"Oh man... what happened?" Liz asked herself as she squinted at the blurry world around her. She was apparently lying on her back in a dark, trash-filled, dead end alley.

She sat up, and rubbed her eyes,

"Better yet, where am I?" She rubbed her head, her fingers gradually sliding over a rather large bump.

"Ooooow..."

Despite the pain, Liz's ears seemed to pick up the faint sound of voices, two to be exact.

"She's got to be around here SOME-WHERE." One voice said, before the other higher pitched replied.

"Yeah, whatever, the sooner the better. I wanna get back to Kish."

"Yuck!"

"Hey!"

Liz knew those voices, she knew them REAL WELL.

Kate and Ichigo.

Crap.

She made her best attempt to hide in the darkest corner, carefully trying not to make noise, but there was no such luck. She didn't notice the cat tail under her foot.

"RRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEOOOOORRWWWW" Came the cat's pained cry.

"What was that?!" Ichigo suddenly said, perking her delicate black ears.

"That was just a cat, stupid!" Kate said, looking.

Ichigo moved forward swiftly, sniffing and listening.

Liz stopped breathing.

Kate rolled her eyes,

"I'm telling you, your wasting your stupid time."

"Is this your idea of a cat?" Ichigo said, grinning smugly as she grabbed Liz's arm roughly.

Kate ran to Liz, "REALLY?!"

All this shouting was getting to Liz's head, she now had a horrific headache.

With the last of her strength, she began to shout, "I wish-" Only to recieve a sharp bash to the head, courtesy of Kate.

The world started to fade around her.

"Not this time."

---

(A./N.: Re is looking for Angie, I didn't make that as clear as I might have hoped XP)

"Ack! I seem to be having the hardest time of finding people today!" Re mumbled harshly under her breath.

She was hopping through some random part of Tokyo receiving a weird stare from every other civilian, at which she would just smile back or give a kind wave.

'No matter how embarrassed I get, you people can't make me get rid of my ears.' She thought, blushing proudly.

Re chewed on this thought a while longer until something caught her eye.

There in a park, were Pai and Tart calmly, talking to Angie, nodding occasionally.

Re noticed Angie nod then open her mouth, and knew what was going to happen. She was gonna wish something for the aliens. And knowing the aliens, this was classified as, NOT GOOD.

"I wish the -"

Re clamped her hand tight over Angie's mouth.

"What were you wishing for?!"

Angie ripped at Re's hand while making distressed muffled noises.

"Excuse me?" Came a voice Re knew ever so well a Pai. She looked up to see two confuse aliens.

"Uh... I'm Re, and despite what Angie says, she is not the only one who knows about you, the Mews, and the other aliens. And the rest of us have powers too..."

He looked a Re,

"What do you know about me?"

"Everything." She said flatly. "Now, I need you to tell me what she was about to wish for."

"Why-" Tart began, but was stopped by the ever so persistent Re.

"JUST TELL ME PLEASE!"

"Fine, she was going to wish for all of the Mews and aliens to be here."

Re immediately loosed her grip on Angie and gave her a wide-eyed, what-the-heck-where-you-thinking stare.

"Why would you do that?! Wait, NEVER MIND, we need you, now c'mon!"

"Who?! Need me?! For what?!"

"You'll see!" She said and latched onto Angie again. Angie proceeded to claw her hand off her arm,

"See what? Can't you SEE I'm BUSY?!"

"Busy doing WHAT? Being evil?" Angie raised an eyebrow,

"Why, what ever would make you think I would be evil?" Re blew a hair out of her face before pointing an angry finger at the now-highly-confused aliens,

"You're making negotiations with THEM!"

"Well it's not like you and Kish are any different!"

"What did you say about Kisshu?" Pai interrupted. Re bit her lip. Great.

"Smooth." Angie muttered sarcastically. Re stuttered,

"Well, uh…let's just say…we know each other." She grinned nervously. Taruto raised an eyebrow,

"How so?" Re messed with a strand of her hair nervously,

"Um, well…he never told you? Um, Pai?"

"Yes?"

"Do us a favor and teleport to the rooftop of Loger Cafe. Don't ask why, just do it please."

Pai sighed, rolled his eyes, and he and Tart were gone in a thin ripple of air. Re muttered,

"Let the roof jumping begin."

---

"Kishy-kun, why don't you love me?"

'Oh Kami-sama, please kill me now...' he thought to himself. He glared down at Mika, who was giving him puppy eyes and a severe case of the pout.

"For the fifth time, I love Ichigo. Now, stop it." Mika let out a small huff of annoyance. Kish stopped and surveyed his surroundings before saying,

"We're going to teleport, hold your breath." Mika did so, but clung tightly to Kish in the process. His sighed and reluctantly put a hand on her shoulder as they teleported.

Coming out of the teleport, Mika decided to put on a show,

"OH, Kish!" she sighed dramatically, falling into his arms, "That was so terrible! I couldn't get the slightest wisp of air and...and..." she made a huge show of passing out. Kish sighed and rolled his eyes. Boy, was she getting desperate. He decided to resort to what he probably shouldn't have done.

He dropped her.

Mika sat up in a flash,

"What was that for, dropping a young lady?! You. Are. So. STUBBORN!" Kish simply shifted is eyes and offered her a hand. Mika immediately took it and lifted herself dangerously close to his face,

"'Of course, that's partly why I like you.'" Kish blew a hair out of his face and turned away. Mika raised an eyebrow at his non-reaction to what she just said, a quote of his from the manga of Tokyo Mew Mew. But then, two things came to her mind.

This is the anime world of Tokyo Mew Mew.

That hasn't happened yet.

She grinned,

"Kishy-kun?" Kish turned towards her,

"What?"

"I think I may have some useful information for you."

---

"Arighty," Kate said, taking a deep breath, "We need to get back to the rooftop and somehow, and get everyone else there too."

Ichigo looked at Kate, "Why the rooftop?"

"Good meeting place."

"Whatever, now, I guess since I'm older, I'll carry Liz." Ichigo said, smirking deviously.

Kate twitched at this, "Older by like, A. YEAR! and anyway, you think I'm going to let your carry my cousin, the one you want to tear open? I don't hate her THAT much!"

Ichigo groaned and began tapping her fingers impatiently.

Kate rolled her eyes,

"Fine, but you have to wait until we get to the roof to rip at her, got it?!"

"Fine by me."

---

Re collapsed and closed her eyes when she got to the rooftop.

"Note to self, never hop from some random part of Tokyo to another random part of Tokyo, without knowing how many miles are in between you and where you want to be. I. AM. EXHAUSTED."

She had non-stop hopped the whole three-something miles, roof to roof, while carrying a girl heavier than herself on her back. And not to mention that Angie had put up quite a struggle.

"For Pete's sake! How much DO you weigh?!"

"I'm not THAT heavy," Angie shifted her eyes, " And ya' know, you could have just wished we had a, bike or scooter, or you could have just wished us here..."

Re's hand met her sweaty face,

"You tell me that now because...?"

"I don't want to help you when you're taking me here against my will."

They heard a small grunt and glanced in the direction of the noise, only to see an annoyed Pai and Tart.

"Are you done?"

Re quickly stood up and brushed herself off.

"Yeah, sorry."

Pai rolled his eyes,

"Whatever, so, why did you bring us here there's no one here."

Re looked around,

"Oh boy. They. Are. Dead."

"Hey... look at this..." Angie said, picking up what looked to be a camcorder.

Re rushed over, and motioned for Pai and Tart to come too.

Once they were all around the screen, Angie clicked it on and played the only video on the device.

"Oh, wow."

---

Masaya was left to patrol the western side of Tokyo alone, much to his reluctance, yet he did not speak up. Today had to be the absolute worst day of his life. His was dumped by Ichigo, for her alien stalker of all people, hated by some weird superpowered girls, and now abandoned to look for some girl he didn't know.

But he wasn't complaining. Oh, no. Eventually things would turn out okay...something would go right. Eventually.

Sighing wistfully, he decided the best thing to do would be to go back to the roof and report that he couldn't find this girl they were looking for.

What else was there to do?

---

"I wish I had Tokyo mew mew DVDs and a battery-powered DVD player in my hands!"

Immediately Mika's request was granted when six DVDs and a DVD player were in her hands. She set down the player and DVDs and popped a disk in. Kish, eyeing her suspiciously, picked up a DVD case,

"How come these have pictures of the Mews on them?" Mika navigated through the bright pink, girlish menu,

"Watch and see."

On the screen played the familiar Tokyo Mew Mew opening theme. Kish's eyes widened. All of the girls in Cafe Mew Mew outfits flew by the screen one after another. In the next part, Ichigo is walking down the street when she turns to see Masaya, and she appears inside his eye. Kish growls slightly and furrowed his brow.

"IT'S SHOW TIME! Doki, Doki sasete ne" Kish rubbed his eyes at all of the bright lights and flashing, but they widened in disbelief once again when his own face appeared on the screen. On the screen he opened his golden eyes and a ball of green energy was shot from his hand.

"What is-" he stopped when he saw, in the next sequence, he was kissing Ichigo. He grinned impishly at the screen.

Ryou and Keiichiro were seated atop a car, watching the wispy clouds fly by. Then Masaya was holding Ichigo...Kish wasn't feeling all too happy anymore.

"uke totte ne My Sweet Heart!" All of the mews crowded on the screen and posed, while the screen faded. Mika pushed a button on the player and it stopped. Kish slumped his shoulders in disbelief,

"How did...why...when..." Questions flooded and swam around his mind like fish in a pond, all of them waiting to be fed with answers. Mika grinned,

"Unfortunately, you don't appear until the end of episode three. Care to see the scene?" Kish sat up and nodded vigorously. Mika's grin spread wider,

"Under one condition. You have to hold my hand through the whole thing." Kish scowled,

"Why do I have to do-"

"Alright, then, you wont'-"

"FINE!" he snapped. Mika smirked,

"Good Kishy-kun."

---

Taruto was currently making a very strange face, as well as the rest of the people on the roof were, except, of course, for Re, who was about to blow from trying to conceal laughter at the other's faces.

"The next time I see that old hag I'm going to turn her lovesick guts inside out, boil them, and feed them to Kish." Taruto spat as the video stopped playing. Pie raised an eyebrow,

"Since when were you so violent?" Taruto shrugged,

"Since seeing this piece of crap. Kisshu isn't going to be able to concentrate for weeks, or even months, after THIS incident!" Pai nodded,

"I see your point." Angie, however was frozen on the spot,

"Well, that was quite a show..."

"I'm getting rid of this, once and for all-"

"Wait!" Re said, grabbing Pai's arm before he could smash the camcorder, "Don't you think you could put this footage to some use? Say...blackmail?" Pai lowered his arm and stroked his chin thoughtfully,

"I suppose so..."

A devious plot began to form in Pai's mind including raw tuna, a bike chain, and a three-foot-tall stack of paperwork. He put the camera in his pants pocket thoughtfully while the rest of the people on the roof stared at his malicious face strangely.

Not long after three people appeared over the side of the rooftop. It was Kate, Ichigo, and a still-unconscious Liz.

"Looks like someone beat us here," Kate said, observing the people on the roof, "Konichiwa, minna!"

However, Re, Angie, and the two aliens didn't return her greeting. Instead, they exchanged hushed whispers between each other and eyed the new arrivals.

"You, girl with red hair." Pai pointed to Kate. Kate stood ridged automatically,

"Y-yeah?!"

"Is this yours?" Pai asked, holding up the camera. Kate blinked and shook her head frantically,

"Um, er…no, I, uh…it's hers…" she nodded down to Liz, whom she was currently carrying. Pai said,

"Well, then, I'd like to offer her my thanks. The information stored on this tape may become useful…"

Ichigo, however, was not about to go making peace treaties,

"Hey! Don't think you can fool us into letting our guard down!" Pai rolled his eyes as Taruto had his turn to speak,

"Why are you always so quick to act?! Ah well, while we're here, we might as well make some noise!"

With those words, he summoned a parasite animal,

"Pai! Retrieve the spirit from that girl! It's a valid spirit!" Pai nodded and turned to Angie,

"I apologize."

He extended his hand, and the last thing Angie managed to shriek was,

"Help!" before her skin went a cold blue, and she fell to the roof with a thump. Kate, Re, and Ichigo all gasped as Taruto infused the spirit with the parasite.

The result was a huge, towering chimera animal in the form of a panther, it's claws razor sharp and a foot long each, its teeth extending past it's lip into four sharp fangs. It opened its sapphire eyes and let out a mighty roar that shook the ground. Kate blew a hair out of her face,

"Well, this is exciting."

---

"This isn't very good..." Masaya mentally slapped himself as he looked around the busy street he was on. "I've forgotten where the rooftop is, and all these buildings look so alike..."

He sighed and sat down on a bench.

"What am I going to do now...?"

It wasn't long before he heard a shrill cry for help, and it didn't sound that far away either.

"Might as well go check out what that is, what else is there to do? And anyway, the mews might be there, and that means Ichigo."

---

As soon as the episode ended, Kish ripped his hand from Mika's.

"Hey! Kishy-kuuun! Don't you want to hold hands longer than an episode?" Mika whined.

Kish made a sickened face and shook his head from side to side.

Mika removed the DVD from the player.

"Then I guess you're not going to see another episode!" she sang. Kish groaned and his hand made it's way toward Mika's, but Mika quickly pulled her hand away and shook a finger.

"Nah-ah-ah! This time... hm... Give me a kiss on the cheek!"

"NO WAY! NOT IN YOUR LIFE! My kisses are reserved for Ichigo and Ichigo only!"

"Okay! Your choice..."

Kish soooo wanted to know more information from the future, but, kissing...

By now, Mika had put the disks back and was standing up to leave, but before she was able to get out of sight, Kish grabbed her arm,

"Wait!"

Mika grinned impishly,

"Yes Kishy-kuuuun?"

He leaned over and gave her a small peck on the cheek, then turned away in disgust,

"I can't believe I just did that!"

"Good, Kishy-kun! Time for another episode!"

---

"This won't take long." Ichigo said smugly taking out her strawberry bell. She was about to advance on the massive creature when Kate's outstretched arm stopped her. Ichigo looked over and Kate's wide grin,

"Huh?!"

"We can take care of this!" She said, nodding her head toward a now conscious Liz.

Ichigo stared in disbelief,

"You're going to let HER, the one who video tapes people's personal moments, fight instead of me?!"

"Yeah, I'm not about to let a chance like this go to waste!"

Ichigo folded her arms and sat down,

"Hmph, do as you please, your highness."

"Aren't you going to move, like, off the building or something? This might get a little messy..."

"I want to see how good you guys REALLY are."

"Whatever."

"KATE!!!!" Liz's voice suddenly rang.

"Can't you see I'm-" Kate turned toward Liz only to see the panther inches away, "AH! I wish I was behind the panther!" She closed her eyes, but there wasn't any dust, or light, or screeching, but, ther was as a matter of fact, a rather large pain in her shoulder.

She opened her eyes and clutched her shoulder, which only caused more pain, so, she promtly bit her lip and removed her hand.

Her arm was now dripping crimson.

"This might be bad... " She looked back at Liz, "LIZ! I THINK SOMETHING'S WRONG WITH OUR POWERS!"

Liz looked confused,

"I wish I had a strawberry shake!"

Nothing.

"Kaaate? What happened?!" Re said worriedly.

Kate showed Re her arm and winced,

"This."

"Holy. Crap."

Liz glanced at Ichigo who was sitting ever so calmly on the ground looking at Kate,

"Ichigo, we need you..."

Ichigo stuck her nose up high,

"Nope! Not until Kate says-"

"Ichigo, NOW!" Kate yelled through clenched teeth, eyeing the panther who was making it's way to Liz.

"Fine! Hold on, Liz! Strawberry bell!"

---

"Girls! I just got the signal that Ichigo has transformed, but the reaction was delayed on the computer; she might already be in big trouble! Head to the spot immediately!"

The rest of Tokyo Mew Mew nodded and took out their pendants,

"Mew Mew Zakuro!"

"Mew Mew Pudding!"

"Mew Mew Lettuce!"

"Mew Mew Minto!" There was a slight hesitation at the absence of Ichigo's call before they all shouted,

"Metamorphosis!"

After all of the girls finished transforming, Ryou got up from his chair,

"I'd better go with you for safety, so we can contact Keiichiro when we need to, and so I can coach you on your moves. Now, head out!"

---

"Ribbon Strawberry Check!"

Another blow to the chimera animal was issued and missed by Ichigo, the horrendous monster dodging her every moves.

Meanwhile, pure panic reigned over Liz, Re and Kate,

"What's going on, why can't we use our powers?!"

"I-I don't know! It's like something's blocking it somehow." Liz smiled sheepishly and blew a hair out of her face,

"Writers block?" Kate rolled her eyes,

"More like Author's block, but now isn't the time to be joking around, we need help."

"Right-o." Re said, nodding, "But how exactly-"

"Ribbon Zakuro Spear!"

A purple whip flew precariously close to Kate's head and gave the chimera animal a hard blow, sending it onto its side. Following up her attack was,

"Ribbon Lettuce Rush!"

The steady jet of water crashed into the chimera animal, causing it to let out a shriek. Kate, Re, and Liz both found themselves severely shaken and wet,

"How come people keep being in the right place at the right time?"

"This is an anime, Liz, timing is something that is easily messed with."

"Everyone!" Ichigo said cheerfully.

"Oi, Strawberry." Ichigo turned her head to see Ryou just de-transforming from being a cat. Ichigo raised an eyebrow,

"Ryou?! What are you doing here?" He sighed and motioned for her to come with him. She nodded and obeyed, leaving the chaos of the fight to her trusty friends, when she herself was exhausted.

Once they were a good distance from the battle, Ichigo was the first to speak,

"Ryou, I broke up with Masaya."

"You…what?" he said, eyeing her strangely, "You're kidding me, right?"

"No, I'm not." she said, shaking her head. Ryou looked totally appalled,

"What did he do, did he hurt you? Was he cheating on you?" Ichigo shook her head,

"No, he's one of the kindest people I've ever met."

"So why did you break up with him?"

"You first. What were you going to say?" Ryou nodded and spoke in a hushed whisper,

"I came for three reasons." Pause. Ichigo raised an eyebrow,

"Continue."

"One: I wanted to be able to contact Keiichiro if we needed any sort of backup or withdrawal." Ichigo nodded. That was agreeable enough. "Two: I wanted all of the Mews to have a bit more guidance with their battle strategies, just in case something goes wrong with our futuristic 'friends', and they decide to rebel." Ichigo nodded once again. That could possibly happen.

"And…three…" he paused for a while, Ichigo gazing into his eyes questioningly. He lifted his head up to lock eyes with her, aquamarine blue meeting chocolate brown,

"I was worried." Ichigo had a small intake of breath at his answer, and he continued in a rushed manner,

"Ichigo, I was so worried about what happened to you after the systems were being delayed, I had no idea what could've happened to you. I'm so sorry. I didn't even know that Masaya had broken up with you, I'm sorry for your loss, I should've been there. But, I guess they say, 'It's like a wolf in sheep's clothing'." He leaned in closer to her face, "Don't ever scare me like that again, got it?"

Ichigo felt his warm breath on her face. The scent reminded her of something familiar. Even more familiar was when he leaned in closer, cupping her chin in his hand, and softly pressed his lips against hers.

Peppermint.

Quickly, though, she pulled away, stuttering madly, her face as red as a cherry,

"Um…well, uh…Ryou, there's something you kind of need to know…"

"Worth interrupting that special moment?" Ryou said smugly, but still holding a disappointed frown. Ichigo nodded, keeping her head bowed.

She whispered something so quietly that Ryou couldn't make out exactly what she said,

"What was that?" he asked, getting closer to her. She shrunk back some more, and spoke barely above a whisper,

"I broke up with Masaya because…"

"Because…"

"I'm dating Kisshu."

"N-NANI?!"

---

During around the middle of episode twelve, Kish suddenly looked away from the screen, an alert look in his eyes.

Mika paused the disc and looked at him worriedly,

"Kishy-kun, what is it?"

"Ichigo... she's sad... I can feel it..."

Mika looked down and hugged her knees, her hair covering her face,

"I suppose your going to go see what's wrong..."

Kish looked taken back for a second, but then wrinkled his nose and turned away,

"O-Of course I am! She's my girlfriend, what do you expect?!"

A lone tear dripped from Mika's chin,

"...your... girlfriend..."

"Mika...?"

Mika stood up, brushed her hair to the side, and put on a fake smile,

"Eh... It's okay, go check on Ichigo... I'm just so naive, I never let go of my dreams." She said, wiping her eyes with her sleeve.

Kish's face softened a bit,

"Would you... Would you like to come with me?"

"Oh Kisshu!" Mika said, hugging him with a real smile.

Kish rolled his eyes and smiled too,

"Hold on tight."

---

Ichigo shifted her eyes,

"I know, I know... I was stupid to make a choice like that..."

"No, you weren't, It was your choice. And if you chose Kisshu over Masaya, you must've had a pretty good reason." Ryou said, smiling kindly.

"No. You don't get it... I overreacted when I found out."

"Found out?"

"Masaya... he's... he's the Blue Knight."

"Well, that explains why he protects you all the time."

"Yeah... protects me..."

Meanwhile, while the mews continued to fight the chimera animal, Kate made her way to Pai and Tart, gripping her shoulder, Liz not far behind, re following timidly. Kate looked Pai coldly in the eye,

"What is wrong with you? You sick, twisted, ba-"

"Kate, watch your language!" Liz reminded her.

Kate rolled her eyes and turned to Tart,

"And you... Do you enjoy the pain of others?" She backed up and glared at the two.

This time Liz spoke,

"Pai, you love Lettuce, and Tart, you love Pudding."

Tart shifted his eyes as Liz continued her speech,

"Us earthling-people, we have loved ones too, and think about it, each time someone dies at your hand, someone is hurt deeply because the one they love is gone, forever."

Pai scowled and yelled to the chimera animal,

"Finish these girls!"

Liz and Re braced for the attack, but Kate just stood, the cold, piercing look still there,

"I wish the chimera animal was frozen in time."

Immediately, the massive panther was stopped in its tracks, inches away from the two other girls.

Kate smirked at the frightened look on Pai's face,

"That's right. Be scared."

Liz stood upright, wearing the same face as Kate,

"I wish time was frozen around Pai and Tart!" Immediately they ceased to move, the look of battle imprinted on their faces. Re gave Liz a high-five and celebrated with the Hare Hare Yukai.

Kate began advancing on the pair of aliens when she felt a tap on her back,

"What the-"

It was Masaya.

---

"Ichigo, If I were you, what I would do is go to Kisshu and sort this whole mess out, you got it?" She nodded slowly,

"Okay. Thanks Ryou."

"No problem." he said casually. Turning he added,

"One more question."

"What?"

"Are you free after you dump Kisshu?" Ichigo was now fuming,

"Shirogane-san, I HATE you!" She ran off angrily in the direction her senses told her, as red as the fruit she was named after. Ryou just smirked,

"It's Ryou to you, strawberry."

---

Kisshu and Mika both came out onto the edge of the woods, by the park.

"I changed directions," he said, "Because I sensed she is going to pass here at any time now…" his voice trailed off when he realized that Mika was not listening to a word he said, but instead, was staring dreamily into his eyes again.

"Um, Mika-san?" Mika cocked her head,

"You can call me Mika-chan." she said cheerily. Kish shifted his feet nervously,

"Look, just because I'm letting you be around me, doesn't mean that you can get too comfortable, got that?"

"I'm sorry, but I can't seem to do that." Mika said, still in her little trance. Kish noticed she still hadn't let go of him,

"Mika? You can let go of me now, okay?" Mika didn't seem to pay any attention to him,

"I said, you can call me Mika-chan…"

Kish noticed she was getting closer and closer to her face. Leaning back farther he said,

"Mika, don't…please…Ichigo's right-" he was cut off by Mika finally reaching his lips.

The thing was, fate decided to make Ichigo dash through some bushes at the exact same time. Kish immediately shoved Mika away, turning to the stricken cat girl,

"Ichigo?!"

"Kish!" she screamed. Mika stood stunned, still clinging to Kish's waist,

"Kish-kun…?!"

---

"I repeat... What. The." Kate said, looking at Masaya with wide eyes, hatred penetrating his skull.

If looks could kill…

Masaya smiled kindly, ignoring her glare before saying,

"Would you know where Ichigo is?"

Liz came over to them out of curiosity,

"What's HE doing here?" She said, putting unnecessary emphasis on the word 'he'.

Kate rolled her eyes in disgust,

"Looking for Ichigo."

"Oh..."

"And as I was about to say before SHE butted in…" she motioned dramatically to the scowling Liz, "Last I saw Ichigo, she was over there talking with Ryou-kun." She pointed a casual thumb over in Ryou's direction.

Masaya took Kate's hand in his and kissed it gently, in a gentleman-like manner,

"Gomenasai for your time taken."

Kate immediately slid her hand away from his grasp and began wiping on Liz's shoulder,

"EEEEWW!"

Liz shot Kate an angry glare and moved away,

"Yuck! Don't wipe it on me!"

It was at this point that Masaya, after taking great care to ignore the remarks, noticed Kate's red-streaked arm,

"What happened to your arm?!" he said in concern.

Kate stopped battering Liz with her "infected" hand and looked to her bloody shoulder.

"I forgot all about it! And now that you mention it... I'm kind of used to the pain, and it doesn't feel as bad as it looks."

Liz rolled her eyes at Kate's obvious tough-guy act,

"Kate, the powers work again, remember? Just wish it was healed!"

"Oh yeah.... I wish my arm was healed!"

New skin covered the open flesh like ripples of water, and soon it looked as if nothing had ever happened to it.

Masaya stood there, wide-eyed,

"I'm going to go check on Ichigo now..." He said wearily.

Kate looked up from her arm momentarily,

"You do that."

---

If silence could kill.

The awkwardness of the situation felt like knives were dangling loosely in the air, and if you spoke, it would disturb them, sending them crashing down onto you, to your certain death.

Yes, it was that bad.

About thirty seconds passed of utter silence before Ichigo was the first to speak.

"Kisshu…" she said wearily, looking at him with forlorn eyes, "I thought…" Kisshu blew in,

"Ichigo, I can explain, really, it's all a mistake, I-"

"Yes, it was a mistake, wasn't it?" came Ichigo's small voice again, "It was a mistake from the minute I began to trust you. I should've listened to Masaya. I should've…"

She hung her head and dropped to her knees in despair.

"Ichigo!" Kish called and tried to run to her, but something held him back,

"Kish!" Mika said, clinging to his arm, "Please!" He shook his head and pulled his arm from her in one swift motion.

When Ichigo saw that he was approaching, she got up in a flash and ran. Ran as fast as she could.

'Masaya,' she thought, then she spoke her thoughts in a choked cry,

"I need Masaya!"

---

Mika sat down, feeling the cool earth beneath her.

Failure.

She gritted her teeth,

"How could I have been so utterly stupid…" she said to herself, "How could I have thought…he…I…" she clenched a handful of dirt in her anger,

"He was right there. In front of me. There. How many, how many girls would pay anything, anything at all, to be where I was? And…he slipped through my fingers."

She sighed.

I want to go home.

That was the first thing that crossed her mind. She quickly pushed it out, though. Cocking her head to one side, she thought for a moment before her face lifted,

"He's just one of those that are hard-to-get." she smirked slightly,

"So I'll play his little game then. And beat him at it. I'm not giving up just yet."

---

The woods seemed endless, the trees seemed to never disperse. At least, to Ichigo, they did. She glanced behind her for a quick moment to see if he was behind her.

He was.

And gaining fast.

She pressed onward, jumping on the branches of various trees and brush, her little method to prevent Kisshu from teleporting to stop her.

But the trees seemed no obstacle for the stubborn-minded alien, who was gaining simply by flying along the ground, occasionally diving over the tops of the trees,

"Ichigo, listen to me!" he cried out once more. Ichigo ignored his call, among the many others he had tried along the pursuit. He clenched his teeth and decided that it was well worth it to try a method to catch her that he deemed dangerous.

Studying her movements in the trees for a minute or two, he made his calculations.

He teleported two trees ahead of her and stood directly in her path. Ichigo caught a glimpse of him teleporting and, on instinct, posed to attack.

She kicked out her pink boot as she lunged into the tree, sending Kish far back into the next branch with a crash and a thud. Ichigo, totally oblivious to the damage, and only focusing on one thin, Masaya, pressed on without looking back.

Kisshu groaned and tried to sit up, searing pain was inflicted on his back. He felt the warm blood trickle down his spine. He winced as he tried to prop himself up,

"You win, Ichigo."

---

"Ichigo? She left like, what, half an hour ago?" Ryou said, pacing the rooftop in agitation.

Masaya looked puzzled,

"Half an hour ago? Where to?"

Ryou sighed and shifted his eyes,

"She went to look for Kisshu..."

"She went to...what?" Ryou massaged his temples,

"I never should've sent her out there..."

"You sent her out there?" Masaya asked, bewildered.

"Yeah, she said she needed to sort things out with him...she looked like she was regretting their relationship...did you know about them? I mean, that they were dating and all...?"

Masaya nodded, pursing his lips,

"I'm quite aware."

Ryou sighed,

"I'm calling her pendant." Lifting up his portable communication device, resembling a pink cell phone, he dialed a few numbers and held it up to his ear. After waiting a few minutes, he closed it,

"No good." Masaya looked down worriedly to the city below before saying,

"I'm going after her."

---

Something's wrong.

It was the first thing Mika thought as she got up from her position on the ground.

I can feel it.

She stared fixedly into the woods ahead.

Something just isn't right.

Her eyes widening a bit, she thought aloud,

"It must be Kish. I deserted him like that."

She steadied herself as she yelled,

"I wish I was at Kish's location!"

---

Kisshu once again, tried to stand, but to no luck. He groaned in pain and slumped back onto the tree he was propped up against.

"This is hopeless…" he muttered to himself. This time, he tried teleporting. That was even worse.

"Arg!" he cried out in pain. He gritted his teeth and clenched his back. The blood began to flow once again, his ivory skin already crusted with the scarlet liquid.

There has to be some way out of here, some kind of source…

"Kisshu-kun!"

He flinched at the approaching voice,

'Anything but her, anything…'

"What happened to you?! That's quite the mess on your back!"

Anything…

"Kisshu! Kisshu!"

Her voice became more and more indistinct as he began to shut his eyes wearily,

"Kisshu, don't you dare pass out on…"

Blackness.

---

"Aha-ha! Perfection!" Kate said, laughing manically.

Kate and Liz had just finished 'arranging' Pai and Taruto.

"It's not THAT funny... but I have to admit... They do look pretty stupid." Liz said, laughing a little herself.

Re raised her eyebrows,

"Yeah, and its going to hurt pretty bad when they hit the ground."

Pai, frozen, was clinging to an also frozen Taruto's waist, and they were poised to fall off the building when Liz chose to unfreeze time.

"They'll probably teleport when the come to reality." Liz mumbled, looking down at the bustling city.

Kate smirked devilishly,

"He he, when they 'come to reality' , they'll already be alien pancakes." Liz rolled her eyes,

"And you asked Tart if HE enjoyed other people's pain."

Re began jumping up and down excitedly,

"Anyway, can we unfreeze time now? Can we? Can we? Can we?" Liz let out a small sigh before muttering,

"I wish the time around Pai and Tart would unfreeze." And down went the two aliens, plummeting to certain hurt.

Suddenly, there was a scream.

Liz, Re, and Kate ran to the edge and looked down.

No aliens, just some frightened faced civilians staring up at the three.

Kate backed up,

"Lizzy... I think we should leave now...."

"Yeah, probably..." Liz replied, and she and Re began speed walking towards the hatch that led down into the building.

Kate followed, but not for long.

"RYOU-KUN!"

The other two looked Kate's way to see her now hugging a very unhappy Ryou.

"Kate! C'mon!"

"B-But, It's my Ryou-kun!" Kate said, sticking out her lower lip.

"Excuse me? Who are you?" Ryou called.

Kate let go and looked down,

"Ryou-kun... don't you remember me?" Ryou paused before saying,

"Are you that crazy 'author' from in the white space?"

"SO YOU DO REMEMBER ME! I KNEW YOU WOULD RYOU-KUN!" Kate said, resuming her hugging.

"Kate! Let go of the poor man and come on!" Liz said, slipping her legs in the hatch.

Ryou rolled his eyes,

"Yes, do that."

"B-B-But-"

"Kate! NOW!" Re said,

"Can't he come with us? PLEASE?!"

Liz looked at Ryou,

"Your choice."

Ryou looked to the Mews, still battling back the now-abandoned chimera animal,

"Girls! Do you think you can handle the chimera animal while I search for Ichigo?!" A few yells echoed back to him,

"Sure!"

"We're fine!"

"No problem-o, na do da!"

Ryou looked towards the girls standing next to him,

"I assume that's your motive?"

"This bus heads away from here, and to Ichigo."

"Right."

Kate released Ryou and he stood up and brushed himself off,

"Let's get going."

---

Ichigo dashed through the woods, top-speed. She was sure of it, she had to be close. The trees were finally beginning to disperse.

Slowing her pace, she came to the edge of the forest to stop dead in her tracks.

"Wh-where am…I?"

She stood on the side of a two-lane road she didn't recognize, prim office buildings lining the street. Once in a while, a car would pass, but the street was practically deserted. Overall, the entire place was totally unfamiliar to her.

"I'm…lost?"

---