TOKYO MEW MEW CRYSTAL
PART ONE : Back Together
1 - The Café Mew Mew
"What do you want to do now?"
Ichigo was on THE perfect date, in the perfect place, on the perfect day, with her perfect boyfriend. And, to top it all off, she'd just finished tasting the perfect wild strawberry sorbet (her favorite flavor). In short, everything was perfect.
Masaya placed a few coins on the table to settle the bill for their snack, then stood up and held out a hand to Ichigo, who was licking her lips. The redhead took her boyfriend's hand. Together, they left the café and walked slowly through the sunny streets of Tokyo, hand in hand. The scent of cherry blossom wafted gently through the air. Ichigo closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. She wished this moment could have lasted an eternity.
"Ichigo, look!"
She reopened her eyes and followed Masaya's direction. Her gaze landed on the opposite sidewalk, where a man appeared to be renting bicycles to tourists.
"Would you like to go for a bike ride?" Masaya said mischievously.
What more could you ask for than to pedal quietly in the shade of cherry trees in the company of your boyfriend?
"Let's race!" Ichigo exclaimed, already running towards the bike man. "Last one to the park pays for the smoothies!"
"Hey, wait for me!"
By the time Masaya caught up with her, Ichigo had already tossed the man a coin and jumped on a bike. Now the feisty redhead was pedaling like mad down the middle of the road, whizzing past the trees. She was going so fast that she didn't see the wildcat crossing the road, only two meters ahead of her.
"Ichigo, look out!" Masaya shouted.
In her moments of panic, Ichigo's brain had the annoying habit of disconnecting from the situation. So, instead of braking like any sensible person, Ichigo swerved sharply to the left. Unbalanced, the redhead went over the handlebars and did a magnificent glide, screaming, before landing headfirst on the asphalt.
Ichigo had no idea how she'd ended up lying on her back. Two seconds later, three Masaya sprang simultaneously into her field of vision, looking visibly worried.
Time out. Why were there three?
"Ichigo? Hey, Ichigo!"
Their voices seemed to come from far away, and she lost consciousness. Gradually, darkness fell, as Masaya continued to call out her name.
"Get up, Ichigo! Get up, Ichigo!"
With a vague wave of her hand, the redhead shooed away the hairy thing tickling her cheek. It came right back at her, determined to rouse Ichigo from his heavy sleep.
"Wake up, Ichigo! Wake up!"
Half asleep, Ichigo suddenly realized two things: Masaya's voice sounded oddly mechanical. And, secondly, Masaya wasn't nearly as... hairy.
Ichigo suddenly opened her eyes... and found herself face to face with something pink, full of hair, and with huge eyes.
"HIIIIIIII" she screamed, leaping out of her comforter. "What are you?!"
In front of her, Masha was flying around, flapping his little pink wings energetically. It didn't take Ichigo long to recognize him, and she breathed a deep sigh of relief. It had all been a dream.
"Masha tried to wake Ichigo, but Ichigo slept too well! Ichigo sleep too long!" the robot spouted at full speed.
"Sorry Masha, it's my fault. In fact, what time is it?"
With a smile on her face, the redhead turned to the alarm clock beside her pillow.
A deep howl was then heard.
"TEN HOURS!" Ichigo gasped, shaking Masha. "DAAAAMN!"
Without waiting for an answer, Ichigo leapt out of bed and disappeared into the bathroom, grabbing her uniform lying on her desk chair in the process. Exactly one minute later, she reappeared in her room and ran to the dressing table. She positioned herself in front of the mirror and began to run a brush through her long red hair, which had had time to grow in two years. Then she pulled it up into a high ponytail, a hairstyle she'd been opting for more and more often lately, leaving behind her schoolgirl pigtails.
"Oh my God, oh my God," she repeated as she got ready.
Sakura Momomiya was quietly reading a magazine at her kitchen table when she suddenly heard someone rushing down the stairs. Surprised, she looked up from her magazine to see her daughter striding into the kitchen looking like a mad woman.
"Hello Ichigo," Sakura said in her usual maternal tone.
"I don't have time, sorry!"
"If you're hungry, there's still yesterday's pancakes..."
Before the young woman could finish her sentence, Ichigo had already brought out the plate of pancakes and wolfed down three of them.
"And can we know what all the rush is about?" Sakura asked calmly. "Are you hanging out with your friends?"
"Hanging out with my-" Ichigo choked, almost spitting out a piece of pancake. "Do I look like I'm about to hang out? Mom, I'm late for class!"
At that moment, Sakura Momomiya started laughing so hard that Ichigo swore he saw the table shake. The young girl gave her mother a strange look as she slowly chewed her fourth pancake.
"Mom? I don't really see what's so funny right now."
"Well, every morning during the school year your father and I have to fight with you to get you out of bed. And today, for once, when you decide to wake up on your own without anyone having to threaten you, it's to go to school in the middle of August?" her mother exclaimed between two bursts of laughter.
Ichigo stopped chewing altogether and opened her mouth wide, completely flabbergasted. Then she saw the current date on the newspaper: Wednesday August 13. Who had classes during the summer vacations? At least that explained why her alarm hadn't gone off. Glad to see someone's amused by my life. Slightly disgusted, Ichigo finished her pancake and pushed the empty plate back into the corner of the table, casting a distracted glance around at the same time. It was then that she realized that the Momomiya house was far too quiet.
"Where are the others?" Ichigo asked, grabbing a glass and the bottle of orange juice, which was lying in a corner of the table.
Sakura wiped away the last of the tears beading at the corners of her eyes, and let out an amused sigh.
"Your father's at work, he had an emergency earlier this morning."
"What about Ringo?"
"Your cousin left this morning, while you were still asleep. Apparently, she had an urgent appointment. She won't be back until dinnertime."
"Oh."
Ichigo poured herself a glass of orange juice, and enjoyed swirling the liquid between her fingers while she pondered. Summer vacation was coming to an end, and all her friends were too busy getting ready to go back to school to accompany her to the beach. What's more, she'd used up all her pocket money for the month on shopping.
For a moment, she considered going on a picnic, but quickly dismissed the idea. "A picnic on your own isn't much fun. Her cousin wasn't even there to keep her company. Her mother's words came back to her: "She had an urgent appointment...".
Ichigo was suddenly seized by a doubt. Which appointment was it?
"Mom?"
"Yes, dear?"
"Did Ringo tell you exactly where she was going?"
Sakura poked her head out of her newspaper and looked at her daughter pensively. Ichigo raised her glass of juice to her lips.
"She just told me she had an appointment, and that I should let you know as soon as you woke up. That reminds me... Your boss called earlier. He didn't sound very happy."
"Who?" asked Ichigo distractedly, who, now that she knew she was free for the day, could concentrate on enjoying the rest of her breakfast.
"Your boss. The one at the cafe where you work...Cafe Mew Mew, I think."
Ichigo spat out her orange juice.
"Ryou! She's talking about Ryou! Ringo's appointment was the one Ryou gave us last week, to redecorate the Café. AND I'M LATE AGAIN!"
Clearly, she wasn't on vacation at all!
"No, no, no, no, no!" Ichigo groaned, jerking to her feet. "Ryou's going to kill me!"
"That sounds familiar.
"Summer's almost over, so today all the waitresses are supposed to be preparing the Café for the coming school year," Ichigo explained as she quickly cleared the table. "Which means that today it's work, decorating, cleaning, inventory and so on! We had an appointment at eight o'clock Mom, eight o'clock!"
Ichigo cast a quick glance in the direction of the kitchen clock, and shrieked in horror. The clock read 10:15. The redhead took off like an arrow towards the second floor. When she came back downstairs two minutes later, she had swapped her school uniform for a pink summer dress. She stormed past her mother, who seemed quite amused by the situation.
"Have a nice day!" Sakura said with a broad smile.
Ichigo didn't reply. She opened the house door and dashed down the street towards Café Mew Mew.
Ichigo arrived at the Café exactly twenty minutes after she had left. She had run through the sunny streets of Tokyo as if her life depended on it, jostling several grandmothers along the way.
Out of breath, the redhead pushed open the large pink door of the Café Mew Mew and dropped onto the building's cool tiled floor in the starfish position, arms and legs spread wide. She closed her eyes and took a few minutes to catch her breath.
When she opened her eyes again, she glanced around and realized that the Café was virtually silent. Ichigo raised her head and leaned on her elbows to get a better look at her surroundings. The room was almost empty, except for a little girl with golden hair who was frantically tapping the cash register on the counter. Ichigo squinted.
"Hi, Purin."
The little girl glanced over the crate, then a smile lit up her face.
"Ichigo-nee chan!" Purin greeted, raising her head. "I think you just broke your personal record for being late!"
This greeting was followed by a big smile from the little blonde, while Ichigo grimaced. Yeah, she was late. She was the first to know, and she also knew that her friends would be happy to remind her at the first opportunity.
"Me too, Purin. I'm glad to see you."
"Mutual feeling: I'm also always very happy to see myself.
Ichigo rolled her eyes.
This little girl was truly beyond redemption. Well, little... everything was relative.
Now aged just thirteen, Purin had grown a lot... at least physically. She had gained in height and her body had become slimmer, gradually transforming into that of a young teenager. Her curves were even beginning to develop where they needed to. She was even starting to grow breasts at last, something the blonde could not be prouder of. A few years ago, she had also undone her blonde curls from their usual little braids, and now they were long enough for her to tie them into two adorable little pigtails.
Just as her appearance had developed, one might have thought that time had finally brought the little blonde what she so desperately needed: maturity. Unfortunately, fate seemed to have decided otherwise, for the young teenager was even more hyperactive than ever. Bouncing around, laughing out loud and seemingly out of nowhere, remained her favorite pastime.
And, as if that weren't enough, her mouth still had no filter.
Only now, her spikes were worthy of the teenager she'd been.
Purin helped Ichigo to her feet, then hopped back to the cash register with Ichigo hot on her heels. The blonde was keeping the café's accounts for the beginning of August. Ichigo recognized one of the many tasks that waitresses had to do every change of season.
"I'm going to change," the redhead announced as she headed for the changing rooms.
Before the little girl could reply, Retasu emerged from the kitchen and burst into the room, a pile of plates in each hand. A few months ago, the gang had convinced Retasu to take a little more interest in her appearance. Since then, her wardrobe had evolved somewhat, but the girl hadn't lost her love of books and her trusty round Harry Potter-like glasses - at the same time, she was completely blind without them, as Purin had so delicately pointed out. Today, as every day for the past few months, Retasu had tied her long green hair into a high ponytail, which fell down her back in a cascade of waves.
The girl suddenly noticed Ichigo, and an expression of surprise painted itself on her face.
"Ah, Ichigo! We thought you weren't coming today..."
Distracted, Retasu stumbled and lost her balance. And disaster struck. Plates flew out of her hands and into different parts of the room, before the stunned eyes of the three waitresses present.
"Hey, watch out!" Purin shouted.
Leaning on the bar, the young blonde jumped over the crate. She gained momentum and, running towards the plates, launched herself into the air. She managed to grab a dozen of them in mid-air. Landing on the ground, she stretched out one leg in front of her and caught three more with her foot.
On Retasu's side, the young girl spotted more plates about to crash, right in front of her. She dived forward, grabbing the first plate just as the green one sprawled on the floor. The other plates followed, piling on top of each other in perfect balance. Retasu let out a small sigh of relief.
As for Ichigo, she had managed to catch two plates about to crash into a wall. She helped Retasu to her feet, and handed her the plates.
"Thank you," Retasu said with a shy smile.
"Well, that's normal," Purin replied, handing the green woman her plates. "Besides, if we'd let you break any more plates, Ryou would have given us a heart attack, so..."
"Eh, but that would have been fun to see," Ichigo said.
She and Purin laughed, while Retasu blushed. The commotion attracted the attention of the Café's other waitresses, for, just a few seconds later, the heads of two more waitresses appeared from the kitchen.
"Did we miss something?" a little brunette girl asked.
The girl wore her brown hair cut very short, and had big brown eyes that looked curiously at everything around her. From the looks of it, she seemed to be no more than eleven years old. When Ringo spotted her cousin, she gave her a big smile and took a few steps in her direction.
"Finally!" she sighed theatrically, briefly hugging Ichigo. "The others and I were wondering if you were coming today."
"You're very exactly two hours and thirty-seven minutes late," apostrophized the second girl, Minto, with her eternal snobbish attitude. "Wouldn't you like to take a cue from me and arrive on time for once?"
"Blah, blah, what I can't hear can't put me in a bad mood," Ichigo replied, clasping her hands over her ears.
The young princess was about to retort, when a new waitress burst into the great hall without warning. Zakuro looked at her little colleagues for a moment, then blurted out:
"Ryou is waiting for us all in the basement. It's important."
Then, without waiting for any reaction from the others, she turned on her heels and disappeared as quickly as she had arrived. Meanwhile, the others froze. The celebrity's tone was unmistakable, and seemed even colder than usual. Minto and Ichigo exchanged surprised glances, all trace of argument gone.
"Why does Ryou want to see us now?" asked Retasu nervously.
"There's only one way to find out," replied Ichigo. "Let's go."
One after the other, the five waitresses took the same path as Zakuro had earlier. They began descending the steps, gradually making their way into the heart of the Café Mew Mew. Soon, they found themselves in a vast circular room filled with electronic equipment. It was in this room, unknown to customers, that the real Mew Mew headquarters were located. Every time they went there, each of them recalled the moments they had spent there when their powers were still active. It was, in a way, comforting.
Zakuro was already there, leaning against a wall half plunged into darkness. In addition to the violet, three other people were present. Among them was a tall blond man standing in the middle of the room, arms crossed and looking grim. Ichigo immediately recognized Ryou, and felt her heart clench: she had a bad feeling. Next to him, an older man sat on a chair, watching the girls approach intently. Unlike usual, Keiichiro wasn't smiling. The last person in the room was a young girl, playing nervously with her long blond hair, her eyes riveted to the floor. As the other waitresses approached, Berry raised her head and gave them a thin smile. No cheerful hello, no sunny smile to which her friends were accustomed. Berry joined them, then the girls turned to Ryou.
"Ryou, what's going on?" asked Minto bluntly.
"Girls, I've got some news for you..."
He stopped dead in his tracks, unable to continue. He was usually so self-confident, so proud, he knew how to stand up to his waitresses, but now he looked terribly uncomfortable. Purin watched him carefully.
"Ouch! That's not good news, otherwise you'd have your smug little boss look."
"Purin, please," Keiichiro scolded her.
All the girls were surprised. Keiichiro hardly ever raised his voice to any of them.
Ryou ran a hand through his hair and turned his head away, embarrassed. Then he heaved a sigh and straightened his chin, resting his blue eyes on each of the girls.
"Purin is right," the young man admitted. "Listen, what I'm about to say isn't going to please you. But... it's been two years since you lost your powers, and there's very little chance of them ever coming back. The Café was primarily used as headquarters for the Mew Mew project, and the Earth is no longer in danger. So..."
Ryou paused again. With horror, Ichigo was beginning to see her fears confirmed. And clearly, she wasn't the only one.
"What do you mean?" gasped Retasu, eyes wide behind his glasses.
Ryou and Keiichiro exchanged glances. It was the latter who answered, with a serious expression on his face.
"We're going to close the Café Mew Mew."
"What?!"
"Girls..."
It was at this moment that Ichigo cut herself off from reality. The young woman was so shocked that she gasped for breath.
Ryou and Keiichiro were about to close the Café. As if it were just another town café, when in reality it was much more than that. It was in this Café that they had explained to her who she really was, and that her mission was to save the Earth. This was where she'd rushed to whenever Ryou had called them with a new mission. It was here that she'd shared so many moments with her friends, argued so often with Minto, butted heads with Ryou, tasted Keiichiro's delicious pastries... Le Café was all she had left of her old life, of her Mew Mew life. And even that was about to be taken away.
"But that means we won't be able to see each other anymore!" cried Berry as Ichigo reconnected to the conversation.
"We'll try to keep in touch," Retasu replied, without much conviction.
Purin shook his head, looking unhappy.
"But it won't be like before..."
"If I understand correctly, your decision has already been made?"
The sentence, delivered in an accusatory tone, came from the back of the room. All eyes immediately turned to Zakuro. She, who had refrained from intervening since the announcement of the closing, was now standing straight as an "I", arms crossed over her chest. A slight frown betrayed her displeasure.
Ryou nodded.
"Unfortunately, yes. We'll be providing service for a few more months, until December. To end the year, close the chapter. After that, we'll have to close up shop."
The Mew Mew exchanged glances, looking discomfited. Ryou sighed once more, then, as the waitresses looked on in dismay, headed for the stairs. Before disappearing, he turned one last time, and uttered these few words:
"I am truly sorry."