Blend Mission: Catch and Recruit, a tokyo mew mew fanfic

xuri: Omg, Chapter Sixteen. You all know what this means, riiiighht? ;3 -waits for audience response- That's right kids! Ten chapters to go! xD And on a side note, this fic is now sitting at above 100,000 words. I can see the eyes bleeding from where I'm sitting, seriously. x3 Have I said I'm sorry?

Cause, I'm really sorry. But, moving on.

SamKo: Well, it's always good to know I can keep the readers on their toes. x3 And I have more fun with the pairings (which involve a very complex love-web that is soon to develop) in one of the final chapters, which is basically a bunch of oneshots squished into one. And all before the finale, too. x3 Yay. ;3

Note: Not that this is totally important, but, yeah. :3 During the Inohara portion of this chapter, the action kind of splits in two. Meaning there are two seperate conversations/event-type-things going on at the same time. Originally, they were all squished together without seperation, but after reading it again I thought it might be confusing, so I seperated the parts with a dash everytime the focus switched. Keep in mind these aren't seperate scenes or anything. They occur at the same time, and are supposed to flow. Hehe. x3 You'll kinda know what I mean when you get to that part.

Blend (chapter sixteen)

..misson: catch and recruit..

How many times did they have to walk home, all beat up?

Kona sighed. It was becoming a pattern - aliens equaled battles. Battles equaled wounds. Wounds equaled questions. They'd gotten around it a few times, with sleepovers and other excuses, but they couldn't keep avoiding home forever. And even though tonight it would probably be better, safer even, if they all stayed at the cafe overnight, but what would they tell their parents? 'This is our third sleepover in a row and by the way we're not coming home for a week?' Like they'd buy that. There really weren't any more excuses, so they had to face the music.

Well, sort of. She tugged the sleeves her extremely baggy jacket to cover her hands. There were still ways to get around it. Sure, they had to go home this time, but it was late, and they'd probably just go straight to bed. As long as she kept wearing baggy clothes at home, she could go to school wearing anything and make up excuses there. They didn't know any better.

"Ara... Are we... there yet?" Yumi asked with a drowzy yawn, walking slowly and sleepishly beside the other girls. Kona smiled softly, but shook her head.

"Not yet. Remember, Yumi? Your house is last. I'll walk you there, though, 'kay?" And then she would catch a bus to her own home. After seeing and making sure that Roxi and Kikyo were safely home first, of course.

"You all need to stick together from now on," Ryou had explained to them just before they left, "Stay in groups. Try not to go anywhere alone if at all possible. The aliens are still around, just remember that, and they're just waiting for a chance to attack. Watch eachother's backs." So tonight, Kona was in charge of keeping the group together and bringing them all home. Kikyo wasn't too fond of the idea - she didn't take too kindly to the fact it was a lot like babysitting - but Kona assured her that Kikyo was as much of a chaperone as she was.

"Your house, right Roxi?"

"Yeah..." Roxi was wiped out, too. There was a little scratch along the bruise on her arm, but that could be hidden easily, and even explained, if it came to that. She was the least injured of the four. Which was a relief to everyone, considering the amount of damage she'd been taking lately. They all waited, and watched as the brunette climbed her porch and stepped inside, the chatter of her and her parents filling the dulled silence. They moved on - Kikyo's wasn't that far away, either, and she insisted that they not wait for her to get in the door. Yumi was last, just as Kona had said, and the small girl gave the older one a quick hug before hurrying inside her warm, safe house. Kona smiled, shook her head, and then went to the bus stop.

It had been a long day.

Ichigo slept a very happy sleep. Yes, it was dreamless, but how could she not be happy? When she woke up, she'd be free from the chains of her groundedness. Even though she'd have to go to school, and work, maybe even sleep some more in Math class, it was better than staying cooped up in her cramped room with absolutely nothing to do. Especially knowing all the other girls were out there, fighting aliens, having fun.

Okay - so maybe alien fighting was a lot less than fun. But it was certainly starting to seem that way, for someone who was missing so much of it. In fact, what Ichigo didn't know, is that any other girl would have been glad to miss the battles; they had been painful, difficult, and a huge struggle. Ichigo just didn't think that deeply.

It's not fair, after all. I took a risk, and instead of getting more excitement, I got grounded. There's no justice here. No justice...

Her dreams kept going in and out, from complete blankess to her own rambling voice. Then, as if pulled like a ribbon from a box labelled 'memory', a scene played out before her eyes. And then it froze, on one particular frame - a shadow, a slender figure, a black feather frozen, floating before her very eyes. What? What does this mean?

Then she remembered. That had been the figure, the strange shadow that had fought Ari away from her, saved her. She had been dressed all in black - at least, that was what her blurred vision had made out - and moved like a swift shadow, battling away the alien effortlessly. Who was she? She hadn't gotten a chance to ask, a change to get a better look at her. All she had was this capture photo in her memory, and as she pondered over it in her sleep, a puzzle began to slowly piece itself together.

"There's a fifth new mew."

"I don't know much about this 'fifth member', but..."

And there were wings. Black wings.

That's.. It pieced itself together in her head, forming a complete image. Ichigo felt her eyes slowly opening as she was roused from her peaceful sleep, staring at the wall across from her.

That's her!

After making such an important discovery, Ichigo was determined to tell the others. However, as usual, she slept in; only to awaken when the door swung open and "Ichigoo! You're going to be laaate!" was chanted by her perky mother. Which left her about a minute and a half to change, do her hair, pack her stuff and zoom to school. No time to call Ryou or any of the others.

It didn't help much during the day, either. She was impatient and squirmish about the whole thing. And, as life usually does, the more she wanted the day to end the time kept on going slower and slower. She could have screamed, if Moe and Miwa weren't bent on distracting her.

"It's just one of her moods. If we're lucky, she'll be agreeable again by noon."

Hardly. By noon, Ichigo was at her peak; during break, she paced through the halls, outside, even around some empty classrooms, chewing her nails and looking at the clock constantly. For the last two blocks of the day, she never took her eyes away from the time one; when the teacher noticed how intent she was on it, it was temporarily removed, so she resorted to asking people the time every 5 minutes. It was frustrating, and someone would have taken it out on her if the bell had rang one minute later.

"Gotta go! Part-time job! ByeMoeByeMiwaaa!" The redhead called before practically stampeding down the steps and further down the road. Her friends watched from where they stood, sweatdropping nervously.

"Eh? Moe-chan?" Roxi appeared beside them, blinking in confusion. "...What's Ichigo-chan in such a hurry for?"

"Dunno. Probably just Ichigo," Miwa replied with a little shrug. Then, turning to Roxi, she tilted her head. "Hm. She seemed like she was in a rush to get to her job. You work at the Cafe too now, don't you? Is there anything weird going on right now?"

Roxi blinked. Then, she came to a realization - "She - she probably just wants to tell them something," - she watched as the two walked away, chatting randomly. Once they were gone, she put a hand to her forehead and heaved a sigh.

She does know me and Yumi are right here, doesn't she?

"Guysss! Uwah!" Underestimating the weakness of the door, Ichigo toppled inside the cafe as she attempted to run the entrance down. Kona, Kikyo and Ryou looked over at her strangely, and then moved on. They were all too used to her acting like this.

"H-hey!" Pushing herself up off the floor, the girl tried to shake the dust from her hair. Yumi needs to do a better job of sweeping, "Ryou, I found something out about the fifth mew! I know who she is!"

They all stopped, but not in surprise and curiosity like Ichigo had anticipated. In fact, they just had blank looks on their faces. "Oh, that's right," Ryou finally said, pushing some hair from his forehead and walking to the kitchen, "You weren't here yesterday. You missed a lot,"

"What?" Ichigo cried. I knew it! "Didn't you hear me? I know who the fifth mew is!"

"Yeah, we know. We found her."

Ichigo stared at them blankly, her face looking a sickly colour. They stared back. Or, at least, tried to, until they realized she wasn't blinking, which convinced them to move and continue taking down chairs, steering clear of the redhead at all costs. The room was abnormally silent, which prompted Kikyo and Kona to work more quickly, until everything was set up, which was when they quickly scurried to the kitchen and as far away from Ichigo as possible. More silence. It was unnerving - even Keiichiro glanced out the doorway every few minutes, nervously, only to see the girl still standing there, staring blankly at a wall. Ryou seemed completely unfazed, as if something like this were to be expected from Ichigo. I told you so might have been an appropriate phrase, but he really hadn't told them anything of the sort, so saying it would be pointless. It just sounded right for the situation.

"Sorry we're la-" Kona practically raced out the kitchen when she heard Roxi and Yumi walk in, and grabbed them by the arms, roughly dragging them at top speed back to the safety of the cooking room. Yumi looked back several times with confusion as Ichigo, who still hadn't moved an inch, and Kona also several times had to put a quick finger to her mouth to keep her from talking. They all stayed in the kitchen, quietly, peering out the doorway, as if waiting for a bomb to explode. More minutes passed, and nothing seemed to happen, so they cautiously began to get to work on the cakes, hoping silently that she would move before the customers arrived.

Then she burst. "IT'S NOT FAIR!" She wailed at the top of her lungs, which Ryou could have sworn shook the building for a brief second, the others nearly dropping the dishes and cakes they'd been holding. All they heard following that was a pouty whimper, and the catgirl stomping down the stairs.

Roxi went down after her, eventually, and tried to coax her to come back up, but Ichigo refused to budge, muttering something about being useless and not needed and a complete ditz and never being smart. After exhausting her efforts, the brunette reported this to Ryou, who, after a brief period of thought, decided to call a meeting, since she was already down there, anyways. It would be easier than dragging her down a flight of steps when she was in a good mood but not in a mood for meetings.

"We need to figure out what we're going to do," the blonde announced simply from where he sat, hunched over to face the girls who stood all around in their Cafe uniforms. Keiichiro promised to take care of the customers, once they'd all been settled, but they all knew this had to be brief. People who came to the cafe were usually impatient, or short of time, especially on weekdays. Keiichiro was a miracle-worker, as Roxi described it, but he couldn't handle 15+ angry customers at once all by himself.

"Yeah. And what's that?" Kikyo replied bluntly. It seemed rude, at first glance, but they all knew it wasn't as simple as Ryou made it seem. "We talked to her about it, and she's not going to come over. Without a fight, at least."

"And we don't want to resort to that," Ryou reminded them, "She's supposed to be your teammate, not your enemy."

Roxi nodded. "We just... have to figure out how to convince her to come over to our side and fight with us." She sighed afterward, knowing it wasn't much of an explanation. But that was really it, broken down neatly. They needed her on their side. They'd all seen how powerful she was - with her, they might have a better chance at driving Ari and Hanajima away.

Kona had a hand stuck through her black hair, her head tilted to look up at the ceiling, blue eyes narrowed in thought. "Well... when I first met her, she wasn't any more receptive, but she was transformed. Maybe if we can catch her in her normal state, we'll be able to convince her..."

A frown suddenly crossed Kikyo's face. "Hold on," Shifting from where she stood, the tall girl turned to face Ichigo. The redhead was sitting against the wall, still pouting, but Kikyo spoke to her anyways. "Ichigo - you've met this girl before, then, haven't you?"

Ichigo nodded quietly.

"And what did she look like?"

The redhead paused, though still looking a bit mopey. "Well..." she stared slowly, trying to recall that day. It was fuzzy, and she still remembered it clearly, somehow, "... she was dressed in all black, I think. And she had wings... Black wings... or... was it one wing?" She pondered, and frowned, squinting as if trying to figure it out, but Kikyo didn't care. She'd heard enough.

"So she was transformed," she said simply, and then turned back to the others, her arms folded neatly over her chest, "Don't you think its strange, that the only time we've ever encountered this girl is when she's transformed?"

"Maybe she just looks real different in real life!" Yumi suggested cheerfully.

"That's possible," Kona agreed with a nod, "Or maybe she just has a way to know where trouble is, like, a sixth sense?"

Kikyo looked skeptical on that one, but shrugged it off. She'd come to realize, with this whole mew business, anything was a possibility. Ryou, however, didn't seem as convinced; there was a thoughtful frown on his face, his blue eyes calculating, trying to piece things together bit by bit. As Ichigo watched from where she sat, she puzzled through trying to figure out what was going through his mind. It did no good; Shirogane Ryou was unreadable, like a novel in some foreign language. Ichigo sighed, and moved on to the brainstorming session, deciding she was done with her pout. She'd just be a part of the action, now - and she wouldn't get caught being sneaky.

"Maybe she has a completely different identity. Like, here she's a one-winged mew, but maybe she really lives in America as a supermodel and transports over here," Roxi suggested seriously. Yumi giggled.

"But," Ryou cut in for the first time, resting his arms horizontally across his legs, "there had to be something to work with, didn't there? For me to be able to inject her like that, by accident. Besides, from what I've seen, she's definitely sticking around the area. Just not where people would normally roam."

There was drawn out silence in response to that, as the girls heard what Ryou explained and tried to analyze it. It was becoming more and more difficult. It was like the answer was right on the tip of their tongue, but it somehow managed to slip away at the last moment, eluding their grasp like some slippery secret. Just -

"Excuse me," They all turned their heads to see the door opening, Keiichiro poking his head down the stairway sheepishly, "we've just had a party of six enter with orders, and the tables are starting to fill up."

"We'll be right up, Keiichiro," Ryou said simply, blankly, though he would much rather ponder on this longer. It didn't matter. There would be time for that. I hope...

Within two minutes, just as the blonde had promised, the girls were all up and busy, serving tables and taking orders and helping out in the kitchen. But just because they were occupied, didn't mean their minds weren't on the matter at hand. It was always there, just at the back of their minds, prodding through their usual thought, weaving into their brains. We need to figure this out. We need to find out what's happening...

Time dragged on too slowly, it seemed, but finally the Cafe was closed and the girls had some time to them selves. As they cleaned, Kikyo brought forth an idea, discussing it privately among the girls. She would rather not have Ryou or Keiichiro involved in it. Not yet.

"Ryou was right, we need to stick together from now on," The girl stated simply as she propped a chair neatly on a table, eyeing the girls with caution, "The aliens obviously have power and the ability to manipulate a situation to their advantage. If we're split up, they've got even more chance for tactic; now that they know about the fifth mew, there's no doubt they're going to get sneakier. Looking for us when we're not together."

"So what you're saying," Kona brushed a damp cloth across the rim of the table, her voice low, "is that we need to stay together, right? And if we do, the aliens are less likely to attack?"

"Right."

So there it was, and it was all they needed. Ryou sent them out, as usual, giving Kona instructions just as he had the night before to keep an eye on the others. But instead of heading home, the girls all took a turn at the curb and headed off into another direction, disapearing into the night.

"Okay," Roxi breathed, holding a small and simplified map out infront of her with gloved hands. It was cold out, even during the day; but during the night, it was near frigid. She could see her breath collecting in the air before her. "Shirogane-san said she was sticking around 'places where people don't usually go', right? So, not in the shopping district," Yumi, who was following close beside her, happily crossed off an area on the map.

"Or any of the major streets. Even near midnight, those places are crowded. She obviously doesn't want to stand out, for whatever reason." Kona pointed out. Another 'chik' of the marker.

Kikyo nodded, tugging her sleeves absently over her hands, "Better cross off any of the convenience stores and popular housing areas. There's always some group that hangs around places like those." Chik.

For a minute or so, the girls seemed to be out of ideas to throw out as they wandered carefully and quietly down the sidewalk, trying to keep from the cold. Then, Ichigo, who had been moping around a bit ever since she found out she had to walk around in the cold for an hour, spoke up. "What about Inohara park? It's been pretty deserted lately, with the cold temperatures."

Kikyo and Kona glanced at eachother, considering it, and then nodded. "Great. We'll start there."

Inohara Park had always been such a calm, peaceful place. Even though her last visit here had been anything but peaceful, Ichigo still admired it; it held the beauty of nature, even near the frigid winds of winter, as if sealed in time and away from the rest of the destructive world.

At night, however, it was a completely different story.

"A-are you guys sure anyone would even go here? It's really creepy," Ichigo squeaked, practically clinging to Roxi's arm. The latter looked less than pleased, but did nothing to shove her away.

"You're the one who suggested it," Kikyo retorted in a flat tone with a careless shrug, still walking at a normal pace towards the entrance. She seemed to be the only one completely unfazed by the shadows and the noises; even Kona and Yumi were a bit jumpy under the circumstances. "Besides, we might as well check. If she's not here, well, we know she's not here."

Ichigo didn't look to thrilled, her wide amber eyes locked on a swaying branch above her. "If you say so," she mumbled, but the look on her face clearly screamed 'Run! RunRunRunRunRunRun!'. She didn't, maybe because she didn't want to look for a coward, maybe because Roxi had started clinging to her arm equally as they all made their way through the path, making escape impossible.

Certainly, they had a reason to be frightened, aside from the darkness. But it was the darkness that caused it all; the trees were barren of most of their leaves, the skeletal branches reaching out and casting wavering shadows on the ground, which seemed only like an endless abyss of black. As they walked, twigs, leaves, and grass all crunched beneath their feet, echoing among the gentle but frightening breeze that brushed through the plantlife. Ichigo wondered if anyone, even Kikyo, knew where they were going. But she didn't wonder out loud. She was too occupied, looking nervously from left to ride, swallowing and walking as softly as possible.

When there was a flapping of wings, Ichigo nearly screamed, practically tackling Roxi before having a hand shoved messily before her mouth. Kikyo glared at her sideways.

Be. Quiet. She mouthed harshly, and then stopped, holding all of them back with an outstretched arm. There was another rush of air, like a wing whisking along it, a breath in the silence. Ichigo paled, and they could make out something moving in the not-so-distant distance, slowly, cautiously. Kikyo's expression remained numb. No one said a word, and they all looked as completely terrified as their 'leader', who was currently trying to find a hiding spot behind a frozen Roxi.

Kona seemed to snap out of it first. Still being cautious, her ice-blue eyes seemed to narrow, and then widen, as she nudged Kikyo lightly in the side. The older girl silently faced the direction of the figure again, and as it slowly stepped through a nearby gathering of trees, she saw a shape protruding from its back. Turning towards the other girls with the most silence she could bear, Kona made hand signals, mouthing distinct words, and pointing at the figure. They caught on within seconds, Ichigo the last to get the picture, and turned to face forward once more.

It was her. The fifth Blend Mew.

Yumi was hasty to meet her, and in doing so tried to run forward. Kikyo caught her roughly by the sleeve before she could take more than a step, but the girl seemed to have bad enough luck that her foot had crunched down on a rather large stick. The sound cracked through the silence, obviously startling the girl in the distant shadows, and they could all see her slowly turning her head to observe them in turn.

Then, before anything else could happen, there was a black blur from a higher tree which landed right against the mysterious girl, knocking her down and out of side. No one was quick enough to stop Ichigo from screaming this time, but they all started running in that direction.

"You intrusive wench -- I've found you!" A familiar voice growled, and as they approached quickly, Kona and Kikyo pulled themselves out of sight, behind a tree. Ari had the winged girl pinned to the ground, a dagger at her throat, anger gleaming in her golden eyes. She hadn't heard Ichigo scream - the attack had made a loud enough racket, she wouldn't have heard anything besides the muffled yelp of surprise from the girl now beneath. Besides, she was intent on eliminating another enemy. "You're going to regret every breath you've taken thus far, girl. We don't offer mercy to the foolish," The black haired girl beneath appeared to be putting up a struggle, but it was hard with a sharp weapon pressed up against her skin.

Ari just smiled, wryly, applying more pressure so a trickle of blood cascaded across the girl's pale skin. "Still too good to say anything? Very well. I won't offer any last words. But I'll make it as painless as possible... unless you change your mind and join us. We might forgive you, if you're actually useful."

Even pinned against the ground, the winged girl kept a firm and dark glare on the alien above her. "I never level with scum," she hissed simply, sending the intended flash of rage across Ari's face.

"I warned you!" She hissed, and, drawing her weapon back, switched its position in her hand so it was pointing directly for her. She helpless, unable to move out of the way. There was no air of confidence on her face, just a grim acceptance of the fatal damage about to befall her.

"Stupid coward!" A voice howled, followed by hushed protests, but before Ari could even snap her head up to look who the intruders were, she was nailed in the head with a rock.

"Hyaagh!" She shrieked, her hand immediately fluttering to the spot of impact. The alien's eyes flashed in the direction of the attack, to see a frozen and untransformed Ichigo standing where she was, arm outstretched in a just-thrown-something position. Ari snarled, not tearing her eyes away for a second. "So," she said calmly as she stood to her feet, "the witch is back."

"Witch?" That seemed to shake Ichigo out of her frozen state, even though panic was still written in her eyes. Gritting her teeth angrily, the redhead stepped boldly forward, clenching her fist, "You little -- ugh! At least I'm not a coward, sneaking up on people in the dark!"

"It's called the element of surprise, neko-baka!" Ari retorted in return, flashing her daggers into her hands. Ichigo twitched, unable to even put up a defensive position. "Looks like I don't need that with you. You're just naturally weak, just like the rest of them!" Jumping right over the limp body of the girl, Ari dashed forward for a swift and painful attack.

"Surpriiise!" A voice chimed, and Yumi dove it, knocking one dagger easily away with her bell and knocking Ari off balance so her attack missed by a long shot. The alien stumbled, swivelled around, and sneered. The other four girls were all fully transformed with their weapons, ready. Though, Kikyo looked less than pleased.

"That was stupid, Ichigo." She said bluntly. The redhead in question smiled sheepishly.

"Eheh. I know. Sorry."

"Roxi, go make sure she's okay," Kona hissed to the panda-girl beside her, who nodded obediently, "We've got it covered here." The black haired girl then shifted her large bell to her left hand, and sprang forward with her panther reflex, aiming a shot at Ari. "Ribbon Blossom Shine!"

Roxi immediately darted behind and through the little gathering of trees to where the black-winged girl had been laying. She was now on her side, sitting up, a gloved hand pressed gently to her neck where little trickles of blood still spilled.

"Are you alright? Let me help," Roxi said quickly, resting a hand on the girl's shoulder. It was instantly swatted away.

"I don't need your help," The brunette froze at the reply, a pair of cold blue eyes glaring back at her.

"Hup!" Avoiding Kona's attack completely, Ari transported through the air to behind the skidding cat girl, instantly striking her in the back. Or trying to, at least. Kona was getting wise to her tricks. She twisted her body away so she only felt a rush of air along her spine, though her landing was less than neat. Kona thudded against the ground, but that gave Ari no advantage, as Yumi was now on her tail.

"It's not nice to sneak up on people!" Yumi announced as she practically jumped onto Ari's back, clinging to her shoulders with a death grip. Ari struggled in surprise, and then snarled.

"You little brat!"

"I'm not a brat!" The horse girl replied angrily, and then shone her bell right in the alien's face. "Ribbon Raspberry Dazzle!"

"Get off!" Ari screamed, jumping up into the air and slamming her back into a tree so Yumi let go in pain before crumpling to the ground. Before the blue haired girl could so much as take a swipe at her, she heard a distinct voice chant from behind,

"Ribbon Kahidra Blast!"

"I-I'm sorry," Roxi stuttered, staring at the girl with wide eyes. "I just... I just wanted to help."

"Yeah. Well, I don't need it, or want it," her voice was low, raspy, almost as cold as her gaze. Roxi shivered. "So just go."

"But - " Roxi stepped forward, reaching out tentatively again, " - you're hurt."

"So?" She snapped in return, turning her body to fully face the girl, "I've also lost my only refuge. I'd be better off dead than lost. Look what you've done..."

Ari was knocked forward, but not off her feet. She hovered right into the air, flame spiralling all around her in anger. "Kittens," she growled in a low voice, gritting her teeth, "shouldn't play with fire. They should run before they get burned!" Lashing her weapons forward, surges of blue flame came rushing forward, bombarding the girls.

"Uwah!" Kikyo skillfully stepped out of the way, and Kona scooped Yumi up and dodged the attack as well. The cascade continued, surrounding them, making it impossible to attack and constantly harder to dodge.

"Ichigo!" Kona called, keeping a firm hold on the small girl in her arms while jumping from side to side to avoid being hit, "Transform! Quick! And help us!"

"R-right!" Ichigo stumbled out from where she'd been hiding, and whipped out her pendant, gently pressing it to her lips. "Mew Mew Strawberry, Metamorpha-sis!"

"Why?" Roxi whispered, her eyes wide at the girl before her. Better off dead than lost... What was she talking about? What was she lost from? When there was no reply, the panda-girl opened her mouth to say something, ask about it, but then she heard Yumi scream from behind and other incoherent shouts following. Gasping, she whirled around on her heel and darted to the battle field, forgetting about the black haired girl and leaving her behind. She wasn't co-operating, anyways.

"Strawberry Bell!" Roxi arrived just in time to see Ichigo summon her Bell in a flash of pink light and sparkles, holding it out defensively to the alien enemy. Kona was holding Yumi protectively, who didn't look too badly beaten up, just tired, and was trying to get back down to the ground. ("Come on! Araaa, I'm fine! Lemme down so I can help!")

"Keh..." Ari glowered at the group of girls, taking a step back but still not faltering. It didn't matter. Even she knew she didn't have a chance. Maybe if Hanajima was here, and if that stupid winged girl didn't fight for the others. The first was unlikely; Ari had left without telling Hanajima with the intentions of fulfilling a surprise attack herself. The second was even more so.

"You just don't know when to stop interfering, do you?" Ari called out, but not to the girls. She was shouting at the black-winged girl in the distance. "Oh well. At least I know you're just like the others - weak. Harmless. I don't know why we ever saw you as a threat." The alien smirked mockingly, "If these kittens hadn't have shown up, you'd be dead in your own pool of blood by now..."

"Stop it!" Ichigo cried angrily to the alien, bounding off her feet and aiming her Bell right for her target. She focused her energy all into her heart shaped weapon, "Ribbon Strawberry Surprise!" Strands of powerful pink light blasted out from the center of the bell, wrapping themselves all around Ari. The alien simply closed her eyes and tilted her head back, accepting to excruciating pain the light was causing her before disapearing, fading back into the air. Gone.

Once her feet hit the ground, Ichigo breathed a sigh of relief. The other girls looked just as wiped out and glad it was over as she was. Fully intent on letting her energy catch up with her, Ichigo stood still, until she remembered something. Her pink eyes widened and she hurriedly turned around, just in time to see the winged figure walking off.

"Wait!" She called, and dashed for her before any of the girls could stop her, warn her. The girl just kept walking, calmly, her black wing outstretched as if ready to take flight. "Wait! Where are you going?"

Panting, Ichigo was able to slow down - the other didn't seem as if she were in any hurry to get anywhere, so she was able to keep up. For a moment, it didn't seem like the girl would answer. She just kept walking. Then, she said in a low tone, "Somewhere I won't be lost and won't be found."

"Eh?" Lost... from what? It was hard to talk to someone when they wouldn't stop moving, or even face you, so Ichigo gently grabbed her arm. The girl stopped. "You don't have to be lost," she said warmly with a smile, tilting her head, "You can come back with us. We can be a team now. With you, we can beat the aliens for sure!" A few strands of Ichigo's pink hair fell over her eyes, and she blinked as she talked. "I'm Ichigo," she smiled, "What's your name?"

"Dark Angel." She replied coldly. Ichigo blinked in confusion. That didn't sound like a name. As if in response to her unspoken question, the girl continued - "I had a name, once. But that's all changed now. I'm not who I once was. That name is just a useless bunch of letters. Meaningless."

Ichigo still didn't understand. The girl started to walk again, even with Ichigo's gloved hand wrapped around her arm, so the catgirl had no choice but to tighten her grip and tug a bit to try and stop her.

"No, it's not meaningless!" She cried, putting a hand to her heart, "We know what it's like. We're all in the same boat. You're one of us! We understand what you're going through!"

Then, suddenly, Ichigo felt her hand being jerked away, her entire body being pushed back. "How could you possibly know what I'm going through?" The girl cried in anger, her wide eyes flaming. Ichigo's body stiffened almost in fear. "I'm not like any of you! You all just think I am. You're all just selfish little girls who want their spot in the limelight, who want to sacrifice the happiness of others to have it all to yourselves."

"But-" Ichigo started talking, reached out to touch her again, but the girl's hand flew to the handle of her sword. Ichigo froze. The girl grimaced.

"Just leave me alone," she said icily, turning her back to them once more. Then the wing on her back stretched itself out fully, glowing a deep aura which surrounded the girl completely, nearly blinding Ichigo and making her look away. When it cleared, she was gone. Not a trace.

"Ichigo!" The girls called, and ran over to her as fast as they could. The cat girl was silently staring at the ground, looking thoroughly disheartened. They didn't say a word.

"Don't worry about her," Kikyo assured her, shaking her head, "It's her choice, after all. We can't force her to come with us."

"Yeah, we'll do just fine without her," Roxi added in, patting her friend on the shoulder. Ichigo still said nothing.

Kona sighed, but managed a smile. "Come on. Let's just forget about the whole thing and go back to the cafe for some tea, okay?"

"No." Ichigo finally spoke, lifting her head and looking up at the trees. A sad smile appeared on her face. "I don't... I don't want to forget. We need to find out what she's lost. We need to help her. Whether or not she joins us is a completely different matter, but..." Ichigo breathed, turning towards her friends seriously,

"You're right, Roxi. We don't need her. But she needs us."

Next Chapter:

With the search for the Dark Angel still pending, the girls are facing troubles of their own. Having to undergo punishment for their 'foolish behaviour' by a certain blonde, everyone's feeling a little restless and uptight. Not to mention useless without the ability to continue looking for the reluctant ally. And, meanwhile, Ari and Hanajima are out of options - except for one, of course. And she's not any happier with Ichigo than the other two are.