Current Time:
"Damnit! Where the hell is she? How the hell does she just disappear like that? Nobody can just up and disappear like this. What the hell is she hiding? I know she's hiding something, but I don't know what. But whatever it is, it must be big. The only thing I know is that she doesn't have my research. God… I need a break before I drive myself insane." Ryou was in the lab, searching for Mirin—unsuccessfully. He was beyond frustrated when he started grumbling.
To keep from destroying his computers, Ryou turned everything off and headed upstairs to get something to eat.
Ring. Ring. Ring. Ring. Ring.
He didn't know why, but when Ryou heard the phone ringing (the moment he stepped through the door), he got a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.
"Hello, you've reached Café Mew Mew; I am sorry, but I'm afraid you've just missed us. Please try again tomorrow between the hours of Noon and five." Keiichiro politely answered the phone as Ryou walked over.
"Please, don't hang up. I'm not calling for pastries; I am calling for a Shirogane, Ryou. Is he there? Or is there a better time or number I can reach him at?" A man on the other end of the phone quickly replied.
"Hold, please." Keiichiro requested, locating Ryou.
"Who is it?" Ryou asked, walking over to Keiichiro.
"I don't know, but it's for you." Keiichiro replied, handing Ryou the phone.
"Ok… Hello? Who is this?" Ryou replied before calmly speaking to whoever was on the phone.
"Hello, I am looking for Shirogane, Ryou. Am I speaking to him now?" The voice on the other end clearly asked.
"Yes, this is he. Now, who are you?" Ryou answered and then asked, trying to remain calm.
"Great. Mr. Shirogane, my name is Koji Okunaka, and I am with child protective services. Listen, this isn't exactly something that should be discussed over the phone. Could you possibly be free to meet up with me sometime?" The guy, Koji Okunaka, professionally explained before requesting.
"What is this about?" Ryou asked right away, feeling his eyes start to twitch.
"I don't think this the type of conversation one should be having over the phone." Koji repeated.
"And I'm not going to meet someone I do not know unless I know the reason he wants to meet me. So, I'll ask one more time: what is this all about?" Ryou demanded, becoming annoyed. He really didn't have a good feeling in the pit of his stomach now.
"*Sigh…* Ryou, you're a father." Koji finally answered Ryou.
"Excuse me?" Ryou questioned, shocked.
Meanwhile, Keiichiro stood a few feet away, patiently waiting and wondering what was happening.
"You. Are. A. Father. Now that you know why I called, can we make an appointment to meet somewhere to discuss everything?" Koji answered Ryou again. This time, he paused between each word to get through to him before once again requesting.
"What do you mean that I'm a father? Who the hell is the mother? Why didn't I know about any of this before? Are you sure it's even mine, because don't remember having sex with anyone." Ryou frantically questioned, shocking Keiichiro.
"Obviously, this is a lot to take in. Please, Ryou, can we meet in person? I promise I will explain everything. If there is someone you want and trust to bring with you, that is possible. But you can only bring one other person." Koji explained.
"Can you at least tell me who the mother is?" Ryou asked again, placing his fingers on his temple.
"Their mother was Mirin Neesa; she had twins." Koji answered, shocking Ryou even more.
"Mirin Neesa? Fine… When are you free to meet up?" Ryou asked, rubbing his brow.
"When are you free? I can meet at any time." Koji answered.
"Same here." Ryou answered.
"Ok. How about tomorrow afternoon?" Koji suggested.
"Where and what time exactly?" Ryou inquired, leaning against a counter.
"Can you meet me at Children's Memorial Mercy Home at around one in the afternoon?" Koji requested.
"Yeah, that's fine." Ryou answered, still frustrated.
"Great. Are you brining someone with you?" Koji asked.
"Umm… Yeah, I have someone to come with me; his name is Keiichiro Akasaka." Ryou answered, looking at Keiichiro, who nodded his head.
"Great. I'll see you tomorrow then." Koji happily responded.
"Yeah, see you tomorrow. Have a wonderful night." Ryou replied, taking a deep breath.
"Have a good night—or at least try to have a good night." Koji replied before they hung up.
"Ryou, are you alright?" Keiichiro asked as Ryou sank to the floor.
"What's going on?" The girls questioned, confused.
"Apparently I'm a father." Ryou answered, holding his head.
"What?!" All the girls screamed, shocked.
"Yeah—twins. And apparently Mirin is their mother." Ryou responded, still holding his head.
"Well, then you can't possibly be the father; you've never had sex with her." Ichigo and Lettuce spoke, watching Ryou.
"Actually, that's where you're wrong. Mirin and I had sex on the anniversary of my parents' death two and half years ago. I thought I used a condom. There was a condom full of my semen; Keiichiro and I had it checked the next day. She used me." Ryou explained, finally looking up.
"Ryou…" "How could you be so stupid?" Lettuce started to attempt to comfort Ryou until Mint interrupted her.
"Mint! Maybe we should figure out the facts before we become so critical! I'm sure there's a reason why they did what they did—besides the fact that Mirin was a massive selfish bitch." Ichigo scolded Mint.
"Ichigo's right." A new girl spoke up.
"Thank you, Kurumi." Ichigo calmly thanked the girl.
In the last two years, there have been five new mew mews: Kurumi, Umeko, Anzu, Suika, and Nashi.
Kurumi Shinkurozen:
—Seventeen.
—Waist-length red hair with light blonde highlights.
—Brown eyes.
—Infused with the DNA of the Black-Footed Ferret.
Umeko Kurohana:
—Fifteen.
—Black hair reaching her upper back.
—Brown eyes.
—Infused with the DNA of the Sumatran Surili.
Anzu Yukotsubaki:
—Eighteen.
—Shoulder-length teal hair.
—Blue eyes.
—Infused with the DNA of the Spectacled Bear.
Suika Akikaneshon:
—Fifteen.
—Short brown hair.
—Brown eyes.
—Infused with the DNA of the Hawksbill Sea Turtle.
Nashi Sumirekiko:
—Sixteen.
—Shoulder-length maroon hair.
—Brown eyes.
Infused with the DNA of the Chinese giant salamander.
Ichigo was now sixteen and her hair now reached her upper back.
Mint was now sixteen but still looked exactly the same.
Lettuce was now seventeen and her hair was now shoulder-length.
Pudding was now thirteen and her hair was now shoulder-length.
Zakuro was now eighteen and her hair now reached her lower back.
Berry was now thirteen but still looked exactly the same.
"What happened?" Pudding asked, curious.
"I'm not really sure, per say. I remember it was the anniversary of my parent's death and I was drinking. I wasn't planning on drinking with anyone; I was going to drink by myself just like every other year—unless Keiichiro was around. When I woke up the next day, with Keiichiro's help, we found out that Mirin had drugged me. Apparently, something happened with the condom because I was so sure I used one. I mean, there was one in the damn garbage can when I woke up. And that's pretty much it." Ryou explained.
"When was that?" Suika curiously asked.
"Uh… The day she left and never came back." Ryou answered as calmly as he could. Suika wasn't the brightest bulb in the bunch; a lot of things went over her head, but she tried.
"What do you think she was trying to get?" Ichigo questioned, concerned.
"She was trying to get information; I caught her snooping around that night." Keiichiro answered Ichigo.
"She wanted the research on the mew mew project. I knew I overheard her correctly!" Nashi suddenly exclaimed.
"Instead, she got pregnant." Mint sneered.
"Why didn't you think to tell us when you heard this?" Ryou demanded, snapping back to reality.
"I didn't think anything of it, nor did I really care. I mean, you keep it all in your head anyways." Nashi plainly answered Ryou.
Ryou was going to say something, but he decided to hold his tongue because he didn't want to start anything right now.
"Girls, just go home for the night. I have a lot to think about, so I'm going to go to bed to get ready for tomorrow. That reminds me: we're not opening tomorrow. Have a good day off." Ryou told the girls, heading upstairs, stressed out.
"Poor Ryou." Ichigo, Lettuce, Kurumi, and Suika spoke, watching Ryou walk upstairs.
"How do we even know these kids are even his?" Mint asked, crossing her arms over her chest.
"We don't. All we can do is wait and see. But one way or another, Ryou will be just fine." Keiichiro answered Mint before insisting.
"Goodnight, Keiichiro." The girls bid Keiichiro a goodnight as they left to go home.
With Ryou:
Ryou's P.O.V.:
How the fuck could this happen?
I mean, I know how sex works and how babies are created. But that's precisely why I drink alone—or only with Keiichiro that day. I didn't need something like this happening.
I'm not ready for kids.
However, if they really are my kids, what real choice do I have?
Yeah, I could sign my rights away and put them up for adoption. But what right do I have to do that to them when they didn't do anything wrong? They don't deserve to suffer for the mistakes I made.
Was it really a mistake with how carefully Mirin seemed to have thought this out?
What was her endgame?
I suppose if they are mine, I will take responsibility—whatever that may be.
In my mind, that's the only right thing to do.
I suppose at least I'll finally get to confront Mirin tomorrow.
I wonder what they look like.
Normal P.O.V.:
Ryou didn't have a good night; he tossed and turned all night long, unable to calm his mind down enough to turn it off for the night.
He kept going back and forth about his twins—trying to figure out if they were truly his—or if this was some sort of sick joke.
If he had to guess, he'd say they would have to be roughly two if they were his.
By the time he fell asleep (around 3:18 AM), Ryou had come to terms with the fact that he was most likely a father and that this was Fate…