Hello! I told you I would be posting the next chapter soon. I'm working on the second part of the prologue now and will post it on ao3 and here. I'll leave a link on my bio.

Disclaimer: I do not own Tokyo Mew Mew

The day was relatively normal for most of the students of Daiken high school, taking notes in class, sitting boredly through lectures, waiting for the bell to ring for lunch or just waiting for the school day to be over. Some students chose to sleep through the lectures. However, a few classes decided to have a pop quiz courtesy of the teachers who wanted to surprise their students.

A teacher walks down an aisle lined by desks observing the students writing down answers on their quiz paper. She stops and notices a particular student sleeping through her quiz, a common occurrence in her class whether it be an important lecture or a test. Not accepting this she raises the book in her hand and with the corner hits the student on the top of their head.

The student jumps in her seat and straightens her posture as she looks around in alert, making her small twintails swish with each motion until her sight lands on her teacher standing beside her staring at the girl disapprovingly. The students chuckle at the sight while looking at the scene. "Looks like you were dozing off again. And during a test as well. What will it take for you to show any interest in my class?" The girl looks down in embarrassment and mummers an apology. "I'm sorry…"

This was Ichigo Momomiya. A sixteen years old highschool girl who tends to get herself into trouble.

"Geez Ichigo-chan. You just love to get yelled at by Ms. Sagawa, don't you?" A girl with blonde curly hair comments. "I do not! I just can't stay awake in class." Ichigo retorts.. "And she wasn't even droning in class this time."

Ichigo and her friends were walking through the courtyard of the school. Classes had finally ended for the day and many students were eager to leave or start club activities. Ichigo was just happy school was finally over but unfortunately she was faced with a big problem. Shelooks at the big red 23 on her quiz paper above a large number of checkmarks overpowering the circles.

"I'm really gonna hear it from mom and dad when I get home." Ichigo slumps with her head down and a depressed smile. She was never good at math anyways but with the grade she has now the most she would get from her parents was a stern lecture and the possibility of having her games taken away.

"Maybe you should study more and sleep on time instead of playing those video games all night." Another girl with above ear length brown hair says making Ichigo get defensive. "But I had to complete the ice dungeon! It was giving me so much trouble!"

"So, you admit it." Ichigo pauses and glares at the brown haired girl who gives Ichigo a knowing look of victory. "Shut up, Miwa-chan!" The two friends laugh at Ihigo's exaggerated reactions. "Oh, Ichigo-chan. You're so silly." The blonde one says. "You started it, Moe-chan!"

Ichigo was notorious for falling asleep in class. It has become such a normal occurrence for everyone since 1st year of high school but went back to the beginning of middle school. Ichigo wasn't the brightest but whenever really let it get her down. Most lectures in school were boring and hard to understand for her so instead of giving herself a headache she would just sleep away the class until she was either woken up by the bell, her friends or the exasperated teacher.

It was also not a surprise that her grades were bad to the point she was barely passing all her classes. If it wasn't for her bad sleeping habits and lack of interest in her classes she would have slightly more positive grades. Even with her having trouble understanding it was also her procrastination and sleeping that made her grades the way they are in the present.

"Anyways, you best start paying more attention in class, Ichigo-chan or else you'll get surprised by another pop quiz and flunk at it." Moe continues. "Hey! Don't say it like that! I would be more prepared if they didn't surprise me all of the time!"

"How many pop quiz fails would that make, Miwa-chan?" Moe asks which causes Miwa to look up as she recounts the number. "I believe 12 this school year."

"Stop!" Ichigo begs with a now visible blush on her face making her appear like a tomato. Her friends laugh at Ichigo's exaggerated expressions. "Oh, Ichigo-chan! You're so silly it's cute." Miwa comments but Ichigo doesn't appreciate her friends' teasing so she pouts. "You guys are the worst."

The two girls laugh at Ichigo's words and expressions. All three of the forks had been friends since the beginning of the school year and have been good company to one another since.

"Hey, Ichigo-chan. Are you still planning to ask out Aoyama-kun?" Moe asks in a teasing tone causing the red haired girl to blush once again. "O-of course! I just need to find the place to take him and it'll be set! T-then I'll gather up the courage and ask him out!"

Aoyama Masaya was a boy in a different class than Ichigo who she had a crush on since the beginning of the school year. She can still remember how they met by bumping into each other, or in this case Ichigo tripping and falling on Masaya causing him to fall to the ground with her. He didn't yell at her or admonish her but asked if she was okay and held his hand out to her. From that day on Ichigo had been infatuated with Masaya.

He was a kind boy, tall, handsome, a gentleman to everyone around him and an outstanding student who made excellent grades and the star of the kendo club. It was no surprise that he was popular and admired by many including most of the girls in school.

"Looks like our Ichigo-chan is almost ready to make her big move." Moe says mischievously. "Better hurry up and decide or else another girl will snatch Aoyama-kun away."

"Oh! Shut up, Moe-chan!" The girls despite their teasing meant well and supported Ichigo through and through on her pursuit to date Masaya. However it wouldn't stop them from using every opportunity to tease Ichigo whether it be about her crush or outside of it with school, her bad sleeping habits and much more.

The girls stop at an intersection near the park. "Well, I'm gonna head over to the library. You two want to come with me?" Miwa asks. She was the bookworm of the group who aces her class and enjoys reading poetic and complex books but still made time to have some fun and be a teen with her friends. "Nah. I have to go home early today. Sorry." Moe answers in a slightly annoyed tone. "Honestly my mom can't get that I have a life outside of home." She was the more laxed girl of the group, not caring about much and enjoyed teasing and playing games.

"She's probably still punishing you for staying out past your curfew." Ichigo reminded Moe who rolled her eyes dismissing the reason. "It was one time, okay?! I was having too much fun!"

"You mean with that guy paying everything for you?" Miwa makes a jab at Moe, making the blonde girl embarrassed and irritated. "Hey! Who was I to tell him no when he asked me out to dinner? I was gonna go home after karaoke but he just straight up invited me afterwards. The poor guy was nervous so I wanted to give him some slack. Besides, the food was good!" Moe was almost at the point of drooling when she recalled the delicious meals she had during her late night outing at the restaurant.

"I bet it was." Moe snaps out of memory lane glare at Miwa with her dark brown eyes. "What's that supposed to mean?" Miwa looks away feigning innocence with her hands behind her back. "Oh nothing." Moe didn't buy it but let it slide. Ichigo sometimes wonders why Moe and Miwa were even friends with their different lifestyles but knows the girls care for one another.

"Hey, Ichigo-chan. What do you wanna do?" Ichigo didn't notice her friend's attention was directed at her until they called her name. "Oh Um… I guess I'm gonna head out to town or maybe the park. I still need to figure out how to tell my parents about my failed quiz." Ichigo looks down dejectedly, being reminded of her math quiz results.

The girls give Ichigo a sympathetic look before replying. "Alright then. Good luck, Ichigo-chan." Miwa says followed by Moe. "Yeah. Good luck." Ichigo nods at her friends. "Yeah, thanks. I'll see you two later. Bye." Ichigo waves and turns to walk down the street towards the other side. The two girls wave back at Ichigo before turning to their destination.

"See, ya!"

"Bye bye!"

The three girls split apart in three different ways. Ichigo kept walking with no destination in mind. She just wanted to take her mind off of the inevitable future that was her parents' lecture. Her mother would probably be stern with her expressing her disappointment but her father would most likely punish her by challenging her to a kendo battle only to be defeated like usual. Ichigo loved her parents but they can be too much to handle sometimes.

She looks down at the quiz sheet again and grimaces at the grade. "How am I gonna show this?"

A strong gust of wind blows past Ichigo from behind making Ichigo scream. "Kya!" The surprised shock of the force causes Ichigo to loosen her hands and close her eyes. She feels paper being yanked from her fingers alerting Ichigo to open her eyes to watch her quiz paper to be taken away in the air.

"Oh no! Come back!" Ichigo gives chase after the runaway quiz paper, not paying attention to her surroundings. It was a crucial task for her for if she fails she would be in even more trouble. Her right arm was outstretched towards flying paper. "Please come back!"

Ahead of her paper was grabbed by a hand, slim and tanned. The individual brings the now caught paper to eye level to view the contents on it. The look on his face conveyed bewilderment and scrutiny at the grade marked on the paper. "What the-"

"Wait!" Ichigo couldn't stop her legs from moving nor did she have much time to realize she was about to make impact on the individual until it was too late. With the force of the sudden collison Ichigo and the man tumble to the ground in a painful manner.

"Ouch…" Ichigo groans in pain. Her mind was a bit in a haze but she knew she bumped into something hard and fell down to the ground. She was so focused on getting her quiz paper back that she failed to notice her surroundings and collided against something. She could only blame her tunnel vision for this predicament.

"Hey! Can you please get off of me?" A voice snaps Ichigo's eyes open to be met with the eyes colored in the shade of the blue sky glaring at her. It manages to send shivers down her spine. The eye belonged to a young man with tanned skin and golden blonde hair which farmed his face with long bangs. One word came to Ichigo's mind at the sight of the boy.

'Cool.'

"Hello. Can you hear me?" The young man asks impatiently causing Ichigo to snap out of her thoughts and realize she was on to the young man in a compromising position. Ichigo's face turns beet red as she quickly moves off of the young man in a clumsy manner all the while apologizing.

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I didn't notice you! Are you okay?!" She blows her repeatedly with her hands clasp on her lap and head almost touching the ground with each bow. The young man sits up with a hand on the back of his head, rubbing the soreness away. Ichigo got a good look at his attire and couldn't help but find it cool. A black sleeveless vest and white pants. A bit of his chest was exposed due to his zipper being down some. A black choker covers parts of his neck. This combined with his looks made the young man truly attractive.

He opens his eyes once again showing their pretty aqua blue color and glares at Ichigo making the girl freeze on the spot. "Well I was fine until you bumped into me." Ichigo felt guilt begin to implant itself inside of her being. The boy looks to his side and spots an object not that far from them. Ichigo couldn't tell what the object was but it was scraps and bits of metal on the grass which was once a singular object. The boy picks up the largest part of the broken metal and gazes at it with a look that clearly expresses irritation. "And broke my machine."

"Huh?" Ichigo looks at the boy then at the machine on the boy's hand and at the bits left on the floor. She realized that when she bumped into the boy she must've made him drop whatever was in his possession and got busted on impact to the ground. And what makes it worse was the realization that it was all her fault. It was like a knife being plunged into her chest.

"I just bought this too." The knife was being twisted inside of her making her bleed copious amounts of guilt. "I'm so sorry!" Ichigo could only bow so low in a dogeza style with her hands on the ground and her head almost touching the ground. She was sure she would be punished for this mistake and there was nothing she could do about it to stop it. She knew she deserved it for breaking someone else's property and was more than willing to make amends to it in any way she can. "Please forgive me. I'll make it up to you somehow!"

After picking up the rest of the small bits on the ground he boy standing beside her can only look at the girl oddly at her extreme behavior. He places the broken object into his small black bag. "Really? And tell me, can you pay around 5000 yen to replace this?" Ichigo can feel air catch inside of her breath and her heart pounding against her chest. '5000?' It was like her entire world crashed and burned. She sits back up with her hands back on her lap giving the boy a nervous smile. "I-I don't have that kind of money."

The boy looked at her as if he expected that answer from the beginning. "Of course." He heaves a sigh and crosses his arms across his chest. "Which means you have to pay for this some other way." He observes Ichigo with a look that makes her visibly uncomfortable. It made her wrap an arm around her chest in an attempt to hide herself as she kept her vision on the boy. She has never been gazed upon by a boy as good looking as him. It made butterflies swarm inside of her stomach. Was he going to use her for something? Maybe something a bit naughty? In horror she stops herself from thinking such things.

'Stop that! You're loyal to Aoyama-kun, remember!? It doesn't matter how hot this guy is!'

"Well, I may have a way for you to pay me back." This snaps Ichigo back into reality. She was honestly very nervous of what the boy would ask her to do. She did her best to seal the wild thoughts and ideas in her mind but they kept banging on the entrance begging to be released and swarm once more. "A-and what would that be?"

"First, what's your name?" The vault burst open and it took Ichido all of her willpower not to shut down and make a fool of herself. "Huh?"

"Your name." The boy asks with impatience evident in his voice. Ichigo didn't want to anger the handsome boy anymore than she already had. "Oh! Uh M-Momomiya Ichigo!" Ichigo blurts out her name hoping it was enough to satisfy the boy. Luckily for her it seemed to have done so as the boy's expression changed with a small smile and nodded his head accepting the answer. He opens his eyes and smiles down at Ichigo before announcing to her.

"Well then, Momomiya. From this point onward you're going to be working for me until you repay your debt."

A gust of wind blows past the two people in the open space of the park. Ichigo stares up at the boy with wide dark brown eyes and an open mouth. "What?" She simply asks. The man places his hands on his hips taking a stance. "You heard me. Until you can repay me the 5000 yen you're going to be working for me to gain that money back. Sounds like a fair deal. What do you say?"

It took Ichigo a while to fully understand and once she did she was not pleased by it. "Huh?! But wait!? How can I work for you?! You're not that much older than me right?! And I still have school and stuff!" She already had plans to accomplish such as finding the perfect dating spot for Aoyama-kun as well as making up in her studies and having to be forced to work for a guy that is no doubt around her age would hamper these plans. Sure she had odd jobs before but they were only for small things such as to buy her favorite games and stuff she liked.

The boy meanwhile didn't seem to care about the girl's predicament. "Sorry but I don't care. You broke it so you have to pay what you owe. Those are the rules." His smooth voice was starting to irk Ichigo with the way he spoke to her like she was a minor hindrance. "And just so you know I'm eighteen years old but I still have a business to run." That honestly shocked her. The boy was two years older than her and already had a business running at his age. It must mean he was affluent and well financed. So basically she broke the machine of a rich kid and now she is paying the price. Ichigo was honestly happy he wasn't asking more from her.

"Besides, you don't have anything else to do, right? You clearly don't have afterschool activities to do or anything else important, right?" Ichigo halts in her attempted retort when she realizes the boy was right. Ichigo had no extracurricular activities nor anything majorly important to do after school. She was mostly free to do what she wanted with her time until it was time for her to go home. "I… no."

The boy's face splits in a smirk making his eyes twinkle at the answer he knew would come out of Ichigo's mouth. Ichigo felt annoyed by that smile even though it made him more handsome. "Then it's settled. You meet me here at the park at around 16:00 and I'll take you to where you'll be working in the meantime. Sounds fair?"

"Wait! That's too early! Can't it be a bit later like 17:00?" Ichigo had friends and a boy she wanted to impress. "Oh, I'm sorry. Who's machine did you break, Klutz?" That rhetorical question hit her in the chest. He didn't have to add the name to add salt to the wound. "And besides, the sooner we start working the more we'll progress. Besides, you're getting paid for your time. So by the time you pay me my 5000 yen you'll have a bit extra for yourself. Does that sound fair?" Ichigo can't argue with that. She needed some more money anyway to buy new clothing and games. It was a good enough deal. And the sooner she repaid her debt the sooner she will be freed to go back to her life.

"So, do we have a deal?" The boy stretches out his arm and lends a hand for Ichigo to take. Ichigo looks at the hand with uncertainty but takes it regardless. "Deal." The boy pulls her back up onto her feet almost tripping in the process. "You really are a klutz huh?" The boy continues to smirk at the girl causing her to blush. "S-shut up!" Ichigo felt humiliated from the boy's comments and his attitude was getting to her but even so she still accepted her fate to work for the boy to pay her back.

"Hey. Are you going to let go or what?" At the question Ichigo notices she was still holding the boy's hand. For a second she couldn't help but to note how her small pale hands fit so well in his bigger tanned ones before panicking at the contact and pulling her hand away from his. "I'm sorry!" She clutches her hand as they went back to her sides. Her other hand was gripping tightly at the handle of her school back. She kept her head down and traces the laces on her school boots with her eyes to avoid making eye contact with the boy and showing how red her face was.

Above her she can hear the boy chuckle at the display. "You are a weird one. I'm going to like working with you." She can feel her heart hammering in her chest when the boy spoke those words in his deep velvet voice. She felt betrayed by her own body, especially her heart at responding to the boy before her. She was supposed to be Masaya's after all. But she couldn't help it when someone complimented her with a very nice voice even if the owner of the voice was very rude. It only made it worse since he was attractive and cute in her opinion.

Suddenly a thought pops into Ichigo's head that proved to be of importance. "Hang on! I don't even know your name!" It was important since he knew her name and will be working with him for the time being. It was only fair after all.

"It's Ryou. Shirogane Ryou." Ichigo with the answer given to her looks back up at the boy, Ryou who was still smiling at her but now in a softer manner. The gentle wind blowing his hair to the side combined with his sharp but gentle eyes made Ichigo mesmerized. She couldn't think of anything else.

"Let's exchange phone numbers." Ryou's voice snaps her out of her trance leaving her mind in a haze. She shakes her head and nods her head and takes her phone as Ryou takes out his phone. She admired the blue dragon on the silver case. She still preferred her pink phone cases with a strawberry chain attached. They stood as both of them exchanged their numbers and allowed the phones to obtain the information. "There you go. Now I won;t have to worry you'll flake on me." Ichigo felt offended at the accusation. She was a person of her word and will keep her promise even if she didn't want to. "I won't run away. You're so rude." Ryou shrugs at Ichigo's complaint with his bare shoulders. "I get that alot."

Ryou's eyes widens suddenly. "Oh! Before I forget. Here." He holds up a piece of paper that has been in his hand the whole time but went unnoticed by Ichigo until now. The number 23 with the large number of check marks on the paper gave Ichigo the realization that it was her quiz sheet. She squeals as she takes the accursed sheet of paper from Ryou's fingers and holds it to her chest to hide it away from the eyes of Ryo only to be a failure. The knowledge that someone else she barely even knew saw her test result was more than enough for Ichigo to be blown away into ash so that she didn't have to deal with the embarrassment any longer.

"You must be a real dunce to get these grades. But then again you did bump into me so you obviously have your head in the clouds."

"Shut the hell up!" Ichigo screams, not caring who heard. She can feel the heat of tears prickle between her tightly shut eyes. It didn't stop Ryou from laughing at Ichigo and fully enjoy her exaggerated reactions. He turns around and waves at Ichigo with one last look with his blue eyes and smirk. "I'll see you around, Momomiya. And good luck with your test results." He doesn't stop to see Ichigo glare at him or yell "You ass!" He kept going until he was no longer seen leaving Ichigo alone in the park with teary eyes and a very red face. "Jerk."

She didn't care how cute Ryou was, he was an asshole.

She sighs after some time to herself. Now that she was alone the weight of her situation fully settled on her shoulders. She had broken something valuable to Ryou and now must deal with the consequences by working for him for a certain amount of time until she pays him back. It made it worse when the guy she was now working for was a huge jerk. Ichigo slumps her shoulders in dejection. She knew her future will be filled with hardship with a jerk like that as her new boss. If only she knew how without the fact Ryou was a jerk her intuition would prove her right to a greater extent.

Author's Note: Ichigo's luck is not the best it seems. Ehe. I thought of Janice Kawaye's who voiced Jenny from MLAATR to voice Ichigo. I'm still trying to figure out how to write Ryou. I strangle combine the personalities of Mew Mew Power and Tokyo Mew Mew when I write which is perhaps why Moe and Miwa are a bit different from the anime but I just like goving minor characters more depth and personality. Thank you for reading.