was a year ago when he invited American pianist Mary Maguire to play at his ball thing, but he still remembered his English swear words. "Mother-bleep-, you nearly busted my –bleep- ear off with your screeching! Where the –bleep- did you learn all those songs! Well, I don't give a –bleep- about who taught them to you. All I want is for you and all the other –bleep- Mew Mews to stop growing on my –bleep- and get the –bleep- -bleep- outta my..."

Just then the door opened and Zakuro walked in casually. "You OK, Shirogane?" she asked him nonchalantly without so much as a 'hello'.

Ryou automatically stopped cussing and calmed down. "Ah, Fujiwara-san! Uhh...yeah yeah..." he hemmed and hawed in Japanese, "we're OK..."

Zakuro walked in closer to the blonde boy. "Don't think that I didn't hear or comprehend what you just said," she said softly in English. "If Ringo really understood English, I think she would've heard more profanities in just two minutes than she had ever heard in her whole life. I think you should tune it down a bit."

"But it wasn't my fault! She was driving me nuts!" Ryou ranted, also in English.

"Shirogane, she's only a child...barely even 12 years old."

"So! What difference does that make!"

"Maybe she just wanted to help..."

"I don't need her help!"

"Just one moment, please." Zakuro turned her attention away from the blonde-boy and switched over to the apple-girl, who was sitting on the bed with her back against the wall. She had been silently watching the English conversation between the two high school students tentatively without understanding a word.

"Ringo," Zakuro said soothingly to the apple-girl in Japanese: "Shirogane's not in a good mood right now. Maybe it'd be best if you..."

Ringo miserably interrupted the wolf-girl. "Ringo knows. You want Ringo to leave." And with that the apple-girl dragged herself off the bed and out of the room, closing the door behind her. She was not smiling her usual cute, innocent smile; instead she looked like she was on the verge of tears.

"Look what you've done," Zakuro said to Ryou in Japanese once Ringo had walked out of the room.

"As if it were MY fault!" Ryou fumed angrily, also in Japanese.

"You should go apologize to her later," Zakuro said. "As for now, what was she trying to help you with?"

Ryou slapped his forehead. "Oh no, not again!" he moaned.