Shin AnIn: Animal Instinct II

Chapter II

"Rising Dragon Lightning Bolt!"

With a final roar, the Baku fell to the ground, and the catgirl in the short black dress and grey scarf landed on her feet next to it.

"This is getting crazy, Masaru. Where are these things coming from? And why?" Takashia Azumi asked her companion creature, who was fluttering nearby.

"They come from space, and I'm still working on why, besides the fact that they can drink human blood." Masaru replied.

"They're getting braver." Azumi said with concern in her voice as she de-transformed back to her normal self. "When they first appeared they never attacked in the daytime. But now they do."

"I'll work on finding out why that is too, if I can." Masaru told her.

There was a dinging sound, and Azumi dug her phone out of her bag. "Aw man! Mint's asking me where I am! I'm late for ballet practice! Come on Masaru! I have to go!"

A tall woman clad in a trench coat and a hat pulled low over her face made her way through Neo Chinatown. She took the elevator to the thirteenth floor, and consulted a map when she got off the elevator before she set off through the crowded store, heading for one shop in particular.

In his office, Wu-fei watched through the security cameras as the woman stopped at the door to D's shop.

She might be a prostitute! A deviant! I've finally caught D up to something underhanded! He thought excitedly as he ran out the door, only barely hearing Chin behind him asking where he was going.

Wu-fei hurried down to the thirteenth floor where, to no great surprise, he found the store was closed.

Closed but not locked! He thought excitedly as he tried the handle and found it open. Inside, the Count was just handing a cup of tea to a woman sitting on the settee in the front room.

"I demand an explanation for this!" Wu-fei demanded as he stormed into the room. Then he recognized the tall, blue-eyed, purple-haired woman sitting on the couch. "Fujiwara Zakuro-san!"

She gave him a cool glance. "Count, who is this man?"

"This is Rau Wu-fei, the owner of Neo Chinatown."

"Fujiwara Zakuro, it is an honor to have you here with us." Wu-fei said with a deep bow.

"Indeed." Her tone of voice made the room temperature drop ten degrees

"If there is anything we can do to assist you while you are here, please do not hesitate to ask." Wu-fei told her.

"Mr. Rau." Zakuro began. "If you want to assist me, you might leave and close the door behind you on the way out. I have come here to have tea with an old friend and that is what I would like to do. "

"Old friend?" Wu-fei asked, glancing at D.

Zakuro took another sip of her tea. "I met the Count while he was still living in Los Angeles. The last time we saw each other was the day we finished cleaning the pet shop."

"Cleaning?" Wu-fei repeated weakly.

Chin coughed discreetly and took his employer by the arm. "Of course. Thank you for visiting us, Fujiwara-san. We hope you enjoy yourself while you're here." He headed for the door, pulling Wu-fei along with him.

Zakuro watched them go and waited until the door was closed before she spoke again. "Does he always barge in on you like that?" She asked.

"His manners need work." The Count said, noncommittally. "I'm surprised to see you here, Zakuro."

"Berry said you were in town. I thought I would come by and see. I watched this monstrosity of a building get built you know."

"Oh really?"

"Yes. I was working my first job in modeling when they broke ground here." Zakuro studied the cake on the table in front of her contemplatively. Count D took the opportunity to steer the conversation away from questions about what he was doing here. "How is everyone since the last time we spoke? Miss Berry is the only one I've seen lately."

"Berry is the de facto hostess of the café now since we never know when Ichigo will be out of town. She and Masaya are doing a lot of travelling these days. Berry's boyfriend Tasuku is less inclined towards oversees and he knows our secret and works as a waiter at the café. Pudding's father is a loser from way back and tried to set Pudding up to marry one of his students, Long Yuebin. But when he arrived in Japan, he got a job and started working to help Pudding support her family. I think they will get married, just because he came and became the support that Pudding needed."

"I'm glad to hear that." The Count told her. "I suspected long ago that Pudding's life was harder then she let on."

"It has been," Zakuro confirmed. "But Yuebin has been good for her. He knows that she's a Mew, but he keeps it to himself. He doesn't work at the café, though. He works for Shirogane Enterprises. Brings home a paycheck every week and helps Pudding keep her siblings in line."

"Ringo still lives in Tokyo and works at the Café. She goes back to see her brother whenever Shirogane gives her time off. Lettuce hasn't changed much, though the rate of her plate-dropping has decreased to almost zero. Mint is working there less and less these days since she's about to co-star in the stage production of Princess Tutu. I'm a sponsor of the show and so is Shirogane." Zakuro hesitated, and then added. "You'll have to come by and watch a rehearsal. Give us your opinion. You must have seen some ballet in your world travels."

"I have." D replied. "But your hesitation isn't about the ballet."

Zakuro looked torn. Then she made up her mind. "I guess there is no point in hiding it, Count. Something new is attacking Tokyo. They're called the Baku and they're blood-sucking lizard. Takshia Azumi is a girl in the same ballet school as Mint. She's going to play Edel and one other character in the Princess Tutu ballet. She's a catgirl too. But her powers are different. Shirogane confirmed that she isn't a Mew like we are. We don't know what she is."

"Do you think she's connected to the arrival of these new aliens?" D asked.

"I don't know. No one knows." Zakuro replied. "And I think that's the most worrying part of all."

Ryou stumbled into the kitchen of the café, glad that there were few patrons present in the outer room. It meant he was less likely to be noticed. He yanked open the door to one of the cupboards and began rifling through it. A few cookbooks fell out, followed by some older, rarely used pots and pans and a few other miscellaneous baking utensils.

Keiichiro entered a moment later. "Ryou, what's wrong?" he asked, but when he saw that the blond was holding a hand to his neck, pressing against where his Mew mark was, he pulled open a drawer and pulled out a vial of Mew Aqua. "Here."

Ryou popped the cork off the vial and pressed it to his neck, overtop of his Mew mark. After a moment he sighed in relief.

"It's getting worse, isn't it?" Keiichiro asked.

Before Ryou could answer, Lettuce appeared in the kitchen and started loading her tray down with orders. She gave the two men a curious glance. "Is everything alright?"

"It will be." Ryou said.

She looked at him for a long moment, then nodded, picked up her tray, and went out.

"You can't keep lying to them." Keiichiro said, pulling the vial and Ryou's hand away from his neck so he could examine the mark. It was glowing, and the skin around it was red and inflamed.

"I can't tell them the truth either." Ryou replied.

"You're going to have too." Keiichiro shook his head and pulled out the first aid kit. "Is the ointment we came up with not helping any longer?"

"This time it didn't."

"So you're getting worse. The Fishing Cat DNA is starting to break down and your body is rejecting it." The pastry chef replied, dabbing some of the Mew Aqua onto a gauze pad and pressing it to Ryou's neck. "Hold that." He ordered as he dug through the first aid kit and pulled out the medical tape. He taped the gauze pad in place. "That should help for the moment. We'll have to revise the ingredients in the ointment and see if that will help."

"Whatever we do we're going to have to do it quickly." Ryou said as Keiichiro replaced the stopper on the Mew Aqua and put it away. "I can't keep using the Mew Aqua for this. Berry is starting to get suspicious about why I'm still having her collect it."

Keiichiro pulled out his mixing bowls and set them on the counter. "Tonight after the café is closed I'll help you revise the formula."

"I'm going to get a jump start on that." Ryou said. "Thanks, Keiichiro."

"Don't mention it." The other man said with a smile, but his eyes as he watched Ryou leave were filled with sorrow.

[A/N:] So here's an update that I wasn't planning on tonight! But I hope you all enjoy it. Someone reviewed the last chapter and asked if Leon was going to be in this story. I could tell you, but that would be a spoiler.

Please a review and I hope you enjoyed this chapter.