Oh gee, this chapter took so long to write. I've been kind of in between of writing free shots and then doing some kind of other form of art, neglecting my love for writing. So I as an apology, here's Chapter 14 along with Chapter 15 right around the corner! (I'll begin after I write my test)

Remember boys and girls, I don't own Tokyo Mew Mew and be cool; IUD, SIS, stay in school cause it's the best.

(Written on April 4, 2007)
Chapter 14 | His Startling Dealings

'Calm down, Ichigo, calm down. I need to calm down. It's absolutely nothing, you know, it's just Ryou's body pressing against mine. Oh my god...' It appeared that her thoughts were more see-through than she had hoped for. She could notice the glare of excitement in his eyes as he continued pressing up against her.

She tried her best to hold back her squeals, getting ravelled up in all of the commotion, trying to force her cat features to retreat. It wouldn't be as easy as that though. She let out a rather large sigh though unnoticeable to the blond. 'I don't believe this is happening right now. He's so close; I can feel his breath.' Anything along those words would never be able to calm her down. The only thing that they were capable of doing is force her to grow more embarrassed as her cheeks began to glare a bright red. If he would only let go then maybe she could finally cool off. She didn't want him to let go but there were certain time and places for these kinds of situation.

"You know it would be a lot easier if you would just let go of me..."

He whispered words into her ears. He had the sudden urge to just start nibbling on her ear in order to see what kind of reaction she would have. It wasn't exact a kiss but it might be enough to turn her into the lovable kitten. That urge was immediately suppressed. "I know that..."

"Then why aren't you letting go?" She pretended to whine, thinking he was only doing this to get some self-satisfaction she would later hate him for; that the revealing to the world about her true identity could be taken as lightly as a joke. "Let go already. You know I would never let those kids see them."

"So? They'll just think it's a costume for the exhibit, you know, some fun cosplay. You like that stuff, don't you?" He tightened his arms around her, getting ready to let go and move her face closer to his own. He did so. He placed the same old familiar grin on his face. "Maybe we should turn you into a little black kitten. The kids could pet you and stroke those cat ears. As I recall, you did enjoy that."

She did enjoy that? She could only admit to herself that she did enjoy it when people would stroke her ears. It had a relaxed feel to it but this was a situation she wouldn't allow. "I don't. Get off!"

"You don't? You were purring for hours while I was doing that walking you home just the other day. It was really cute of you."

Cute? Did he just call Ichigo cute? She shook her head back and forth, attempted pushing him away, just to rid more embarrassing thoughts with the lines that Ryou could pull out of nowhere. Her mind was filled with determination, though it really wouldn't matter in the end, but she felt more alive and ready to get out of it. 'Lines,' she thought. 'I won't let them work on me.'

He pulled her in closer, tightening the grip on her. That way while she was beating him off, he still had hold on her. She glanced towards the entrance. They were getting closer to finding out. They were only a two or three feet away from Ichigo, still bouncing off the way like enthusiastic kids would.

There he goes off; just going with his own ideas. She should have figured that much. As much as they were both stubborn in their own ways, Ryou would always have the upper hand when it came to them. Was there really any use of trying to avoid it? His lips were pressed against hers and she could feel the transformation beginning. The black kitten had just appeared in time for the children not to notice the transformation. The smoke was gone and they were pointing at the beautiful kitten as they whispered among each other.

Ryou picked her up, already ready to place her in one of their arms. "Want to pet her? I promise she won't bite. She's a good kitten."

They smiled at him and accepted the offer. The energetic bunch of children ran towards the stranger in hopes that they could hold the kitten first. A little girl began to scratch behind her ears making her way to pat the head. Their hands moved down her tiny body and reached for the tail.

Another kid behind the group of four children stared with curiosity. "Uhh, why are there a bell and a big pink bow there?" He kept his hand away from the tail as he glared up at Ryou with the most childish expression he hadn't seen for a long time. In a way, he had reminded him of Ichigo when she wouldn't get her ways and start beginning for that ill-mannered promised raise.

"Because it's a pretty bell!" One of them exclaimed.

"What's her name?"

"Her name is Ichigo."

Ichigo began to purr with enjoyment as the group of kids continued with their selves. She couldn't believe how good it felt, despite the one time where one of them accidentally pulled on her tail. She ignored it, trying her best now to bear her teeth or hiss at the children.

"Awe," he said with a large amount of sympathy. "I'm sorry kids. Ichigo seems to be hungry, so I'll have to take her away. So we'll see you kids later." He picked Ichigo up from the little girl's hands and started heading towards the exit direction. He turned around to see the group, along with their two teachers, waving back at them.

He started stroking her ears like the children were; snickering to himself about the complete control he had over Ichigo now. "Sorry that we couldn't stay at the wildcat for long but my little kitty is hungry. Is that her stomach I hear?"

Ichigo was bewildered with complete awe. It seems that he was the only one able to hear the concealed growl of her tiny stomach. Still she refused to reply to him until he finally turned her back. She would scratch him and bite during the most of the time until he finally lifted her to his eye height and did it.

He glanced around to make sure it was secure enough. He wouldn't want an adult walking in as the transformation begun. A secure place was in need. A shine his eyes declaring to Ichigo he had finally discovered the perfect action to take. It was her right to feel a little restless.

He carried her with her face pushed inside of his jacket so the security wouldn't be able to say anything about it. For a minute Ichigo could picture herself being carried like a princess. Her small cat arms flared up in the air, stirring back and forth as if she was literally erasing the dream bubble.

He leaned against the wall for a minute, waiting for the perfect moment to slip inside the room next to him. Unable to see what was going on, once again she tried her best effort to become aware. She scratched his hands, leaving small marks on his fingers and palm, and she attempted to turn around to sneak a peek.

Unsuccessful she was. Her face was still hidden inside of his jacket once he had already slipped into that room. He reached into his jacket searching on the side for the right grip on her tiny body. Once he got a good hold on her, he slowly brought her outside to reveal where she was. She blinked three times. She must of had been dreaming the entire day. The date hadn't begun, they never walked to the exhibit and she was not where she thought she was. She bites her paw trying to wake up from this nightmare.

It was no dream.

What stood before her was something she had only seen in the movies, or you could say it's kind of an opposite replica of where girls would gather to gossip, put on their makeup and fix their hair. She glanced down at the floor then all the way back up towards the set of sinks. She couldn't believe that he would bring her into the males' bathroom, what if there was someone- She quickly turned her head to face the stalls, in hope that she would at least find a man in there, attempting to reassure herself that Ryou was indeed a sinister man filled that disaster follows. If she found one then she could just tell herself that it was all another joke.

But there wasn't anyone else. The concept of a joke no longer existed in her mind. Her restless feeling was soon turning into some kind of anxiety. "Ryou... What are we doing here?"

"I thought you wanted to be human again. I was just trying to help you out." He sighed as he turned away, pretending that he put all his efforts into this. "I even sneaked the kitten past the security. I was so cool. They would have never thought I'd carry a little cat with him, let alone a girl. "

"We're in a boy's bathroom. How is that going to help me?" She began to feel a growl come over her. Restless feelings remained within her as angry was starting to shine through. "You'll get me stuck! Some old man will see! We'll get in trouble! They'll think we wer-"

She had stopped in her tracks.

"Huh?" He lifted up the kitten to make sure he could look directly at her. He wanted to stare into the cat's eyes as he continued. "What's that? They'll think we were doing what?"

"Huh?" Ichigo figured the best thing she could do right now was to play naive and innocent; make it seem like she didn't know what he was talking about but still give off the impression that it would end up bad. "They'll think something is up!"

"No... That's not what you said. You said 'we were'... So please, Baka, elaborate."

Ichigo had already figured out the rest of the sentence before she stopped mid-air. She had decided it would be best not to even get into that topic; might have made him think she had been expected something all this time. At the moment the most she expected from Ryou Shirogane was a couple of harsh jokes or remarks followed by those random moments where his good qualities always followed through.

"They'd think we were-" What to say, what to say, what could she possible say to Ryou right now that would make everything all better. Her mouth let out a small hiss as she cried out. "Together!"

She had buried herself deep. With sudden movements, she was already transformed back into her regular self except this time she could feel a difference. Usually after the transformation, she always found herself both knees and hands on the floor. This time she was standing up, spread in the arms of her crush. Her wide were wide open. She wasn't in doubt. She wasn't dreaming. She knew for sure that this was real but it came as one of the biggest shocks. She knew from experience that this was a rare case; all the other ones were completely small and ended up turning into one or the other. Never once was she in this kind of predicament. For the first time she was locked completely in a real kiss with Ryou Shirogane.

End | Chapter 14