Ichigo was warming up dinner. The phone started to ring. She set the freshly warm food on the dinner table and then answered the phone.
“Hello?”
“Ichigo? It me, Mint.”
“Minto? Mint Aizawa?”
“Yes. Well, now it’s Mint Leaf.”
“Leaf?”
“......Yes....”
“...So what did I do to deserve this call?”
“....You didn’t do anything. Ichigo.... Café Mew Mew is reopening.”
“What?! So, you think there is a new mew project?”
“Yes. I also think my daughter is apart of it. Will you come down to the Café
with me? Please?”
“Um...I was just about to sit down for dinner...”
“I’ll buy you dinner. Please? I don’t want to go alone.”
“It’s so unlike you to beg...Ok Mint-chan.”
“I’ll pick you up in 5 minutes ok?”
“Ok. See you Mint.” Ichigo said hanging up.
She walked back to the dining room. Chero and Masaya were already seated.
“Um..... I’m going out. Go ahead and eat with out me.”
“Where are you going Mom?” Chero asked.
“I’m going to have dinner with an old friend.”
Ichigo grabbed her bag and head out the door just in time to see a limo pull
up. She got in and the limo drove away.
***************************************
Masaya peeked out the window just in time to see his wife climb into a limo and ride away.
“Dad? Who is that?”
“That my dear I’m guessing was Mint Aizawa.”
“Oh.....You known Pepper’s Mom’s name is also Mint. Isn’t that funny?”
“...I thought she looked familiar. Pepper must be Mint’s daughter.”
“Dad... What if Mint figured it out and is going to tell Mom?”
“I’m sure Mint knows nothing. It’s not like her daughter mentioned working at
Café Mew Mew or anything....”
“Yeah..... Or anything......”
********************************
“Oh no!” I thought.
What if Pepper did tell her mom and she is going to tell my mom! Our secret
will be blown! Mom will never let me fight. I haven’t even found the rest of the Mews yet!!! I guess I’ll I can do is wait.
********************************
“So, Mint, how did you learn about the Café reopening?” Ichigo asked.
“Well, Peppermint told me. She said-”
“Wait. You named your kid Peppermint? Peppermint Leaf.” Ichigo said starting
to laugh.
Mint was getting impatient.
“ICHIGO!”
“Sorry....”
“As I was saying....Pepper asked if she could work there. I asked her why and
she said that she thought working for once would be nice. The thing is if you remember is that only people involved with the Mew project can work there.”
“You may be over reacting. Maybe Ryou and Keiichiro decided to end their days
of research on kirema anima and re-open the café as their new full time job.”
“We should still check it out.”
“Just in case we see Ryou....I should warn you. I saw him the other day and he looked the same. He said that an experiment went horribly wrong causing him to stop aging.”
“Wow......”
“I know.”
“Wait.... Where did you see him?”
“He said he ran into my daughter and husband. He said that Masaya had forgot something and asked him to walk Chero home so I wouldn’t worry....”
They looked at each other and shrugged. The limo pulled to a stop. They has arrived at the café. The two women got out and headed towards the familiar place, they went to everyday when they were young. The went to the back door and picked up the key under the mat that Keiichiro left for Ryou, who was always forgetting his keys. They entered as quietly as they could. They snuck past the kitchen where they saw Keiichiro absorbed in a new cookbook. Then Ichigo and Mint reached the lab. They saw Ryou at the computer.
He must have thought they were Keiichiro because he said, “Keiichiro, call Ma-”
He turned to see Ichigo and Mint.
“Call who?” Mint asked.
“Ma banker Lee.”
“I have to lie. I can’t let Ichigo know Masaya and Chero are apart of this.”
Ryou thought.
“Uh huh....” Mint said.
“What are you working on Ryou?” Ichigo asked.
“Nothing really. I was just looking back to the past. I have to clean out some of my old documents. I found old video files of the mews and was looking at them. Then I remembered I have to get a hold of my banker to reschedule my appointment.”
“Really? Let me see those old clips!” Ichigo said with excitement.
“Ok. You want to look too Mint?” Ryou said.
“No thanks.”
Mint decided to look around. She found a shelf with a whole bunch of picture. Pictures of the old Mew crew. Pictures of Ryou when he was little and with whom Mint figured were his parents. Then one picture surprised her. It was a pic of Ryou, and Masaya in the lab. Mint took the picture out of it’s frame and flipped it over. It said, “Masaya Aoyama and Ryou working on the New Mew project.”The picture was taken recently! Mint saw the filing cabinet and decided to look in there. She was really nervous. In the cabinet there was a file on each of the mews even Berri. She then saw what she wanted.
“NO!” Ryou said.
Mint turned really fast thinking she was caught.
“Please?!!!! Delete that!!!! PLEASE?!!!” Ichigo cried.
“No! I wont delete this! It’s too good!”
Mint look over Ryou’s shoulder to see a clip of Ichigo tripping in battle.
Mint sighed.
“Same as always,” She thought.
She turned her attention back to the folder. It was labeled, “New Mews.”
“Huh?!” Mint cried out.
“WHERE DID IT GO????” her mind screamed.
“Looking for this?” a voice asked.
Mint turned to see Keiichiro with the “New Mew” folder.
“Keiichiro! Give it back!”
“Why should I? It is Ryou’s.”
“It’s only fair if my daughter is involved with the new mew project I should know!!!”
Keiichiro got a look of shock and Ryou turn to face Mint.
“How did you find out Mint?”
“About the new mew project? 1. On the back of one of the pictures it says, “Ryou working on New Mew project” 2. That folder in your hand, Keiichiro says New Mews.”
“Keiichiro, we might as well tell her that her daughter is apart of the New Mew project.” Ryou said.
“......You just told me.”
“Oh...How did you figure it out?” Ryou asked.
“Well let’s see after some commoner came returning Pepper’s hat, she was
saying goodbye. A few minutes later she comes running inside and asks if she could work here. I knew that only people who are in relation to the Mew project can work here. So, I called Ichigo and we came down here to investigate.”
“Oh......”
“Can I see the picture Mint?” Ichigo asked.
“No!” Everyone else exclaimed in unison.
“Eh? Why not?!!”
“Why would you want to? It’s just a boring old picture of Ryou on the computer.” Mint said.
Then all of a sudden the phone rang.
“You going to get that?” Ichigo asked Ryou.
“No. I’m talking to you. That would be rude.”
The answering machine went off.
“Hey you’ve reached the office of Ryou Shirogane and Keiichiro Akasaka.
Please leave a message. BEEP!”
“Hey Ryou. It’s me-” The message said.
Ryou picked up the phone.
Covering the mouth piece he said, “This call is important.”
Into it he said, “Ryou here. Yeah. I know. It’s a little late for the warning. You sure? Ok. See ya. Bye.”
He hung up the phone and turned to face Ichigo. He sighed.
“That sounded like Masaya. What did he want?” Ichigo asked.
“He called because he thought you should know before you found out yourself.”
“What?”
“........Masaya isn’t working for some big science corporation like you
thought. .....He’s working for me.” Ryou said with a sigh.
“Wait....That means....”
“Yes.”
Keiichiro walked over and laid out the file. In side was info about Chero and Pepper, which animal DNA they have infused in them and about the development of their powers so far.
“As you can see, Mint you were right. Ichigo....We’re sorry that we had to use your daughter. Masaya was really upset about the whole thing, but it was our only choice. The aliens have returned.” Keiichiro explained.
“W-what?! You can’t be serious! My daughter is a MEW MEW?!!!! How could you do this Ryou?!” Ichigo screamed.
“Ichigo. Calm down. They had no choice. You don’t see me freaking out like this. Do you?” Mint said.
“Well you didn’t almost lose your own life and have the one you love the most try and destroy the world! Did you?!”
Tears started to pour out her eyes.
“We all almost lost our lives many time Ichigo! It’s not our fault your true love ended up being the alien master, Deep Blue!! You really need to get over yourself! You don’t think I’m upset? I’m just as upset as you! I’m just going to accept the fact the world needs my daughter’s help! That doesn’t mean I’m not worried. Ichigo......If you accept the fact that your daughter is a Mew you can help her go through this rough time.” Mint explained.
“.......I’m sorry! I’m sorry....”
“It’s ok. We thought you would be upset when you found out. When Masaya called he told me to tell you. I wanted to tell you earlier, but Masaya thought you would get angry. He wanted you to be happy.” Ryou said.
“You’re right....I’m sorry.” Ichigo said pulling herself together, “ Now. How can I help?”
Um.... that's it for now!
