Lost and Found Chapter 10:
Mew Mew Koneko
Aunt Yuki had made sandwiches, and Kisshu, Ichigo, Moe, and Miwa sat down to eat with her. "These are good," Miwa said.
"Thanks," Aunt Yuki said. She looked at Ichigo, who was picking at the sandwich, and asked, "Ichigo, are you okay?"
"Am I going to be a burden here too?" Ichigo asked gloomily.
"Of course not!" Aunt Yuki said. "What would give you that idea?"
"My real parents apparently thought I was a burden on them…." Ichigo said sadly.
"Then they're idiots, and they deserve being beaten up by Moe and Miwa," Aunt Yuki said firmly. "You'll never be a burden here, I promise." She came over and hugged Ichigo as she said, "I always wanted a daughter. Now I have one, and I'm very happy to have you here. Hayako's happy too. We're all happy to have you here, and I want you to remember that, 'kay?"
Ichigo looked slightly happier, and said, "Okay. Thanks, Aunt Yuki."
"You're welcome, sweetie," Aunt Yuki said with a smile. Ichigo smiled back and started eating her sandwich.
When they were all finished with lunch, Aunt Yuki said, "I'll do the dishes, why don't you go outside?"
"Okay!" Kisshu said happily. Before they could go anywhere, though, they heard banging on the door, and Kisshu ran to get it, followed by the girls. A boy a little older than Kisshu was standing there, and he said, "You've been called to meet with the Council, all four of you!"
"Thanks Kaito," Kisshu said. He took Ichigo's hand and teleported, followed by Moe and Miwa, to the Council meeting room. The whole Council was there, but Hideki was not.
As soon as they landed, Koni stood and said, "We called you here with some bad news."
"What is it?" Moe asked.
"Gimore Han escaped from the prison, and is most likely out to get Kisshu," Koni said. "We've got people out searching, and normally I'd send you out too, Kisshu. However, I'm worried that Han will try to get to you by kidnapping Ichigo, so I want you to train her how to fight."
"What is Han's weapon?" Kisshu asked.
"A sword with water abilities," Koni said.
Kisshu seemed to be thinking, then said, "I'll train Ichigo to fight with two swords, like I do. Her cat reflexes should be able to handle it. What level is Han?"
"Level 5," Koni said.
Kisshu thought again, then said, "And Ichigo in Mew form was on par with at least Level 5, if not 6. I think I can handle that."
"I had an idea," Moe said. "What if Pai changed Ichigo's pendant so that her weapon was like Kisshu's swords?"
"That sounds like a good idea," Koni said. "Go find him and tell him; I want to talk with Kisshu and Ichigo alone."
"Hai," Moe said. She and Miwa bowed and teleported out.
Koni sighed, and Kisshu looked at him warily. Koni looked back, and said, "Hideki-sama and I have been arguing lately. While the Council has decided that Moe and Miwa will be his successors, he's still extremely unhappy with me, and won't tell me why, except that he thinks I was totally out of line, nagging you to do something that would disrespect your late father. I have a feeling there's more to it than just me 'nagging', as he put it. Given the fact that he's spoken with you alone more than once, I'd like you to tell me what his second reason is, besides the nagging."
"Is it really my place to share Hideki-sama's thoughts with you if he hasn't done so himself?" Kisshu asked. "And if he finds out, won't that just lead to more disagreements between you and him?"
"Direct order, Kisshu," Koni said.
Kisshu sighed and said, "His other reason was that he understands my feelings. He wanted to go back to Earth and raise Moe and Miwa alongside Yume, not get dragged back here and be forced into being leader. While our motives were different, we both never wanted the position of leader. I consider myself lucky there was someone around to override the decision to make me the next leader; Hideki-sama didn't have that."
Koni and Kisshu both cringed when Hideki said from behind Kisshu, "Actually, Koni could have overridden the decisions my father made, but since my father was so hot-tempered, he decided to force me into being leader to save himself and the rest of the Council from annihilation or something."
"How long have you been here?" Koni asked.
"Since Miwa came and told me you were talking with Kisshu and Ichigo alone," Hideki said. "Pai should be back at his house by now to get Ichigo's pendant, by the way. Kisshu, you should go start teaching Ichigo sword work; Koni and I need to chat."
"Hai," Kisshu said, and teleported out.
When they landed in the main room of their house, Kisshu sighed, relieved. Aunt Yuki came in and said, "Good, you're home. How'd it go?"
"Hideki-sama is currently chewing Koni-sama out for ordering me to tell him why Hideki-sama was so insistent on not forcing me into being leader," Kisshu said. "Hideki-sama wanted me to come back and start teaching Ichigo sword work."
"Not in the house," Aunt Yuki said.
"I know," Kisshu said, taking Ichigo's hand again. "I'll take her to the ship." He teleported to a large room on the ship, which was filled with weaponry.
"This is a lot of weapons," Ichigo commented.
"Yup," Kisshu said. "Normally ships don't have this much, but since I was on the Earth mission, I was given a better-equipped ship." He walked over to a wall, and took a pair of swords off it, then came back to Ichigo. "See how these feel to you," he said.
Ichigo took the swords, one in each hand. Kisshu adjusted her grip, and she said, "These feel fine; they're not too heavy for me."
"Good," Kisshu said. "See how I adjusted the grip you had on them? That's the way they're meant to be held. You have to remember that, or using them will be hard."
Ichigo looked at her hands, but before she could respond, she started to glow.
Kissh watched as the glow enveloped Ichigo, and was startled when she called out, "Mew Mew Koneko! Metamorpho-SIS!"
The glow flashed a bit, and Kisshu shielded his eyes. When the flash faded, he looked at Ichigo. She looked very different. Her hair hadn't changed color, and was pulled into a ponytail that hung over her left shoulder, tied with a black ribbon. Two curls hung down, framing her face. Her eyes hadn't turned hot pink this time; instead they looked almost like Kisshu's, just a shade darker. Her cat ears hadn't changed at all.
She was wearing a pink crop top with three-quarter-length sleeves, and black fingerless gloves. She wore black leggings tucked into her dark pink lace-up boots. Her tail waved, and Kisshu noticed the bell was gone. Instead, there was a pink ribbon with black polka dots tied in a bow around her tail.
The swords in her hands were gone, but before Kisshu could ask where they were, Ichigo called out, "Neko Swords!"
The swords from before appeared in her hands, and Kisshu noticed she was gripping them correctly this time. They looked pretty different from the swords he had given her, though. Both the hilts were wrapped in black rawhide, which was threaded through with hot pink ribbons. The blades were the same as Kisshu's, but where his hilts had a blue oval jewel, Ichigo's had a pink heart-shaped jewel.
"Koneko-chan, you look great!" Kisshu said.
Ichigo smiled happily. "Thanks Kish!" she said happily.
Mew Ichigo had vanished. In her place was Mew Koneko.
I know it's really short, but I thought I'd get this in before I forgot my idea. I hope you like it!