I screamed loudly as I held onto Pudding tightly. Snow blasted around us in burst of white powder as we almost literally flew across it on the snow mobile. Gripping her tightly, I questioned my sanity on agreeing to let her drive first, knowing she's never been on one before. "Hang on tight!" She called to me, steering right for a large bulge in the snow. "We're going to ramp it!"

My eyes shut tightly and I screamed again, louder than ever before.

College Mew Mew

By: Satashi

The warm air greeted me as I limped my way into the small restaurant section on the lounge. Several people were around talking with each other happily while others read the morning newspaper. Leon waved over to me as he talked with Ryou about something or another. I gave a small wave back and collapsed into a chair at an empty table. Sighing, I let my upper half fall on it and rested. The next time I wanted to come to the lounge, I would walk, I swear.

"Hey, are you going to lie there all day?" I heard Ryou ask me just as I felt a rolled up newspaper hit me on my head lightly. "We need to go."

"I haven't had breakfast yet," I complained, not looking up. "Where do we need to go anyway?"

"Shopping. I got directions from Leon; we can take his personal snow mobile for it."

"I am not getting on another snow mobile. Ever."

"Tough luck," he tapped my head again. "I've already gotten money from everyone else before they went out for the day. Masaya met up with Mark earlier and asked me to tell you he would have to cancel breakfast so he could go on their wildlife expedition."

"Figures," I muttered. "He never could pass up an opportunity like that." Looking up at him, I sighed. "What are the odds of Mark being here at the same time as us without knowing it?"

"Obviously pretty good," he answered, pulling me up. "Come on, let's go."

"I'm hungry!"

"I'll buy you something there," He kept walking. "I can't carry it all myself."

Growling, I started after him, grabbing my jacket off the racks near the door and putting it on. After words my gloves followed and I was out the door, looking around. Ryou was standing with Leon a little bit away, talking. I walked over to them and looked down at the snow as I did. My feet sank several inches as I walked, leaving large footprints in my trail. The main path was only sprinkled with snow. I read somewhere that they trailed it everyday for the people staying here. The other trails, however, were left alone so the snow mobiles could roll over it.

As I got closer, I ran the rest of the way over to the pair, now happy seeing the snow mobile. "Wow, it's huge!" I said instantly, looking it over. The snow blazer was bright yellow and black, not to mention at least twice as big as the one I had been riding earlier. The sides were large and had big compartments to store luggage of any sort. Even the back had a section for carrying things.

"You like it?" Leon asked me, grinning. "It's a home style model, for people who live around here. It stays covered in snow around the mountain almost year round. These models, however, can go just as fast over solid ground as they can snow."

"I like," I walked around it, smiling. "How fast can it go?"

Leon scratched his head. "Well, it'll go about fifty, which is way to fast on snow. The nearest town is only about five miles away, so it's not a long ride. Just be sure to fill up on the way back."

"Sure thing," Ryou nodded, flipping the keys up in the air and catching them. "Ready, Ichigo?"

"Yeah," I hopped on the back and smiled. There was plenty of room, and I could sit comfortably with a backrest. "Let's go!"

"Here, you'll need these." Ryou handed me a pair of goggles that were tinted pink.

"What for?" I took them and looked at him quizzically. "I won't get much wind sitting in the back."

"It's not for that, idiot," He sat in front of me sideways and fixed them over my eyes. I blushed lightly as he adjusted them for me. "We'll be traveling over a long area of snow; you need these so the sun reflecting off of it won't cause snow blindness."

"Oh." I blinked a few times to get used to my now tinted pink vision. "Where did you get these?"

"I bought them at the gift store this morning," He replied hopping to his seat properly. "Hold on." I squealed lightly and grabbed the back of his jacket when he accelerated. Although this model was much larger than the one I was on this morning, I still felt a little uneasy on it. We rode in silence for a moment until Ryou called over his shoulder to me. "Are you glad you came?"

"Yeah." I leaned forward so I could hear him better. "Thank a lot for inviting me."

He paused a moment. "We got a Mew Aqua Reading over here a few days ago..."

I sighed. "I figured as much. No wonder it's a paid vacation." Pouting, I thumped his back. "I should have known better."

"It's not just that..." His voice got softer and I had to scoot closer and place my chin on his shoulder to hear him. "This is it...this is the last one."

"The...last?"

"There are no more mew aqua readings," He continued. "After this trip for the week and whoever gains this last Mew Aqua, there will be no more random attacks...It'll be duels between the three forces. Pai, Tart, Kish, Incred against Saucer, Kei, Kyosuke, Blackrose. Mint, Lettuce, Pudding, Zakuro, and you are in the middle of it all. Winners will take the aqua, the losers..."

I swallowed. "The losers end up in the hospital."

He shook his head. "Let's not talk about it now. We'll wait until Masha finds the mew aqua source and then worry with it after it's collected." He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a slip of paper. "Here," He handed it back to me against the wind. I gripped it tightly and then retreated to huddle against his back for the least amount of wind resistance.

"What is it?" I called out, unfolding it.

"What's it look like? It's a shopping list. Add anything you think we missed."

I looked over the large list and mentally calculated anything that was missing. Upon closer inspection, I noticed one critical thing missing. "Ryou. Ryou, we need marshmallows!"

"What for?" He replied, halfly looking back at me. "You need sugar that much?"

"We have to cook them in the fireplace!"

He looked at me blankly a moment before laughing.

"Nice place," I spoke aloud, looking around as I hopped off the snow blazer. I closed my eyes as I took off the pink goggles given to me and yelped lightly as the band got hung up in my hair, which was now hanging straight down and frizzy from the ride in the wind. "Ack, a little help here?" I felt Ryou's hands gently take the band from my hair, leaving me free to shake my head. "Thank you." Instinctively I tried to finger comb my hair and soon realized that it was too wind blown to do anything with. "You have ponytail holder on you?"

Ryou just looked at me a moment before I realized that he would have no reason to have on with him. "Oh, sorry," I blushed. "Used to being around girls and all."

"Come on," He shook his head and began to walk into the store that we parked at. "We have a lot of stuff to get while we are here."

"And you still owe me breakfast," I reminded him as the warm air greeted me. I looked around and grabbed a buggy to push.

"Yeah, yeah." He fell into step next to me as we browsed. After spending about six minuets trying to find what we needed and just goofing off in general, my cell phone rang out to me, demanding to be answered. I patted my jacket a moment before realizing it was on my inside pocket. I managed to unzip it after fumbling a moment and answered it.

"Hello?"

"Ichigo, where are you?"

"Ah, Masaya!" I smiled at Ryou and trotted off a few steps to talk. "Are you having fun this morning?"

"Where are you?"

"Eh? I'm in the town close by."

"How did you get there?"

"Ryou took me."

"Ryou?"

"Yeah. Since you ditched me, I decided to go help him buy all our food."

"I see..."

I blinked, pondering how he meant that tone of voice. He had it last night too when I came into the van cuddled up in Ryou's jacket. "Oh, I get it!" I declared happily, and then lowered my voice when an old couple looked at me odd. "You're jealous aren't you?"

"What!?"

"You are!" I squealed. "You are, you are, you are! That's so cute!"

"I'm not jealous over anything!" He countered me. "I was just wondering about...Ichigo, stop laughing!"

"I'm sorry," I tried to stifle my giggles. Masaya was the protective type, and got jealous easily. He normally hid it well, though, so the thought of him getting all pouty over me always made me happy. "You have nothing to worry about; you know I only love you."

"I told you I'm not jealous!" He protested again, obviously embarrassed. "And I- Mark, shut up will you!?" I listened closely to my phone, hearing Mark jeer at him from the background. "I told you I was just checking up on her!" I heard Mark reply something, and then heard a small scuffle and then Mark's voice came on the line.

"Ichigoooo! Fancy us being here at the same time, huh?" It was obvious he was running, and Masaya's angry shouts were in the background. "Will you please tell your boyfriend to calm down? Ever since she heard that you went with that guy he-"There was a loud crash and a yell from both people. I was about to ask if they were okay, but I hear Mark groan out, the phone still close to him. "Ow...Dang, man, that hurt. You didn't have to tackle me."

"Remember that when Brittany calls," Masaya replied, obviously in a small amount of pain. "I told you I was just calling to check up on her."

"After you complained for ten minutes."

"Did not,"

"Did so,"

"Ah!" I heard the phone being picked up. "Ichigo, you're still there?"

"Aww, how sweet, he noticed me." I told him cutely. "He was worried about the big bad Ryou stealing me away. Masaya, you're a darling."

"Oh shut up," He hung up the phone and I clicked mine off as well.

"Humph. he didn't have to hang up on me." I complained, sliding it back into my jacket. "Ryou, can we get some strawberries too?"

He gave me a weird look. "Ichigo, this is a ski resort, strawberries here are never in season and have to be imported from other far away areas. They'll cost like eight hundred yen a box, if not more."

I sighed. "Fine, I'll buy them by myself."

The way back home was silent mainly, having talked all morning while shopping and at the small restaurant where we got gas and I was treated to breakfast, even if it was starting to get closer to lunch now. As we pulled up to our cabin, Mint and Zakuro came outside to help us unload the snow mobile. Everyone seemed to be in the kitchen at the same time, telling everyone where things were going and planning out what to make for dinner later that night.

Masaya walked in at one point and looked over at me as I was putting some things under the sink. Standing up, I grinned at him happily and blew a kiss, only to have Keiichiro stand up in front of him at that moment. He gave me a weird look, making me laugh and Masaya sigh and shake his head.

Walking up to him, I smiled and stood on my tiptoes to kiss his cheek. "I bought some strawberries," I whispered into his ear. "And some whip cream. Want to eat them with me later?"

"Sure," He blushed and patted my head awkwardly.

I smiled to myself as I put a towel around me. Everyone else was already in the hot tub downstairs, which turned out to be large enough to hold five people comfortably. Zakuro, Lettuce, and Keiichiro were all cooking dinner for the night, so that left the rest of us to lounge around for an hour or so before it was ready. The sun was beginning to set and it would be a perfect view to watch. Giggling, I blushed at the thought of cuddling with my boyfriend in a hot tub.

I walked down the stairs happily and went over to the hot tub room, but something caught my eye as I did so. I turned to look out the window by the door and saw Kish there, grinning at me. He held up his hand to show a small glass container with a glowing blue drop of liquid in it. My mind went into overdrive as I ran to the door and flung it open. The towel around me dropped as I leapt at Kish, calling out my words to transform as I did so.

Kish shocked me enough to stop my transformation by jetting forward and catching me. The coldness of the outside hit me just then and I shivered violently, not being covered enough at all to be outside. Kish looked down at me and grinned. "Shhhh..." He put a finger to his lips. I was stunned enough by the cold to actually stay silent a moment long enough for him to spray something in my face.

"Who left the door open?" Zakuro complained, going to shut it and seeing us. "Kish!"

I suddenly didn't really care about it anymore. In fact, everything was starting to be funny. I grinned stupidly down at Zakuro and spoke to her. "Zakuroooo!" I wanted to wave, but my arms wouldn't move. "I'm cwold, Zwakarouu..."

"What did you do to her!?" She yelled up at Kish, who was laughing, highly amused.

"Just some concentrated nova cane, that's all," He shifted me when my body went slack.

"I fworgot how to smallow." I slurred, feeling increasingly happy, even though I was freezing and mouth was going numb.

"I need a word with her," Kish stated as Lettuce and Keiichiro came around the corner. "Bai bai now."

The world blurred around me.

"Cold," I managed out as Kish laid me down on a bed. Somehow I realized that beds were warm and I dug into the covers numbly. Only after I was comfortable and warm, did I realize that I was upside down under the covers. Kish was laughing his head off, but I didn't care, I found it funny as well. Managing to turn around and put my head at the pillows, I grinned at him. "Sleepy."

"Get some rest," he cooed at me, patting my head. "I'll come back when you're awake and not drugged." Kish leaned forward to kiss me, but stopped when he was only an inch away. "Well, I'll save the kisses when you're better." Instead he ruffled my hair, looking down at my fondly. "Sweet dreams, my little kitten."

I smiled dumbly and nodded. "Okayyyyyy."

"Ugh..." I sat up tiredly, and held my head, which was throbbing dully for some reason. "My head hurts..." I smacked my lips, grimacing. "And my throat is dry... Masaya, get me some water, please?" I waited for a response, but didn't get one. "Masaya?" I removed my hands from my eyes and gasped. "Wha...Where am I?"

I looked around the room, scared. I was in a bedroom of some kind, and for some reason, I was in a swimsuit. "Masaya...? Lettuce...? Mint...?Any...one...?"

I swallowed and though back on my memories. I had gone shopping...I came back... I put everything up and took a small nap. Then I was woken up by Pudding. I changed into my swimsuit next. Then I...went downstairs. Kish was..."Kish!" I swung my legs over the bed and stumbled out of it. Looking around, I realized that I must be...wherever he stayed when he wasn't around us.

The bedside table had a glass of water on it, which I picked up and drank heavily until it was all gone. Setting it back down, I tried to access everything else. It was cool in the room, and had a bed, a table with a few chairs, and plants everywhere. On the other side of the room there was an open door leading into a bathroom. Following the walls, I found another door, which I ran too and tried to open.

Locked.

"Figures," I complained, trying again to open it and failing. Sighing, I sank to the floor and hugged my knees. "I'm cold..." I looked around again, debating getting back into the bed or not. When a shiver passed over me, I decided that it would probably be the best course of action at the moment. As I started to walk over to it, I noticed another door on the other side of the bed.

Walking over to it, I opened it up and stared into a small closet. Not being able to help myself, I rooted through it, realizing that the shirts and pants inside of it were ones that Kish wore. I swallowed and looked down at myself. "If he locked me in his room, he can get over it." I found a shirt that looked like it would half way decently fit me and slid it on. Unfortunately, Kish had broad shoulders now, and I found it steadily drooping down my arm on one side. Shrugging this off, I grabbed a pair of drawstring pants and quickly got out of my bathing suit and into them.

I tied them tightly so they wouldn't fall down and rolled up the pants legs enough so I wouldn't trip over them. Moving to the shirt, I tied the bottom of it into a knot to make it fit better. I didn't really feel comfortable, but it was a definite improvement over prancing around half necked in front of the aliens.

"Now what?" I spoke aloud, walking back to the bed and sitting down. "Everyone must be really worried about me...Oh man; I bet Masaya is freaking out." I closed my eyes and felt my ears pop out of my hair and the familiar uncomfortable feeling of my tail being restricted to pants. Growling, I realized that as long as I was...wherever I was... my emotions probably wouldn't stay settled enough to get rid of them.

Seeing a small pocketknife on the bed stand, I grinned and flicked it open. Turning to my pants, I twisted them around enough so I could grip a piece of it and cut a small slit into them. Grabbing my tail next, I pulled it through the slit and re-adjusted them. My tail twitched behind me and settled down on the bed lazily.

I had lightly dozed off by the time I heard the door open. Sitting up quickly, I saw Kish walk in holding a tray. "You're awake!" He greeted me happily, closing the door behind himself. I heard it click lightly and knew it was locked again. "I came in and checked up on you an hour ago, but you were still asleep. I was a little worried I gave you too much nova cane."

"You drugged me and kidnapped me!?" I shouted at him, furious. No wonder I couldn't remember anything. My ears flattened against my hair and I let my tail flick around angrily behind me. "You jerk!"

He seemed to look offended. "Well excuse me!" He countered, setting the tray down on the table and pulling a seat out to sit down, crossing his legs. "And after I made you dinner too." My stomach growled at me angrily. I then noticed that I hadn't eaten anything since breakfast. Kish looked over at my and pushed the chair in front of him out with his foot. "I didn't poison it, come eat."

I got up off the bed and walked over to him, sitting in the offered seat. Looking down at the food, I realized that it was all a type of plant. "You're a vegetarian?"

"If you mean I don't slaughter animals to feed off of them, then yes, we all are."

I looked back down at the food and started to eat slowly, keeping an eye on him. "You didn't do anything to me while I was asleep, did you?"

"No," He replied flatly, a little annoyed. "I'm not that bad."

"Hmmm..." I ate another bite. It was actually pretty good. "Why am I here exactly and why are you being so nice?"

Kish leaned forward, suddenly serious. "Ichigo, listen, the end of this war is happening. I don't want to have to fight you like I've been doing. Please, stay with me. With the mew Aqua's that we've gathered, we can restore my planet once again and everyone will be happy!"

"Kish, you know the answer to that."

He sighed. "Kitten... What are you planning to do with your mew Aqua's after the battle has ended...?"

I never though about that. I just assumed they would be used in the battle. "I don't know. Why?"

"Because we need them, even after this is over, and you don't." Kish licked his lips. "Kitten, if we were to make a truce with you, would you give us your mew aquas?"

I stopped eating a moment. "What do you mean?"

He seemed to be choosing his words carefully. "We...Me, Tart, Pai, and Incred... want to make a deal. We will all fight against Saucer together, trying not to use the Aqua's as a weapon. This way we can take them back home. We all know that we won't be able to do that if the Mew Mews are battling as well, because the Aqua's to you are a weapon. So, here's the deal..." I swallowed a bite and waited on him. "We fight together, beat Saucer, and whatever drops are left, and we take back to our planet to help it. And we'll never interfere with you again."

"You mean all of us against them?" He nodded. "And we give you what's left?" Again he nodded. "We did that last time, and this war happened because of it." I immediately felt guilty saying that. Kish's eyes glazed over a moment after I had said it. "Sorry, I didn't mean to bring up the memories."

"Forget it," He waved it off. "Kitten, we need them. One of them lasted us seven years. If we could bring back three or four, it would be enough to give my entire race a head start... We could make it!"

I looked at him, meeting his eyes. They were honest; pleading. "Okay." I agreed finally, making him break into a large smile. "You didn't have to kidnap me for this, though."

He scratched the back of his head. "I can't talk with you while everyone else is there. They don't...I mean,"

"I know," I interrupted. "They don't really like you."

"Yeah. Not that I kind of feel the same way or anything."

I couldn't help but give a small smile. Kish had always infuriated me back then. I had hated him with every ounce of my very being. It wasn't until the last battle that I realized just how much he sacrificed for me. It took me months to understand it all. He could have killed me several times back then, but each time, he always said the same thing...."Be mine." He loved me then, and even died for me. Seeing him smile up at me like that, saying "I love you" made my heart break. I realized then that I had somehow come to care for him in a weird sort of way.

"Ichigo?"

I blinked, shaking my head to clear it. "Sorry, I was lost for a moment there." I took another bite of what he offered me. "This is good."

"Thank you!" He beamed with pride.

I ate the last bite a while later and wiped my mouth. Drinking the last of the water offered, I sighed. "Thanks for dinner, Kish....Can I go home now?"

"Actually, can it wait until tomorrow? I can't teleport from this place to earth more than once a day, or whenever I get enough sleep to recharge. It takes too much power for a round trip. Teleportation is a high energy skill."

"I can't stay!" I protested. "My friends are worried sick over me!"

"Can't be helped," He answered. "I can't, so there's no point in worrying about it."

Sighing, I walked back over to the bed and fell onto it, face down onto the pillow. "Kish, what time is it?"

"About midnight your time." I felt the bed sink in a little bit as he sat next to me. A moment later, I felt his hand touch my head, then trail through my hair. It felt nice being stroked, but a little odd at the same time.

"Kish..." I was going to ask him to stop.

"Ichigo, why don't you love me?" The question took me by surprise. I let him finger comb my hair while I tried to think up a response. "Don't you...even just a little?" He asked after I hadn't said anything for a while. "Do you... Hate me that much?"

"Kish... I don't hate you." I rolled over onto my back and looked up at him. "I just..."

"Ichigo... Can I kiss you?"

"What?" I was surprised. He never asked for a kiss, always took them as he wanted. "Kish?"

"Just one kiss, it's all I ask." He put one hand on either side of me and leaned over, talking close to my face. "Just one. Just kiss me once. I know, Ichigo, but I can't accept the words. Tell me how you feel with your heart, not your mind..."

"Kish, I-"

"Please!" He looked scared. "Kitten... I've never asked anything of you before. Please grant me this. Let me know if it is a hopeless love or not..." I felt my cheeks grow warm. Slowly, I nodded up at him and closed my eyes. I felt him lean close to me and pause just above my lips. "I love you, Ichigo."

I felt his lips touch against mine. It was soft and warm, a pleasant taste to them. His lips parted lightly, kissing me again as his body slowly made contact with mine as he laid half on top of me. I felt his body and his soul all at once. I felt the love he had for me clearly. It was strong, pulsing with everything he had. His kiss told me his feelings, and his life. I felt his soul reach out and touch mine, explaining everything his words could not.

In response, I slowly wrapped my hands around his neck softly, gently kissing him back. I took a small intake of air through my nose and felt the kiss deepen. My feelings went out to him silently. I told him of my life, my dreams, my hopes and desires. I opened myself up to him completely in the kiss, sharing everything. I gave him a piece of my soul and everything that I was.

A warm drop of salty water invaded our kiss, soon followed by another. Kish pulled away ever so slowly, and I felt another drop invade my cheek. Opening my eyes, I saw him above me. A tear fell from his eye and onto my nose. He was hurt, there was no denying it. "I...see..." He spoke, voice catching. "I'm sorry...to force you..."

"Kish..." I touched his cheek, and he looked away. "I care for you, I really do...But..."

"I know..." He pulled away from me slowly. "I felt it...I know I'm not the one that makes your heart pound..."

I sat up on the bed and watched him slowly walk away from me. "Sweet dreams, Ichigo." He placed his hand on the door knob. "I'll...see you later, okay?"

"...Okay." I watched him walk through the door and close it behind himself. Slowly, I brought my hand to my face and wiped his tears from me. "I'm sorry, Kish... I know how badly that must have hurt you..." I fell back against the bed and hugged one of the pillows close to me. "But at least now you know..."

A/N: I feel kinda sorry for Kish there. Poor guy. But yeah, the war is ending, which means our story will soon come to an end in the next two or three chapters. I have an idea for another Masaya/Ichigo ficcy, as well as a Kish/Ichigo one. I'm not really big on Ryou/Ichigo, but I do have an idea of it floating around in my head too.

Why am I saying this? Well, I've noticed over the span of updates that the same handful of people always review for me, so here's the deal. You know who you are, the people who've been with me since I started. I haven't had the chance to meet you yet, but I appreciate your support through reviews. What do you want to see next, after this is done? Ryou, Kish, or Masaya? Tell me in a review and I'll tally up the votes when the last chapter is posted and then start on my next 'fic with whoever you chose being with Ichigo, or going to be with. Yeah, you know what I mean. So vote now, and we'll see how it turns out.

Hope you enjoyed the longer chapter. See you next time.