"So this is the only genetic weapon you have? A close range injection device? I was hoping for something more from the reports I've read..." He twisted Ichigo's wrist, making her cry out and fall to her knees. "I wonder... What effect will this have on a human?"

This seems...familiar.

The man in armor forced Ichigo down and pricked her neck with the device. "Show time." Pulling the trigger, he injected the liquid into her veins and leapt back to watch the show. Ichigo screamed out in pain as two cat ears came from her head and a long tail whipped out from the base of her spine.

That's...me?

Everything went silent a moment while the girl lay on the sidewalk, not moving. After a few seconds, the man made a disgusted sound. "What a waste. I was hoping for something interesting." Walking over to her, he moved to kick her over, but Ichigo's hand suddenly shot out and grabbed him by the ankle. "What the!?"

Ichigo leapt into the air, taking the man with her. When they reached the peak of their jump, Ichigo twisted around and threw him down hard, cracking the concrete where he landed. The man was dazed a second long enough for Ichigo to land herself and perch down on all fours, growling low in her throat. Pink hair fell into her line of vision as she bared her new fangs at him as he stood. Her tail lashed behind her furiously, as if waiting for the rest of the body it was attached to to strike.

"This makes things better," The man laughed out, amused. "It wouldn't do to have it end so soon! Come here, cat-eared girl!" He made a beckoning motion with a hand. "Come to Kisshu!"

Ichigo roared out and ran on all fours to him, tackling Kish at the last moment. Both rolled on the ground a moment before Kish landed a foot into her stomach and kicked the girl off. As she moved, her body twisted in the air and landed perfectly. Kish immediately ran to her again and lashed out his foot, kicking her to the side and making her roll several times before she could stop herself.

I'm watching myself... What am I doing?

"I've found myself a new toy!" Kish called out happily. "This will be better than I thought!" He pointed over to her. "Osiris. Blitz Beat!"

The falcon dived down and flapped its wings, sending several razor sharp feathers down at her. Ichigo rolled out of the way and leapt, slashing her hand and narrowly missing the bird. Landing, she roared out again and moved to attack.

Kish grabbed the girl as she went in close. "It's been fun, Honey, but I need to go now. I'll let you live so you can entertain me another day." With that, he leaned forward and kissed her, making the girl stop in her tracks. When he pulled away, he licked his lips. "Mmm, taste like strawberries!"

Kish flew backwards and then up into the air. "Osiris! To me!" The bird came at the call and then the pair of them teleported off.

"Ichigo!?" Ichigo slowly turned and looked at Ryou, once again crouching down onto all fours and snarling. "Oh man, Keiichiro, she's berserk!"

Is this...What happened?

"That's impossible!" He replied, walking back as Ichigo walked forward. "It should be perfect! You of all people know this!"

"Yeah, well, apparently we were wrong. A direct injection is too powerful... We need to calm her down and make her sleep. Once she rest she'll turn back to normal and explain it to her. After that she should- whoa!" Ryou leapt sideways as Ichigo pounced. "Sorry about this, Ichigo." He spoke softly, roughly clipping her in the back of the neck. Her eyes rolled back into her head and collapsed lightly into his awaiting arms.

TMM: College Years IV

By: Satashi

Sitting up, I put my hand to my forehead and breathed heavily. I was covered in sweat and was in an unfamiliar room. As the images from my dream faded, I looked around and tried to piece together everything that has happened to me. I was injected with something, I grew cat ears and a tail, and now I had to fight against aliens invading Earth. I shook my head and slid out of the bed. I was a little wobbly, but my tail moved behind me and stabilized myself. Learning how to use it to my advantage, I re-learned how to walk and made my way over to the door.

The door opened up into a hallway that lead into a living room of sorts. It was small and not much was around, just like the bedroom. Walking around, I observed everything and tried to get a feeling of the place. A few pictures were on the wall and I realized that it must be Ryou's apartment, as he and Keiichiro were in most of the pictures. I picked one of them up and observed it. A young blond, probably Ryou, was standing in front of a large mansion with two older people and a younger version of Keiichiro that I recognized from the hair.

Setting it back down, I continued my exploration of the apartment. After looking around a while more I noticed that the apartment was actually a section divided off from the restaurant. It seemed that Ryou lived on the top floor of the place. Assuming from only having one bedroom, Keiichiro had his own place.

After a few more moments of searching, I sighed and returned to the bedroom from which I had woken up in. Upon reaching the door, I noticed the bathroom next to it. Hesitating a moment, I decided that after everything that has gone on, he could at least understand me taking a bath without permission.

I picked up some cloths I found laid out next to the bed and looked at them. They were obviously Ryou's since they were large, but it was kind of him to offer. It was probably Keiichiro who did it, considering this is the type of thing he seemed like he would do. Walking back to the bathroom, I locked the door and began to strip.

My eyes looked my body over in the mirror. Testing, I rubbed one of the cat ears on my head. It was soft and furry, giving me a pleasant sensation. Turning around to inspect my tail, I noticed that my stomach was much more tone than it used to be as well. Looking closer, I noticed my arms and legs were also toned as well. Disregarding this as a plus side of what was going on; I went back to my tail that was swinging lazily behind me. It too was soft and furry, even more so than my ears. Stroking my tail made my knees a little weak and my eyes heavy. It was a nice pleasant feeling. I amused myself with the mirror for a few more minutes before actually getting into the shower and turning on the water.

When I emerged from the shower, I heard people talking from downstairs. Pulling Ryou's shirt back over my shoulder from which it fell, I followed the voices to the stairs and went down them. Emerging into the restaurant, I saw Ryou and Keiichiro speaking with each other behind the bar. After a moment, Ryou noticed me and tapped Keiichiro on the shoulder and nodded over in my direction.

"Good morning, Ichigo. Sleep well?" Keiichiro motioned for me to come over to them and sit down. "You must be hungry, would you like some breakfast?"

"Yes, please."

Ryou looked over at me as Keiichiro walked off to cook something. A moment of silence went past before he leaned over and rubbed one of my cat ears. After the initial shock of it, I pulled away and glared at his amused face. "What?" He asked with a laugh. "Like you wouldn't do the same thing."

"Shut up." I sniffed, having to admit that I would have done it too. "What am I going to do about this?"

"Just wear a cap." He picked one up from under the bar that had "Mew Bar and Gril" on it and flopped it down on my head. "There's nothing we can do about them. Most people will just assume that they are a hair band if they see them."

"And my tail?"

"We'll think of something. But more importantly, we need to start finding the other members."

"Others?"

"Didn't I tell you? There are four others who will fight along side you."

"No, you didn't tell me. You didn't tell me anything."

"Well, we didn't think it would turn out this way." He pointed to my ears.

"What, didn't you even think about this at all before shoving this off on me!? Don't you even care!?"

Ryou rubbed his neck, and I noticed that he was wearing a chocker. He always seemed to be wearing one. "We did think about it. Believe me; if I could avoid this, I would..."

I looked down. "I'm sorry I snapped."

"Don't worry about it. The important thing is to get you registered for classes, get you started working here, and try and find the others. This is our base of operations. The bar and grill is our cover. The real hide out is downstairs."

"Sorry for the wait." Keiichiro sat a plate of pancakes and strawberries in front of me. "I hope you enjoy."

Looking at the small list in my hand, I rooted through the school bookstore in search of the required text books for my classes. My cat ears were hidden under a cap given to me by Ryou and my tail was wrapped around my waist with the tip tucked under the base of itself. Already I had gone back home and changed into some of my own cloths and now I busied myself with shopping for my classes. I sighed at all the numbers and tried to make sense of what exactly they meant. That's when I felt someone look over at me and chuckle to their self. "Freshman, right?"

"Is it that obvious?"

"Kind of." He walked over to me and grinned. "Lost looking for books huh?"

"Yeah," I nodded up at him.

"It's simple really." He pointed to the first number. "See the 'H' there? That means History. The '01' means freshman course. The following numbers '62' is the text book number. So you go....Here." He pointed behind me. "To the History section. See the 'H' at the top? Yeah, so then you look at the start, here," he pointed to a shelf. "For the freshman books. Then simply look for your book number..." His finger trailed the books until he pulled one out. "Sixty-two. World History 101 for Professor Allison."

"Wow, that's it!" I took it from his gratefully. "Thank you!"

"Anytime." He grinned to wave it off, but his watch grabbed his attention. "Oh man, look at the time. Masaya's match will start soon. I gotta run."

"You know Aoyama-kun?"

The man turned as he ran and trotted backwards. "Yeah, he's my room mate! The name's Mark! Mark Rayearth!" Turning back around, he ran the rest of the way out of the book store and rounded the corner.

Clicking my tongue, I mentally debated running after him to see Masaya in an actual Kendo match, but I figured by the time I got there it would already be over from the way Mark was running. Deciding to continue my shopping, I looked down at the price tag on the book and almost dropped it. "Sixty dollars for a single book..." Quickly I moved my gaze to where Mark pulled it from earlier and looked again. I finally spotted the same book that looked a little beaten and damaged. Rooting through it, I noticed that several lines were highlighted and notes were made on the side of it. 'Buy used books' Masaya's words came back to me and I flipped it over "Twenty bucks. I can deal with that." I slid the new book back and looked back at my list. "Psychology 101."

Looking around the campus, I finally found the Kendo building after searching for almost ten minutes. I was amazed at how many people were cluttering around it to watch. So many, in fact, that I couldn't even get close enough to even really see what was going on. I watched anyway, hopping up on some railing to get a better view. I could just barely make out Masaya in the distance, neatly side stepping a swing and calling out his attack before hitting his opponent. Each stopped, bowed, and knelt down to wait the decision of the judge, who gave the point to Masaya and thus ending his turn.

Several girls screamed out his name, once again surprising me. It seemed that Masaya was popular around here. Oh well, it seemed as if I would be able to meet up with him today to thank him for the advice on books to buy. Resorting to my phone, I looked through it for his number and clicked it for a text message.

Saw end of match. You did great. Thanks for book advice, I owe you one. Let's talk later? –Ichigo.

I clicked the send button and waited for it to confirm. Once I got the beep, I plopped it back into my purse and headed on my way back home. It was still void of furniture, and most of my stuff was still in boxes. It seemed like I would be up late tonight...

Waking up, I slowly brought myself into a sitting position and yawned. Today was my first day of classes, as well as my first day of work. I sighed and got out of my bed, lazily making my way over to the bathroom to brush my teeth. Yawning again, I splashed my face with some cold water to try and help me wake up some more. The past few days I had been arranging my house almost non-stop. I at least now had a bed, a couch, and an entertainment center for my T.V., even if I didn't really watch it much.

I rooted through my closet and picked out a blue long sleeved shirt that flared out at the end. Pairing it with some low cut jeans, I figured the combination would allow for comfort as well as hiding my tail, which was once again wrapped around my waist. Slipping on my socks and shoes, I grabbed my backpack and made my way into the living room, where I snagged my cap from a holder next to the door that also kept my keys as well. Covering my ears, I opened my door and locked it behind myself.

The sun was out fully with no clouds this morning, making it just the right temperature in my opinion. A light breeze blew around me as I made my way down the two flights of stairs and over to my car. I wouldn't actually be driving to campus, but rather to the other side of my apartments, where I would park and then go the walk-way that we had that connected to campus. My classes weren't too terribly far, but the walk would do me good, get me used to the college and where everything was.

Luckily I had gone the day before to find all the buildings my classes were in, so I had a general idea of where all my classes were. The first being World history in a building farthest away from where I was. I considered it lucky because I would walk the farthest in the morning and not at the end while I was tired from walking all day and my classes. Quite fortunately, my last class was the closest to my apartment compared to my others.

Another smile from Lady Luck made me find my first class easily after following the main crowd of students walking around. I double checked my schedule with what was above the door and nodded to myself. The room was already over half full, so I took a seat farthest back and next to the window. The desk in this room were tables with two chairs to each. In the back of my mind, I wondered what type of person I would be stuck with for the remainder of the semester. With any luck it would be a nice person who liked to pay attention so it would make me pay more attention as well. I yawned again and shook my head. The stupid cat genes in me always made me sleepy in the mornings and in the afternoon, but gave me much more energy at night.

Looking at the door, I noticed a student in the doorway. He looked a little lost, and double checked the room number with the schedule in his hand. Finally deciding that this was the right place to be, he walked in and then noticed me. Hesitating a moment, he walked over and sat down next to me. "Hi there. My name is Kish... this is World History 101, isn't it?"

"It is," I nodded and looked him over. He had long green hair that he kept in a low ponytail. His eyes were covered by neat looking sunglasses that were tinted red, making it impossible to see his eyes underneath. He wore a maroon short sleeved shirt and khaki pants. "My name is Momomiya Ichigo. Have we...met somewhere before?"

"I don't think so. I just moved here. From...Australia."

"Australia?" I titled my head to the side. He didn't really look Australian. "I always thought they were really tan with an accent? You speak Japanese really well."

"Ah, well, my... mother is Japanese. My dad is Australian. I learned how to talk from my mom, and for my tan, I don't really get out much."

"I see." I figured that made sense. He grinned at me, making me laugh. He seemed goofy at least, so I wouldn't be stuck with a snob or anything. I was really worried about some frat boy being here. "Are you a freshman too?"

"Yeah. I'm majoring in History, how about you?"

"Not really sure. I'm just trying to get my basics out of the way until I can decide what I like." I scratched my cheek lightly. "Kind of sad, huh? Already in college and I have no idea what I want to do in life."

"Hmmmm." Kish grinned again. "Nah, it's okay. Sometimes things just happen. You have to wait for it to click with you."

The professor decided to make his appearance then, talking as he walked into the classroom. "Everyone quiet please. My name is Allison, but feel free to call me 'Professor' since I doubt many students remember the name of their teachers anyway." He got to the front of the room and looked around. "This is a very small class, so learning will be a little easier on you freshmen. Here is my syllabus," He handed a stack of papers to each student on the front row, who proceeded to take one and pass the rest back. "Yes, I will stick to this like glue, so if you miss a day, do yourself a favor and catch up on what you missed. Since this is an eight o'clock class, I figure at least seven of you will stop coming every time you're supposed to. Word to the not-so-wise, do that and you'll fail. You pay for this, so come to class every chance you get."

"I like this guy," Kish whispered to himself

"This is also a History class, which means past, people. If you do not like this subject, then transfer out of here as soon as you can so you won't fall behind in your new course. But for those of you who love to know things about the world and how it got to be the way that it is now, I welcome you to my class and hope you will enjoy being here every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. My office hours are from three in the afternoon until six. If you have any questions either come by then or make an appointment with me. I will work with your schedule so don't hesitate. I'm here to teach you, so if you don't learn; it's only your own fault." He hopped on his desk and crossed his legs. "So, starting off, this is many of yours first class in college so we'll take it easy for today. I'll give you an overview of what we will cover..."

I looked at Kish from the corner of my eye. He seemed intrigued at what was being said, but at the same time I could tell that he would also rather be someplace else than in school that day. His eyes glanced over at me, making me blush and look away. I heard him chuckle to himself and then jot something down on the paper in front of him. A moment later he slid the sheet over to me and I looked down at it. 'What'cha looking at?' It read, with a small doodle of Kish's face with a piece sign.

Giggling, I wrote back 'Someone who doesn't take off his sunglasses inside a building' and slid it back as the professor went into proper college mentality about classes and skipping them. Kish read my little note and replied with a 'Says the girl who doesn't take off her cap. I have an eye condition, I can't take them off.'

I felt bad when I read it, but Kish was still smiling as he listened to the professor while waiting for me to respond. I couldn't help but look at him again. I could swear that I've seen him someplace before, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it.

"And I'll be looking forward to seeing you all Wednesday, first thing." The professor was finishing up. "Class dismissed."

Standing, I noticed that already almost an hour has gone by. Kish slug his backpack over his shoulder and waved at me lightly before walking off and to the door as he pulled out his schedule from his pocket to see where he was heading off to next. Deciding to follow his example, I too pulled my schedule out from my pocket and went about looking for my next class, which was Psychology 101.

My last class finished up and we were released a little early, giving me plenty of time to walk from the class room to the Restaurant where I worked. Although I didn't start for another few hours, I was sleepy and didn't feel like walking all the way back to my apartment just to nap and come back. Besides, I have spent the past two days there a lot as it is, and it already felt nice and comfortable to me. Ryou and Keiichiro treated me really nice as well. Actually, Keiichiro treated me nice. Ryou was still an arrogant jerk at times, but I've come to accept that about him.

Opening the door, I looked around and called out to them that I was there. Keiichiro looked up from arranging a few tables and smiled at me. "Welcome Ichigo. How was your first day of classes?"

"Fine, I managed to find them all at least. We didn't really do anything yet."

"Meet any new friends?"

"One. His name is Kish, does that sound familiar?"

"Kish?" He thought about it. "Well...the alien we fought said his name was 'Kisshu'."

I shook my head. "No, that's impossible. Like he would go to college. They'd have to do too much. Faking an ID, signing up, blood testing, registering for classes, that's just stupid."

Keiichiro laughed. "I agree. What are you up to now? Would you care for some lunch?"

"Actually I think I need a small nap." I yawned and stretched out. "Those cat genes do more than make me able to fight against aliens." I took off my cap and scratched my hair. Also my tail unfurled from my waist and lay out behind me, swaying lightly as I walked.

"Ryou's up in his room, he probably won't mind if you lay on his bed for a while."

"Thanks Keiichiro!"

I ran up the stairs to the apartment on the second floor. I looked around a little bit before trailing my hand along the wall as I walked to Ryou's bedroom. His door was open, so I lightly tapped on it as I walked in. The blond haired American was sitting at his desk looking at several papers in front of him. "Hi, Shirogane."

"Hi."

I sniffed a little. "I had a good day at college for my first time."

"That's nice." He picked up a letter and opened it. Looking it over, he wrote out a check and placed it in a return envelope and sealed it.

"Doing paper work?" I walked over to him and looked over his shoulder.

"Yeah." He picked up another envelope and tore the side off of it. "You need something?"

"Mou, you could at least pretend to be interested in my day." I walk over to his bed and flopped down on it. "I'm going to sleep."

Ryou paused a moment, looking over at me, but went back to his work. "I'll wake you when it's time for work then.

"Yes, please do." I sighed lightly and kicked my shoes off before curling up under the covers of his bed and closing my eyes.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed. I actually made it a little longer than usual this time ; hope that makes up for the short chapters. It should start to pick up from here since everyone has been introduced and the basic foundation has been laid down. I don't know how long this story will go, but so far not many people have read it. Soooooo should I just cut it off here and work on short stories again? Review please and tell me .

Oh, and to answer one question asked by Isuki, Kish wears a helmet and armor to cover his identity. I did that so Ichigo could see him in battle and in school and not connect the two for a while at least. This way I can have some Kishigo moments as well in the story.

I plan to keep this as original as I can, so the OC character Mark has come into this story from my College Mew Mew story. Also another character, Darren, will show up as well as Masaya's other room mate. I guarantee these three people will make you laugh.

Teaser:

Mark ran over to me and kneeled down, as I was leaning against Masaya's bed reading my History assignment. "Hey, Ichigo, can I have a few strands of your hair?"

"My hair...? I guess so, why?" I pulled one or two strands from my ponytail and prepared to pluck them.

"Darren and I are stunning flies and tying little leashes on them, but our hair isn't long enough."

A moment later Mark walked back into his room and flopped down next to Darren, who had a rolled up piece of newspaper in his hand. "She suddenly said she had to go take a shower."

"What a weirdo." Darren sighed.

(thanks to Mac Hall for several ideas)