This is my first Tokyo Mew Mew fanfiction. I hope you love reading it as much as I have loved writing it! Please review! I accept Anoymous reviews and criticism.)

Chapter One:

Sixteen year old Ichigo Momomiya smiled as she looked around the park. Was it only three years ago that on this spot she had met Pudding Fong and witnessed the girl's first Metamorphosis into Mew Pudding? Was it only two years since she and the other Mews had defeated Deep Blue? Was it only two years since she had last seen the aliens they had fought constantly yet ended up befriending?

Ichigo's sighed as she thought of Kish, Pie and Tart. After fighting them every day, not seeing them had taken some getting used to and she honestly missed them. But she was content knowing that they had gone home to their planet with a way to save it. Six months after the aliens departure, the Mews had received word from the trio saying that their planet had been returned to its former glory. The pride and happiness that was radiating off the written words left them all with smiles that lasted for weeks.

"You're in deep thought today."

Ichigo smiled at her friend and fellow Mew Mew, Lettuce, who walked beside her.

"Reminiscing, really," She said. "Hard to believe that it was only two years ago we were fighting to save the earth from aliens whom are now friends and allies. Now, all I have to worry about is passing biology."

Lettuce looked down at her feet for a minute.

"Do you miss it?" She asked. "Because some days I do. I miss the confidence I had as Mew Lettuce, fighting in battle."

"You're confidence has shot up since then and is quite evident now," Ichigo assured her friend. "Yes, many days I miss fighting. I guess I've started hating the dull, repetitive day without any monsters or alien stalkers."

"I wish that Pie, Kish and Tart would have kept in touch. I really want to know how the rehabilitation of their planet is going." Lettuce said wistfully. Ichigo agreed. After that first transmission a year and a half ago, they had lost touch with the aliens. Pudding in particular was upset over that, as she missed her friend and crush, Tart.

And, even recently, Ichigo had started missing her green-haired shadow. Many times did she hear his sarcastic voice in her head, particularly around the time she and Massaya had mutually decided to break up. Both Ichigo and Massaya had come to realize that they wanted different things from a relationship and the two held a friendship that was almost brother-sister like. Ichigo was very happy to see Massaya dating a shy girl from their school who shared his passion for animals and the environment. She and Ichigo were now close friends.

"Yeah," Ichigo said, smiling slightly at the thought of the alien. "Funny thing is, I think I'm actually missing Kish's tendency to show up at random."

Both teenagers jumped as a tall boy with ruffled dark green hair and gold eyes appeared before them.

"Well, speak of the devil," Lettuce said with a shy yet happy laugh as she realized it was Kish. He looked the same, yet different. He was taller, his hair a bit longer, his muscles and facial features more defined, more mature. But, there was something off…

Ichigo frowned. Something was wrong. Kish hadn't greeted her with his trademark smirk or one of his annoying/cutesy pet names for her. His skin was paler than normal, his eyes were glazed and unfocused and his legs were shaking.

"Kish?" She said, taking a step forward.

"Ichigo," Kish whispered. His eyes closed and he fell forward. Ichigo was barely able to keep him from hitting the ground. She gasped as she saw his back.

The shirt was torn and an asterisk-shaped mark ran the length and width of the alien teen's back. Blood ran down his skin from the wounds and a dagger was pushed half-way through him. Ichigo carefully pulled the dagger out. It bore a strange symbol on its ivory-like handle and the silver blade was coated with Kish's blood.

"It didn't-" Lettuce asked as she took some of Kish's weight off of Ichigo while she briefly studied the wound.

"Didn't hit any organs, I don't think," She said. "It looks like it just went through the muscle." Ichigo looked up at her friend. "We have to take him to the Café. Ryou and Kiiechiro will know how to heal him."

Lettuce nodded. The two humans girls carefully made their way back through the park sharing the weight of the wounded alien. Fortunately, Lettuce had driven them to the park, as they were planning on making a leisurely circuit in the park to chat following their morning of shopping.

Ichigo sat in the backseat with Kish, who was sprawled out on the seat, his head in Ichigo's lap. She stroked his hair and held his hand, asking him to squeeze if he could hear her. She grinned as she felt pressure on her fingers.

Kish moaned softly and tried to curl up into a ball, but hissed as his wounds proved to make that an uncomfortable position. He shifted painfully for a few seconds, adjusting his arm so that it was around Ichigo's waist. He squeezed her lightly.

"Koneko-chan," He whispered, burying his face into her skirt, a content smile on his face. "I've missed you, kitten."

Ichigo smiled softly. She gently moved his bangs off his forehead.

"Kish, who did this to you?" She asked. "What happened?"

"Betrayed," Kish groaned as he squeezed his eyes shut. He whimpered as the car went over a pothole. Lettuce looked into the mirror briefly, her eyes apologizing for something she could not control or stop. She kept muttering apologies.

"Kish, Kish!" Ichigo squeezed his hand again. Kish's eyes cracked open. "Who betrayed you?"

Kish closed his eyes again.

"Find Pie and Tart… They know… They'll-" Kish whispered. He took a deep, raspy breath. "They'll tell you. They'll tell you…"

Ichigo did not try to get any more information out of him. He had no more energy and they had arrived. Keiichiro, who had stepped outside to take out the trash, took one look at Kish and his face paled.

"We need to get him inside quick," He said. He called for Ryou, who came to the door as Lettuce carefully helped shift Kish up onto Keiichiro's back. Ichigo's hand was still in Kish's as she ran to keep up with the long haired man.

"What happened?" Ryou asked Ichigo as he held the door open.

"He said he was betrayed, but he didn't say by who," Ichigo said, stroking Kish's fingers as he groaned softly.

"Hey guys, look what Pudding can-!" Pudding yelled as she entered the kitchen, balancing two trays on her hands while standing on a ball. Her face dropped and her eyes widened as she saw Kish. "Is he okay? Where's Taru-Taru and Pie?" She asked, worry in her voice.

"I don't know, but Kish says that they know who did this to him," Ichigo said as she walked up the stairs towards the upper rooms, where a sickroom was set up.

"Pudding, get the last customers out then close up the café," Ryou said, looking over his shoulder to the young thirteen year old standing at the bottom of the stairs. "We'll be down in a bit to talk."

"Pudding can do that, na no da!" Pudding said as she ran out of the kitchen to find the other girls.

Ichigo crouched down beside Kish, trying to comfort him as Keiichiro, Lettuce and Ryou tended to his wounds while he lay on his stomach on the bed. Her heart broke every time he whimpered in pain. She saw that he was biting his lip, trying to prevent himself from crying out loud. She looked up at Ryou, who knew instantly what she wanted him to do. He disappeared for a second and returned with a syringe. Ryou nodded at Ichigo, who whispered to Kish.

"Kish, you're going to feel a pinch on your arm. It will make you sleep deeply so you don't feel any pain. Just squeeze my hand and everything will be alright," Ichigo promised.

Kish kept a tight hold on the cat-girl's hand as Ryou carefully cleaned his arm and administered the shot. Ichigo felt herself breathing easier as his grip on her hand loosened and he slept pain-free.

"Ryou and I will finish up here," Keiichiro said, smiling comfortingly up at Ichigo. "You girls go on downstairs. We'll join you in a minute."

The two teenagers nodded and headed downstairs. They were greeted in the kitchen by Pudding, Mint and Zakuro, all dressed in their café uniforms.

"Is Kishu-Kun going to be okay?" Mint asked, looking up from the nail she was filing. Ichigo looked over at Lettuce, who was washing Kish's blood off her fingers at the sink. Ichigo had been so wrapped up in keeping Kish out of pain that she didn't know what those tending him were discussing.

"He lost a great deal of blood, but Keiichiro is confident that he will recover," Lettuce said, grimly looking up from the suds. "His organs are intact and the rest are just muscle wounds."

"Still, he needs a transfusion," Ryou said as he and Keiichiro came down the stairs. He leaned against the wall. "Problem is, we don't think we can give him human blood. His body might not react well to it, or it could poison him all together."

"He told me that Pie and Tart would know who hurt him," Ichigo said, folding her arms. "They will probably also know how to treat him."

"So I guess we need to find them," Zakuro said.

Suddenly, two beings materialized into the kitchen. One was tall with purple hair and the other short with brown hair, but both were grim faced with worried eyes. The group recognized them instantly.

Pie and Tart.

"Hey, that didn't take long at all, na no da!" Pudding exclaimed proudly.