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[America Mew Mew] Episode Twenty-Four
Took me long enough, but here it is! ♥ I admit, this is a little different than what I'm used to writing, but I'm trying? And um, I don't really know anymore if it'll stop at 30. I have a feeling that at the rate I'm going, it might take a couple more. No one's as sorry as I am ('cause I really want to move on to other stories!), but hey. We'll be on this journey a little while longer.
Title: Episode Twenty-Four: The Truth's Aftermath. A Difficult Battle?
Fandom: TMM [but so AU that it's probably transgressed into original fic at this point]
Summary: It seems like Roy and Ryou are fighting for their lives while Miles and the others discuss what it means to not be human...
Disclaimer: If you recognize it from the original series, it's not mine. Otherwise, I'm fairly sure everything in here's my creation.
How long had he been in there? An hour? Two? Three? (... Okay, maybe not three.)
He couldn't remember. He just felt his dry tongue rubbing against his gum. Hang on, he told himself with faked confidence. I'll be out of here soon.
But when was soon? He knew his best friend was out there fighting with him, but how long could they keep pretending?
How much longer could they keep holding back?
That sinister white-haired alien loomed above him, taunting him just by his sneers. The book lay on the counter, long forgotten as the alien tightened his ponytail. "You're pretty strong for a human."
For a human? Was that supposed to be a compliment? If so, it was an incredibly bad one. He hunched against the metallic wall, drenched with his sweat, as the alien leaned in... how much longer...
He instinctively shut his eyes. The alien howled, gasping for air as he staggered back towards the opposite wall. "What on--- FELLAT!"
He slowly opened his eyes as he watched a red-orange glass semi-circle disappear. Cursing under his breath, he turned his head to face his friend.
"Ryou," He hissed.
There was no response. "Ryou!"
The blond shot to his feet. "Roy? What's wrong?"
That was when Ryou finally spotted the remnants of the glass semi-circle. His eyes widened as he too cursed under his breath. "That... man...."
Immediately, a sudden force hit Ryou. He was thrown against the metallic wall. Roy immediately jumped, kicking the other alien in the stomach. "Hey," The redhead croaked. "No hurting my friend."
The other alien sneered, "You need to care more about you. You do not appear well."
Thank you, Captain Obvious. Roy grunted, taking Ryou by the arm as he ran (thank god for adrenaline) into the nearest door. Locking it from inside, the redhead leaned against the wall. Panting for breath, he simply gestured towards Ryou's wristwatch.
Ryou's eyes widened as he glanced over his shoulder at the door. They could both hear the screams of the aliens - their yells and attempts to break in - and watched in horror as a rather large dent made its way into the middle of the silver door.
"Just do it," Roy barely managed to get out.
His friend silently nodded, placing his hand over the wristwatch. A blue light shone as the glass door opened on its own. Ryou waited as two water bottles materialized from within; he tossed one towards his friend before he gulped the entire bottle down. Panting, he whispered, "It's still cold."
Giving thanks with a nod, Roy guzzled the entire bottle in seconds. "That felt so good," Roy blissfully answered. "... I know you said no magic-- er, special abilities when working on the Mew Project, but this was necessary."
Ryou shook his head as he walked over and took the water bottle from his friend. (Oops, there went another dent.) "We need to hurry. You need another bottle?"
Nodding, Roy took another materializing water bottle from the wristwatch. Gulping it down in a minute, he handed both empty water bottles to Ryou. The water bottles disappeared within the watch as the glass door shut itself.
"You ready," Ryou whispered as they stood in front of the door. "This time, we won't play nice."
"Sounds good to me," Roy looked over with a grin. The door broke; both boys ducked to avoid the incoming shards of metal as both Chive and Panforte floated in with disgruntled looks.
"How many doors are you going to make us replace," Panforte sighed. "Chive, let's just end their misery."
He paused, staring at both boys. "They--"
"--look well," Chive finished. "He took care of him." (Again, neither Roy nor Ryou had the heart to tell Chive the real meaning of that statement.)
"Let's finish this," Roy crossed his arms. "Admit it. We're pretty good for humans who aren't Mew Mews."
Panforte narrowed his eyes as he clutched his quill (weapon change? Already?) "We'll only admit it once you escape out of here with your lives."
Roy and Ryou exchanged glances before they started running. Chive immediately dove in, pushing Ryou towards the wall. "You did not think we would let you out?"
Ryou smiled, "I was kind of hoping that."
Roy flipped as Panforte threw a fire ball in his direction. "You'll need better spells," The redhead taunted as he held a defensive stance. Looking towards Ryou, he nodded before he drew out his rapier and thrust it out at the alien.
Panforte tossed his quill at the rapier. Roy clutched it tightly, yet the quill flew with such force that he soon found himself flying alongside the rapier. Letting go, he somersaulted as quills flew overhead. Ruefully sighing, he muttered, "I'm so getting that later."
Ryou cried from the opposite side of the room. Roy immediately started running in his direction; Panforte effortlessly floated over and gripped the redhead's arms tightly.
"I don't know what little game you pulled with that barrier," The alien castigated, "But this ends now."
Roy squirmed. His best friend was in pain! And they said they wouldn't hold back on any of their abilities. They hadn't lied, technically, to the aliens. They weren't mew mews. They didn't have special powers linked to animals.
But they were still different - special when compared to ordinary humans - when it came to fighting. Roy just didn't want to play all their cards at once. If they revealed everything now, they wouldn't have any bargaining chips in the future.
Panforte gripped even more tightly; Roy yelled in pain. Immediately, he focused on the lone plant in the corner of the room. Smiling - was he crazy? - he leaned in and muttered, "Bloom."
The plant immediately thrust its vines at Panforte. Panforte dropped Roy in surprise (did that plant just snarl at him?).
Roy immediately gave Panforte a swift kick. Nodding towards the plant, he ran towards Ryou and Chive. Panforte lunged. Roy again dodged to the left, only hearing the large 'thunk' behind him.
"Oy," The exasperated teen cried as he grabbed Chive's arms. "Pick on someone with similar abilities, will ya?"
Ryou shot him a grateful smile before falling to the ground. Chive amusedly smiled. "Oh? And what do you mean by 'similar abilities?'"
The lone plant again shot its vines at Chive. The alien stared at the plant in disbelief, just barely managing to dodge its attacks as Roy lifted Ryou from the floor. Adjusting his friend's weight by placing him on his back, Roy shot a grateful smile to the plant as he started to run.
And as he kept running, Ryou just barely clinging to his back for dear life, all he could think about were those fading - and swearing, loud - voices still echoing in his head.
+
She could hear voices above her. They were incredibly soft - almost as if they didn't want to wake someone up - and hushed. She could hear the pacing of footsteps, the wringing of hands... did someone die?
She slowly opened her eyes, blinking as her vision came into focus. Four heads gently watched her, their faces washed with relief as she slowly rose and sat up.
"Guys," She murmured. "What happened?"
Her friends frowned. Celsia said, "You don't remember, Mimi? We wouldn't know. We found you and Miles... just lying there on the ground."
She and Miles? Really? She turned to her side, blinking as she stared at the empty bed beside her. "But he's not--"
"Here," Miles finished for her, smiling as he handed over a granola bar. "Sorry, Meems. Seems I woke up earlier than you did."
Mimi couldn't help smiling as she bit into the bar. It felt so warm and gooey... she could easily forget about everything that had happened. But she still had to tell them what happened, didn't she? It was hard to forget what she'd learned.
Miles knew. He had known all along.
(How could he have hidden something like that from her? The jerk! ... But she supposed it made sense. Sorta. Kinda. He was being sweet about not telling her, in this really creepy roundabout way.)
As if that weren't enough, he ended up being her knight in shining armor. (Or if you wanted to be historically accurate, her religious Crusader that strove for justice.) Her Miles. He wasn't quite human, was he?
He couldn't be a normal human to turn out being her Crusader. What made a person 'human?' Was it her genetic makeup? Her walk, her talk? Her stride, her two hands with opposable thumbs, her balance, her spirit?
How do you measure being human? It can't be that simple, because the aliens could be human too if humans thought about it hard enough. How do you measure a person's ability to feel, to think, to live? It was just unthinkable.
Retasu watched the window as she gently placed some gerberas in a vase nearby. "When is Shirogane-san coming back?"
The entire room fell silent. Mimi placed her hands to her mouth. She didn't want to think about it - but she had to. Ryan-- no, Ryou and Roy had sacrificed themselves back in the alien base so that Shuu could escort them to safety.
"Speaking of which," Mimi finally said, her eyes resting on Shuu. "You were a beast back there. I had no idea you could fight like that."
The other mews stared at her with blank looks. "Shuugo, fight," Sorrel asked. "It seems unnatural. He's a little too scrawny to be fighting, right?"
Shuu blushed, "It's okay. But thanks, Meems. I was just worried that we wouldn't make it out of there all right." Turning to Miles, he then asked, "You have any idea what Panforte was doing to you back there?"
Miles shrugged. "I'm not really sure. He said that I definitely wasn't human if I was the Templare. But then... what would that make me?" He looked to Mimi with a pleading glance. She shrugged helplessly in return.
"No worries, Milester," Primrose cheerfully called as she sauntered (no, skipped!) over to him. Grinning, she stood on her tiptoes and ruffled his hair. "I think you're plenty human enough for me. And obviously Meems too. Otherwise she wouldn't be afraid of the cooties you're giving her!"
The two exchanged embarrassed glances as they nervously held hands. Sorrel rolled her eyes as Celsia clung to her left arm.
"Exactly what she said," Sorrel echoed with a slight smile. "You mean well. And aren't both of your parents human anyway?"
"Yeah," Miles nodded. "Dad's a normal professor at NYU. There's really nothing weird about him... well, except what he did for his masters."
Celsia blinked. "His masters? What'd he do?"
"Something with archeology and Italy," Miles shrugged nonchalantly. "Not surprisingly, he's now an archeology professor at NYU."
Shuugo blinked. "Really? I wonder if Keiichiro's heard of him... he majored in archeology back in Japan, from what I've heard."
"You mean," Mimi interrupted. "You've actually heard from Mr. Keiichiro lately?"
"Of course," Shuu responded, shooting her an amused look. "He's a pretty cool guy! And he makes the best cheesecake I've tasted in my life."
He paused, laughing nervously as he looked over at Miles. "But uh, we were talking about Miles' humanness. And you're human enough for me."
Miles' face became a pale pink as he nodded. "Thanks."
The silence that crept into the room echoed all of their thoughts. What now? Miles and Mimi were obviously in no shape to fight - and their fearless leaders were still out fighting the aliens. That left Shuugo in charge, didn't it?
As everyone came to the same conclusion, all eyes fell upon the redhead. He blinked, tilting his head at everyone.
"You can't mean---oh, no, no. You're kidding me," He laughed nervously as he started taking steps back. "I'm not really involved with the Mew Project at all. Not besides moral support."
The door to the flower shop opened. Everyone turned to face it - maybe the boys were finally home! - but their faces fell upon seeing a petit brown-haired boy walk in. Viola case in his hands, he smiled weakly at Shuu.
"Hey," The boy called weakly. "Ryou and Rovin said that they needed me."
Shuu's eyebrows furrowed. "But what would they need you for, Fuu?"
"Oh," Mimi shot in realization. "That's your cousin, isn't it, Shuu?"
The boy beamed. "Yeah. Fuyuki Tsumara. You guys are all Shuu's friends. I remember you guys from his birthday party."
Everyone apologetically smiled in return before returning to chatter amongst themselves. Retasu, however, stayed where she was. Sorrel wandered over to her, completely ignoring Shuu's and Fuu's (hey, their names rhymed) conversation.
"Don't worry," She calmly spoke, placing her hand on Retasu's shoulder. "I'm sure they'll come here soon."
"I am still worried," Retasu whispered, her hands shaking as she took Sorrel's. "What if they do not come home?"
Sorrel immediately wrapped her friend in a tight bear hug. "Just believe," Sorrel gently instructed her. "They're our leaders for a reason."
Retasu slowly nodded, yet never did let her eyes wander away from the window. The others kept talking, unaware of the tears slowly falling down her face.
At that exact moment, Shuu's cell phone rang. Everyone fell silent as he opened his phone, said, "Hello?" and immediately fell silent himself.
"Oh, really? ... That's great, Uncle Brett! They'll be all right in... an hour? Kay. Kay. Love you too. Bye."
As soon as he hung up, Mimi interjected with a, "So? What's the verdict?"
"Roy and Ryou're resting at Roy's house," Shuu explained with a smile. "They're going to be out of commission for the next twenty four hours, but Uncle Brett thinks they'll be able to talk and stuff in an hour."
A sigh of relief went out through the entire room. Fuu, on the other hand, just made a face. "So that's what they needed me for. Jeez, if they wanted eyes and ears while they're out, they could've just told me so."
Mimi giggled, "They're sorta-kinda known here for not explaining things."
"But," Celsia interrupted. "How does this 'Uncle Brett' person know about Roy and Ryou? Is he involved in the Mew Project?"
"No," Shuu admitted with a sheepish shrug. "But he's a doctor. And Ryou often got himself hurt as a kid, so Uncle Brett's used to seeing him in bad shape."
Celsia stuck her tongue out. "Really now? It's just like them to take advantage of past situations to manipulate family friends." She sighed, looking over at her friends. "... But I guess it had to be done, so I won't complain. For now."
"Thanks," Shuu smiled at her.
Celsia blushed, immediately looking towards where Sorrel and Retasu were. Then her eyes narrowed as she crossed her arms. "Awwwww," She muttered to herself. "Retasu's so lucky~ I wanna be in Sorrel's arms like that~"
Sorrel immediately let go of Retasu. The green-haired girl laughed softly, patting Sorrel's hair as she stood on tip-toe. "Celsia-chan will be Celsia-chan."
"That she will," Sorrel exasperatedly responded. "You all right?"
"Yes," Retasu smiled. "We will be seeing them in an hour, yes? It will be fine."
"I'm glad," Sorrel returned the smile.
Miles then smiled over at his girlfriend, "You guys are really close. I'm kinda envious."
"What're you talking about, Milester," Primrose blinked as she sauntered over to them again. "You're my friend too! Everyone here's friends with each other." She paused for a moment, thinking as she looked over at Fuu. "'Cept maybe for Mr. Fuu-Fuu, but that's only 'cause we just met."
Fuyuki frowned. "Mr Fuu-Fuu?"
"She gives everyone nicknames," Shuu shrugged. "You get used to it after a while."
"Great," Fuyuki sarcastically responded. "Now we're being bossed around by a ten year old girl."
Shuu crossed his arms, now smiling widely. "Fuu? You're ten too."
Everyone laughed as Fuu tried to hide himself under his viola case. "S-shut up!"
"So," Shuu cheerfully said. "Since I'm now leader for the next twenty four hours! How 'bout we go see Roy and Ryou and see what we need to do? I know that we probably can't rely on Miles and Mimi for a while, sorry. It's not that you can't fight--"
"--but that we fainted, right," Miles finished.
Shuu nodded. "I don't want to take chances."
Sorrel's cell phone rang. She apologetically smiled as she opened her phone, said, "Hello?" and... her face immediately fell. Everyone tried to look away; it wasn't often they saw their normally cool, collected Sorrel dismayed.
"I see," She finally responded. "I'll be there."
Hanging up her phone, she regained her composure. "I'm afraid I have to meet Garner after our meeting. Is it all right if I leave early?"
"Fine with me," Shuu nodded. "Just come early if we need fighters, okay?"
"Sure," Sorrel nodded.
Celsia immediately clung to her mentor's arm. "You okay," She whispered. Normally, Sorrel would've pushed her off with a gentle scolding - or even sighed with exasperation. But today? She just smiled, patting her friend on the head.
"Yeah," She whispered back. "I'm fine."
That just worried Celsia even more. It was she who pulled back and stared at her mentor with disbelief. "No, you're not."
Sorrel said nothing as Celsia continued to stare her down.
"G-guys," Mimi immediately called, waving her arms in the air. "How 'bout we head down to the grocery store and buy some food to bring to the guys? I'm kinda hungry too."
"Considering you slept a whole day," Celsia finally shot back. "That sounds like a good idea."
"Hehehe," Mimi giggled nervously. Sorrel slowly nodded, hanging back to talk to an extremely worried Retasu nearby.
Crisis averted... for now. Shuu held the door open. As everyone ruefully passed through, he waited until Miles was the last one to leave. Walking beside the blond, Shuu gently poked his shoulder.
"Hey. You ready for what's coming?"
Miles frowned. "To be honest... I don't even know. I have a feeling it's just going to get worse from this point on."
"That's what I was thinking," Shuu admitted. "But we're just going to have to deal with this head-on."
"Yeah," Miles agreed. "So, will you fill me in on everything?"
"Sure. We've got a while to go, after all."
And so they discussed the past events together. Miles was a good listener - he oohed, aaahed, and awwwed at all the right places - and Shuu couldn't help feeling as if a giant weight had just been lifted off his chest. When they reached the door of the grocery store, Miles stopped.
"Thanks."
"No problem," Shuu found himself saying as he opened the door. "That's what friends are for."
Title: Episode Twenty-Four: The Truth's Aftermath. A Difficult Battle?
Fandom: TMM [but so AU that it's probably transgressed into original fic at this point]
Summary: It seems like Roy and Ryou are fighting for their lives while Miles and the others discuss what it means to not be human...
Disclaimer: If you recognize it from the original series, it's not mine. Otherwise, I'm fairly sure everything in here's my creation.
How long had he been in there? An hour? Two? Three? (... Okay, maybe not three.)
He couldn't remember. He just felt his dry tongue rubbing against his gum. Hang on, he told himself with faked confidence. I'll be out of here soon.
But when was soon? He knew his best friend was out there fighting with him, but how long could they keep pretending?
How much longer could they keep holding back?
That sinister white-haired alien loomed above him, taunting him just by his sneers. The book lay on the counter, long forgotten as the alien tightened his ponytail. "You're pretty strong for a human."
For a human? Was that supposed to be a compliment? If so, it was an incredibly bad one. He hunched against the metallic wall, drenched with his sweat, as the alien leaned in... how much longer...
He instinctively shut his eyes. The alien howled, gasping for air as he staggered back towards the opposite wall. "What on--- FELLAT!"
He slowly opened his eyes as he watched a red-orange glass semi-circle disappear. Cursing under his breath, he turned his head to face his friend.
"Ryou," He hissed.
There was no response. "Ryou!"
The blond shot to his feet. "Roy? What's wrong?"
That was when Ryou finally spotted the remnants of the glass semi-circle. His eyes widened as he too cursed under his breath. "That... man...."
Immediately, a sudden force hit Ryou. He was thrown against the metallic wall. Roy immediately jumped, kicking the other alien in the stomach. "Hey," The redhead croaked. "No hurting my friend."
The other alien sneered, "You need to care more about you. You do not appear well."
Thank you, Captain Obvious. Roy grunted, taking Ryou by the arm as he ran (thank god for adrenaline) into the nearest door. Locking it from inside, the redhead leaned against the wall. Panting for breath, he simply gestured towards Ryou's wristwatch.
Ryou's eyes widened as he glanced over his shoulder at the door. They could both hear the screams of the aliens - their yells and attempts to break in - and watched in horror as a rather large dent made its way into the middle of the silver door.
"Just do it," Roy barely managed to get out.
His friend silently nodded, placing his hand over the wristwatch. A blue light shone as the glass door opened on its own. Ryou waited as two water bottles materialized from within; he tossed one towards his friend before he gulped the entire bottle down. Panting, he whispered, "It's still cold."
Giving thanks with a nod, Roy guzzled the entire bottle in seconds. "That felt so good," Roy blissfully answered. "... I know you said no magic-- er, special abilities when working on the Mew Project, but this was necessary."
Ryou shook his head as he walked over and took the water bottle from his friend. (Oops, there went another dent.) "We need to hurry. You need another bottle?"
Nodding, Roy took another materializing water bottle from the wristwatch. Gulping it down in a minute, he handed both empty water bottles to Ryou. The water bottles disappeared within the watch as the glass door shut itself.
"You ready," Ryou whispered as they stood in front of the door. "This time, we won't play nice."
"Sounds good to me," Roy looked over with a grin. The door broke; both boys ducked to avoid the incoming shards of metal as both Chive and Panforte floated in with disgruntled looks.
"How many doors are you going to make us replace," Panforte sighed. "Chive, let's just end their misery."
He paused, staring at both boys. "They--"
"--look well," Chive finished. "He took care of him." (Again, neither Roy nor Ryou had the heart to tell Chive the real meaning of that statement.)
"Let's finish this," Roy crossed his arms. "Admit it. We're pretty good for humans who aren't Mew Mews."
Panforte narrowed his eyes as he clutched his quill (weapon change? Already?) "We'll only admit it once you escape out of here with your lives."
Roy and Ryou exchanged glances before they started running. Chive immediately dove in, pushing Ryou towards the wall. "You did not think we would let you out?"
Ryou smiled, "I was kind of hoping that."
Roy flipped as Panforte threw a fire ball in his direction. "You'll need better spells," The redhead taunted as he held a defensive stance. Looking towards Ryou, he nodded before he drew out his rapier and thrust it out at the alien.
Panforte tossed his quill at the rapier. Roy clutched it tightly, yet the quill flew with such force that he soon found himself flying alongside the rapier. Letting go, he somersaulted as quills flew overhead. Ruefully sighing, he muttered, "I'm so getting that later."
Ryou cried from the opposite side of the room. Roy immediately started running in his direction; Panforte effortlessly floated over and gripped the redhead's arms tightly.
"I don't know what little game you pulled with that barrier," The alien castigated, "But this ends now."
Roy squirmed. His best friend was in pain! And they said they wouldn't hold back on any of their abilities. They hadn't lied, technically, to the aliens. They weren't mew mews. They didn't have special powers linked to animals.
But they were still different - special when compared to ordinary humans - when it came to fighting. Roy just didn't want to play all their cards at once. If they revealed everything now, they wouldn't have any bargaining chips in the future.
Panforte gripped even more tightly; Roy yelled in pain. Immediately, he focused on the lone plant in the corner of the room. Smiling - was he crazy? - he leaned in and muttered, "Bloom."
The plant immediately thrust its vines at Panforte. Panforte dropped Roy in surprise (did that plant just snarl at him?).
Roy immediately gave Panforte a swift kick. Nodding towards the plant, he ran towards Ryou and Chive. Panforte lunged. Roy again dodged to the left, only hearing the large 'thunk' behind him.
"Oy," The exasperated teen cried as he grabbed Chive's arms. "Pick on someone with similar abilities, will ya?"
Ryou shot him a grateful smile before falling to the ground. Chive amusedly smiled. "Oh? And what do you mean by 'similar abilities?'"
The lone plant again shot its vines at Chive. The alien stared at the plant in disbelief, just barely managing to dodge its attacks as Roy lifted Ryou from the floor. Adjusting his friend's weight by placing him on his back, Roy shot a grateful smile to the plant as he started to run.
And as he kept running, Ryou just barely clinging to his back for dear life, all he could think about were those fading - and swearing, loud - voices still echoing in his head.
She could hear voices above her. They were incredibly soft - almost as if they didn't want to wake someone up - and hushed. She could hear the pacing of footsteps, the wringing of hands... did someone die?
She slowly opened her eyes, blinking as her vision came into focus. Four heads gently watched her, their faces washed with relief as she slowly rose and sat up.
"Guys," She murmured. "What happened?"
Her friends frowned. Celsia said, "You don't remember, Mimi? We wouldn't know. We found you and Miles... just lying there on the ground."
She and Miles? Really? She turned to her side, blinking as she stared at the empty bed beside her. "But he's not--"
"Here," Miles finished for her, smiling as he handed over a granola bar. "Sorry, Meems. Seems I woke up earlier than you did."
Mimi couldn't help smiling as she bit into the bar. It felt so warm and gooey... she could easily forget about everything that had happened. But she still had to tell them what happened, didn't she? It was hard to forget what she'd learned.
Miles knew. He had known all along.
(How could he have hidden something like that from her? The jerk! ... But she supposed it made sense. Sorta. Kinda. He was being sweet about not telling her, in this really creepy roundabout way.)
As if that weren't enough, he ended up being her knight in shining armor. (Or if you wanted to be historically accurate, her religious Crusader that strove for justice.) Her Miles. He wasn't quite human, was he?
He couldn't be a normal human to turn out being her Crusader. What made a person 'human?' Was it her genetic makeup? Her walk, her talk? Her stride, her two hands with opposable thumbs, her balance, her spirit?
How do you measure being human? It can't be that simple, because the aliens could be human too if humans thought about it hard enough. How do you measure a person's ability to feel, to think, to live? It was just unthinkable.
Retasu watched the window as she gently placed some gerberas in a vase nearby. "When is Shirogane-san coming back?"
The entire room fell silent. Mimi placed her hands to her mouth. She didn't want to think about it - but she had to. Ryan-- no, Ryou and Roy had sacrificed themselves back in the alien base so that Shuu could escort them to safety.
"Speaking of which," Mimi finally said, her eyes resting on Shuu. "You were a beast back there. I had no idea you could fight like that."
The other mews stared at her with blank looks. "Shuugo, fight," Sorrel asked. "It seems unnatural. He's a little too scrawny to be fighting, right?"
Shuu blushed, "It's okay. But thanks, Meems. I was just worried that we wouldn't make it out of there all right." Turning to Miles, he then asked, "You have any idea what Panforte was doing to you back there?"
Miles shrugged. "I'm not really sure. He said that I definitely wasn't human if I was the Templare. But then... what would that make me?" He looked to Mimi with a pleading glance. She shrugged helplessly in return.
"No worries, Milester," Primrose cheerfully called as she sauntered (no, skipped!) over to him. Grinning, she stood on her tiptoes and ruffled his hair. "I think you're plenty human enough for me. And obviously Meems too. Otherwise she wouldn't be afraid of the cooties you're giving her!"
The two exchanged embarrassed glances as they nervously held hands. Sorrel rolled her eyes as Celsia clung to her left arm.
"Exactly what she said," Sorrel echoed with a slight smile. "You mean well. And aren't both of your parents human anyway?"
"Yeah," Miles nodded. "Dad's a normal professor at NYU. There's really nothing weird about him... well, except what he did for his masters."
Celsia blinked. "His masters? What'd he do?"
"Something with archeology and Italy," Miles shrugged nonchalantly. "Not surprisingly, he's now an archeology professor at NYU."
Shuugo blinked. "Really? I wonder if Keiichiro's heard of him... he majored in archeology back in Japan, from what I've heard."
"You mean," Mimi interrupted. "You've actually heard from Mr. Keiichiro lately?"
"Of course," Shuu responded, shooting her an amused look. "He's a pretty cool guy! And he makes the best cheesecake I've tasted in my life."
He paused, laughing nervously as he looked over at Miles. "But uh, we were talking about Miles' humanness. And you're human enough for me."
Miles' face became a pale pink as he nodded. "Thanks."
The silence that crept into the room echoed all of their thoughts. What now? Miles and Mimi were obviously in no shape to fight - and their fearless leaders were still out fighting the aliens. That left Shuugo in charge, didn't it?
As everyone came to the same conclusion, all eyes fell upon the redhead. He blinked, tilting his head at everyone.
"You can't mean---oh, no, no. You're kidding me," He laughed nervously as he started taking steps back. "I'm not really involved with the Mew Project at all. Not besides moral support."
The door to the flower shop opened. Everyone turned to face it - maybe the boys were finally home! - but their faces fell upon seeing a petit brown-haired boy walk in. Viola case in his hands, he smiled weakly at Shuu.
"Hey," The boy called weakly. "Ryou and Rovin said that they needed me."
Shuu's eyebrows furrowed. "But what would they need you for, Fuu?"
"Oh," Mimi shot in realization. "That's your cousin, isn't it, Shuu?"
The boy beamed. "Yeah. Fuyuki Tsumara. You guys are all Shuu's friends. I remember you guys from his birthday party."
Everyone apologetically smiled in return before returning to chatter amongst themselves. Retasu, however, stayed where she was. Sorrel wandered over to her, completely ignoring Shuu's and Fuu's (hey, their names rhymed) conversation.
"Don't worry," She calmly spoke, placing her hand on Retasu's shoulder. "I'm sure they'll come here soon."
"I am still worried," Retasu whispered, her hands shaking as she took Sorrel's. "What if they do not come home?"
Sorrel immediately wrapped her friend in a tight bear hug. "Just believe," Sorrel gently instructed her. "They're our leaders for a reason."
Retasu slowly nodded, yet never did let her eyes wander away from the window. The others kept talking, unaware of the tears slowly falling down her face.
At that exact moment, Shuu's cell phone rang. Everyone fell silent as he opened his phone, said, "Hello?" and immediately fell silent himself.
"Oh, really? ... That's great, Uncle Brett! They'll be all right in... an hour? Kay. Kay. Love you too. Bye."
As soon as he hung up, Mimi interjected with a, "So? What's the verdict?"
"Roy and Ryou're resting at Roy's house," Shuu explained with a smile. "They're going to be out of commission for the next twenty four hours, but Uncle Brett thinks they'll be able to talk and stuff in an hour."
A sigh of relief went out through the entire room. Fuu, on the other hand, just made a face. "So that's what they needed me for. Jeez, if they wanted eyes and ears while they're out, they could've just told me so."
Mimi giggled, "They're sorta-kinda known here for not explaining things."
"But," Celsia interrupted. "How does this 'Uncle Brett' person know about Roy and Ryou? Is he involved in the Mew Project?"
"No," Shuu admitted with a sheepish shrug. "But he's a doctor. And Ryou often got himself hurt as a kid, so Uncle Brett's used to seeing him in bad shape."
Celsia stuck her tongue out. "Really now? It's just like them to take advantage of past situations to manipulate family friends." She sighed, looking over at her friends. "... But I guess it had to be done, so I won't complain. For now."
"Thanks," Shuu smiled at her.
Celsia blushed, immediately looking towards where Sorrel and Retasu were. Then her eyes narrowed as she crossed her arms. "Awwwww," She muttered to herself. "Retasu's so lucky~ I wanna be in Sorrel's arms like that~"
Sorrel immediately let go of Retasu. The green-haired girl laughed softly, patting Sorrel's hair as she stood on tip-toe. "Celsia-chan will be Celsia-chan."
"That she will," Sorrel exasperatedly responded. "You all right?"
"Yes," Retasu smiled. "We will be seeing them in an hour, yes? It will be fine."
"I'm glad," Sorrel returned the smile.
Miles then smiled over at his girlfriend, "You guys are really close. I'm kinda envious."
"What're you talking about, Milester," Primrose blinked as she sauntered over to them again. "You're my friend too! Everyone here's friends with each other." She paused for a moment, thinking as she looked over at Fuu. "'Cept maybe for Mr. Fuu-Fuu, but that's only 'cause we just met."
Fuyuki frowned. "Mr Fuu-Fuu?"
"She gives everyone nicknames," Shuu shrugged. "You get used to it after a while."
"Great," Fuyuki sarcastically responded. "Now we're being bossed around by a ten year old girl."
Shuu crossed his arms, now smiling widely. "Fuu? You're ten too."
Everyone laughed as Fuu tried to hide himself under his viola case. "S-shut up!"
"So," Shuu cheerfully said. "Since I'm now leader for the next twenty four hours! How 'bout we go see Roy and Ryou and see what we need to do? I know that we probably can't rely on Miles and Mimi for a while, sorry. It's not that you can't fight--"
"--but that we fainted, right," Miles finished.
Shuu nodded. "I don't want to take chances."
Sorrel's cell phone rang. She apologetically smiled as she opened her phone, said, "Hello?" and... her face immediately fell. Everyone tried to look away; it wasn't often they saw their normally cool, collected Sorrel dismayed.
"I see," She finally responded. "I'll be there."
Hanging up her phone, she regained her composure. "I'm afraid I have to meet Garner after our meeting. Is it all right if I leave early?"
"Fine with me," Shuu nodded. "Just come early if we need fighters, okay?"
"Sure," Sorrel nodded.
Celsia immediately clung to her mentor's arm. "You okay," She whispered. Normally, Sorrel would've pushed her off with a gentle scolding - or even sighed with exasperation. But today? She just smiled, patting her friend on the head.
"Yeah," She whispered back. "I'm fine."
That just worried Celsia even more. It was she who pulled back and stared at her mentor with disbelief. "No, you're not."
Sorrel said nothing as Celsia continued to stare her down.
"G-guys," Mimi immediately called, waving her arms in the air. "How 'bout we head down to the grocery store and buy some food to bring to the guys? I'm kinda hungry too."
"Considering you slept a whole day," Celsia finally shot back. "That sounds like a good idea."
"Hehehe," Mimi giggled nervously. Sorrel slowly nodded, hanging back to talk to an extremely worried Retasu nearby.
Crisis averted... for now. Shuu held the door open. As everyone ruefully passed through, he waited until Miles was the last one to leave. Walking beside the blond, Shuu gently poked his shoulder.
"Hey. You ready for what's coming?"
Miles frowned. "To be honest... I don't even know. I have a feeling it's just going to get worse from this point on."
"That's what I was thinking," Shuu admitted. "But we're just going to have to deal with this head-on."
"Yeah," Miles agreed. "So, will you fill me in on everything?"
"Sure. We've got a while to go, after all."
And so they discussed the past events together. Miles was a good listener - he oohed, aaahed, and awwwed at all the right places - and Shuu couldn't help feeling as if a giant weight had just been lifted off his chest. When they reached the door of the grocery store, Miles stopped.
"Thanks."
"No problem," Shuu found himself saying as he opened the door. "That's what friends are for."