"What are you doing here?" Ichigo stared at the small boy infront of her

"Kisshu told me to come pick you up."

"Pick me up?" She asked confused

"Yes, that's exactly what I just said! I'm supposed to bring you to him. And it's not because I like you! Kisshu said he'd turn me over to the monkey mew if I refused..." He came closer and put his hand on her shoulder, teleporting them both to what appeared to be a large bedroom, all done up in crimson silk and black velvet.

"Kisshu said to wait here for him."

"What is he up to?" She'd said to herself, however, the little boy next to her answered.

"He heard the way your so called friends spoke to you, apparently he's not happy."

"where is he right now?" Worry flooded her, she was terrified that he'd gone to cafe mew mew and attacked.

"Said something about clothes for you..." He told her "Are you leaving the mews?"

"I- I- I think I was pretty much kicked out..."

"What for?"

"Letting Kisshu look after me." She decided that was a sufficient enough explanation for him.

"Why was he looking after you anyway? He wouldn't tell me." She was glad he didn't know, Taruto liked to exploit others' weaknesses.

"None of your business." He made a disgruntled noise and teleported out of the room. With nothing to do, Ichigo walked to the bed, ridiculously large and ridiculously comfortable looking. She sat down and looked around. The walls and floor were both pitch black and it was almost impossible to distinguish between them, making the room seem as though it was going on forever. Apart from the four poster bed, there was a big grey sofa pushed against the wall and a dresser. That brought her back to what Taruto had mentioned. Taruto had said Kisshu had mentioned clothes for her…

All of a sudden, everything fell into place, Kisshu had heard them talking and immediately decided if he couldn't come to her, she would have to come here (wherever 'here' was) to be looked after. And if he was getting clothes for her, he wanted her to stay here for a while. Ichigo tried to be angry at him, tried to feel frustrated, but all she felt was relief, relief that she would be able to sleep well and not spend hours shivering in fear on her bed. Even if it meant enduring the other girls' glares. They wouldn't kick her out of the mew mews. She knew that much.

The air in front of her shimmered as two figures appeared, Kisshu and Taruto. Both carried a pile of clothes, every article pink, white, black or red.

"Hello Kitten!" Kisshu greeted, moving the bundle to one hand and using the other to rustle her hair.

"Hi, are you going to explain all this or shall I guess?" She asked, a smile on her face.

"I'll explain, you can't sleep without me there, the mews told you to stop meeting me, so, either me or Taruto will come and pick you up and bring you here every night so you can honestly say you didn't meet me!" Kisshu looked very satisfied with his brilliant little plan.

"That…just might work…" Ichigo grinned.

"Wait, wait, wait. You can't sleep without Kisshu?!" Taruto broke into fits of laughter. "You can fight our creations, us, organize your team and do it all in a frilly little dress, but you can't sleep on your own?!" He seemed to think this was the best joke he'd ever heard. Ichigo crossed her arms as Kisshu slapped Taruto on the back of the head.

"It's not funny!" He told the younger boy. Taruto just dropped the clothes on the bed by Ichigo and held out a hand. Kisshu put a little bag of sweets in his hand. "It'll be one bag a week as long as you don't tell Pai. Understand?" Taruto nodded, popping a sweet into his mouth as he teleported away.

"You're paying him off with sweets?" Kisshu nodded.

"He doesn't care about money, if he sees something he wants, he just takes it." Ichigo smiled.

"And what's all the clothes for?"

"They're mainly pyjamas, I wasn't sure how comfortable you'd be having Taruto barge into your room while you were in yours," Ichigo tried to imagine the scene and shivered. "I'll leave now, I'll be back in ten minutes to give you time to get changed." Ichigo nodded as Kisshu disappeared.

She rummaged through the two bundles and it soon became clear that Kisshu had been just as expected while choosing clothes for her, they were mainly little silk night dresses. She swallowed her pride and put on a light pink one with white lace around the top and the bottom which ended about two thirds of the way down her thigh. Next, she carried the rest of them to the dresser and put them in, all the drawers were empty before she had begun, and by the time she was finished, all but one were full. She untied the ribbons in her hair and shook it out, placing the ribbons on the bedside table and began the process of moving the pillows and blankets so she could actually get in. She sat up with the black satin covers pooled in her lap.

A few minutes later, Kisshu appeared, dressed in dark brown shorts and a green t-shirt.

"You look comfy." He teased as he slid back the covers and sat in, Ichigo immediately moved closer to him. Kisshu snapped his fingers and the lights went out. Ichigo gasped, surprised by her sudden blindness. Kisshu lay back and pulled her to him so she lay on his chest.

"So, you heard?" She asked, referring to what has transpired in the café.

"Yes, I was helping Taruto with the chimera."

"You're going to have to take me back home tomorrow morning, you know?"

"I know, I have it all planned out." Ichigo smiled and curled into him. "Oh, and kitten? I have a question." Ichigo lifted her head to look at him. "The ears and the tail, I've seen them appear even while you weren't in mew form." Ichigo blushed.

"That just happens sometimes." She put her head back down, hiding her blush.

"Hm…"

"hey, Kish?" Taruto had appeared seemingly out of nowhere, his loud, obnoxious voice giving Ichigo a shock and with the shock, came the tail and the ears. She hadn't noticed at first, it was the odd looks she got that made her touch her head and sure enough, her cat ears were out. She covered them with her hands, trying to forcibly push them back in with her hands.

"Is…Is that normal for you?" Taruto asked, apparently deciding whether to be scared or laugh endlessly.

"Yes. Sadly." Taruto let out a giggle. "It's not funny!" She said, hands now balled up into fists in front of her as she sat up, releasing her ears, her tail making an appearance.

"What did you want Taruto?" Kisshu asked exasperatedly.

"Pai wants to talk to you." Kisshu looked unfazed. "He mentioned something about the mews." Kisshu nodded and turned to Ichigo.

"Stay here. Taruto will keep you company." Then he was gone. Taruto still stood at the end of the bed before he awkwardly made his way around to sit next to Ichigo.

"So what's the tail and ears about?" He asked through a mouthful of sweets.

"Whenever my heart rate increases, boom, part cat."

"Cool."

"No, not cool. Annoying! Almost as bad as when I kiss someone!" Taruto's head went to the side, confused. "I probably shouldn't tell you this, but, whatever. Whenever I kiss someone, I turn into a cat. Like a small, black kitten." Taruto's face was slowly lifted as he smirked. "It's not funny."

"Yes it is. Does that happen to all the mews?"

"Not sure," She smiled, knowing exactly what to say. "Maybe you should kiss Pudding and see if she becomes a monkey!"

"NO! No, no, no, no, no!" Ichigo giggled as the small boy shook his head frantically. Kisshu teleported in.

"It was nothing, just what I already knew, that the sound of shouting was heard from the café and that you left early. Hey, your ears are gone." She put her hand to her head and smiled, glad to be rid of the ears and the tail.

"I know how to get them back."

"Taruto…" Ichigo warned, Taruto's grin grew. "Don't."

"Wheneverherheartbeatsfastthe ycomebackandifyoukisshersheb ecomesacat!" He said all in a rush as he teleported out.

"I'm going to kill him!"

"What was that about kissing?"

"Nothing. Can we just go to sleep now?"