Satou: It's the long awaited... CHRISTMAS CHAPTER! Part one! x,X; Enjoy your very-late-Holiday-Gift everyone! ;;

Minto: -waves boredly- I'm here costaring in this stupid story , ; I could hire someone to write better for a dime...

Satou: -glare- No one invited you anyways!

Minto: Wow... I knew you didn't value your rep. much but calling yourself a nobody Miss. Please-come-Minto-I'll-give-you-tea-and-cookies-for-free... That's pretty stupid.

Satou: -glare-

Chapter 5

"I can't believe it..." Ichigo said sadly as she pressed her nose against a shop window "Everything pretty costs so much."

"I know na no da..."

"Don't worry about the price, I'll but it." Zakuro said calmly "I don't need all this money I make as a model anyways."

"Thanks, Zakuro-san..." Ichigo said softly as she continued to look around for a gift. After a few minutes her cat ears popped out and she put her hands over her head, blushing.

"Ooooh. Someone's being loved again." Minto teased "Ichigo, I saw a pretty chain a ways back. Let's get that."

"I think you should get something that represents your love for Kisshu-san..." Retasu said quietly.

"Buy a monkey na no da!"

"Why would he want a monkey?" Minto snapped.

"'cause he would na no da!"

"Uuuawaaaaahh..." Ichigo moaned as she held her head and started backing away from her friends. This was too confusing! She wasn't good at shopping.

"Ah! Ichigo-san, behind you!!!" Retasu suddenly yelped. Before Ichigo knew it she'd bumped into someone and was now falling backwards. Not just to the ground but to the ground 15 feet below her. They were on the second floor of the wall and Ichigo had just flipped over the railing.

"NYAAAAA!" Ichigo screamed, expecting to tumble to her death. But the funny thing was she wasn't tumbling to her death. Someone had caught her.

"Eh? Koneko-chan?" Ichigo blinked and looked up, only to find Kisshu had caught her. Her face started burning red and she felt heat gathering where her cat ears were about to appear.

Just stop thinking about me! Please!!! She begged mentally. She wasn't going to be able to hold her ears back forever!!!

"You're the waitress from the Cafe, right? You nearly fell..."

"Uh... Ye-yeah. I'm really sorry about that nya."

"Nya? That's cute. You want to have lunch?"

Ichigo stared blankly. Lunch? Had she heard correctly? Was this a date? Well, Ichigo was going to call it a date.

"H-Hai nya! I'd love to nya!" She exclaimed excitedly "Thank you very much!"

"No problem. Come then." And with that said, Kisshu started leading Ichigo off to the food court.

"How cute." Minto commented as she watched them leave "What a bad girl. She totally forgot about us."

"She's probably forgotten that she doesn't have a Christmas present for Kisshu-san..." Retasu said softly.

Minto blinked. Then she grinned and turned to face Retasu. Retasu blushed. Had she said something wrong...?

"Perfect. We'll call Mew Project CS."

"What does that stand for?" Retasu asked quietly.

"Mew Project Candy Store na no da!!!!"

"No. Mew Project Christmas Shopping. While Ichigo's on her date we'll buy her a gift for Kisshu and give it to her so she can give it to him." Minto explained.

"... Good thinking." Zakuro commented while patting Minto lightly on the head. Minto giggled and started blushing.

"Thank you, Oneesama. Shall we get started then?"

"Of course." Retasu said firmly "Let's start by looking in that jewelry shop."

"No... I think Kisshu would like a watch." Minto said simply "Boys like watches."

"Let's buy him a stuffed animal na no da!!!" Purin said happily.

"NO!" Minto and Retasu said together.

Meanwhile, Ichigo was on her luffly date with Kisshu. This is, though, just a date to the food court. They got sandwiches, because Kisshu can be cheap like that, and then just sat down to eat without saying a word. Ichigo was cherry pink but Kisshu didn't seem all that bothered. He'd tripped Ichigo, nearly led her to her death and sort of owed her something.

"Sooo... Nyaaa... Do you visit the Cafe often nya?" Ichigo asked shyly. She had no idea what to say.

"Yeah. I go there a lot more often now that you work there, though."

"Really? Why nya?"

"...Because you work there?" Kish offered. Ichigo was kind of dense... But it was a cute type of dense.

"Oh nya!" Ichigo exclaimed, burning bright red "Th-thank you!"

"For what? Visiting more often?"

"Complimenting me nya."

"Oh. You're welcome then, I guess."

More silence. This time the silence was a bit more awkward.

"Do you like pastries?" Ichigo asked hopefully.

"Yeah. Really only if they have strawberries, though."

"Why's that nya?"

"I met a cute kitten and named her strawberry." Kish explained. This only made Ichigo blush and one of her cat ears poped up. She yelped and put a hand over it before laughing nervously.

"How cute nya. I love kitties."

"I kind of thought so. You do say nya and act like a cat... Plus you're wearing..." Kisshu had a bit of a curious look on his face and eventually leaned closer to get a good look at Ichigo's bell.

"You're wearing the bell I gave that cat..."

Ichigo gulped and felt herself turning bright red. Had he figured it out?

Sorry to interrupt the fluffy glory of Kishigo but... NEWS FLASH. In the regular anime we've got our super dense Masaya who can't put two and two together and makes the whole drama of Ichigo's Mew secret oh-so-long. I mean, even if he did figure it out around book 2 (or so he says) he kept it secret and IF this was Masaya we could have this go on forever but... I'm sorry... This is Kisshu... I'm out, then.

"You're that cat from the park, aren't you?" Kisshu said to Ichigo doubtfully. Ichigo blushed and then nodded. "But how? You were a cat."

"The bell was cursed nya." Ichigo admitted. Kisshu just stared at her like she was insane and then remembered how his mother had always said the bell was unlucky.

"And now you're a human.. No wait... You're the cat Mew too, then."

Ichigo nodded.

"I was in love with all three of you."

"Eh?"

"N-Never mind!" Kish stuttered, feeling a bit stupid for wondering which he loved more when they were all the same person. You'd feel pretty stupid too.

And the awkward silence sets in....

Meanwhile....

"I say we get a necklace."

"Guys don't wear necklaces, Retasu."

"Teddy bear na no da!"

"Or teddy bears." Minto added.

"Build-A-Bear! Build a special friend na no da!"

"No."

"But Minto-oneechan na no da!!!!"

"Ah! I know!" Retasu exclaimed. She had stopped in front of a store selling many sparkling gems and was pointing at a pink sapphire strawberry.

"That's perfect."

"Why?"

"It's a strawberry, like Ichigo's name." Retasu explained "He named her that, remember?"

"Let's get a honey pot too, then, na no da!"

"Her name is NOT Honey." Minto snapped angrily "NOT HONEY."

"Fine na no da."

"I think that's a good idea." Zakuro said as she looked at the strawberry "It would represent them perfectly."

"Now if only there was a cat to go with it..." Retasu said with a dreamy sigh "It's be perfect."

Zakuro paused and then walked into the store. She chatted with the manager, pointed to the strawberry, chatted some more and then walked out with a velvet bag.

"One strawberry cat necklace."

"Necklace? I thought we weren't getting anecklace, Oneesama!" Minto said in protest.

"This is special. It's a cat on one necklace and strawberry on the other. If they each have one then they can always have part of each other nearby..."

"... Or so we'll say na no da."

Everyone turned to Purin and then smiled. Yes, even Zakuro.

"As long as they think they're carrying part of their love around it'll work." Zakuro said with a slight smile "Now let's go."

"Okies dokies! to the food court na no da!!!"

"We'll have to be careful, though. We don't want to interrupt their date." Retasu said softly.

"We won't." Minto reassured her "We'll just wave to Ichigo and she can come get it."

"Sounds good to me na no da."

As the four walked back to Ichigo they passed yet another store selling fancy jewels. Minto suddenly stopped there, looking to be in a daze, and stared at the front display. There was a colorful rock in the shape of a heart there... And for some reason she felt it calling out to her.

"Buy me... Buy me... You've got to buy meeeee...." It whispered to her. Minto just stared and put her hands on the glass.

"Buy meee..." It urged "Hurrrrry!"

"Minto-san? Minto-san? Are you ok?" Minto was shook from her daze by a very concerned Retasu. The rock was no longer calling to her. It had shut itself up. She shook her head and then nodded.

"Of course. Sorry about that..."

"Do you like that jewel na no da? It says it's called an Aqua Rock na no da."

"I-I-I-I... No... But it was calling out to me..."

Retasu and Purin exchanged glances and then giggled.

"You really like it, huh na no da?" Purin asked happily.

"That's cute. I wish we could buy it for it you..."

"It's not like that!!! Like I said, it was calling out to---!"

Plop. Minto looked up and noticed a bag on her head and the rock no longer behind the display window.

"Merry Christmas." Zakuro said when Minto took the bag and looked inside. The rock was in there...

"Th-Thank you!" She stuttered, her face burning bright red "Oneesama! Thank you SO much!"

Minto then hugged Zakuro and giggled. Even if she hadn't loved the rock before she loved it now... She'd always keep it with her! ALWAYS!

"So you're a Mew, huh?" Kisshu sighed and leaned back in his chair "Drat."

"Why drat nya?"

"I can't date a Mew. Pai'll kill me."

Ichigo blushed and both her cat ears officially popped out. Kish stared and then smiled.

"You really are like a cat."

"Nya... Nyaaaooo..." Ichigo said softly in embarrassment "G-Gomen nasai nya..."

"No problem..."

"Nyaaa... Nyo?" Ichigo looked over Kish's shoulder and noticed her friends waving at her from the other side of the food court "Eh... One minute nyo."

"I'll be waiting."

"Yay. Thank you nya." Ichigo said happily before hurrying over to her friends.

"What's up?"

"We got you a gift for Kisshu. Give him one of these and you wear the other." Minto said happily, still blushing from getting her pretty stone, as she handed Ichigo the bag with the necklaces in it. Ichigo took the velvet bag and smiled.

"Thank you nya!"

"No problem. Good luck, Ichigo. I think he likes you."

Ichigo looked down and nodded "A-Actually nya... He says he wants to date me nya."

Everyone stared and then Minto hugged Zakuro and Retasu clapped her hands together while Pruin jumped around.

"That's wonderful." Retasu said in awe.

"How lucky!" Minto cried, still hugging Zakuro who was smiling slightly to congratulate Ichigo.

"Hurrah na no da!"

"... But he can't because he knows I'm a Mew now too..."

Everyone stopped celebrating and frowned.

"Ichigo-san, don't worry. We'll take care of the Mew Aqua quickly." Retasu promised.

"Yeah. Then you can be normal again." Minto said happily.

"Good luck on your date." Zakuro added. Ichigo smiled and nodded. Then she hurried back to Kisshu.

"So it's here...?"

"Yup. Kisshu was supposed to get it but it looks like he got side tracked with a date..."

"That's so much like him..."

Pai and Taruto were hovering above the mall. They were watching the scene through the glass window-roof. After a minute, Taruto narrowed his eyes and smirked.

"Found it. That girl has it." He said.

"The one with black hair and buns, correct?"

"That's the one." Taruto said with a smirk before hovering closer to the window "Let's get started then. Para Para!"

Taruto threw a Kirema parasite at a nearby bird that perched on the side of the building and it morphed into a large, ugly bird.

"Alright! I'll get the Mew Aqua!" He announced. Taruto then smashed the window and flew down with many terrified people watching him. It was show time!

"AAAAH!" A screamed was heard the second Taruto made his Kirema Anima and then moe screams filled the air when Taruto actually broke the glass. Glass shards rained down on everyone in the food court and Kish got out of his seat.

"Why is he here?!" Kisshu snapped "Ichigo, don't move or transform."

"But I've got too..." Ichigo said quietly.

"Don't."

Ichigo quieted down and then looked up at Taruto. The brown haired midget flew over to Minto and tried to snatch away the bag Zakuro had given her.

"N-No!" Minto yelped in protest "This is mine!"

"No. It's ours."

"NO!" Minto yelled firmly as she ripped the bag from Taruto's grasp and darted away "It's mine!"

Taruto hissed and prepared to follow but Purin sprung up and tackled him to the ground.

"Omigosh na no da! You're the boy who used to watch my show na no da!"

"GET. OFF. ME."

"Wanna see me perform na no da?"

"NO."

"Run, Minto-san!" Retasu called to Minto when Minto stopped at a railing and jumped off.

"Mew Mew Mint! Metamorpho-sis!" Minto cried. She transformed midair and then collected herself and pulled into a glide with her wings spread out before touching the ground.

"Drat it!" Taruto hissed "PAI!"

"Right." Pai said coldly as he prepared to go after Minto.

"Mew Mew Zakuro!"

"Mew Mew Lettuce!"

"Mew Mew Pudding!"

"METAMORPHOSIS!"

Pai stopped before he had time to go far and then felt something hit his cheek. What something? Zakuro's whip was the something.

"You aren't going anywhere." Mew Zakuro said firmly.

"I have to get the Mew Aqua." Pai replied harshly.

"Minto doesn't have it."

"Yes she does. that pretty shiny rock in her bag is Mew Aqua." Taruto explained "And it's ours."

"Is not na no da!" Mew Pudding said firmly in protest "Zakuro gave it to Minto-oneechan na no da!"

"We won't let you take Minto's gift from Zakuro." Mew Lettuce added.

"For the future of Love we'll serve!" Mew Lettuce and Mew Pudding said together. The first fight for Mew Aqua was about to begin!!!

The Original Date Plan!!!

Satou: I admit... Originally this was going to be a date with Aoyama that ended with Kisshu saving Ichigo from his ebilness but... Oh well ; I just felt like mentioning that in the palce of the authoress notes nya.

Minto: --; Oh how very kind of you.

Satou: -nods- You're too much trouble to costar with -is thawcked-