Disclaimer: I don't own Tokyo Mew Mew, it belongs to Reiko Yoshida (I finally know it :P).

A.N.: I'm happy that so many of liked last chapter! My deadlines are all messed up so I'm sorry for the delay. I've been down lately with exams and grades and soon college! But I finally recovered my plot powers!

Most of you probably already have a small idea of what is going to happen, so… let's see if you're right.

Since I have so many reviews to answer this time (I'm thrilled!) I'll put them in the bottom so that you can start reading right away. Enjoy.

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It was too surreal. Aoyama was still shocked about having hit Ichigo so only Kishu jumped in surprise when Shirogane spoke. "We need to go get her. She could get hurt."

He approached the small hole where Ichigo had gone missing. "Small. You stay here, I'll go get her."

"… Eh? Wait! What are you doing here? And why…" Kishu quickly approached the hole too in the right moment as Shirogane transformed into his cat form.

The blond meant to enter the hole but Kishu spoke. "Wait. Let me go with you."

At this, Alto raised is eyebrow in surprise. He was curious as to how the alien intended to fit in the cat sized hole. Kishu took the other's momentarily stop as a confirmation so he just did what he had to do. No point keeping the secret forever.

A greenish light involved him as he too begun to transform. His size diminished and his shape changed until he became a cat. A small cat with greenish fur and amber eyes.

"Don't just stand there, Blondie! Let's go find Ichigo!" Kishu nearly had to head-butt a stunned Ryou out of the way as the blond was staring at him in shock.

Masaya was also in shock, but for different reasons. His earlier actions were replaying over and over on his head as he tried to deny them. His inner turmoil was enough to make him not notice what was going on just a few meters away, where two cats, a grey and a green, entered the collapsed building.

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The cement and the beams had created an intricate precarious up ways maze. The air was moist, most likely due to some leak on the collapsed wall, making all scents merge and making then unrecognizable.

Without much choice, slowly the two explorers started climbing. Once in a while a more unstable boulder or beam would shake under them but their pace little changed. None spoke to the other and gradually the time passed without signs of Ichigo.

In the dark labyrinth only some lonely sun rays survived giving the impression of golden pillars cutting through the shadows.

'Oh? What's that?' Kishu noticed at the distance what looked like a footprint from a cat. Swiftly jumping from a boulder to other he approached it.

"Kishu! Wait!" But it was too late. The wall under the alien suddenly gave away making everything shake around them.

Kishu managed to jump aside but the shaking still lasted for some minutes. Even when it was over, dust and rubble kept falling making them cough and struggle to breathe.

"This all seems unstable." Alto whispered. "Be more careful! Don't make loud noises either!"

Huffing, the green alien silently kept following the grey cat through the darkness; and soon they reached a bifurcation and without much of a choice they went separate ways, Alto to the right and Kishu to the left. After a while the green furred cat stopped listening to his companion and the world became silent.

The alien's path soon turned into a tunnel and he marveled on the complexity that the collapse of a mere wall had created. There were still no signs of Ichigo when Kishu left the passageway. What extended in front of him was an abyss with only a large beam that allowed him to cross.

The wood cringed under his paws but felt sturdy enough for the greenish cat so he confidently started crossing. Halfway through the void his ears picked up a soft sound on the other side. Anxiously, he pushed forward.

Ichigo had been hiding under a small cave like formation on the wall. Her sobs were nearly gone by the time she was found.

"Ichigo! Are you okay?" Kishu carefully approached her. Seeing that she wasn't responding quickly enough he started panicking, thinking that she had gotten hurt somehow. "Oi! Are you okay? Ichigo! This place isn't safe; we need to get out of here! Come on, Ichigo!"

The black cat rubbed the tears from her eyes and looked at her savior. Confusion was apparent on her face. "Hibiki…?"

Kishu flinched remembering that she didn't know the truth. "It doesn't matter now! Ichigo lets go!"

'Eh? His voice sounds familiar. Where have I heard it?' But the stubborn dark cat shook her head vigorously. "No." She didn't felt ready to face the world yet.

In his anxiety the alien was growing impatient. "Ichigo!" Unfortunately he shouted louder than he should and soon the structure was shaking again threatening to send them to the bottomless pit under them and shaking Ichigo out of her lethargy.

"Oooiiiii! This is collapsing! Run!" Alto screamed at them on the other side of the cliff.

"Go, Koneko-chan!" Ichigo was pushed forward and forced to run over the wood beam as pebble and rubble fell on her head. Behind her Hibiki kept pushing her.

Soon they reached Alto that lead them quickly through the falling ceiling. The paths were falling apart and some were gone making their escape rote unrecognizable. But luckily, the cats managed to exit the maze, covered in dust and dirt, on time to watch the building collapse even more than before.

"Baka." Alto half teased.

But before Ichigo could argue back steps approached them fast. "Ichigo!" Aoyama ran to them not in shock anymore. "Ichigo… I can't believe I… I'm so sorry! Ichigo! How could I do such a thing?" And he once more collapsed on his knees crying.

Sighing, Alto and Ichigo returned to their human forms and the redhead softly rubbed his shaking shoulders. Ryu just watched, wondering when she had learned to control her transformation.

"Aoyama-kun… It's okay. I overreacted. Aoyama-kun is sick, it's not your fault. Shirogane will help you. Come on, lets go home." Ichigo tried to lift her boyfriend up to lead him away but a strong hand on her shoulder stopped her.

"It would be better if he came with me." Shirogane calmly stated.

"But…"

"I need to run some tests immediately." The blond awkwardly scratched his hair. "I have a theory about this but I don't have any proof. I want to explain it to you. Kishu, you too." He turned to the greenish cat that was trying to escape unnoticed.

"Eh? Kishu?" Redhead questioned in surprise as Shirogane picked up her pet by the neck.

Hibiki threw Ryou a murderous look before puffing himself to his alien form.

"Aaahhhhh! Nooooo!" Ichigo screeched at had developed in from of her eyes. Kishu turned around trying to avoid her.

"What…?" Shirogane and Aoyama just looked from one to another. "Never mind. Just listen to what I have to say…"

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"Where is your so called leader? I have information I need to discuss with him." Pai breathe for the fourth time in exasperation.

"One-chan is not here! Come back later-nanoda! Ah, thank you Taru-Taru." Pudding answered him cheerfully as she picked up the scissors her husband was handing her.

The purple alien rubbed the bridge of his nose before trying to calmly explain himself. "I meant the blond boy. That red haired girl couldn't lead herself out of trouble even if her life depended on it. Oh, guess what! It does. Never mind that. Where is he?"

"They're all gone Pai. They all went to look for that girl's boyfriend or something!" Taruto told him.

"Look for him? Is there something wrong?"

"Who knows! Pudding! Trim that side more!"

"… Fine. When he returns, tell him that I have urgent things to discuss." And Pai teleported away from the Café.

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"… So… me, Ichigo… and Kishu are all connected. That makes sense… in a way." The new info settled without problems within the trio and Shirogane sighed in relief.

"Definitely explains why we have been having this need to be together." The green alien seemed amused even.

"And that is what's causing these attacks? It's just jealousy?" Masaya put his hands to the head in bewilderment.

"That's my theory." The blond nodded gravely.

"I'm sorry but I must disagree." Kishu dismissed to everyone's surprise. "You see… from what I understood from Pai's explanations, the Verbindung creates feelings of care and affection. It definitely explains why I and Romeowere getting along so well! It wouldn't create feelings of jealousy! It would push them aside actually! If we are forced to like each other then it wouldn't make sense to hate each other, don't you think?" When he stopped everyone silently assimilated what he had just said.

"Damn! That means that I'm back to square one! Damnit! Aoyama-san, come with me, I need to retest you!" Shirogane stomped away angrily, pulling the poor teen with him.

"I feel bad for disappointing Blondie. And poor Romeo still doesn't know what has gotten into him!"

"Aoyama-kun…" Ichigo sighed sadly as her boyfriend disappeared turning a corner. Then suddenly she turned to Kishu her memory telling her that there was something that she should remember. Then it hit her. "Aaahhh! You!" She pointed accusingly at the quickly retreating alien. "You pervert, stalker freak! I'll get you!"

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Momomiya Ichigo, 17 years old, facing a reality she doesn't wish to.

It was bad enough that Kishu had managed to teleport away at the last moment and she hadn't had the chance to murder him, but finding him as soon as she returned home after such an exhausting day, in his cat form! On her mother's lap! As if he belonged there! All happy being petted! Someone was going to die!

"Ah, Ichigo! Okaeri! Do you want a snack?" Her mother, oblivious to her daughter's increasing bad mood, cheerfully asked.

Ichigo's answer was stomping furiously to the kitchen and devouring the small cake as if he was the culprit.

"Oh dear… Ichigo-chan? Is something upsetting you?" Sakura inquires her.

Still halfway through swallowing the dessert Ichigo glares heavily at her "pet". "You and… Hibiki, get along very well don't you." It wasn't a question.

Still petting the greenish cat, Sakura stopped in surprise. "Eh? Well, yes… Ichigo-chan… does it upset you? Even if it's your pet, can't I play with it?"

"That's not what I meant! Why do you get along so well?" The red head was practically sending him daggers as she planned how to get rid of him with little suspicion.

"Hibiki-chan keeps me company!" Ichigo's mother stood up cradling Kishu like a baby.

"Company?"

"Of course! Papa is always at work! And Ichigo never has time! Of course Mama would get lonely!" The red-haired woman dramatically spoke. "And he's just so cute when we are in the kitchen! It actually looks like he understands what I'm doing!" She happily cheered.

"That's because he does." Ichigo grumbled.

"Eh? Did you say something?"

"No." And she stomped to her room while glaring at everything, scaring her dad as he passed her making him roll down the stairs in fear.

"Mama! Ichigo is being scary!" She could still hear him at the distance.

On her room she locked the door, even if it was actually pointless, the guy she wanted to avoid could easily teleport there, and dropped face down on her bed. 'If mom likes Hibiki that much, it will be hard getting rid of him.' She though as she waited.

And as expected, soon a soft sound which she knew was connected with teleportation, was heard in the small room.

For a moment none spoke, waiting to see if the other would. But after a while, Kishu seemed to become impatient and decided to be the first to start.

"I'm sorry Koneko-chan. I didn't want to lie to you." She couldn't see his face but she could hear the regret in his voice.

Breathing deeply and forcing her anger to drop, the red head turned to face the floating alien. "Why? Why did you do this?"

"I didn't actually plan to come to your house… You just picked me up!" He scratched his green hair trying to shake the awkwardness out of him. "I just wanted to be closer to you."

"I thought that we had worked this out! I thought that you were trying to be my friend!" Ichigo managed to hush, trying to alert her parents. She felt like throwing him her pillow.

"I am! But this is different!" He sighed as if he was tired. "If there isn't a certain level of proximity between us, then the Verbindungwon't heal properly and we might get sick again!"

"…Still!" She wanted to be angrier at him. She wanted things to be easier. But nothing is.

"Look… Just pretend that I'm your cat. Nothing needs to change." He pleaded. Things had been going great, why was everything falling apart like that?

"Kishu… You know that I won't be able to. Things already changed." Suddenly she was feeling cold so she wrapped her arms around herself trying to shake the bad feelings away. "Besides… do you think I'll be comfortable knowing that you are here and that you are watching me all the time! What about when I'm bathing? Or when I'm getting dressed?"

His amber eyes narrowed as he frowned deeply angry. "You think that I would do that to you? I had tons of opportunities when you didn't know and I didn't do it!"

She had to agree. Several times she had asked him if he wanted to bath with her but he had refused. And he was never present when she was getting dressed, as if he always disappeared at that precise time.

"Ichigo, still don't understand do you?" Now kneeling by her bedside he smiled softly at the sight of a confused Ichigo. "Having fought Deep Blue, the months I spent on my planet trying to understand what I had done to you, this connection that we have… I've grown a lot. I love you Ichigo. More than ever. But after all this time and all the pain I had to endure… I understand better; what means to love someone." He got up and slowly walked to the door unlocking it before turning back to the girl on the bed. "I won't force my feelings on you anymore, Ichigo. What I want more than anything now, is to see you happy. But most of all… I want to be by your side. Even if just as a friend. Or a cat."

Ichigo that had been unconsciously clutching her pillow felt the tension leave her as the minutes passed and Kishu's words resonated in her head. Finally the leaving alien decided against it at the last minute and turned to her grinning. "Ah! But don't think that I've given up Koneko-chan~~! Somehow, that connection thing as given me hope that one day Koneko-chan will come to me by herself!"

And falling to make a mean face, Ichigo threw her pillow at him both grinning and Kishu turning into a cat and running down stairs.

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Animelover4798 – Don't worry.Of course you don't have to like him! Idon't like him either :P I was just saying. Sorry it took me so much to update, despite your (truly adored) demands for more. I hope it will take less to come out now.

Phoenixica24 – I hope this chapter answered your question (which you probably knew or had guessed the answer to :P). Glad to see a new face/name!

Wolves Run Free – Neither the anime or the manga ever specified but let's just assume that either he knew or had guessed from his own transformations. I like your name (silly smile).

kookies-kisshu – Don't worry your English is good. And yes, it will soon become a Kish/Ichigo fic. I'm very happy that you feel this way about the fic, I couldn't ask for anything better!

Arkie – Arkie, Arkie, Arkie… Where do I start with you? For the beginning I suppose :P. First: I went to my email one day and suddenly I had a series of warnings about reviews, a whole bunch of them! First I was like 0_0 and then I went to the site to see what was going on and I became like XD. Thank you. It made my day in a way that you can't imagine.

Second: After your last review a few days later I actually went back to my "plans" to check if I hadn't made myself clear already and I reach the conclusion that I hadn't. I'm very thankful for that. So I changed a bit this chapter so that I could answer you. I hope that it was made clear.

Third: I LOVE YOU LOTS!