Hi everyone!

Kitty Kat K.O. reporting for duty with her first fanfiction, so please be nice!!

I've been reading fanfictions for a year now but couldn't join : ( but now I can (obviously)!!

This fanfic will have about 5 hinted pairings but will mainly focus on Ryou x Ichigo as they are my favourite couple. Now it's time to do the disclaimer so without further ado, I shall introduce my good friend Ruby who will do it for me.

KKKO: Ruby will you do the disclaimer for me?

Ruby: Depends….will the story have Claudia and Stephanie doing stupid things in it?

KKKO: Ruby, this is a fan fiction, of course it won't.

Ruby: Then no.

KKKO: Why?

Ruby: It would have been funny.

KKKO: I know, it's always funny when our sisters do something stupid. Tell you what, I'll ask them and maybe they can be in another fan fiction.

Ruby: Fine by me!! Ok, so Kitty here doesn't own TMM (no matter how much she wants to).

KKKO: I heard that Ruby!!

Ruby: Gotta go!! Bye!

KKKO: Onto the story!!

Prologue

What Comes with the Storm

The sky lit up as a lightning bolt flashed. It gave the city a millisecond break from the thick black clouds that blocked out the Sun's light, leaving Tokyo in utter darkness. Rain lashed down all around, stinging the skin of whoever dared venture out into the seemingly endless storm.

In a city of thousands, only one girl had set foot outside since the bad weather began. This was only because she was too miserable to care. Well, what would you do if your boyfriend whom you thought had loved you had gone away for a month, then sent you a simple text message saying it was over, he had found another girl.

The wind whipped at her bare arms and the girl cursed herself for not bringing a coat. Looking up though, she breathed a sigh of relief noticing her destination was not much farther ahead. Her strawberry coloured hair was matted to her face and her clothes clung to her body. She was glad that she would soon be able to get out of the storm though she was also sure that by now the rain and wind would have succeeded in giving her a cold.

The lights of Café Mew Mew shone out and into the darkness of the surrounding area. The large pink café was virtually a second home for her and her friends and she knew going there would cheer her up. That is of course, if that certain blonde-haired, blue-eyed boss of hers didn't get at her for arriving late.

The red-head had just been about to leave for work - late as per usual - when she got a phonecall from the café's manager, Keiichiro Akasaka, telling her it was best if she stayed at home instead of braving the storm. He had also told her that everyone else had arrived but they were now stranded until the weather died down. Ichigo had agreed with him and it hadn't even been a minute when she received the text. She was so upset she had actually decided to brace the howling wind and the piercing rain.

Now she regretted her choice. Even more so when a loud clap of thunder rumbled overhead, startling her which caused her ears and tail to spring out.

A bolt of lightning flashed not too far from where the now petrified girl stood. Letting out a whimper she made a dash for the building.

Finally reaching it she pushed on the door, only to find it locked. More thunder roared and she jumped. Turning to face the direction of the noise she just managed to catch sight of the speeding lightning as it soared swiftly down to the ground. She shook as whimpers escaped from her mouth. A tap sounded from behind her. Jumping once again, but this time with a half turn she came face-to-face with a questioning Zakuro.

The older girl took the key she held and fit it into the keyhole. Twisting it, the door gave a click and she pulled it open, allowing the drenched Ichigo entry into the warm, dry café.

"Arigato," Ichigo whispered. Zakuro just nodded her head in return. Water streamed down her face and dropped to the floor, creating a puddle around her feet. She sneezed suddenly, then sniffed. She had been correct when she thought she had received a cold. Zakuro looked at her, concern showing on her face. Since Deep Blue had been defeated and the Mew Project had ended Zakuro had opened up a little and become more emotional.

Zakuro looked at her again. There was something missing. However she couldn't put her finger on it. She shook the feeling away quickly before she spaced out. Silently she began to walk in the direction of the changing rooms. Ichigo followed, rubbing her arms to try and warm herself. When they reached the room, Zakuro handed the shivering red-head a towel and turned to leave.

"Wait!"

Stopping Zakuro twisted to face her. She raised an eye-brow, signaling for the younger girl to continue.

"Where are you going?" Ichigo asked.

"To find you some clothes," the super-model answered simply.

"What about my uniform?" questioned Ichigo.

"Well the rest of us aren't wearing them," Zakuro replied.

It was only then that Ichigo realized that fact. The girl before her wore a lilic blouse with the top button left undone and black denim jeans.

After a quick nod from Ichigo, Zakuro turned and left.

The purple-haired girl hurried upstairs to the living room where the other girls sat. Ryou and Keiichiro had work to do down in the lab and had left the four girls to their own devices. As Zakuro entered all attention came to rest on her.

"Where have you been, Zakuro-san?" Retasu asked.

"Letting in a stray. Ichigo's just arrived," she replied.

"In this weather? Doesn't she know it's dangerous?" Minto snorted.

"From her attitude I don't think she really cared," Zakuro said.

"How is she?" asked a concerned Retasu worriedly.

"Drenched and a little bit out of it. She's got a cold because she didn't wear a coat."

Minto rolled her eyes and shook her head. "I've got some spare she can lend.'

Picking up a bag that lay on the floor beside her feet, Minto followed Zakuro back to where Ichigo was.

Ichigo sat shaking violently, only a towel wrapped round her icy-cold body. Leaning over to where her clothes had been dumped on the floor, she reached into her bag and pulled out her mobile.

Just like me, she thought, comparing herself to her clothes. Dumped.

Switching her phone on she opened up the text message.

Sorry Ichigo-san. Found sum1 better than u. We r over.

Masaya

Seeing it again brought tears to Ichigo's eyes. There was a knock on the door. Not waiting for a reply, the knocker forced the door open and came in. Ichigo abruptly started rubbing her hands over her eyes, trying her hardest to stop her quiet crying.

Looking up, she found Zakuro and Minto standing over her. Worry was evident on their faces.

Ichigo tried to smile but only caused more beads of salty water to fall from her eyes.

"What's wrong?" the two girls asked in union.

"Nothing," lied Ichigo.

Minto raised her eye-brow. Noticing the mobile on the bench beside her friend she quickly snatched it up before the crying girl could stop her. Ichigo was alarmed when Minto grabbed her phone, but she dreaded the fact she hadn't deleted the message. She watched, her breath held, as her best friend read it. Minto's expression was one of complete bewilderment. It soon changed to one of understanding, then of angry hatred.

Zakuro also saw this and took the mobile from Minto, also reading the text.

Her expression remained neutral apart from her mouth which curved into a frown.

"So this is why…….?" Zakuro suddenly realized what she thought had been missing. Ichigo's bell - she hadn't been wearing it.

"Yes."

"That little…." Minto began, but trailed off. She handed Ichigo the fresh clothes she had brought and silently walked out of the room. From where they sat, a couple seconds later they heard Minto yelling numerous insults and various other things, though there was no swearing.

Zakuro nodded to the clothes that Ichigo now held and gestured for her to go put them on. She went into one of the cubicles and started doing so. Minto wandered back into the room just as Ichigo came out. She was now dressed in a light blue tank top, a pleated denim royal blue skirt that had several stars printed in the bottom left corner, just above the hem and white knee-high socks adorned her feet. It was a change from her signature colour she was always clothed in.

Minto smiled sympathetically at her and picked up a spare brush that sat on a ledge on one of the walls. She walked over to Ichigo and began brushing her friend's hair. Ichigo was confused, but allowed the girl to continue. Once all of the tats were out and Ichigo's hair was neat again, Minto put the brush down. She grabbed Ichigo's hand loosely and began pulling her out of the room. Zakuro silently followed them.

They ran up the stairs and into the living room where Retasu sat, bored stiff and Purin lay asleep on the sofa.

The three entered and sat down. They began to chat mindlessly, relieving Retasu of her boredom but were careful not to wake Purin.

Half an hour passed and the five of them were beginning to get bored. After Purin had woken up fifteen minutes ago there had been a little more they could do as they were not having to be conscious of her stirring or quiet so she wasn't woken.

But they were back to having nothing to do. Ichigo had livened up a little but still wasn't her usual self.

They were getting desperate. After a mini debate Purin got up and switched the T.V. on. A programme came on straight away. It was about cooking so she flipped the channel. This time a cricket match taking place in Australia came on. For the second time, Purin changed the channel. After channel hopping for five minutes or so (and the Mews thinking: God, Ryou has a lot of channels on this thing) they came across a programme which seemed interesting. It was about people playing practical jokes on one another.

"Wouldn't it be fun if we could do that……….?" Ichigo wondered aloud.

A grin etched its way onto Purin's face. She turned to face Ichigo and said, "Then why don't we?"

"ARE YOU TWO CRAZY?! Shirogane-san will kill us if we mess up the café pranking each other," Minto exclaimed.

"It will relieve us of our boredom I suppose," sighed Zakuro.

"Zakuro?"

Ichigo smiled. "Anyway, who said we were going to be pranking each other?"

"What do you…..wait…NO!! You can't prank Shirogane-san and Akasaka-san!" Minto cried.

"Why not?" asked the red-head.

"We'll be in so much trouble," Retasu reasoned.

Ichigo shrugged. "And?"

Minto and Retasu turned to Zakuro and Purin. The younger girl was clapping her hands enthusiastically and Zakuro just shrugged. "In trouble with our boss beats boredom, at least," she admitted.

The two girls against the plan looked at one another before sighing and reluctantly agreeing. Perking up, a devious smile crept onto Ichigo's face and they began plotting……..

A/N: Ok, how was that? I've had this storyline for a while now and keep experimenting with different characters in it. It never seemed to work though. I just didn't have enough pranks.

If anyone knows some pranks I could use, put them in your reviews please. I'll try and use them, no matter how crazy - in fact, the crazier the better!! It would be really helpful. Thankx.

So until next time - BYE!!

Kitty Kat K.O. xoxo