Chapter 4: Balancing
"Ohayō, Umeko-chan!" Sakura shouted enthusiastically when she saw Umeko the next day.
"I think I just became deaf," Umeko muttered under her breath. "Oof!" she breathed as Sakura tackled her. "It's nice to see you too, Sakura-chan," Umeko smiled hesitantly.
"I missed you sooooooo much!" Sakura informed Umeko as she hugged her.
"But we just met. And you saw me yesterday," Umeko attempted to loosen Sakura's stranglehold.
"But that was yesterday!" Sakura cried.
I cannot take this! Umeko thought. "Look! A hot alien!" Umeko exclaimed, pointing at the sky.
"Really? Where?" Sakura let go of Umeko and turned around.
Umeko ran to her empty homeroom. "I'm alive," she sighed. She gasped as she felt a jolt pass through her body. What was that? she wondered. What's this feeling? Something's not right…
"Danger, danger!" Yumi's muffled voice came from inside Umeko's book bag. Umeko rummaged through and brought out her cell phone. Yumi hung from it in miniature form, disguised as a charm.
"Yumi-chan? What's wrong?" Umeko asked as she dangled Yumi in front of her face.
"Umeko-chan? Can you hear me?" Ryou's voice emitted from Yumi.
"Whaa!" Umeko nearly dropped the robot and cell phone. "Ryou-kun?" Umeko asked in disbelief.
"You need to transform now!" Ryou told her.
"But I have school!" Umeko protested.
"There's an infected alley cat not far from your school. In fact, it appears to be headed to your school," Ryou informed her, ignoring her protest.
"You—you don't mean—" Umeko asked hesitantly.
"Hai. It seems to be targeting you."
"If I don't do something…it'll attack the school in search of me, won't it?" Umeko whispered to herself. "I'm going in," she told Ryou.
"The other MewMews are on their way," Ryou replied.
"Mew Mew Plum Metamorphosis!" she shouted. Pink and green lights engulfed her. They enveloped her and became her battle outfit. Her ears popped out and her tail appeared. The lights dimmed and Umeko landed on the ground. "Mew Umeko has arrived! Come on, Yumi!" Umeko ran out of her homeroom and through the halls. She noticed that the halls were slowly filling with students. She caught snips of conversations as she ran by her classmates.
"Oh my word—"
"Did you see that?"
"Is she a Mew Mew?"
"No way she's just a cosplayer—"
"I haven't seen the Mew Mews in years—"
"She's so kawaii!"
"Who do you think she is?"
Umeko burst out the doors and into the courtyard.
"Umeko-chan!" Sakura ran up to Umeko. "There's a giant monster coming! It was huge! It was like all spiky fur and claws and—"
"I get the picture," Umeko said as the mutated cat crashed through the school gates. It looked like it had been dragged out of its grave. Its fur was a ghastly greenish color. "Sakura-chan, run! I'll take care of this!" Umeko shouted as she ran towards the monster. Just stall until the other Mews get here, Umeko told herself.
"Hey, you!"
The monster looked around as if wondering if the comment was directed at it.
"Hai, you, you overgrown zombie cat!" Umeko yelled. "How dare you barge into my school! You destroyed the gates and terrified innocent students! For a world of dreamers, I will be of service! Chu!" Umeko did her traditional pose.
"Mroooooow!" the mutated cat pounced at Umeko.
"Whoa!" she gasped as she dodged the blow by leaping into a tree. Her animal DNA allowed her to grip a rather thin branch. Her tail helped her balance. "Sugoi!" she cried as she realized what she was doing. The cat turned towards her and hissed. "Uh oh," she whispered and quickly jumped into the next tree. She continued to jump from tree to tree.
With a growl, the cat destroyed the tree in front of Umeko and its swipe rapidly approached the tree Umeko was currently in.
"Nuts," she exclaimed. Her mind raced and her gaze darted about her. Nothing presented itself to her as a viable escape route. The cat hissed and prepared to attack. It's over. I'm going to die, Umeko thought and shut her eyes.
"Mew Umeko!"
Umeko opened her eyes at the sound of her name. She turned her head and saw Mew Ichigo and the other Mews.
"Summon your weapon! It'll shield you!" Ichigo shouted.
"Wha--?" Umeko asked, not comprehending.
"Umeko-chan, look out!" Mint screamed.
Umeko looked back at the cat to see its mouth about to envelop her. "Plum Blossom Star!" she shouted, instincts taking over. She grabbed her weapon and thrust it up towards the maw. A pink and green shield enveloped Umeko. The cat's jaws collided with it. It roared with pain and stumbled backwards.
"Now, Mew Umeko! Attack!" Ichigo shouted.
"We'll help you!" Berry told Umeko.
"Ribbon Plum Blossom Check!"
"Ribbon Strawberry Check!"
"Ribbon Loveberry Check!"
The three attacks hit the mutated cat. It writhed in pain then fell to the ground completely normal. The cat raced away.
"Umeko-chan!" Sakura barreled into Umeko. "Daijōbu?"
"H-hai," Umeko replied.
"Look! It's the Mew Mews!" someone shouted.
"I can't believe it! I haven't seen them in years!" a crowd began to form.
"And now it's time to make our exit!" Ichigo cried as she grabbed Umeko's hand and ran towards the gate.
"Where are we going?" Umeko asked Ichigo as she followed her.
"To the Tokyo Mew Mew Mewseum, of course," Ichigo replied. "Shirogane needs to speak with you."
"Does he have to talk to Sakura-chan too?" Umeko asked. "Or can we let her go back to school?"
"No, he needs to speak to her too," Ichigo answered.
"Here we are, nan no da!" Pudding announced.
"Ah, there you are," Keiichiro smiled at the super girls. "Ryou! They're back!"
Ryou walked around the corner. "Ohayō, everyone," Ryou greeted everyone. "Everyone except Sakura-chan and Umeko-chan can go.
"What do you think of this place?" Ryou asked the two girls.
"It's kawaii!" the girls answered in unison.
"Great. You'll be working here from now on."
"What?!"
"There's a café in the museum that you'll be working in."
"Great. So I will have to work in a café all alone," Umeko muttered. "Is that all?"
"Hai. You can go now. You start today after school."
Umeko transformed back into her school uniform and she and Sakura bid Keiichiro goodbye and returned to school.
"All students are being sent home early due to the attack this morning," the loudspeakers announced. "Please head home now."
Umeko shut her front door with a sigh.
"Umeko-chan!" her mother hugged. "Oh, I was so worried! After I heard what happened to your school, I was worried that you were hurt!"
"No, I'm fine, Okasan," Umeko replied.
"I always knew those Mew Mews only brought about trouble," her mother said as she released her daughter. "Apparently, there was a Mew at your school and the monster came after it. If that Mew hadn't been there, that monster wouldn't have attacked anyone. I don't understand why you like them."
"Okasan, umm, I have to tell you something," Umeko paused. "I—" I should tell her I'm a Mew Mew.
"Hai?"
"I've…got a job. At a museum," Umeko told her. I couldn't do it.
"I'll be in my room," Umeko called back to her mom as she left the room.
"Peppermint tea, please!"
"I'll have a strawberry shortcake!"
"Coming!" Umeko smiled as she carried a tray to a table.
"Welcome!" Sakura greeted a new guest. "This way please," she showed the guest to a table.
"Where's my blueberry tart?"
"Coming right up--!" Umeko ran into someone on her way into the kitchen. "Gomen—" Umeko began but stopped when she saw Kish above her. "Kish!"
A/N: Sorry for the long wait. I finally got around my writer's block.
Okāsan- this means mother
Hai- yes, okay
Kawaii- cute
Ohayō- good morning
Arigatō- thank you
Gomen- sorry
Sugoi- amazing
Daijōbu- I'm okay/ Are you okay?
Okay now honorifics. Chan indicates a friendly familiarity with someone the same age or younger. It's usually used for girls but sometimes boys too. (Not that I'll be doing that.) San is like saying Mr. or Mrs. Kun is the same thing as chan except it's used with boys. Sama shows lots of respect or admiration. Sensei means teacher.
If you know what type of dormouse Umeko is infused with, it's the Japanese dormouse. You can see a picture of it at this link. Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 !-- /* Style Definitions */ , , {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} 1 {page:Section1;} -- ..