Chapter 1

The Bearer of Bad News

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

A stark white hand shot out from under a mountain of pink covers and pillows to silence the blaring alarm clock with more force than necessary. It shut off immediately with a dull whimper. The hand withdrew back under the mountain, that shuddered then began to fall away, unearthing a disheveled redheaded girl beneath. The girl sat up slowly, blearily rubbing her eyes and glaring at the sun that peaked around her frilly pink curtains. Mondays were the worst.

Ichigo slipped out from under the covers onto her soft, fluffy, carpet by the bed. Stretching her arms above her head, as if accepting something divine from the world above, she yawned widely, feeling a satisfying pop in her back as her muscles loosened to accommodate the movements of a new day. With her morning stretch out of the way, she walked across her room to the door, swinging it open when her hand made contact with the brass knob, into her sun lit hallway. The aroma of bacon and eggs cooking down stairs under the careful eye of her mother nearly made her drool. Thinking of the glorious feast waiting for her down stairs, she quickly walked into the bathroom, took care of her morning business and shower, then made a quick job of brushing her teeth. That done, she pulled her hair back into a simple ponytail. She used to consistently do pig tails, but after a while it became too cumbersome, so she settled for the simpler hairstyle. With her teeth brushed and her hair done, she went back to her room to change into her new school uniform. Today was her first day of high school. She gazed upon the blue and white sailor girl uniform for a moment with fondness before shedding her pin-stripped pajamas for the more appropriate clothing. Once changed, she picked up a picture on her bedside table depicting her and her boyfriend, Masaya Aoyama, a very nice and caring Japanese boy with deep black hair and large, soft, amber eyes.

"Good morning, Masaya." Ichigo smiled, giving the portrait a soft kiss before dashing around the room to pack all of her new school supplies.

Packed and ready, she took the stairs two at a time, flipping on the fourth to last, and landing in a perfect crouch on the first floor. She then skipped merrily into the kitchen, greeting her mother and father as she sat down at the table. The moment she took her seat, her mother placed a plate of fluffy, steaming, yellow eggs, and crisp bacon, down in front of her followed by a glass of milk.

"Thank you." Ichigo smiled brightly, instantly picking up her fork and diving in.

"You're welcome, Sweet Heart." Her mom, a delicate, kind looking woman, replied, returning to the stove.

"Are you working at that café today?" Her father, a middle aged man with thick black hair, asked as he set aside his iPad in which he was reading the daily news.

Ichigo quickly swallowed a mouthful of eggs.

"Yeah, Mondays are usually the busiest." This was an understatement. The café was usually packed with people, for it was a popular hang out for girls all over the town, but Ichigo and her friends rarely ever worked their cover jobs as waitresses Even though the aliens had left a little less than two years ago, chimeras kept popping up and terrorizing the town.

"Have you heard from Masaya lately?" Her mother asked, setting down breakfast platters for herself and her husband.

Ichigo, who had been about to take a bite of bacon, set it back down as a lump rose in her throat.

"No." She replied softly. She hadn't heard from him in about a week now. He must be busy. Masaya had decided to travel abroad for his studies, and was currently studying in England. Usually, he tried to send her an email or text her every morning to wish her a good day, then call her at night for a few minutes to chat, but, she hadn't heard from him. It wasn't unusual for a long silence when he was hard at work on his studies. He was a very serious student, much more so than she was. Therefore, she wasn't particularly worried. She just missed the sound of his voice.

"He's probably just busy with his studies." She replied, voicing her thoughts to her parents.

"Ah, yes, endangered animals. Isn't he working at the London Zoo?" Her Mom inquired.

Ichigo nodded, nibbling at the end of a piece of bacon.

"Have you decided what you want to do yet?" Her Dad asked, quirking a brow.

Ichigo's cheeks reddened with shame and embarrassment. She already had a full time job trying to protect the world, but it wasn't like she could tell her parents that. She remembered once, about a year ago, having finally worked up the courage to tell them when she heard them in the TV room heatedly complaining about the property damages and lock of government control over the Mews, and how they really thought of them being nothing but school children trying to play up the role of super hero and failing miserably. She'd decided not to tell them that she was the leader of the group after that.

"No." She repeated, not meeting her parent's eyes.

"Well, play to what you like." Her mother said bracingly, "But don't worry Honey, you still have plenty of time to think about that.

Ichigo smiled sheepishly at her mother.

They finished the rest of their breakfast in silence, except for the clinking of glasses and forks against the plates.

"Would you like me to drive you to school for your opening ceremony?" Her Mom asked, standing up to clear the table.

"Oh, no, that's all right, I promised my friends I'd walk with them."

"Alright, but be careful. Don't get any where near those mews."

Ichigo forced a laugh around the painful blow, "Of course not Mom." And with that she got up from the table, picked up her school bag, and headed for the front door were her shoes were placed waiting for her.

Slipping her feet into her shoes, she wished her parents a good day, and walked out the door.

The suns rays draped her in warmth as if apologizing for waking her. Birds flew above, in and out of the still, summer ripe, green trees, as a gentle breeze picked up to carry them in flight.

Ichigo closed the gate to her house, listening to the quiet buzz of the Cicadas in the trees. When it snapped closed, she strolled off down the street in the direction of the park she and her friends used to spend every afternoon at before she became Mew Ichigo. She sometimes wished she could go back to those times and live a normal life. One in which her major concern was what school she'd be trying to get, whether she was living up to Masaya's expectations, interested in the new brands of clothing and make up, and especially one with out so much lies.

Ichigo let out a long breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. In retrospect, becoming a Mew had changed a lot of her outlook on life. With so many near death experiences in battle, she was extremely grateful for what she had. She'd also become more rational with her decisions, and even more concrete with what she considered to be important. Her parents had remarked with pride on this change, attributing it to their parenting. She did not dare to correct them on this take.

Her musing had carried her all the way to the park were she found her two best friends since childhood swinging languidly on the park's swings. The girl with shoulder length black hair and dark eyes was Yuki Monoyasha. Ichigo had met her in primary school when she'd tripped and accidently spilt pudding all over her. The other girl, Momo Hatsuki, had been her friend for longer than she could remember. Momo had long strawberry blonde hair, though it used to be puffy and shoulder length, with sparkling blue eyes. By the end of last year she'd begun to receive as many as three love letters a day from various boys in their year hoping for a date. It also helped that she had developed rather quickly.

"Morning Ichigo!" They called, waving enthusiastically when they caught sight of her.

"Hey!" She greeted, taking the last few feet at a run, "How are you guys?"

Yuki dug her heels into the ground, sliding the swing to a stop with the resounding crunch of gravel. Momo, on the other hand, took a more spectacular dismount. At the highest arc of the swing, she leaped gracefully into the air, her strawberry locks rustling behind her like a delicate sash caught in the wind, and struck a perfect landing.

"Have a good summer at gymnastics camp then?" Ichigo grinned. Last year Momo had taken an interest in the sport and found that she was a natural. She was instantly accepted onto the middle school team and helped to take the school to the championships.

"Yep." Momo grinned.

"I still don't know why you went for gymnastics." Yuki remarked snidely, "Karate does much more for you in the long run."

"Aw, come one Yuki, You know I'm not nearly as tough as you." Momo pouted. She then muttered something about not wanting the unwelcome attention of the guys.

Yuki and Ichigo laughed. Momo did actually seek a lot of attention, mostly as a result of her parents being in the middle of a divorce. However, Ichigo and Yuki would never bring up the subject unless Momo wanted to talk about it. All three of them had an unspoken agreement: never pry into a subject the other did not want to talk about. Therefore, Yuki and Ichigo exchanged a worried glance but said nothing more on the matter.

"What about you, Yuki? How was your summer?" Ichigo asked as the other two girls picked up their bags to begin the trek to school.

"Boring." Yuki replied with a shrug, "My Mom wanted me to take summer school so I could get ahead with math, so I spent about four hours learning Algebra everyday."

"Oh fun." Momo replied sarcastically.

"Yuck." Ichigo said in response.

"You?" They asked of Ichigo.

"Busy." Ichigo conceded, "I spent four weeks in England with Masaya and his family."

"Oh! How is dear Ma-sa-ya?" Yuki exclaimed, drawing out his name in a mock impersonation of Ichigo.

"Yes, Mas-a-ya." Ichigo emphasized, rolling her eyes, "He was doing well last I saw him. He's currently working under a zoologist studying endangered species."

"Always the environmentalist." Momo chuckled, "Is he enjoying the work?"

"Very much. Before school he goes to the zoo to help feed and turn out the animals, then goes back after school to study and help tend to them. He sent me a picture of a baby Komodo dragon he watched hatch. Here, look." She pulled out her phone and thumbed through her images until she found the one of Masaya holding a newly hatched Komodo dragon.

"Oh it's so cute!" Yuki exclaimed, ripping the phone from Ichigo's hands.

"And slimy." Momo added.

"Thank you oh observant one." Ichigo drawled.

"Any time." Momo grinned.

"Aw he's even gotten to feed Ocelots! That's my favorite animal!" Yuki groaned, flicking through the pictures, "I'm so envious!"

"That's only a few." Ichigo told them proudly, "I've got loads more of these kinds of photos back home"

"Yeah, yeah, so what else did you do with your summer?" Yuki asked, handing Ichigo back her phone.

"Worked." Ichigo replied truthfully.

"I hope you're making a lot of money. You're definitely working hard enough." Momo said seriously.

"I'm just confused how she got a job at such a young age." Yuki frowned, "Normally students can't get jobs unless they're sixteen."

"Mr. Akasaka believes younger kids should get work experience early." Ichigo lied with a well place shrug to prove her indifference on the matter.

"But Ichigo, aren't there laws against child labor?" Momo asked with a look of concern.

"I think that's only if it's forced." Yuki supplied.

"Yeah, but even my parents say there's something weird about that."

Ichigo sighed. Brushing a loose hair behind her ear she addressed the issue, "I've had this job since seventh grade. My parents are fine with it and I like being there. Why is that such an issue now?"

Her two friends were quiet a moment as they mulled over what she'd said.

"Maybe you two should apply there." Ichigo continued innocently, in a light and playful tone, "It's great pay."

They all laughed as they walked through the gates of the high school.

Ichigo sat between Momo and Yuki as the principal of the high school greeted the hundreds of freshmen, droning on and on about the promise for their futures through this school, the school's policies, and how it was ultimately up to each individual to make would they could've of this tremendous change. All in all, it had been rather boring so far and Ichigo wished she had stayed home and slept in instead. With that thought, her mind further began to wonder. She wondered what Masaya was up to in England that he was so busy he couldn't contact her. She wondered what animals he was currently working with, and then her mind wandered to her fellow Mews.

Zakuro Fujiwara, the eldest of the Mews, worked as a model and would be going to college for the first time this year. She was tall, well built, with long dark black hair that almost looked purple, or at least it was when she transformed. Her eyes were also dark, making her look cold and indifferent most of the time but Ichigo and her fellow Mews knew she was protective and actually quite caring for her group, much like the grey wolf she shared DNA with. She wondered how Zakuro was liking Nagasaki University. Zakuro had, after all, been sent scholarship after scholarship for modeling, and had been offered enormous sums of money from the states, but had refused to leave Japan. She had been worried about leaving her team because they would then be missing one of their members. This especially affected their friend Mint.

Mint Aizawa greatly idolized Zakuro. She initially came off as spoiled and snobbish to Ichigo when they had first met, for she came from an extremely wealth family, but as they got to know each other, Ichigo discovered that the black haired, brown-eyed girl was actually an extremely empathetic person who cared deeply for her friends. She shared DNA with the blue lorikeet. This year, Mint would be going to an elite private school and had recently won her last ballet competition. Ichigo wondered vaguely if she was also sitting through a boring entrance ceremony. Did private schools even have those?

Her thoughts then shifted to a certain green haired, blue-eyed girl, their friend Lettuce Midorikawa, who shared DNA with a Finless Porpoise. It wasn't a surprise, therefore, that Lettuce had joined her school's swimming club. What was surprising was that despite being able to easily blow her competition out of the waters, Lettuce refused to, often coming in second or third place. Ichigo knew her green haired friend was under confident and extremely shy, but she had hoped that after their battle with Deep Blue she would've gained more confidence.

Then, there was Pudding Fong, their cute, hyperactive friend who shared DNA with the Golden Lion Monkey. Despite being the youngest, she was the only Mew to be raising her entire family of five siblings while her Dad was off training for something or other in the mountains. She'd never mentioned anything about her mother, and the rest of them felt too awkward to bring it up. Despite all she had to deal with though, the small blonde girl was endlessly cheerful and always managed to bring a smile to the groups' faces.

Last, but not least, there was Berry Shirayuki, the newest member of the group who shared DNA with two animals: the Andes Mountain Cat and an Amami Black Rabbit. Apparently, during the one year she'd studied abroad, Berry had been made the leader in her absence when the issue with the Saint Rose Crusaders had arisen. However, when everything had quieted down, the quiet blonde had chosen to spend a majority of her time with her boyfriend, Tasuku, so they rarely saw her except for missions.

"Ichigo." She felt a sharp jab at her side that made her jump.

"Wha – What? I was paying attention! I swear!" She exclaimed, receiving a look of incredulity from her friends and a round of murmurs.

"Right…" Yuki said doubtfully, "We need to go get our home room numbers then head there to receive our schedules."

"But you would know that because you were paying attention right?" Momo grinned knowingly.

Ichigo's face flushed bright pink as they shuffled to the front of the auditorium.

Ichigo sat down with Yuki in classroom 1 - C. They'd been disappointed to find out they'd been divided up by last names, therefore keeping Momo from being in the same homeroom as them.

"Think she'll be alright?" Yuki asked, taking the seat next to her as their fellow students filed into the classroom; pausing at the door to look at the sheet of paper in their hands, then at the room number, then back to the paper to double check before finally walking in and picking a seat.

"She'll be fine." Ichigo yawned, stretching in the chair, "She likes attention."

"Yeah, but it also makes her extremely uncomfortable." Yuki grumbled.

Ichigo shrugged in a nonchalant manner.

Yuki opened her mouth to say something in response but was interrupted as the teacher entered the room. She was short, dark haired, and walked in an uptight, brisk manner. She wore heels to add a bit of height and kept her hair in a tight bun. She set down a pile of books she'd been carrying in her arms on the desk at the front of the room, opened a drawer, and put on a pair of pencil thin glasses. She then turned to the black board and began to write.

The entire classroom was silent. The woman had yet to say anything to them, but her very presence seemed to demand silence and the upmost respect.

She set the chalk down and turned to the rest of the class.

"Good morning," she said in an even, steady voice, "I am Ms. Akiye Nasiru. I have worked at this school for thirteen years teaching English Literature, and in case any of you are worried about my competency," he eyes lingered on the male spectrum of the class, "I am a graduate of Harvard University in the United States. My class is offered only for juniors and seniors, so you do not yet have to worry about taking it. Now, with that out of the way I'd like to assign a seating chart, pass out your schedules, and with the remaining time, have everyone introduce themselves along with their favorite past time activity."

Mrs. Nasiru gave a jerk of her head, silently indicating for the class to stand as she picked up a seating chart. She then began to walk up and down the rows of desks, calling out names and pointing the students to their assigned seats.

"Momomiya, Ichigo." Ms. Nasiru called, tapping the desk closest to the door.

Ichigo quickly took her seat, inwardly thanking Ms. Nasiru for putting her with in easy access of the door. It would make running out to do her job all the more easier.

Yuki was seated four desks behind her, and the entire class sat silently until the last student was seated. The silence continued as the teacher went back to her desk, picked up a separate stack of papers, then began to pass those out to each of the students.

Ichigo thanked Ms. Nasiru politely when she received her schedule and shimmed it. She had gym first period, general science second, Japanese third, drawing and painting fourth, Algebra 1 fifth, lunch, world geography sixth, Japanese history seventh, and English eighth. Well, hopefully it wouldn't be as bad as middle school.

"Madoka, Shingo, would you please start us off?"

A tall, spikey, black haired boy stood up.

"I'm Madoka, Shingo, and I enjoy playing basketball." He announced, sounding like he'd much rather be playing the sport than sitting in this classroom. He sat back down and began doodling on the back of his schedule.

The next boy, a boy with wispy, sandy hair and lots of freckles, stood up.

"I'm Masahiro, Hitomi and I enjoy watching anime."

AS another student stood up, Ichigo felt her phone vibrate. Her hand instantly jumper to her skirt pocket, pressing the phone at random to silence the ringer. She still didn't know Ms. Nasiru's policies on cell phones, and sure as hell did not want to be the guinea pig to find out. As silently and inconspicuously as she could, she opened her phone to answer the text message she had received. It was from Momo asking her about her schedule with a list of hers following: first period, Algebra 1, second English, third general science, fourth theater, lunch, then fifth Japanese, world geography sixth, gym seventh, and Japanese history eighth. Ichigo quickly replied that they had world geography together before snapping her phone shut and slipping it back into her pocket.

"I'm Misao, Hime and I enjoy dancing." A girl with straight brown hair and an air of confidence greeted the class.

Ichigo's phone buzzed again, but this time it was Zakuro asking how school was going. She could almost hear the sarcasm through the message. The entire summer Zakuro had been trying to scare them with horror stories of her freshmen year. Ichigo rolled her eyes before replying that it had been going very well for the first two hours she'd so far spent in the school. She then finished up the message by asking how Zakuro was liking college. When the message sent she stuffed the phone back in her pocket to take her turn and not look like she'd not been paying attention.

"I'm Momomiya, Ichigo and I like baking." She announced. Her phone buzzed in her pocket again, but now she couldn't answer it until the end of her row with out arousing suspicion. A feat that proved much more easily said than done. She felt unease claw at her insides as one text followed another. What if one was from Ryou? What if I chimera report had just come in?

"Stop it." She told herself firmly, "Since when have you become so dependent on your phone?"

In her pocket, her fingers trailed over her cell phone charm, a small pink ball of fluff looking creature with large pink eyes, wings, and a tail. The charm was actually a robot used to detect the presence of aliens. Masha, the name she'd christened the small robot, had remained quiet, meaning that all activity chimera related was zero.

Finally, the last student in her class was called on, and when he sat down the bell rang. Ichigo quickly grabbed her bag and was the fist one out in the hall. There, she pulled out her phone to see a message from Zakuro, Momo, and Yuki. Good, it was nothing important.

"What class do you have now?" Yuki asked, coming up from behind her.

Ichigo jumped, dropping her phone.

"Don't do that!" She gasped, bending down to retrieve the small electronic, "You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

"Yeah, yeah." Yuki replied, waving her hand dismissively, "What's your first period?"

"Gym." Ichigo told her with a groan.

"What are you complaining about?" Yuki questioned as they began to walk down the hall, "I have geometry first period."

"At least it doesn't expect you to be active first thing in the morning." Ichigo retorted.

Yuki cast her a contemplating, side ways look.

"What?"

"It's just weird. You used to be such a morning person."

The rest of her classes passed more or less the same as homeroom. Each teacher began by taking role, assigning a seating chart, then passing out a policy sheet. After that, they introduced themselves and gave the class a quick run through of what they could expect to see that year.

Ichigo quickly got bored with the repeated mantra and caught herself beginning to glaze over half way through her Japanese class. It was when she was on her way to her art class that it happened. Masha began fluttering her wings in her pocket, warning, "Alien alert! Alien alert!" Ichigo quickly changed course, eyes darting up and down the hall for a secluded place she could change form. That place appeared around the second corner with a sign that indicated the girls' bathroom. Ichigo raced inside and into a stall, tucked her school bag behind the toilet, then pulled out a small, golden, oval shaped pendant. This pendant was the catalyst to her transformation. Cupping it gingerly in both hands, she kissed it, and like a floodgate releasing its waters, she felt the wellspring of her power surge through her body.

"Mew Mew Ichigo! Metamorpha-sis!" She declared, and in a flash of blinding pink light, she changed. Two furry black cat ears grew from the top of her red hair that was quickly fading to a bright pink. Her school uniform was replaced by a frilly pink dress, and on her hands, red gloves appeared as well as red, knee high boots on her feet. A pink, red-laced choker appeared around her neck, the pendant dangling from it like a nametag on a pet's collar. Then, to complete the transformation, a long black cat tail with a red ribboned golden bell appeared and in Ichigo Momomiya's place stood the one and only Mew Ichigo.

She slowly opened her eyes, revealing bright pink orbs in place of her usual hazel irises.

Masha flew out from nowhere, fluttering next to her ear.

"Where's the chimera Masha?"

She landed at the Tokyo Pier were her fellow Mews were already in a full out battle with a sickly colored squid looking creature. Its tentacles waved furiously in the air, striking at the Mews like they were pesky flies as they wove in and out of its reach.

"Nice of you to join us." Mint smirked, landing lightly on the ground next to her. Mint's transformation, like Ichigo's, kept to one color scheme, blue. Her dark, neatly kept hair had turned a navy blue as well as changed the color or her eyes. Her dress was a light blue, outlined in navy blue fringe. She also showed signs of her DNA counterpart with two small blue wings that sprouted from the base of her shoulders.

"Sorry, it took me a while to get out of school." Ichigo apologized, "What's the situation?"

"It appears to be a sea based chimera with little to no mixing of DNA besides that of the parasitic alien, but it's still pretty dangerous. Those tentacles are nearly as hard as a rock, not to mention the suckers are poisonous. I found that out when it grabbed me earlier." She showed Ichigo her upper arm were her arm band hand been ripped off leaving an area of inflamed red skin and pus boiling up along with spots of blood were the skin had actually been torn.

"Oh my gosh! Mint! Are you ok!"

"I'm fine." Mint replied rolling her shoulders, "It's nothing I can't handle. More importantly, we need to come up with a plan to beat this guy."

Ichigo finally gave the scene in front of her her fullest attention. Pudding, dressed in a yellow and orange tight fitting dress with small orange monkey ears and tail, was fighting in close combat, jumping and leaping like a gymnast, using the chimera's tentacles as a spring board. Lettuce, decked out in green with the only hint of sharing DNA coming from two long antennas that interwove with her hair, was trying to help from a long range basis, throwing her weapons like boomerangs, in an attempt to most likely help direct the attention from Pudding. Berry, the white member had an outfit similar to Ichigo's, but differed in the two white Bunny ears that protruded from her long blonde hair, and the white cat tail that twirled around helping her balance as she sized up opportunities then jumped forward to stab at the creature before leaping away to maintain a safe distance.

"Where's Zakuro?" Ichigo asked, noticing they were short one team mate.

Mint didn't answer immediately. She had cocked her bow and pulled out an arrow from a sheath she kept strapped to her back, a new addition. She locked the arrow into place then waited for a fraction of a second before firing. A stream of blue shot with quick precision, hitting a tentacle that would've otherwise sent Pudding straight into the roaring waters.

"She has college." Mint replied in an exasperated tone, "Not to mention she's hours away from here. You can't expect her to be able to get here on a moments notice."

"Right, sorry." Ichigo closed her eyes, rubbing her temples. The chimera was water based, dangerous to get near, and they were short a key member of their team. What to do…

Ichigo lurched forward like she'd been struck from behind, her eyes wide.

"Mint, can you keep the chimera distracted while staying here? I've got a plan."

Mint threw her a sideways look.

"What sort of plan?"

"I'll explain when everyone's over here, but right now I need a diversion so I can talk to everyone."

Mint looked doubtful, but nodded an affirmative as she pulled another arrow from the sheath and locked it into place.

"On my signal." Ichigo ordered, "Three. Two. One." She grabbed a hold of her pendant, a sign Ryou had developed for any of them to call attention to their comrades in battle. It grew warm under her fingers and she knew it had worked when the rest of the Mews jumped entirely away from the Chimera and made a beeline for her. Almost as soon as the Mews had dropped the battle, Mint began firing, both to keep the chimera from escaping and to keep it at bay.

"I have a plan!" Ichigo said quickly as soon as everyone was with in earshot. "Lettuce, because the chimera has such a strong outer layer it's probably weak underneath. Therefore you should transform and take it from below. Pudding, you're the fastest and most athletic. I'm counting on you to keep its attention from Lettuce so she can perform a sneak attack. Meanwhile, Berry and I will help as well. If we can combine our power we might be able to weaken its outer defenses. Mint, we need you to be our outer eyes and shoot down anything that would jeopardize us. Got it?"

They all nodded, some of them looking stunned.

"Good. Lettuce, we're counting on you. Mew Mews split!"

Mint sent a shower of arrows as a cover for the rest of the girls to get back into the fray. Pudding was the first, taking a leap off the pier like it were a trampoline, flipped, and land delicately on one of the tentacles. Another sprung out of the water, aiming like a needle with accurate precision to the back of her head. A blue arrow intercepted the appendage, knocking it off course and giving the youngest Mew time to leap to the safety of another tentacle.

Ichigo and Berry ran side by side, holding Ichigo's staff in between them as they let power flow into the object. They jumped and dodged as stray and thrashing tentacles crash landed on the shore, courtesy of Mint's arrows.

"See a spot yet?" Ichigo panted, watching Lettuce dive into the water out of the corner of her eye.

Berry pushed Ichigo out of the way as another jerking tentacle crashed into the spot they'd just been in moment before. They then leaped backwards as another one crashed before them.

"We can try the top." The half cat, half bunny, replied, her large ears swiveling anxiously to catch the sounds of battle.

"Good idea." The two of them then directed their attention to the center stage, taking a running leap and joining Pudding on the slimy platforms.

"We might have a problem getting to the head!" Ichigo yelled over the roar of the chimera.

"The two of them sprung from their perch as the tentacle made a sudden drop into the water, sending a wave up and over onto the land.

"Let's try from here!"

Sending a sudden burst of energy into the staff, it transformed, resembling the shape of a very large spear. The two of them pounced, driving the weapon into the shell layer, pushing with as much momentum and power as they could. The Chimera roared, aiming to swat at them, but they jumped away seconds before it could reach them. Ichigo's eyes narrowed. They'd only managed to make a small dent in its armor.

"Again!" Berry yelled, her brow furrowed with determination.

They pushed off, used another tentacle as leverage to propel them forward, and stabbed the monster again. Ichigo grit her teeth. They had not managed to hit the same spot, making the new blow completely useless. They dodged another attempt to flatten them and struck again. Again it was a new spot.

"Keep going!" Pudding called, cart wheeling past them, "Lettuce should almost be there!"

Ichigo and Berry nodded, hard determination dominating their features. In synch they jumped out of the way of another attack, caught out of the corner of their eye, the blast of an arrow hitting its target. They were just about to strike again when they heard a long slow rumble. The kind of sound they'd expect to hear from something large, like a titan, waking from a long slumber. It traveled up from the water, through the chimera, and shook the Mews were they stood. Ichigo's eyes widened in realization.

"Every body get back!" She warned.

With out a moment to spare, they leaped to safety, watching as the chimera bloated like a balloon, then with a sickening crunch it was hurled up into the air.

Ichigo shielded her eyes with her fee hand from the cascading water, and was relieved to see Lettuce appear from beneath the pier's depths. Her hands were crossed in front of her in a defensive stance with her weapons, two green clam looking contraptions, open and smoldering. She was panting heavily, her frail frame shaking violently. Whatever attack she'd used, it had taken a lot out of her. They could not, would not, let her attack go to waste.

"Berry!" But all she needed to say was the other girl's name. They both knew what to do. Together, they broke into a dead run as the chimera began to experience the effects of gravity. Their timing was crucial. They could not miss.

As the chimera came closer to the water, Ichigo could see what she was hoping to see. Lettuce's attack had caused the protective skeleton to crack, leaving pockets of open, unprotected flesh.

"Now!" At the same time the two girls leaped forward and plunged the spear into the monster's flesh. Mint shot another arrow. The convulsion of power weld up inside the chimera until its cells were stretched past breaking point. It exploded, sending debris everywhere and covering the girls closest in black, sticky, blood.

Ichigo and Berry staggered back to land panting heavily, each using the other for support.

"We did it." Berry grinned as her knees buckled and they fell to the ground.

"Yeah." Ichigo gasped, falling beside her.

"That was some plan you came up with."

"Thanks."

Ichigo rolled onto her back, panting heavily as she stared into a cloudless blue sky.

"Are you guys ok?" Mint yelled, running to join them, Lettuce and Pudding at her heels.

"More or less." Berry replied shaking her blonde bangs out of her eyes.

"That was brilliant!" Pudding exclaimed, jumping upon Ichigo with a bone crushing hug, "I never knew you had it in you Granny!"

"Hey! I don't know whether to take that as a compliment or an insult!" Ichigo exclaimed, "And I'm not that old!"

Pudding skirted out of her reach when Ichigo made to punch her, dancing on her toes as she yelled, "Granny! Granny! Great old Granny!"

"Well, everyone seems to still be pretty lively." Lettuce commented, wiping sweat from her brow.

"That was quite the attack you made back there. You look exhausted." Mint told her, worry marring her face.

Lettuce waved off her concern.

"I'd been practicing conserving pressure then expelling it like a geyser. I put a lot of my power into that attack. I'm just feeling drained."

"Perhaps you should take the rest of the day off." Mint suggested.

Lettuce chuckled half-heartedly.

"My Mom would kill me if I came home from school early… especially on the first day."

"Well, take it easy then."

"I will. I promise."

Ichigo returned to school ten minutes late for her sixth period. She stood at the sliding doorway of her world geography class, head bowed as the teacher, a heavy set man with a receding hair line and glasses, chewed her out. She took every word like a whipping, biting her lip to keep from screaming back and blowing her secret identity. When he was done he instructed her to take the only empty seat in the back, closest to the window, and luckily, right behind Momo.

Momo cast her a worried glance as she slid into the seat behind her.

"Are you ok?" She whispered, "You look like you've been through hell."

"I ate something bad at lunch. It upset my stomach." Ichigo lied evasively, but it was then that her stomach decided to giver a traitorous growl, earning her disapproving looks from her class mates and skepticism from her friend.

"We're talking after class." Momo stated evenly then turned back to the front of the room were the teacher was ranting about his classroom policies.

Ichigo slumped forward on her desk. She was exhausted from the battle, but most of all, she hated lying.

The rest of her day passed by uneventful. She managed to sit through the rest of her classes and was even glancing at the clock to find out when class ended. She'd managed to evade Momo's five minute interrogation, but she could tell her friend wasn't convinced.

Ichigo glanced at the clock during her last class of the day. She had about fifteen minutes until school was over, then another hour until her shift at the café began.

She fingered her phone in her pocket. Should she try to call him? Maybe stop by on the way to work to see how his family was doing? Well that second option seemed a bit stupid. She never visited his family with out him there any way. Would his parents think her weird if she did? Never mind, she'd just call.

Ichigo sighed in relief when she'd finally made it outside. School could really begin to feel like a prison if she were stuck inside for too long.

"Ichigo!" She turned to the sound of her friend's calls, greeting them enthusiastically.

"How did the first day go?"

"Well I started with a pre-test in geometry." Yuki said with a look of disgust.

"How do you think you did?" Mom asked, a gentle breeze ruffling her hair.

Yuki shrugged, "Probably terrible. It's a pre-test. That means it was everything we have never seen before. Mostly it's lots of shapes."

Momo laughed loudly.

"At least you'll know what to expect. Ichigo showed up late for our geography class.

Ichigo shot Momo a glare. She'd thought they'd settled this.

"Why were you late?" Yuki asked, looking at her incredulously.

"As I told Momo here, I got sick during the lunch period and was in the bathroom."

"That is what she told me." Mom confirmed, exchanging a look with Yuki.

"What?" Ichigo demanded.

"Well, they served lunch in homeroom today as a chance for the students to get to know each other better. You weren't there so Mrs. Nasiru asked for me to see if you were sick in the bathrooms or something. I checked all over the school, but you weren't in any of them.

"You mustn't have looked properly." Ichigo replied.

"Possibly, but I don't believe you were in the bathroom either, so where were you?"

Ichigo sighed, watching the sidewalk a moment while her brain worked for another cover up story, "Sorry, I wasn't really sick. I was just feeling overwhelmed with the new setting and new everything, so I snuck off to the roof during lunch. I figured if everyone was eating lunch at that time no one would miss me. However, I lost track of the time. You guys know how oblivious I can be." She smiled sheepishly and her two friends nodded sympathetically.

"There was no need to lie Ichigo. You're reason was perfectly understandable. Momo said, sounding slightly hurt.

"Sorry." Ichigo repeated.

"It's ok, it's just that we're friends and friends should be able to tell each other anything."

Ichigo bit back her retort of how Momo refused to tell them anything about how she was feeling about her parent's divorce. By the way Yuki scowled for a moment she could tell she was thinking the same thing. Momo seemed to have caught on to the cause of their lapse of silence.

"The divorce is official." She told them, brushing her hair behind her ear, "My Mom won custody of my brother and myself in court. We'll live with our father every other weekend starting when he moves out at the end of the week. I'm a little bit sad to see the family fall apart, but it's probably for the best. Now my parents can start over and finally be happy."

Her sudden account was met with a stunned silence from Ichigo and Yuki. The corners of Momo's mouth twitched upward in a half-hearted smile.

"Sorry it took me a while to talk about it. It took me even longer to accept what was happening."

"No… not at all…" Yuki and Ichigo murmured.

While they had been talking they'd made it to the park, marking the time for them to all go their separate ways.

Ichigo waved as she promised to meet them at the park the same time tomorrow morning then began the trek back to her house. Once the coast was clear, Masha emerged from her pocket to float by her shoulder.

Humming merrily to herself, Ichigo pulled out her phone and scrolled through her contact list. Finding Masaya's name, she hit the call button, hoping he wasn't currently in class.

She listened as the phone seemed to ring endlessly, with out any hint that some one would pick up on the other end. Feeling disappointed, Ichigo was about to hang up when the other end connected.

"Hello?" Answered a weary, sleep-deprived voice of a woman. It took Ichigo a moment to connect were she'd heard the voice, but then she quickly realized she was speaking to Masaya's mother. What was his mother doing with his phone?

"Hello, Mrs. Aoyama, this is Ichigo calling. Is Masaya around?"

Ichigo heard Mrs. Aoyama gulp then let out a long drawn out sigh. When she spoke, her voice was hitched and scratchy, making her sound as if she were about to cry.

"Ichigo… I am so, so sorry…. Masaya he… he and a group of friends were out riding their bikes a week ago. They were… were crossing the street when a drunk driver blew right past the stop sign and hit, hit Masaya. It was a hit and run. The driver never even stopped to see if my boy was ok. His friends rushed him to the hospital were he was diagnosed with a collapsed lung and severe bleeding in the brain. We…" She took in a shuddering breath that made Ichigo more apprehensive than she already felt; "We just took him off life support a couple days ago! And he died! He died right there in my arms!"

The telephone fell from Ichigo's numb fingers as the woman on the other end let out a howl of anguish, screaming the tune of a tortured soul.

The world had ended, so how was it that the sun was still shining over head, embracing the earth with its warmth while she remained cold as ice? She dropped to her knees, staring numbly at the side walk beneath her. It couldn't be true! It couldn't! She'd just spoken to him a week ago! Then he'd been alive and healthy, telling her all about the zoo and its animals, and his life in England! How could he be dead?

"Ichigo." Masha whispered, fluttering down by her ear with a look of concern, but Ichigo was deaf to all that was around her.

Staggering, she stood back up, picked up her phone gingerly as if it carried the plague, curled her fingers around it, then took off running. She couldn't see where she was going for tears blurred her vision, but she didn't care. All she could do was run. Run to get away from the plaguing tragedy. She ran, numb to her aching muscles, numb to all feeling except the depression that threatened to engulf her if she stopped. She took a wrong step and her ankle protested viciously, sending her face first into the sidewalk. Yet, she did not get up. She lay there as floods of tears cascaded down her cheeks and screamed. The scream voiced all her anguish, her pain, her loss. She screamed and screamed, chocking on her own tears yet made not move to get up. It hurt so badly.

"Ichigo!" Her mom's voice barely registered to her, but the next thing she knew, she was pulled into the warm, familiar embrace of her mother. Needing something, anything, Ichigo flung her arms around her mother's neck and bawled like a small child into her mother's shoulder.

"There, there." Her mother whispered, massaging her back while she cried, "Baby, what happened?"

"He's dead." Ichigo chocked into her shoulder.

Ichigo's mom pulled back so she could get a good look at her daughter.

"Who's dead?"

Ichigo hiccupped as more tears formed, throwing her mother into the shape of a blurred outline.

"Masaya!" She wailed, flinging herself forward and back into her mother's arms, "He's dead!"

Her mother was still as the news sunk in, and then she pulled Ichigo tighter to her.

"Oh Baby." She whispered in a tone that carried more understanding than Ichigo was able to register in her current state.

Ichigo cried harder into her shoulder, not caring about the attention she was attracting from the neighbors, or the fact that she was going to be late for work if she didn't get a move on. All that mattered was that the boy who had stolen her affection was with her no more.

A/N:

Still no beta reader. Sorry for the inconvenience. I went through and edited the best I could. I have a friend who says she'll edit when she has time.

With Ichigo's friends, I went and researched her friends, and honestly I did not like their character design or development, so I went ahead and redesigned them, so if you're a huge TMM fan and you know that's not who her friends are in the series, that is why.