"Ready or not here I come!"

The little blonde girl tore through the playground of the daycare, crawling through jungle gyms and treehouses in search of her schoolmates. With every step she took, her pout grew deeper- they had really hidden well this time! She pulled her tiny body up into the tallest treehouse in the yard, smiling wide at the shiver of adrenaline she felt from the height.

And that's when she heard it- the shuffling in the corner.

"I know someone's in here!", she called, pushing a few golden locks out of her face, "I'm gonna get youuu!"

Pulling away a few toys, the little girl's big, green eyes landed on a boy. She had seen him before, his dark green hair was hard to forget, but never before had she seen him like this.

"What's wrong?", she frowned, dropping to her knees in front of the boy.

He sniffed and turned his head away, still refusing to let the girl see him cry. Afterall, if he couldn't see her then she couldn't see him.

"Go away", he growled.

The little girl blinked in surprise, she had only been trying to help, he didn't have to be so mean.

"That's not very nice", she raised a hand and poked the boy, "I was just trying to make you feel better."

The boy squirmed away from her finger and raised his knees to his chin, face still turned away.

"That's impossible! Everything's ruined now!"

"What are you talki-"

"Just leave me alone!"

At last the boy turned his gaze onto the girls face, his eyes pooling like molten gold beneath the tears. The girl sat in shock, falling back from her knees into a cross-legged position.

"Wow..."

"What? Why aren't you running? I don't look like you!"

But all the little girl could do was blink as she slowly shook her head.

"You have really pretty eyes", she whispered once words had found their way back to her.

Anger melted away from the little boy's features as he stared back at the odd girl. So much had been asked of the child in such a short amount of time- forced into an entirely different world, only to be run away from by all its inhabitants.

"Boys can't be pretty", he frowned.

The little girl giggled, "Not like that, silly. Your eyes are like gold! I wish mine were that pretty..."

"They are- wait- no! I-I mean...t-thanks."

More laughter erupted from the girl as she watched him fumble for the right words. A pink tinge crossed his features when he realized what he had said. Girls were gross!

"Do you wanna be friends?", she asked, holding out a hand, "My name's Tori!"

The boy stared oddly down at her hand, before finally taking it.

"I'm Kisshu."

More giggling, "That's a funny name."

"Is not!"

"Is too! I can hardly even say it", the girl giggled some more.

Anger flared up in the boy once more, but not like before.

"Well yours is even weirder!", he countered, "What kind of name is Tori?"

But his insults didn't affect her, just rolled off of her like she was immune.

She simply smiled, "It's my kind of name!"

Her smile was infectious, and Kisshu couldn't fight the budding grin on his own face.

"You have eyes like a kitty", he suddenly said, "like a koneko!"

Tori's nose wrinkled in confusion, "What's a koneko?"

"It means kitty!"

"Well it sounds even weirder than Tori!"

Kisshu grinned, "I don't care, that's what I'm calling you. You're my koneko-chan."

Tori laughed, standing with the boy, "You're so weird. I like it! Now come on, you can help me find the others before they get to base!"

The two left the tree house, laughing as they chased after the other children in the yard. Tori had gone back to school the next day, waiting for her golden-eyed friend, but the boy never came back. It was the first and last day she had ever seen him.

And somewhere in the stars, a certain golden-eyed alien jolted awake from his memory-filled dream.

A tall, young man looked at the pictures of the girls before him, all so young... too young.

"It was a simple mistake", his dark haired counterpart reasoned, "and a valid theory. Perhaps the DNA did mix better with younger genes...they were just too young."

Ryou ran a hand through his hair, frustrated with his mistake. It had been years since his first experience behind the battle line, throwing orders and uncovering data. But all of that came with an added job: babysitting. Ichigo, Mint, Pudding, Lettuce, even Zakuro- they were all so young. He had to baby them, to look after them.

"They have matured", Keiichiro continued, placing a cup of tea on the table they shared, "they might have been okay to handle this."

"Three years is not enough", Ryou shook his head, "No...its better this way."

This way. Ryou had done many things in his life that he held as regrets, and he dearly hoped that this was not one of them. He had discovered a way to separate the DNA, to return the girls back to normal.

And so he did.

Not without a fight, as you can imagine. After years with the uncanny abilities to hear things from miles away and to perform acrobatics that could make gymnasts green with envy, the girls weren't exactly fond of giving up their powers. But, for the first time in their teenaged lives, they deserved some normalcy.

And so Ryou packed up and left.

Quite literally packed up all of his belongings, tore down the machinery, and left the country.

"What's going on in that head of yours now?", Keiichiro asked slyly.

Ryou gazed out at the Beverly Hills expanse and grinned.

"Time to start over."