Disclaimer: I don't own Tokyo Mew Mew.

Note: I realise this looks obscenely long, but bear with me guys. It was in my understanding that people usually like long chapters, ne?

Lyrics by Cold.

Chapter o1: Abnormality

In a violent world,
Where deception's free
Things I can't control,
Taking over me

Ichigo slowly stirred from her prolonged sleep. Yawning, she stretched, much like the animal she was merged with. The only thing that invaded the fifteen-year-olds mind was how much she'd loooooove a back scratch. She purred for a brief instant, mesmerized by the memory of Aoyama-kun's hairdryer whipping across her body as a cat.

The auburn-haired cat-girl actually let out a lazy 'meow' before averting her gaze from her disordered pink bed sheets towards her alarm clock. She had to find out the time to figure how long until she had to go to…

'Shit!' She squealed, and scrambled to her feet. The next few minutes were spent running around ad infinitum, trying to remember the location of her closet.

Ichigo Momomiya wasn't the brightest when it came to getting out of bed. In fact, she would have to be one of the worse. She was currently slumped over in the middle of her bathroom, almost sobbing. 'Thirty minutes late! That's a half an hour! Shirogane's going to kill me!' She cried.

Masha, the pink furry little robot, decided to grace the sobbing teenager with its presence right then, 'Kill you! Kill you!' The puffball repeated gleefully in its small, kawaii voice. Ichigo paused for a second, and then cried harder at the robot's innocence.

It took Ichigo another five minutes to realise that sitting about and crying wasn't going to solve anything. She stood shakily and managed to get dressed in twelve minutes, with the support of her IPod Shuffle belting out Three Doors Down.

She sighed as she slipped her feet into a pair of old vans and raced down the stairs. Ichigo yelled out to her mother, 'I'm going now mom!'

Then she slammed the door shut, drowning out the reply of 'But don't you want breakfast first? Ichigo?' By the time her mother had finished her sentence, Ichigo was halfway down the alleyway that branched onto the main road from her house.

After running for around about ten minutes, the burdened girl eased down to a slow trot. Her depression hung around her figure like a thick fog, disabling her sense to see.

She withdrew her cell-phone from her pocket and pressed a few random buttons. These buttons, complementing each other, created the sequence to bring up the current time on the small, compact screen.

Ichigo sighed again. Now she was almost an hour late. Shirogane was going to kill her then, when she came back as a ghost to haunt him, exorcize her soul.

Work sucks, she decided mentally, I wish I was with Aoyama-kun… yeah… on a date… at the markets… and he'd find this awesome little flower shop and buy me this darling red rose and say 'Aishiteru, Ichigo…' ahh…

'Hmm,' the cat-girl was far too lost in her thoughts to notice the familiar, green-haired alien follow behind her. Careful not to rouse her from her musings, he slowed into an easy walk, just as she had, on the thick grey concrete footpath.

He was a meter behind her, no less or she would hear him. Her senses had improved since being merged with the Iriomote Wildcat.

He knew this well, as it almost made her as sensitive to movement as he was. But, of course, being the lower species, she was not as strongly skilled as he.

Yellow eyes glittered with lust as he watched her walk so carefree, unsuspicious to the danger that was gathering behind her. Just as he was wondering how long it would take before she snapped out of her daydreaming, Ichigo stopped.

He was so surprised he almost collided into her back. That, of course, would do no justice to either the alien or his prey.

For a moment, he was convinced she knew of his presence, and that was why she had stopped. But a second later, the brunette released a loud, elongated yawn, stretching her arms out afterwards, and then began walking again.

That was indeed strange. She should have noticed him by now.

In all actuality, Ichigo was oblivious to Kisshu's presence simply because she had not been bothered taking her headphones out of her ears. The IPod was still on, performing Nickelback's new hit, "Far Away."

Wow… Ichigo thought happily, this song is sort of a theme song for Aoyama-kun and me…

'I love you,' She sung, her voice wasn't as bad as some of the people who were making records these days, but it was not perfect, either. 'I loved you all along, and I forgive you, for being away for far too long.'

Once Ichigo had begun walking again, so had Kisshu. He was still a meter away from her but when she suddenly slowed again, he had neared closer by accident. For a moment, there was silence as had been for the last few minutes he had spent tailing her. Then, she began to sing. Her sweet voice filled his senses.

When he heard the words to the song, he froze. Was she talking about me? Did she know I was here? These were the thoughts that revolved around in the alien's mind from the moment he heard her say, 'I love you.'

She knew he was there, so why wasn't she turning around already? (He still hadn't found the headphones) Or, at least, scolding him as she so frequently did? This was unusual behavior for his Kitten to display, so he decided to make his presence known.

It took him mere nanoseconds to secure a tight grip around the girl's waist. It took another three seconds of her blinking dumbly for her brain to register, oh; I'm not moving anymore, then, on instinct, attempt to spin around to see who her captor was.

He released her and, just as he suspected, she spun around quickly. On seeing his face, she let out a high-pitched squeal and backed away. A second later, her stunning (well, in Kish's point of view) features twisted into an angry glare directed straight at him.

'Kisshu!' She huffed angrily. A hardly manicured hand was stuffed into her pocket as Ichigo withdrew her IPod Shuffle. She pressed the big, white button in the middle of the stick, and then stuffed the small device, as well as the headphones, into her pocket.

When she looked up, she realised that her otherworldly enemy was gazing at her pocket in curiosity. 'What was that?' He asked, inquisitively.

She scowled at him, 'None of your business.' Then, in rage, she turned on her heel and restarted her trek to Café Mew Mew, leaving the poor, confused alien boy to eat her dust.

Being the delinquent he was, Kisshu followed his Kitten on her path of madness. Every ten seconds she would look over her shoulder and, when she saw him still following her, decide to ignore his presence and walk a little bit faster.

Before Ichigo knew it, she was sprinting to get away from her tormenting alien nemesis.

Yet Ichigo, being a human and relatively flawed, could not sustain this level of fitness no matter how fit her cat genes made her. Kisshu, however, could run after her all day. And, to be frank, he was perfectly content to do just that.

'Come on, Koneko-chan! Don't do this!' He began, grinning sadistically at the reproaching back of his beloved. 'You know you love me. You said so earlier!'

Realizing her mistake of blurting out song lyrics where alien enemies could arise, Ichigo spun around, furious, and screeched out, 'I was quoting a song, you dickhead!'

Unfortunately, Kisshu, not expecting this sort of reaction, was still walking at a quite a brisk pace. Ichigo stopping so sudden, before the visual imprint of her unmoving figure reached the brain of the teenage extraterrestrial, caused Kish to catapult straight into her, sending both of them to fall to the ground, hard.

Ichigo glared at him harshly. 'You did that on purpose, baka!'

But that was before she noticed their position.

'AHHHH!' She screamed, trying with all her might to get him off her, 'Get the hell off me you fat lug!' Kish was just laughing at her, until he noticed this new insult.

'Fat lug?' He repeated, obviously amused. 'Where'd you get THAT one from?' He chuckled to himself, smirking down at her. 'Ahh, Ichigo, you crack me up.'

The confused and sexually frustrated (although she would never admit it) strawberry grimaced up at the being who held her captive between his legs. The poor girl happened to be in an excruciatingly troubling situation. Part of her just wanted to pounce on him and kick him senseless, preferably into unconsciousness, but another part – a much LARGER part, might she add – wanted to kiss him senseless.

Having never felt this way about the handsome space invader before, Ichigo was completely bewildered. What had caused that change of heart? For some reason, the position she currently occupied was becoming more and more satisfying to her.

Arrg, she mentally screamed in frustration, what the hell is WRONG with me? This is Kisshu for god sakes! He's an alien! He has GREEN hair, YELLOW eyes and POINTY DAMN EARS!

So why? Why did she find him so attractive?

Okay, she almost started to choke, completely taken aback by her train of thought, where the HELL did that come from! Kish? Attractive? Since when? Nya… this is so unfair.

'Hello? Earth to Ichigo?' Ichigo blinked up at him. Kisshu still had her in his grasp. He had fallen on top of her when they collided with the side of the footpath and, when she tried to get up; he had shifted his weight and sat up himself, which caused the following position.

In other words, he was straddling her. Ichigo's waist was caught in between his legs and his hands were holding her wrists in a grip that would give a vice a run for its money.

The girl didn't dare move. She knew that if she did, it would just further the awkwardness of this situation. It didn't, however, look like Kish was going to let go of her anytime soon.

He looked down upon her, head cocked slightly to the side. Since he was leaning over her, the small bundles of hair on each side of his face, tied up with red hair bands, were hanging down past his face. The ends of the ponytails were brushing upon her cheeks in a soft, sweet caress.

So much… So much like Aoyama-kun… She thought blissfully. Then her eyes, which were softly drawing to a close in pleasure, snapped back open. She remembered whom her loyalties lied with, and the person on top of her was definitely NOT him.

'G-get off you pervert!' The rage was back. She instantly forgot about the feel of his soft emerald hair on her face and was only content in thinking about how nice it would be to pound his face into the ground below her.

'I'm not a pervert, I was just showing my affections,' he struggled to keep her hands down. Ichigo was once again immobilized. Or so he thought.

Apparently, he had forgotten about a special type of attack known to humans simply as the "head-butt." When Ichigo preformed one on him, however, all the information from his Alien Species class from back on his planet came crashing back into his brain, as well as a dull, sore throb in the cranium.

'Ouuuuch,' whilst moaning in pain, Kisshu forgot to keep his grip on her arms, of which Ichigo immediately took advantage of the situation with. The tables were turned.

With a quick, fluent movement, Ichigo had reversed the situation. Now she was straddling him. Only she wasn't going to be so nice about it…

She raised her hand up, forming a fist, and was about to bring it back down, creating a blow to the side of his head, when one of his arms managed to break free of the grip she had (instead of gripping his hands with her own, she had caught them at his sides, thus she was not only sitting on his waist, but his hands as well), and snake around the wrist of her attacking hand.

Ichigo looked down and was surprised to see that, instead of the usual mirth in Kisshu's golden eyes, they were completely composed of emotionless depths. The cold look he gave her disturbed her long enough for her hand to falter before she noticed it had happened.

'That's not a good idea, Kitten.' His voice, like his eyes, was devoid of any emotion whatsoever. And, although she wouldn't admit it, it scared her.

Then, the grip he had on her wrist, despite the fact that she was no longer going to strike him, hardened. It was so tight that it hurt. The cat-girl grunted in pain. This was very much unlike the Kisshu she knew.

But…did she really know him?

She had no more time to think about it. With a fast, coordinated movement, Kish had swept her clean from her position on top of him. Having been so close to the ground beforehand, the fall onto her back didn't faze Ichigo as much as it would have had she been standing.

Nonetheless, she was shocked. Before she could regain herself, however, she saw the silhouette of her foe on the concrete next to her. She looked up. He towered over her.

Now the fear was shown on her face. Kisshu smirked evilly down at her, 'You know, Kitten, I like it when you're angry.' He took another step towards her, for some reason, she couldn't summon the power she needed to stand up. She was rooted to the spot. Unable to move.

He finished his sentence, 'But when you're frightened, you're just too irresistible.' As he was saying this, something caught her eye. Something that shone – bright, metallic and silver. Ichigo averted her gaze from his face down to his hands.

And then she saw it.

In his hand, it's blade glistening in the sun, was one of his Dragon Swords. Ichigo stared at it in horror. That very blade would carry out her death sentence.

If only she could move. Her life was in danger, and yet she was still on the ground. It was as if she didn't have control over her own body. But she knew that the concept of that was completely erratic.

Then again… aliens? Mew Mews? All of it seemed erratic. Yet it was true. Actually, it was her reality. She was a Mew, fighting against the aliens.

She was a mew.

Which meant if she died right now… if she failed to stop the being before her from unleashing his terror… her world, her home, her family and her friends would all be destroyed.

Ichigo knew there was no way she could let that happen.

'Never.' This was the only word that passed through her lips before the next event occurred.

It happened all too fast for one to comprehend. At the exact same moment, after uttering that single word, Ichigo leapt for her Mew Pendant just as Kisshu lunged, with the Dragon Swords, to deliver the final blow.

'Mew Mew Strawberry! Metamorphose!' A blinding flash of pink light and some groovy Jpop music later, Ichigo Momomiya had transformed into the super-lady and Tokyo Mew Mew leader, Mew Ichigo. The bubble-gum haired heroine stood defiantly before her enemy.

'For earth's future, I am of service nya!' She said the cute catch phrase immediately after transforming. It had become a habit Mew Ichigo could not let go of.

After blurting out her familiar saying, Mew Ichigo ducked the incoming attack from her opponent. Kisshu spun back around in nanoseconds and was ready to strike again.

This time, when he came for her, Mew Ichigo didn't duck. She leapt straight over him, flying through the air, backwards, in a reverse somersault. She landed perfectly on her feet, knees bent to prevent injury.

A small smile crossed her lips. In her transformed state, Ichigo forgot all about the fear that had gripped her when Kisshu came after her like that. She was high on adrenaline and ready to fight with all she had in her.

Keiichiro Akasaka frowned at the computer screen. There was a map, a Birdseye view of the Kanto Region in general. On the map were six blinking dots, all of a different colour.

One was pink, another blue, green, yellow, purple and grey. These dots represented each member of the Mew Mew team, as well as his partner, Ryou. Basically anyone who had been transfused with animal DNA.

He used the marker in each girl (and Ryou's) body as a sort of tracking device. When any of the five girls and/or Ryou were in trouble or had transformed, the concentration of power in their bodies (the marker's strength) would rise. Thus, Keiichiro could track their movements and transformations and let the other Mew's know when one was in danger.

At this time, however, Keiichiro's gaze was fixated on only one of these six blinking dots. It was the pink one.

The telltale colors of their uniforms corresponded with the colour of the dots. Aizawa, Mint, infused with the Ultramarine Blue Lorikeet, was the blue dot. She was currently located in the Café, sitting at the table (no doubt enjoying her afternoon tea break). Her marker blinked a faded blue. She was still in normal form.

The Green dot represented Lettuce Midorikawa, the beautifully shy Finless Porpoise. She, like Mint, was also in normal form. The same was with the yellow and purple dots. Purin Fong and Fujiwara Zakuro, as the energetic, hyperactive Golden Lion Tamarin and the misunderstood, silently cold Grey Wolf, were also in human form. All three of these Mew's were situated in the Café, but on the move, traveling from the diner out to the table areas.

Ryou, of course, was in the kitchen. His marker, the grey one, was also emitting only a faded energy signal. He had not transformed into Alto, the small grey cat of which he could only stay for ten minutes otherwise an eternity.

But the pink dot: signifying the leader of the Mew's, who was currently situated somewhere along the road leading to the vibrant, violently pink Café, Ichigo Momomiya.

Her dot was shining brighter than the others. It was blinking, as well. Which meant that she had transformed into Mew Ichigo, her magical girl form.

Keiichiro's face molded into an uneasy grimace. He focused on typing a new command into the computer. Removing all the programming code, all he simply wrote was Search: Aliens.

The results on the map were not much. Only one, new blinking dot. This dot was red. If there were a key for each dot, the red dot would signify…

Danger.

Keiichiro didn't hesitate for one second after that. The red dot had been his confirmation.

The leader of the Mew Mew's was in trouble.

Meanwhile, Ichigo's fight with Kisshu had not been going very well. In fact, she was loosing hope of even getting out of this one alive.

Kish wasn't fighting as he normally did. Normally he would only try to wound her, or release a chimera anima to find the precious substance Mew Aqua.

This time, however, he was fighting to kill.

And he was good at it, too – if it wasn't for the animal instincts within her and the combined power of girl and cat, Ichigo would have been killed if not once, but twice in the deadly fight.

Personally, Mew Ichigo was lucky that her adversary did not take the fight to air. If he did, all hope would certainly be lost. Ichigo, even in her Mew state, could not fly, despite contrary belief. She could only jump.

Mew Minto happened to be the only Mew that could, in fact, stay in the air, as she was merged with the Ultramarine Blue Lorikeet, thus gaining wings in her transformation.

But none of the other Mew's knew where she was, nor that she was transformed and fighting.

If she didn't get away soon, she was finished.

Kisshu came down with his left hand, Dragon Sword and all, to deliver a swipe at her face. She weaved out of the way; quickly stepping backwards and jolting her head back further, so she was balancing herself.

The knife didn't miss. It brushed across her cheek, fast and hard. Mew Ichigo cried out in pain as a hairline slit of blood appeared on her right cheek. She was just about to bring up a hand to check the depth of the wound, when, on reflex, her hand struck out to defend herself.

It was no use. After drawing back, her rival had ditched the idea of using the swords (albeit they were still in his hands) and crash-tackle her over.

Both Mew Mew and Alien flew over the bars separating the footpath with the creek-bed beneath them. Unknowingly, whilst in battle, they had moved several meters back, thus fighting on top of the bridge directly over the creek.

Incredibly lucky that, due to vicious rains that had attacked the region a few days before, the creek was fairly full of rainwater. So instead of colliding with the concrete ground and almost certainly be killed, she fell, with a large SPLASH into the murky waters.

She had no time to contemplate how dirty the creek water was, she stood immediately, and raced into the park area near the creek. Her alien adversary followed, gritting his teeth in determination and not stopping once to register the look on is opponents face.

Mew Ichigo was scared. It took a lot for her Mew form to show any type of fear, but she was. Usually Kish had gotten the message and bought out something she could defeat with her Strawberry Bell.

Strawberry bell…

A plan formulated itself in the cat-girls mind.

Lettuce was worried.

Not only had the observant girl noticed that Ichigo was not present that day at the Café (even though the cake shop wasn't open, they were just cleaning for another week of production), but that soon after her usual deadline of late passed, Akasaka-san had raced up the basement stairs, intent on talking to Shirogane-san straight away.

Maybe it was nothing, she attempted to reassure herself, or maybe they've just got a glitch in the computer or something…

The thought of the computers malfunctioning wasn't the least bit assuring to Lettuce, she realised after a moment of deep musing. Shirogane- and Akasaka-san's ability to track the enemy was heavily relied on during battles.

Nonetheless, Lettuce was worried about her ditzy friend.

She sighed. There was no use sulking about it, though. Lettuce moved slowly from the diner area into the hallway leading to the storeroom. She was going to sweep the floors next, she decided, and carried out the steps to do so.

However, as she was walking through the threshold of the small room, after walking down the steps that lead off to the basement and the stockroom she overheard voices.

It was Shirogane- and Akasaka-san! Their voices were quite clear from Lettuce's hiding place within the storeroom. The Finless Porpoise ducked her head down low and, whilst searching for a broom worthy of her task, she eavesdropped on the conversation.

Lettuce wasn't someone who would usually do such a thing, and she tried hard not to. But when she heard the words, 'The Alien's are after Ichigo,' her worst fear was confirmed. Ichigo, Tokyo Mew Mew leader and one of her few true friends, was in trouble.

Trying not to let the fear completely consume her, Lettuce found what she was looking for and left the storeroom.

Unfortunately, this happened exactly when Shirogane was leaving the basement, presumably to tell the Mew's of the threat against their leader.

Lettuce was halfway up the hall when she heard someone utter her name. Immediately, she spun. Ryou Shirogane, in all his blonde-haired glory, stood, arms crossed, staring at her. His face was a mask of seriousness.

Thinking that he caught her eavesdropping, Lettuce squeezed her eyes shut behind her thin lenses and bowed to the older teen. Shirogane cocked an eyebrow at this action, staring at the poor girl try to explain herself.

'Gomenasai, Shirogane-san! I didn't mean to overhear your conversation with Akasaka-san, but when I heard about Ichigo-san, I couldn't help myself!' Lettuce prayed that he didn't scold her. She was surprised, however, when she heard a distinct noise.

Shirogane chuckled to himself. Poor girl, he thought, smiling, she's so sensitive.

This was one of the things he thought made her different to the rest of the Mew's.

Quite, shy little Lettuce, how could you not adore her? That caught him off-guard. Had he really just thought that?

Well, I guess I am a little nicer to her than I am to, say, the baka strawberry, but that's because she doesn't slack off as much, or arrive late, or screams at me…

Ryou sighed. This was too much. First, Ichigo was missing. Now he was contemplating his feelings for Lettuce? He had to inform the other girls of Ichigo's dilemma before the enemy hunted her down!

He had no time for this. So he ended the conversation, as well as his train of thought, 'I was just coming up to tell you and the other girls, Ichigo is missing, presumably fighting against a Chimera Anima, we need you to find her right away and eliminate the threat.'

Lettuce nodded, apology forgotten. Determination filled the young girl to the brink of which she was ready to do anything for her friend.

'I'll go tell them.'

Without further ado, the jade-haired bookworm ran straight up the basement stairs and up to her remaining friends to tell them of the danger that would soon engulf them all.

Shirogane just watched in amazement. I hope your watching over them, Dad, because if I'm right, their going to need all the help they can get.

He turned on his heel and walked back into the laboratory, prepared to monitor the upcoming battle through Masha, who had zoomed after Lettuce once flying over to the Café.

Mew Ichigo bit her lip. This was going to be a close one.

She had still not completely formed all the necessary elements for her plan to take place. But hopefully the result would cause a decoy long enough for her to get away.

The strawberry-haired heroine ran as fast as her legs would bear, darting in between trees in as a blur of pink.

She cursed her bright-colored clothes. They were of absolutely no use to her now, except shielding her body from the random bits of bark and leaves that were falling from the treetops.

Ichigo was never really keen on the idea of running away. But the possibilities of her wining this fight were quite low. She frowned inwardly, thinking of Kisshu's odd behavior.

What was with him? Was it something to do with Deep Blue? Or is he just showing me the reality of his personality?

Ichigo shook her head in disbelief. It couldn't be true, it just couldn't! Kisshu couldn't really be like this. She had seen him express himself before, he seemed so passionate, so devoted to his task… but never this determined. She was so confused.

It doesn't matter now, a small voice in her head murmured to her as she tried to keep her mind on her task, all you need to do now is survive, you can think about all this later…

'I'm coming for you, Koneko-chan!' A voice yelled from the treetops above her. Dread eloped her entire being. No. She couldn't let him. Not yet… It was too soon.

She willed her legs to go faster, they complied, but only barely. She was at her limit right then. If she didn't get there soon she just might burn out.

Finally, after an eternity, she reached a clearing. Resting against the trunk of a large tree, she hoped desperately that she could buy herself some time.

Kisshu scanned the ground below him. After his toy had disappeared within the forest, he took flight above, watching his rosy-haired rival maneuver her way around the trees, trying hard to loose him.

Resistance was futile… hadn't she realise this by now?

Obviously not. After running into a clearing amongst the dense woodland, she had hidden behind an old oak tree. He didn't hesitate, just called upon his Dragon Swords once more.

Round two began.

Kisshu dived in towards his unsuspecting enemy. Mew Ichigo's cat senses tingled within the pit of her stomach. He was approaching – fast.

She ditched her spot behind the tree and, with one quick motion, called upon her Strawberry Bell. She didn't have time to create the decoy she was hoping for; it was blow-trading time once more.

Please… Mew Mew's… Shirogane… anyone… She prayed that someone heard her silent plea. But no go. She knew that wishing wouldn't help her now.

Mew Ichigo sidestepped Kisshu's lunge forward and twisted herself around just in time to deliver a quite hard wheel kick to his ribs. The alien fell back, faltered for a second, Ichigo held up her Strawberry Bell, ready to strike.

'Ribbon Strawberry Su-' She was cut off when suddenly, one of Kisshu's weapons flew through the air. She moved her hand just in time to stop it from plunging into her flesh. Instead, it hit her Bell.

The Strawberry Bell flew out of her hands. It landed with a soft THUMP, about a meter away from her current location. The sword was embedded in the trunk of a tree only a few feet behind the distressed kitten.

Instead of charging at her again, Kish took a simple step forward. Not taking any chances with her newfound experience with this alien. Ichigo took a step back. She drew in a breath.

Finally, the heroine found the nerve to speak. Actually, to scream. 'Why? Why are you doing this?' She yelled, taking another step back when he took another forward.

'You are in our way.' Kisshu responded to her call, coldly. 'I must destroy you.'

On saying the word you, Kish pointed to her with one of the long blades of his Dragon Swords. The other, of course, was situated in the tree behind her.

The ground then shook beneath her. Ichigo gasped, averting her gaze from Kisshu's face to the earth. It was getting more and more violent. She looked up again.

The alien seemed indifferent to this uncommon occurrence. Confusion overtook her senses for a brief moment, then alarm once more, and finally… realization.

It wasn't the world around her that was shaking. It was her who was shaking. It was as if she was having a seizure.

Her body arched in, pain consuming all her senses. She forgot about Kish; the fight, and was only focused on screaming at this torture that stretched up past her bowels and into her chest.

No way… she wasn't having – a heart attack?

The pain stopped as soon as it started. She gasped, warmth flooded down her cheeks as her mind registered that she had been crying from the pain. Mew Ichigo crumpled in relief.

She looked up, at her enemy, only to see he was staring back at her. His golden eyes were wide with shock. Kish just stood, unmoving.

'Huh?' She uttered, confused, gasping and shocked beyond belief. One minute he's trying to kiss me… then kill me… then – nothing.

Ichigo just watched Kisshu. His gaze averted from her face, to something in his hand. It was like his Dragon Sword, only longer. On the end of it was a small, semi-rectangular fork. It had two, evil-looking prongs sticking out of it and was silver, like the blade of his daggers.

His eyes, if possible, grew twice the size of which they were.

'No… No way.' He pressed the small, green oval on his dragon sword. Ichigo had once believed that it was only there as decoration. She was proved wrong in the next second.

Kisshu bought the hybrid stick up to his face, at least a foot away. He pressed down on the oval harder, his knuckles turning white. Ichigo blinked lazily, what was he doing?

Suddenly, the two prongs turned a deep emerald, then, in between the two, was a spark. It only shone for a second before –

CRACK!

The hilt of the sword suddenly exploded in an off-white, slightly yellow light. Electrical currents ran up the sword, towards the prongs and when they hit: BAM!

There was another heinous crack. Ichigo almost covered her cat ears from her place on the floor, where she had fallen after her seizure. The prongs of Kisshu's sword sparked with electricity. She could see the forks of yellow build up between the two.

It all made sense. She didn't have a heart attack or a seizure. She had been electrocuted.

By Kisshu and his pronged sword.

She glanced up at him, taken aback. He had electrocuted her. He had caused so much pain towards her when he had once promised to never harm her. That he would take her away and they would live happily.

Not that she believed any of that. Well, if she had (even just a tiny smidgen) she certainly didn't now.

The rage that filled her, after realizing he was responsible, died almost immediately on seeing his face. Complete and utter shock, was all she could describe it as.

Kisshu was shaking his head. Back and forth repeatedly, after staring at the electrical light his Dragon Sword produced. It wasn't possible. He didn't believe it.

He wouldn't believe it. Couldn't.

Yet it was there.

In disgust, he released his fingers from the button on the sword. Then he stepped forward, towards the cowering Ichigo.

The cat girl looked up, eyes red, face horrified. Kisshu glanced down, at the sword, and then dropped it. He took another step closer. Ichigo cringed, shutting one eye when she saw him approaching.

'Minton Alo!' A scream came from above the trees. Ichigo and Kisshu immediately looked up.

Ichigo cried in relief and surprise, 'Mew Minto!'

Minto smiled slightly at her companion. She turned away from the team leader, however, when she grasped her Bow and Arrow in her hands. Her face was deadpan when she screamed, 'Ribbon Minto Ekko!'

A bright blue beam, shaped as an arrowhead, came flying out of her weapon. She fired at Kisshu; however, the attack was easy enough for him to dodge.

The green-haired alien looked down at Ichigo, who was beaming at the sight of her friends. He spoke quietly, yet the cat-girl, with her extraordinary senses, heard it as if he were screaming, 'Ichigo…' She looked over at him and glared, his lower lip began to tremble.

What had he done to her?

'G-gomenasai.' Without further ado, the devastated alien disappeared, just missing an attack from Lettuce's Castanets.

Ichigo stared at the spot where Kisshu just was moments ago.

What had all that been about? First it was quite normal with his perverted remarks and forceful positions… then he seemed to turn – evil. Well, more evil then he was now, I suppose. The Felis Iriomotensis mused after changing into her human form.

There was the whole deal with the Dragon Swords and then the electrocution. And finally, his disbelief afterwards. It was as if he was as just as shocked as he was.

"No. No way." That was what he had said before he pressed the button on his Sword. Then it seemed that his fears had been confirmed… oh, what am I thinking!

'Ichigo? ICHIGO!' The familiar voice of Aizawa Mint, her best friend, calling her, knocked her out of her ruminations.

Ichigo blinked once, then twice, then about nine more times before she responded with anything else but heavy breathing.

Yet still, her mind was wandering, fast. There was a lot to be pondered.

Zakuro and Lettuce, both still in their Mew forms, helped Ichigo up with their combined power. Ichigo stood, albeit shakily for the first couple of seconds, but then her resolve strengthened and she was able to take a few steps forward.

'Come on,' Zakuro spoke to the Mews in all-round seriousness, 'Lets go.'

Just as Ichigo was about to start walking, something on the ground caught her eye.

It was a sword. Kisshu's. But it wasn't the pronged one. That was laying a way away from their location. Ichigo shuddered, trying not to think about it. The sword on the ground, however, must have been the one in the tree.

Without thinking, Ichigo picked it up. Afterwards, she realised that had been a pretty stupid thing to do… What if it had been booby-trapped?

She shook her head. Kisshu wasn't dumb, although she liked to think differently. He wouldn't booby-trap his own weapon. Mew Aqua, maybe, but not his Dragon Swords.

Before anyone noticed, Ichigo placed the sword between her shirt and the jacket Zakuro had lent her after helping her up.

Despite the warmth from her clothes of her normal self, Ichigo shivered.

Something was very, very wrong.

End Note: Wow… That's longer than I thought it would be. Heh, sorry guys, must be quite a read. Tell me what you feel about this so far? (If you say confusing, I agree, lol)

Love,

exangeline