"And serve!" I threw the ball up into the air and launched myself after it, neatly sending it sailing over the net. Ryou easily knocked it up into the air and Keiichiro leapt behind him, slamming it back over onto our side. Lettuce made her move for the ball and succeeded in knocking it over to me, allowing me to send it into a spike over to their side. Keiichiro's hand barely managed to catch it to send back over to Ryou, who slammed it down hard, hitting the floor just next to lettuce.

"Point!" The two high fived each other

TMM: College Years XI

By:

Satashi

Pudding yelled out happily as she dived into the swimming pool, making a large splash. Lettuce was next to me, arms huddled with mine as we debated our strategy. Ryou and Keiichiro were tied with us in a game of volleyball. So far I had found out that Lettuce wasn't the best player, but she was giving her all for me. We had barley managed to stay in the game this long, making it match point for both of us. Whoever would score the next round would win the game and be treated to dinner.

"Okay, Lettuce. We can do this." I adjusted the strap to my bikini top that Pudding had picked out for me. "I have a plan."

"It's their serve," She replied in a whisper, glancing over at the two boys who were waiting on us. "If they hit it to me, they'll score just like always. I can't send it over good…"

"Don't worry, it'll be fine. I know their weakness."

"What is that?"

I pointed at her. "That."

"What? She looked down. I don't understand."

"You're in a bathing suit."

"So?"

I winked. "Ryou will serve to me since I'm on the left side of the court. That way he'll serve from the right. By doing this he'll guarantee you having the ball last."

"He always spikes it when I do that though!"

"Exactly." I winked at her. "Come on Lettuce! Let's show them the full power of the mew mews!" I spun around and pointed at them. "Mew mew style, mew mew grace, mew mew volleyball, in your face!"

Ryou gave me a blank look. "What are you smoking?"

"Game on!"

"Game on!" Ryou threw the ball up and slapped it over to me, just like I planned. Lettuce gave a small meep sound as the ball came over to her. Twirling, she slapped it back over the net.

"Ryou!" Keiichiro easily tapped the ball into the air near the net.

I narrowed my eyes and ran forward. Ryou was running to the net as well. His eyes met mine and narrowed as he launched him self into the air, moving his hand back to spike the ball down on the ground. I placed myself where the ball would land. His hand started to move forward as my hands went to the bottom of the top section of my bikini. "Ryou, look!" I pulled it up over my chest.

Ryou's eyes went wide and his swing went wild, missing the ball completely and having it smash right into his face. The next moment he landed roughly on the ground as I covered myself back up, blushing like mad. The ball landed on his side, scoring us the winning point.

He wasted no time in jumping to his feet and holding his nose where the ball hit him and pointing at me with his other hand. "You cheated! Redo that last set!"

"Cheated? How did I cheat?"

"Illegal use of…….of….."

"Of what?" I demanded, yelling at him. "You missed the ball!"

"Because you distracted me!"

"I did no such thing!"

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Now, now" Keiichiro waved his hands lightly, getting between us. "The girls won, Ryou. They got the last point."

"She cheated!" He pointed at me again, revealing his nose which was red and bleeding slightly. "You can't call that fair!"

"I think I want a large banana split after dinner," I was telling lettuce when Ryou looked back over at me.

"Oh that sounds wonderful," Lettuce replied happily. "But first, we need to join Pudding, she's calling over to us."

"Sounds like a good plan." I turned to walk off with her, pausing only a moment to look over at a still pissed off Ryou and stick out my tongue at him.

I yawned as I walked into my room later that night. I had just gotten out of the shower and was drying my hair with a slightly damp towel. My cloths were already packed and ready for me to leave tomorrow morning and go back to my apartment. I kind of missed my apartment. It would be nice to be there again, where I can let my ears and tail be free all the time.

Falling back onto my bed, I looked over at my cell phone as it flashed lightly, signaling that I had missed a call. I picked it up and held it at arm's length, flipping it open to look at it. The number wasn't in my cell phone, but the first part of it told me that it was in my local area, as it matched the first few of my parent's phone number.

Curiosity took over and I brought it to my ear and pushed the button on the side. "You have one voice message." It told me in a robotic voice. A moment later a beep was heard and Masaya's voice came to me. "Momomiya-san, did Darren get a hold of you? Would it be too much of a problem if I can get a ride back to the college? Give me a call, please?"

I looked over at my clock. Normally I wouldn't hesitate to call him back, but this wasn't his cell phone, so I assumed it was his parent's number. Testing, I pressed his speed dial button on my phone and six rings later, I got an automated message proudly telling me that the cellular customer I was trying to reach was either unavailable or out of area.

Sighing, I told my phone to call the number I got the voice message from and got a woman answering a few rings later. "Aoyama residence."

"Um, hi. Is Ao- er, Masaya-kun there?"

"Who is speaking?"

"Momomiya Ichigo."

"One second, pleases." I heard her place her hand over the receiver, but my ears could still make out what she was saying. "Honey, someone is calling for Masaya. It's a girl!"

"Wow, that's a first. No girl has called for him since high school when he was on the kendo team. I'll go get him."

"He's on his way," The voice was suddenly unruffled and I realized she was speaking to me again. "You said your name was Ichigo-san?"

"Th-that's right." She was making small talk with me, how polite of her. "I live in the same apartment complex as him. I'm supposed to be giving him a ride to school tomorrow."

"Ohhhh, that's why your name sounded familiar, Masaya has been talking about you."

A sharp blush went across my face. "Good things, I hope."

"He thinks you're cute."

"Mom!" Masaya's voice came in the room and after a quick laugh from his mother, he claimed the phone. "Momomiya-san?"

"Masaya-kun!" My cheeks grew hotter. "Er, Aoyama-kun…..er…..whatever….." I looked down a little, embarrassed.

"…Ichigo?"

"Yes?" My heart was pounding. He called me by my first name…

I heard the sound of a door closing then something like him falling on the bed. "Sorry about that. My mom's favorite past time is teasing me it seems."

"It's all right… So, um, you called?"

"Yeah. Can I bum a ride with you tomorrow?"

"Where do you live?"

"Well, you know where the grocery store on twenty Sixth Street…"

Masaya, ironically, lived not too far from me, just on the other side of the dividing line of schools. If he was a block over, I probably would have gone to the same high school as him. Looking out my window, I saw him sitting on a bench where the designated meeting spot was. My mom had woken me up twenty minutes early so I could find the spot with plenty of time. That's why I was a little surprised to see him there already. He had to be at least half an hour early.

I smiled at him when he saw me and soon he was in my passenger side seat. Our weekend information was exchanged on the drive to class. He had a pretty dull time it seemed, and was really looking forward to being back at his place.

I was excited too, although I had to work today after classes again. Not that I minded, it was getting even more fun now that I was used to it and could do neat tricks with bottles. "Ne…Ichigo?" His voice snapped me from me thoughts and I blushed lightly at hearing my name from him again. "Did you see the news paper the other day? About those girls who fought off that monster that attacked?"

I had to grip the steering wheel to keep from swerving after hearing that. "Eh? What? I don't know anything about that group. Nothing at all, he he…."

He was looking at me funny. "Ichigo… they have been showing up a lot more recently… and one of them has cat ears and a tail…"

"So?" My voice was a little angry all of a sudden. "It's not like they want that to happen to them! I bet it's a major pain. Hiding because people would think they are freaks….. Fighting all the time, saving a world that they are scared of being open in…" I felt a tear come to my eye. I never thought about it before… I always just… hid myself. If anyone found out…..anyone at all….

Masaya turned to look out the window. "Sorry. I didn't mean to his a nerve…" A small silence passed between us. I then felt his hand fall on mine on the gear shift. He was still looking outside though. "Just want to say… That I'd like to thank them. The one with the ears and tail… I bet she's a real nice person. No one would mind the way she looked…"

I moved my fingers to lace through his, but didn't say anything aloud. Instead I sent him a small silent 'Thanks' my own special way by rubbing the side of his hand.

Did he know it was me? Was that why he brought it up? Should I… tell him?

The rest of the trip was made in silence.

It felt good to be at my apartment again. The guys were all going to be over for dinner, and I knew it would be good for me. Laughing and carrying on while they all acted stupid and talked about what they did over the weekend. I couldn't wait. It would take everything off my mind. No worrying about the way Ryou was acting, no worrying about my relationship with Masaya as well, and no worrying about my term paper with Kish to finish. Just fun with them. Nothing at all to worry about, just like normal here.

The door burst open and Mark ran in, followed by Darren. In a mad rush, they closed the door and ran to my room. "If he police come, we're not here!" Mark shouted to me in a harsh whisper before scrambling under my bed. Darren didn't waste anytime in running into my closet.

... Just like normal around here.

"One Mai Tai coming right up!" I told my customer before winking and moving away to the blend charts in the cooler. Opening it up, I completely ignored them and grabbed some ice and tossed it in a blender before snagging some rum and pouring three seconds worth into a semi-large glass. Kicking the door of the cooler closed, I dumped in the ice, stirred in some fruit and plopped a straw in it. The total time taken wasn't even a minute.

I caught a bottle thrown at my by Ryou without even looking and rolled it over the top of my hand before grabbing it upside down and letting it pour into the glass in front of a customer. Mentally I counted off the seconds before stopped with a flip of my wrist, which sent the bottle spinning back over it and allowing me to blindly throw it back to Ryou as I caught the other one tossed in my direction. I didn't even know what this person ordered, but by the combination of alcohol, I instantly placed it in my mind and perfectly filled his glass before giving it a small stir "Please enjoy."

"Last call!" Ryou yelled out, making people look up. "Finish your whiskey or beer. You don't have to go home but you can't stay here. Ten minutes guys!"

I smiled. It was almost eleven finally. I really didn't mind working nine hour shifts here. At first it was too much for me, but now it was almost natural. Classes until noon, an hour lunch, an hour nap, and then working till closing time with a few breaks in-between to sit down. Tuesdays and Thursdays were a little more complicated now since we had earlier hours for lunch time, but I still always managed to get my cat nap in at least. I got to go home early those days as well, leaving plenty of time to study and do homework.

I flirted with the man in front of me as he paid for his drinks. He was a little past 'tipsy' and was already wobbling to get off his barstool. "You have a ride home, Mr. Kentaro?"

"Nah, Cutie, I can drive." He stumbled back and I smiled lightly.

"I'll call you a cab. You can pick up your keys tomorrow." I held out my hand and he reluctantly gave me his keys, allowing me to tie a small twist-tie on it with his name. "Be a good boy and wait outside, it'll be here shortly." I waved happily to him as he turned. He was a regular customer, and one I personally liked. He tipped big and was always really nice to me. There were a few regulars now; mainly on my shift I'm told. Probably because I fell into the bartender cliché of 'tell me all your problems, I'll help you fix them'.

After the last customer was gone and the tables were clean, I hopped up onto the bar and lit a cigarette while Ryou finished pulling the ties on the garbage cans. "Good work today, Ichigo."

"Thanks," I smiled at him happily, but noticed his eyes were trailing down my body to my stomach. My shirt showed off my navel, and let him see the small strawberry charm on my new belly button ring. "Mou, don't look…" I pulled my shirt down a little, blushing. "Pervert…" I yawned loudly.

"What do you mean; I have to go to the party?" I asked Ryou as we walked across the campus. It was already Wednesday and I was about to go to my last class. Ryou randomly found me walking and decided to grace me with his presence.

"Remember when I walked you home a while back and told you I had that meeting? This is that party, a lot of important people will be there. Come on, it'll be fun."

"For you maybe, I'm just a normal girl!" I snorted at him. "I don't belong at parties like that." My tail was twitching in annoyance, but I could fortunately keep it around my waist still. "You probably hired some world famous person to perform there too, didn't you?"

"Yup. Keiichiro will play on the piano for me." He looked down at me "You have to go. I need a date."

"Oh, so I'm just convenient to you, huh?"

"More or less."

"Mou!" I turned and slapped him, making everyone stop and look at us. "What happened about being nicer? Don't you know how a girl feels?"

He didn't reply. Instead he turned and looked the other direction. "You can have tonight off from work." And with that, he started to walk away.

"…Jerk." I sniffed and started to walk into the building that housed my last class when I noticed Masaya looking at me. Instantly I blushed as the crowd of people that gathered started to slowly part ways. "Um, hi…" My eyes looked down at my shoes.

"That's your boss?" He stood next to me and watched Ryou walk away. "Sounds like a total ass, no offence."

"None taken, he is." I looked over my shoulder at him. "But that's just how he is. Underneath it all, he's a really sweet guy. Sometimes I just have to smack his ego off of him before he'll show it…"

"I see…" He looked over at me. "What you doing after class?"

"Food then napping at home."

"Want to eat together?"

"Eh?"

"I'm asking you on a date." He smiled down at me, making me blush hard.

"Okay! I mean, um, yeah, I'm free, lets do lunch…"

He laughed at me before grinning and starting to walk off. "I have to run to class, I'll meet you at the Union after it's over?"

"I'll be there!" I waved at him and smiled. At least today wasn't a complete waste. I could eat with Masaya and then go home, sleep for an hour or so, and have plenty of time to get to work tonight. Of course I was given the day off, but me and Ryou both knew that I couldn't leave him to take care of the bar alone.

As I walked to my class, I shifted my book bag on my back and thought about what happened. He obviously wanted me to go to the party with him, but he didn't have to be so mean about it. Still, it was how he always was- just as I told Masaya. I grinned. Maybe I could get out of working at the Halloween party if I went with him to this one.

"So this is the list of who's going to come?" I took the piece of paper from Keiichiro and looked over it. "Oh wow, a lot of people are going to be here. Where will it be?"

"On Ryou's yacht. On the Tokyo Harbor. We'll start a little after lunch and entertain for a few hours, then serve dinner and have a ball."

I swallowed. "I won't have to dance will I?"

"Of course," Keiichiro smiled at me. "It's a party after all."

Licking my lips, I looked back at the list. "Hey, the actor Fujiwara Zakuro is invited! Oh wow! I always wanted to meet her."

"Ryou can introduce you, they have met before."

"Really?" I hopped a little in place. "That would be so cool!" I looked back at the list to see if anyone else I wanted to meet was on it. Many names caught my eye, but none that I just absolutely had to shake hands with. "Hm? Keiichiro, who is Aizawa Mint?"

"Zakuro's assistant. She's very rich. Ryou has known her for quite some time, being invited to most of her parties. She has an annual Tea party, and Ryou was introduced to her there."

"Hmmm…" I leaned against the wall. "Still, I wish Ryou had told me about this sooner, or at least been nicer about it." Keiichiro suddenly went quiet, making me look over at him. "Is something wrong?"

He seemed a little reluctant to talk about whatever it was that had made him quiet down like he did, but when I opened my mouth to apologize he started to speak. "This…isn't really a good time for Ryou."

"What do you mean?"

"You know his parents are dead?"

"I didn't know, what happened?"

He sat what he was cooking to the side and walked over to the table to sit down. When he pulled a chair out for me, I took the hint and sat down as well. "It happened several years ago, when he was only ten… That was when we first found out about the Chimera Animas and the danger they posed to us."

"I don't understand?" I never really thought about it, but I guess it made sense. They were well prepared when Kisshu first attacked us.

Keiichiro closed his eyes and looked down. "At the time, I was working for his father. I was probably almost eighteen at the time. Ryou was always bullied at school because he was so smart." I started to giggle at the thought, but then he continued. "His I.Q. was well over one-eighty."

I gasped. One-sixty was considered 'genius'. "Oh wow…. I knew he was smart, but…"

His lips twitched into a small smile. "I convinced his father to put him in a university. When I was going to propose the idea to Ryou, we were on the road…That's when we heard a loud explosion. We sped the rest of the way to his house and saw it in flames… His parents… were burned alive."

My hands went to my mouth.

He looked over at the calendar. "Every year he holds a ball on that day. One to honor his mother and father, to show the world that they will always be remembered. But it isn't easy. I know. This time each year he is always moody, always short tempered, and cries at night."

"I …never knew…" No wonder he was so short with me today. I had refused to come with him on such an important event.

"What he needs most is a friend to be with him. Ichigo-san, please go with him. He has never had a date with him before."

I nodded lightly. "I will."

"Aside from that…" His tone got a little lighter. "We moved to Japan a few weeks after his house was destroyed. Using his intelligence, Ryou decided to skip a university and went straight to the Dean of students and requested to take the complete test for his full degree. One spanning eight years of college work."

"He passed it?"

He chuckled at me. "Of course not. He's a genius, but at only ten years of age, there was no way he could possibly do that. He took it again several months later and then a third time almost a year after that. His final time, he not only passed, but made the highest mark anyone has ever gotten. He was twelve at the time."

"Oh wow….just wow…"

Keiichiro nodded. "Now with a college degree, he could easily buy land and have a house built for him. We stayed there for several years, working almost non-stop on the Mew Project. Finding some way to fight off the aliens, the chimeras."

"Why was that so important?"

"Oh, forgive me…" He looked down, saddened. "That night, in the fire… we saw our first chimera. One born of flames. That was why Ryou took over his father's research."

"And when did you succeed?" I pointed to my neck, where a small mark was. "Was I the first one?" I was a little unnerved at that. What if it didn't work?"

"It was tested," a new voice came up as Ryou walked into the kitchen. "I thought I told you to take tonight off?"

"I wanted to tell you that I didn't have a dress for the party." I stood up and tried not to cry at the sad story of his life that I just heard. It must have been so hard for him. "What should I wear? And I don't know how to dance, either."

Ryou blinked and looked surprised a moment before covering himself. "I'll have you one custom made. As well as a matching hair band to keep our ears down."

"Thanks." I fidgeted a little bit before running over to the door. I was about to start crying. "Ryou, I'm going to change for work! I'll be back shortly."

"Ah." He watched me run out of the room and turned to Keiichiro. "Did you tell her-"

"Of course not."

He nodded. "Thanks, Keiichiro…"

"That's why we're the best partners."

Ryou looked away a moment and then back to him, smiling. "Ah."

I had always wanted to wear a dress like the one Lettuce was helping me into ever since I could remember. It was elegant, made of the finest silk, custom tailored to my body, made by hand selected world-famous designers, and along with the jewelry I was loaned to wear with it, I was sporting around almost five thousand dollars.

And I couldn't get the damn zipper behind me to zip properly. "Lettuceeeeeee, help me!"

"Calm down, Ichigo, here." She placed her hand on the small of my back and gently slid it upwards. "There."

"Do I look okay? Is my make-up right?" I looked over in the mirror, nervous. I needed to leave soon, and I wasn't near as ready as I hoped to be.

"You look fine," Pudding told me from sitting backwards in my computer chair. "Very lovely."

"Thanks, Pudding." I nervously looked in the mirror to see myself. The dress was wonderful, tightly hugging my breast down to my waist, where it flared out dramatically with all sorts of silk nets and mesh see-through materials. My waist, where it flared out, had a special addition to it. On the back, it flared out earlier than the rest of the dress. Although it looked to be just a design of it, this allowed my tail to easily and comfortably hang down. I was very relieved I didn't have to have it around my waist tonight. I don't think I could possible dance like that… Not that I could dance anyway, but that wasn't my main concern right now.

"Hold still," Lettuce scolded me as I fidgeted. She was currently placing the small tiara in my hair. It was blessed with rubies to match my dress, as well as some other type of gem that matched my eyes. I couldn't for the life of me remember the name of it, but only that a singe one of them cost more than an entire month's paycheck for me.

"Ah, that must be Ryou!" I squealed as I heard a knock on my door. I had no idea what he would look like, so I was eager to meeting him tonight.

Pudding answered the door for me, letting Keiichiro in. He was wearing a white tuxedo that also looked like Ryou had it made just for him. "Hello, Pudding, is Ichigo-san ready?"

"Where's Ryou?" I asked, a little disappointed.

"Ah, Ichigo-san. You look marvelous." To my surprise, he actually kissed my hand.

I felt my cheeks color. "You look nice, too."

"Ryou sends his apologies, but he was needed on his ship for the final preparations. I'm here in his place to escort you to the ball."

"Ball?"

He winked at me. "'Party' isn't the right word for it once you're there."

I felt even more nervous now. "I'm going to make a fool of myself, aren't I?"

Keiichiro gave me a lopsided smile. "I don't think so…."

"Ichigo is going to trip on the middle of the dance floor!" Pudding suddenly declared, dancing around me. "Fall down, and go splaf!"

"Pudding!" Lettuce grabbed her and put her hand over the younger girl's mouth. "Don't listen to her, you'll be fine. Just remember what I showed you."

I nodded lightly. Lettuce, having gone to a privet high school, has had formal dances before. Although she told me that she only had a date once, she knew how to waltz very well. It was an old dance, but I was told that it was still a favorite among the elite, upper-class people. I wouldn't consider Ryou neither elite, nor upper-class, but I knew first hand he had enough money to buy Japan twice over, so I figured I should learn it, just incase.

Walking down the stairs was nerve racking in my high heels. They were platform style for balance while still making me look fashionable, but halfway down I finally gave up and allowed Keiichiro to carry me the rest of the way down. Once he sat me on my feet again, I sighed audibly. "I'm not going to make it through this…"

"You'll be fine. Come on, they're waiting on us." He put his hand on my back to encourage me to walk forward. It was then that I noticed he had a limo parked at the walkway to my apartment. The driver was by the door with it open, bowed toward us. Several people from my apartment complex were looking at us. Being a Sunday, most people were outside. This also meant that all the people I normally talked to on the way to my car or the campus walk-way were also out here.

Blushing horribly, I walked with Keiichiro towards the limo and almost made it to the vehicle before hearing Mark shout out behind me. "Holy hell, is that you, Ichigo?"

I turned around quickly and put my finger to my lips. "Shush, Mark!"

He didn't seem to hear me, or chose to ignore it, and yelled out to his side. "Masaya! Darren! You just got to see this!"

Oh no! Masaya!

The two boys walked over to join his friend, and froze when they saw me. "I-Ichigo?" Masaya's mouth dropped a little bit.

"Um, um hi!" I waved lightly.

"You must be Aoyama." Keiichiro smiled at him and walked over to Masaya, extending his hand. "Akasaka Keiichiro. Nice to meet you."

Masaya collected himself and shook his hand. "Just call me Masaya. Forgive me for asking, but where are you two going?"

"The ball on the Tokyo harbor."

"The one with all the movie stars?" Darren suddenly asked aloud, amazed. "We had to detour like three miles out of the way because the police closed down the roads there so all the people could get there easily!"

All three of them looked at me. "I'm, just…meeting a friend…"

"I knew she was more than what she let on!" Mark whispered to Masaya, getting elbowed in the ribs.

"Well, we must be off." Keiichiro bowed lightly to them and helped me into the limo.

After the door closed, I reached into my purse and fished out my cell phone. Not much was in it, being freshly given to me, but I still managed to fill it full of random things. "I can't believe they saw me…" I laughed nervously as I started writing out a text message.

Keiichiro covered his mouth lightly and laughed.

"You're blowing up, man." Mark tossed Masaya his cell phone, which he caught. "Message from your girl."

"The famous movie star-limo girl?" Darren asked playfully.

"Shove it, you two." Masaya looked down at his phone and started to read.

I'll be home late, feel free to study at my place if you want. Wish me luck; I've never been to a formal ball before…

Ichigo.

He smiled lightly and flipped his phone shut.

"This can't possibly be his ship."

"Yeah, it is kind of big, isn't it?"

I looked over at Keiichiro as he escorted me to the stairs leading up to the ship. "You're not kidding? He really owns this?"

"He bought it a few years ago. Uses it for his party once a year and the other time he rents it out to a cruise line. He actually makes money off it."

"What an investment… Speaking of Ryou, where is he? I can't believe he drug me to this party-thing and didn't even pick me up." The top of the stairs came into sight and I had to hold back a gasp. There were people everywhere, all dressed up in tuxedos or gowns like mine. Although I could easily guess that some of them cost more than the one I was currently wearing, I still couldn't help but feel a little out of place. I may look the part, but I was still your average girl.

What if I walked funny or something?

"Ah, there she is. Ichigo!"

I turned to the voice. "Ryou!"

"I'll take my leave then." Keiichiro bowed lightly to me and went off to attend to some business I guess.

It was weird at first; being around people I didn't know who all knew the person I was with. After a while I fell into it, though, and actually started to enjoy myself slightly. So far I was only used when being introduced with Ryou, or when he needed to glad-hand a few people who were future business partners. I quickly found out that what I did also reflected him as well.

Of course, this didn't make me feel any better

Sighing, I leaned against the railing of the ship and suddenly wished that it was in motion so I could watch the sea drift by. I had lost Ryou a little while ago and was currently wandering around while trying not to get too terribly misplaced. At least I knew were the dinning room was, so I could meet up with him there if all else fails.

"Hello." I blinked and looked to my left, where someone with long purple hair leaned against the railing beside me. "Not with your boyfriend?"

"Boyfriend?" I had to think a moment before I realized that she was talking about Ryou. "Oh no, Ryou's just a friend. I work for him."

"Oh?" She laid one arm down across the railing and used the other to prop her cheek up. "Is he a hard boss?"

"Not at all." I looked out to the ocean as well a moment before glancing back over at her. For some reason, I just felt like I should know who she was. "He's a really nice guy once you get past his ego."

"Bet that's hard to do."

I laughed. "Once you know the right buttons to press, it's not bad." Then it hit me. "Oh! Oh, oh, you're Zakuro!"

"I am." She was a little taken aback by my outburst, but at the same time hid it well.

"I'm a big fan." I bowed to her, remembering to keep my cool.

"A big fan? How ironic."

That voice!

I looked back out to the sea, but only saw Kisshu hovering in the air with his falcon beside him. "Kisshu!" I instantly moved in front of Zakuro to protect her from anything he could throw at her. "What are you doing here?"

"Taking care of people like you!"

The voice was behind me, shocking me enough to let my guard down. I felt a hot pulsating rope around my neck and was jerked backwards before I even knew what was going on. The rope got tighter, cutting off my circulation all at once and making me scrape at it desperately to try and get it off.

"Good Job, Zakuro!" Kisshu congratulated her as he flew to land next to the girl who I realized for the first time was the one attacking me.

"Za….Zakuro!" A sudden gust of wind picked up, taking my off my already loosened tiara and letting it fly into the wind. But what worried me was Zakuro's hair, which was now robbed of its veil. Two wolf ears graced her head. "You're a….a…"

Zakuro gripped the whip tighter and jerked on it, forcing me to stand. "Once I beat her, we'll be back to normal, right?"

"Ah, that's right. No more ears or tail. You'll have your life back again."

I lunged forward, gaining slack in what I now realized was a whip made out of pure light it seemed. The handle looked to be some sort of high tech weapon, probably given to her by Kisshu. "What's going on here? How did you become a mew mew?"

Her eyes narrowed and her whip lashed out at me, forcing me to the air in a jump to escape it. "What do you mean how did I become one? You are the one who did it to me!"

"I didn't do anything!" I protested loudly, landing in a crouched position. I felt my genes take over, but I forced the feeling down. I didn't really feel like growing an instant lair of fur and then losing it inside this pretty dress. I figured the tiara I lost was several thousand yen more than I could afford.

"Shut up!" She lashed her whip of light at me, "Shut up! You have no idea what I've been through because of you!"

"I'm telling you, I had nothing to do with it!"

Dancing around her lashes, I managed to get past her and air-tackle Kisshu. He was caught off guard enough to plummet several feet before making himself fly again, only with me on him. "What did you do to her?" I whispered harshly at the helmet that protected his facial expressions from me.

"The same thing I did to you, kitten. Only this time purposely." His lips twisted into a sick sneer. "I have two of my own fighting against you. Although a bit mislead, they are still enough to handle you."

"I'mma kill you!"

"Maybe next time!" Kisshu suddenly phased out from under me and I found myself falling…

"What happened to you?" Ryou asked, shocked as I walked over to him, dripping wet. Fortunately, I managed to find my tiara and hit my ears from everyone, but my dress was feeling really icky right now, and I only wanted to change.

"Same thing that happened to me," Zakuro spoke up, making me jump. Looking over at her, I noticed that I had torn her dress in part of our skirmish. She looked like hell too, probably from jumping all around in such an elegant dress. "Part of your ship malfunctioned. There was a loud crack and part of the railing fell off." She nodded her head over to me. "She fell and I managed to climb back up."

Ryou looked furious. "Get me the head safety advisor……NOW!"

"Right away, sir!" a random helper of the party scurried off.

"Ichigo, I am so sorry… And Zakuro… How can I apologize?"

"Not your fault, Ryou." Zakuro looked over at him and made an obvious display of shaking his hand. "The owner should not be blamed for bad employees. But I am afraid that I will have to miss dinner tonight. I was so looking forward to talking with you again."

"Let's get together for lunch one day."

I quickly grabbed a notepad from a waiter and his pen, jotting down something on it while they talked.

"Sounds fun. Well then, I shall take my leave."

"Wait!"

Both of them turned to look at me. I grinned lightly and walked over to Zakuro, offering the pad. "Zakuro, can I have your autograph while I am here?"

She gave me a weird look. Obviously she was covering for herself and not me just now, but given the situation it would look really bad on her part to pass this up. "Why sure."

She took the pad and I could tell she was reading my note on it while she signed.

Zakuro,

Whatever he said, Kisshu is lying to you, we're the good guys. Come to our bar on campus. Momomiya Ichigo

She handed the tablet back to me and caught my eye. It wasn't much, but I saw a small flicker of hope in it, as if she doubted herself in the first place. Bowing to me lightly, she turned and made her way to the stairs.

"I'll take you home, Ichigo."

"No, that's okay. I'm fine. You have a party to continue. It still last a few more hours, right?" It was dark now, and dinner should be starting soon for them. "Just get me a cab?"

"…All right. Get some rest tonight okay?"

A nod. "Sure. I'll talk to you tomorrow?"

"Yeah."

I sighed lightly as I reached for the doorknob of my apartment. My dress was dry already, but I still felt slimy from the fall into the water. Luckily everyone just thought it was the pool on the ship so I saved myself at least a little embarrassment. The door opened without protest and I walked into my apartment slowly. Instantly Masaya's words when we first went shopping came back to me when I realized that I had a nice clean home that actually made me happier just to come back to.

"Ichigo, you're back early."

I blinked and looked up, hand already sitting on my tiara ready to take it off. Masaya was lying on my couch with one sock clad foot propped on the arm rest while his other was bent at the knee for a make-shift book prop. "Masaya…"

He instantly stood up to walk over to me. "What happened, did you have a bad time?" He placed a hand on my shoulder in an effort to comfort me, even though I haven't even said anything to imply I had a bad day. He always just seemed to know.

I sniffed lightly and nodded, taking a step forward to rest my forehead against his chest. "Yeah, you could say it was bad." His hands went to my back to rub it in a small circle.

"Why don't you go take a nice bath? I'll make you some dinner and we'll catch a movie or something to pass the time. You don't have work tomorrow do you?"

I shook my head. "One of my days off, I get every Sunday off now that the hours were changed around."

"About time, they run you ragged there."

"Only until we get some more people working for us. It'll be okay then. Besides, I need to go shopping again soon, and rent is coming up again."

"Well, don't worry about it." His hand went to pat my head, and I went stiff while he did so. I never realized my tiara only made my ears from being seen, and didn't actually cover them. His hand retreated back and I looked up at him, scared. I knew his hands went over my ears, I felt it plain as day. "Go take a bath," he smiled down at me.

He knew. I knew he knew. Is he trying to hide it from me? Doesn't he know that I know that he knows? Is he trying to make me comfortable? I sniffed lightly and walked into my bedroom.

I can remember hiding it from him since the third time we ever met. Lying to him constantly, snapping at him whenever he got even remotely close to finding out… or maybe he was just trying to give me an opening to talk to him… to confide in someone. He said earlier that he wanted to thank the mew mews for fighting whatever it was invading earth. He tried to comfort me in a round about way… Always trying his best to make my life easier for me…

And I always lied to him…

"Masaya…"

"Yeah?" He was in the kitchen, probably looking for something to cook for me.

"I need…. Help." I looked down, wondering if I was actually doing what I was thinking I was doing. "I can't… get my zipper down on my back."

"What? I can't hear you." He walked into my room and stood behind me. "What can I do?"

"My zipper…," I repeated softly. "Will you undo it for me?"

"Eh? Um,er… I mean…"

"It's okay…please."

His finger trailed along my back a moment, sending a shiver down my spine. It slowly found the small, almost hidden zipper and began to slowly pull it downwards for me. I felt my dress instantly go slack and start to fall. My hands went to cross at my chest to keep it from going down completely. "…There…" I could tell he was blushing horribly by just the sound of his voice.

"Wait," I felt my own cheeks turn red. From shyness, anger at myself, or sadness, I wasn't sure. Maybe a little of each. "… Masaya…"

"Yes?"

"You… like me, don't you?"

"…Yeah?" I knew that already.

"You… don't think I'm weird…do you?"

"…No?" I knew that already.

"You… won't ever leave me because of something, would you?"

"Ichigo… Of course not. No matter what it was."

"Even if… I was a little weird?"

"…"

"Masaya…I've been lying to you…I'm… not who you think I am…" I closed my eyes, feeling a small tear come to them. I was about to lose the first and my best friend ever at college. "I'm a…a…"

"It doesn't matter."

"It does!" I turned around quickly, my dress falling to the floor as I did so. Tears sprang to my eyes as he looked away. "No, look at me. Look at me, dammit!" A hot salty taste came to the side of my lips. I sniffed, chocking on a sob. "Look at me… I'm a freak…no one would ever like me like this… All I do is hide, hide, hide." My tail swayed out behind me and I took my tiara off, letting it drop to the ground. "Too scared to let anyone know, fighting for people who would only cast me out as a freak or want to study me to find out why I can do what I can… hiding what has become what I really am in fear of losing everything I have…" I looked down sadly. "Even fighting against other people like me now… the only people that could possibly understand are my enemies..." I sank to my knees. "What am I fighting for…?"

A hand was slowly laid on my shoulder, making me look up into the eyes of a kneeling Masaya. His other hand went to my face and wiped away the tears coming from them. "Because… Not everyone thinks the way you think they do. Because some people want to know so they can be there for you… Because I want to be there for you." Slowly he brought me into a hug and rubbed the small of my back. "If you don't want to fight, then I'm sure there are other ways to win whatever war is going on. But always know that no matter what you do, or what you are, I'll always be here beside you."

"E-Even if I'm not h-human?" My voice was cracking in between my sobs.

"I never thought you were completely human," He began, making my heart sag. "But I always thought you were something more. An angel sent down to me…" His finger traced my jaw and I suddenly started to cry harder, pulling him closer to me. "There there, it's okay." I felt him reach around me and lift me into the air, only to be placed on my bed a few moments later. "Rest for a little bit."

"No, don't go." I pulled him back to me when he went to move away. "Please… stay with me."

He smiled down at me and kissed my forehead. A moment later, I felt my fuzzy blanket I used to curl up in to read being pulled over us. Masaya pulled me to his chest and this time planted a small kiss in my hair. I closed my eyes and wrapped my arms around him, taking in his scent. My cheeks were stained red as his hand slowly rubbed my back, reminding me I was almost nude under the covers. But this didn't seem to matter as much as it normally would. He wouldn't leave me just because I was a mew mew. Just because I was different.

His hand made it to my tail and he slowly traced it out behind me with two fingers until it twitched out of his loose hold on it. A shiver went up my spine and he chuckled to himself, obviously pleased. "That feels funny," I spoke into his chest.

"Like how?"

"I …don't know. It's calm and…sensual at the same time." I blushed harder when his hand trailed my tail's length again. My eyes got a little heavy and my heart was beginning to pound in my chest. "But… I like it…" I finally looked up at him and met his eyes. Such sweet caring eyes.

Slowly I shifted up and tilted my head to kiss him. It was slow and sensual, replaced by another as soon s it ended. His hand trailed down my back and stopped at the base of my tail to pull me closer to him. My arms went under his and embraced his back. We kissed again and again, slowly starting to get more passionate as it went on. I felt hot all over my body and the gently rubbing of my back became more sensual as time went on. Maybe it was him who laid the first real touch of the night, maybe it was me. My mind was getting hazy and my body hotter.

Through turns and gentle touches, soft words whispered between us and our love making. Expressions of love, desire, comfort, understanding, all seemed to be one for a few short moments. For one night my life was normal, complete, and filled with love. For one night nothing mattered. For one night I was myself, with the person I knew I loved.

A/N: What? Lack of updates? Me? NEVER!...Okay maybe a smaaaaaaalllllll delay...over 3 months? NO! maybe 4... does anyone remember this story anymore? Haha, well I'm back. I told you I didn't give up on this story. Hopefully I'll have a few more updates ASAP. I may keep them small, may be large. Not sure just yet. But yeah, I'm back! Tell all your friends!

As for the "mew mew power, mew mew grace" line...XD I've seen the dubb mew mew. It's hilarious isn't it? It's so badly done I can't help but laugh my way through it all. On this subject, I'd like to once again say that I have eppies 1-44 of the japanese subbed version. I'll be more than happy to share them untill the subtitled version is released in America. Then we get to buy the DVDs. lol. Drop me an email if you want some. Also, how about some reviews? I don't even know if anyone remembers me, hehe.

What's with me putting her with Masaya isntead of Ryou? Blame Jena, she made me XP. This chapter is dedicated to her, so here's to you Jena-Su!