"Ichigo! Iiichigoo! Ha ha! Come on! Ichigoooo! What are you waiting for! Hahahaa!"

said a strange far-away voice.

Who is it? It sounds... so familiar. Yet, it sounds so... new to me. What is this? Am I under a spell?

"Ichigo! ICHIGO! What are you waiting for?" said the voice again, changed slightly. Ichigo felt a hard blow on the head.

"Ooow! Hey who do you think you are, hitting me ar-" she started. She looked up. It was Ryou.

"Get back to work and stop day-dreaming. There's a huge line of customers waiting for their orders to be taken." he said. Ichigo was intense.

"Why don't you get Lettuce or Mint to do! Zakuro's even here, pick on her! And there's Pudding too! Jerk!" she shouted at him. Ryou looked shocked. Then he put his satisfied grin back on.

"Zakuro left for her model shooting while you were cat-napping, Mint is drinking her tea, Lettuce always breaks things she brings out, if you haven't noticed, plus she's mopping, and Pudding is doing the dishes. Oh yeah, and your ears are showing along with a tail." Ryou snickered. Ichigo was about ready to scream. But then she remembered her dream. It was such a calming voice...

"Fine." was her only reply. She walked dreamily away. Ryou looked at her curiously.

She isn't usually like that, he thought. I wonder if it's... Oh no!

Ichigo walked all the way home. Gosh, it was a tough day. I wonder what's for dinner. I wonder what that... dream was... all about... Ichigo remembered her dream. Who was that talking? It sounded so familiar! But who was it? I couldn't see anything. I just heard that voice. Hmn...

After a dinner of avacado and California rolls, she went up to bed. She couldn't do anything other than that. She just kinda fell and scrambled up under her covers. She glanced at Masha, then her window, and fell asleep.

BANG! CLASH! CLING! BANG!

"I don't know who you are, but ya fight good!" said a man's voice. It was dark out, around midnight. A group of men surrounded a girl, about 12 years old. She had tall, slender legs, and six long, indigo braids. She was thin and was built for movement. She had a short fishnet dress on, over a solid black one. She looked very annoyed indeed.

"Back off. I don't want anyone else to get hurt. I'm warning you. I really am." she said.

"Come on, babe! We just wanna play with ya!" said a second man. He ran at her and swiped at her with a hidden dagger. She quickly dodged but found one of her straps cut. She looked surprised, then slightly mad. the man was still standing there, looking as proud as ever.

Stupid git! She backed up ever so slightly and took a short run, ending in a fabulous kick that was over her indigo head. It knocked the man in face, sending him flying backwards.

"I did warn you creeps. Get lost." she said. She clenched her fists. She stole an apple. Was it really bad enough to send a bounty on her head? Well, considering she'd stolen fresh bread before, sneaked into a rich mansion and took a jeweled necklace, took some water, some money, and some candy from the market, maybe it was. It wasn't that bad though.

The other men gasped. Someone shouted "That's the 7th down!" and some yelled "Look at her go! I wonder if she can beat me!" . The leader of the group heard them all.

"I want an all out attack on her. Not a man should be out of 6 feet range of her." he was starting to get annoyed too. The men rushed at the girl, shouting and yelling. The girl sighed and jumped when all of them ganged around her. She was light on her feet and had no trouble jumping over their heads. Her braids went flying, her silver eyes flashed in the moonlight. This was the Night Thief.

Ichigo awoke to a couple dozen of shouts. Men? Shouting? What's going on? She stepped out of bed. Wow. 3:17 AM. She walked down stairs to find out what was happening. She heard a last yell and she ran out the door. She ran and ran until she came to the courtyard of a church. She could have puked. 24 men were laying on the ground, covered in a red substance. They were piled on top of each other, like some pile of garbage. Ichigo stared at the red liquid. Blood? She looked up. A girl about her age was facing a man around 30 years old. She stared him down. Not even doing so much as blinking. Ichigo fell down with fright. The man charged and the girl swiftly moved around to behind him. She pulled out a dagger and thrust it into him.

"I warned you." she said quietly to him before he collapsed. The girl sighed and looked at Ichigo.

"I don't hurt people that don't try to hurt me. Go home and get some rest. Tomorrow will be a big day for you." she said and turned. The rubber bands holding her braids together loosened and flew away. Her purple-blue hair swaying in the wind, like an indigo mist. And she was gone.

Author's note: It's a little violent, I know. But, hey. Who said I can't kill of people? I was thinking of killing off Masaya! HAHAHAAA! Just kidding. I couldn't do that to Ichigo. Anyway, the girl is called... oh, wait! I can't tell you yet! lol. Hahahaa. you almost got away with it. Anyway, please stay tuned for the next chapter of Indigo Berries!

Ame