elavyeth: This chapter is a bit empty of contence, it's more of an inicial push to the story. I promise I'll give more spicey stuff on the next chapters, lol. It's just university is keeping me very busy lately. But I'll make my best to update again this very weekend.

Note: I noticed I used the name 'Kishu' (instead of the original Kisshu) on the first chapter, so I'm gonna leave it that way 'till the end of the story. No hard feelings, I hope. :P

Do not own TMM!

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Part One – (A)normality

It was early in the morning when Ichigo left the house and headed to the café. Summer vacations were supposed to be a time of relaxation and enjoyment, but she had gotten used to this kind of life. Actually, she was beginning to prefer being with her closest friends on a daily basis. The fact that Masaya was attending Summer University didn't help much. Being alone most of the time was overwhelming for Ichigo. So she decided the way to keep her mind off of her boyfriend's absence was to hang out with the team. Even if there was no more Mew action, it's was definitely better to get pissed off because of Shirogane and Minto than to be at home all day sighing… alone.

As she walked through the park, the event that occurred the previous night came to her thoughts. She woke up in the middle of the night by someone screaming loudly… Almost fell off the bed because of that. And then through the curtains she saw a brief bluish lightening bolt or something like that. She expected to hear a thunder but there wasn't any, so she got out of bed and opened the window. No storm outside… Weird.

Also it was hard not to think about it, because the rumor told that it happened in that same park.

Ichigo stopped and looked around. It all seemed quite normal. No one would say there was some sort of huge explosion in there. And the birds were chirping happily again. The only thing unusual was the number of people that were walking around with pure morbid curiosity. She could hear some mention a dead body of a woman, who was positively raped and murdered, buried somewhere in the park. Ichigo looked rather nauseous. "Some people are sick…"

Looking at the time, she rushed her pace. It was a good day to make it to work on time, because for some reason Shirogane decided to close the café during the afternoon and give the team some time off. So she had to make the best of the morning.

She found the doors wide open when she arrived at the front of the café. Akasaka-san had just stepped outside holding the 'closed' sign-board. When he saw Ichigo, he waved at her.

"Good morning, Ichigo-san!" He said in a very polished and amiable voice. Even for him, such a tone was exaggerated… "Hi! Erm… Weren't we going to close only in the afternoon?" She tried hard to see if she had missed something of the conversation they had the day before. 'Shirogane said we were having the afternoon off, nothing else I think… I started planning a date with Masaya… Then I called him… Then I tripped and fell on Pudding… Nope, nothing new.'

Akasaka-san scratched his head and smiled uncomfortable. "Ah… Ha ha… Well, yes we are going to work only in the morning."

Ichigo looked confused. "Then… Why are you placing that outside now?"

"Er… You'll find out why in a bit. Go inside now, Ryo is waiting for you." And with this he left to the backyard, avoiding the subject.

'This is fishy.' Ichigo thought. 'And so early in the morning too… Nyaa! If I knew, I would have stayed in bed!'

Still grumbling, Ichigo entered the café to see it empty. No girls, no Shirogane… not a soul.

"I thought Akasaka said he was waiting inside. Wait… He meant inside like… inside-inside?" She dropped her purse on a table and went downstairs. What would they be doing in the basement? After a bit she could hear agitated voices coming from the hideout. She finally got in. "Good morn-… Hey?!" She couldn't finish her sentence. Minto and Purin jumped and grabbed her, trying to lift her skirt. "What on earth are you trying to do?! Let go of me!" Her face turned completely red and it didn't help the fact that Shirogane was staring at her with keen interest.

"Ichigo! Stop fighting back, we need to confirm something important!" Minto got a good grip on her; but she wouldn't stay still long enough to see anything.

"And just what's there under my skirt that's so damn important?! Hentai!"

A vein popped up on Minto's forehead with the insult and she grabbed her even tighter.

"We want to see if Ichigo no onee-chan has the Mew mark, na no da!" Purin said smiling, now holding both Ichigo's legs.

"Aaahh moooooooooh!!" With a cat like jump she managed to get herself free, not without falling on her back because of the slippery floor. So much for cats always landing on their feet… Still blushing like there was no tomorrow, and cuddling her butt in pain, Ichigo huffed at them. "You could have asked me to check it myself! Ow…"

"We could have. But then you'd just ask why and blah blah blah and it would take a lot of time, 'cause you're too stubborn." Shirogane sneared.

"Well good morning to you too, miss congeniality…" Ichigo quickly turned around and after guaranteeing that no one could see, she lifted her skirt. And there it was! In the inner side of her thigh, the mark appeared again… What could that mean? She was afraid to even ask.

"Well?" Shirogane inquired. Everyone was staring at her with curiosity in absolute silence. Shirogane sighed. "From the dumb look on your face, I deduce that it has also appeared on you."

Ichigo fumed. "Why you little…"

"But that is a mere incident." Shirogane interrupted. "Possibly with some connection with the reason I called this meeting."

"There's something else that explains this?" Zakuro asked.

Shirogane talked while walking up to the big screen and turning on the computer. "Like I said, it's possible. Almost certain in fact."

Everyone got closer to him in a trance. Then the graphics and figures emerged on the screen. Ichigo remembered them from when they used to trace mew aqua back in those days.

Shirogane sat down and turned to face them. "Do any of you know of a strange thing that happened last night?"

Purin raised her hand almost instantly. "Hai, na no da! I saw a very pretty blue light that came into my room, na no da!"

"Yes, I saw it too..." Retasu confirmed. "I woke up and went to the kitchen to drink some water… And it scared me!..."

The other girls confirmed it too.

Shirogane smiled, clearly pleased with something. Zakuro raised an eyebrow. "You clearly know more about this than we do… Why don't you tell us, instead of keeping suspense?"

He then put on a very serious face, which confused them even more.

"I'm gonna be straight forward and say it. That big explosion you saw was no more and no less than mew aqua."

"What?!" They let out at the same time. Ichigo looked horrified. "A-are you sure?..."

"Positive." Shirogane confirmed. "The response was captured by the computer precisely. And your Mew marks are back on their original places. So there's no doubt about it."

This was too much for Ichigo, for a number of reasons she liked to keep for herself. Anger was growing inside her. "And why did you look so damn pleased a moment ago?!"

That sentence came out too fierce. Everyone was surprised at her reaction.

Retasu put her hand on her showlder. "Calm down, Ichigo-san… I know it's overwhelming, but it was not Shirogane-san's fault…"

But Ichigo wasn't convinced. This was not good at all… It was ominous. Four years had passed since they were in peace and leading a normal life and she wanted to stay that way. But then mew aqua appears… and of course it means something more then just that!

Shirogane stood up and broke her thoughts. "Sorry to burst your bubble, ladies, but the free afternoon will have to be canceled."

Ichigo was shocked. "What do you mean… canceled? I have a date…"

"Well you can't go. We need to search for the mew aqua."

That was it for her. "I haven't been with Masaya for a whole month! You're telling me that I can't be with him in the day he finally comes back?! And you made me come here at this hour to look for a crystal?? Screw you!!" She turned around and ran out the door and upstairs.

Akasaka-san was coming down and bumped against her. "Ah! Forgive me… Hey! Where are you going? Ichigo-san!" He went up again and called her from the front door, but she was already out of sight. He sighed and went back downstairs. 'I had a feeling about this…'

Part two – Long Story

Pai was sitting right next to Kishu's bed.

He was a mess and sleeping soundly… His chest completely covered with bandages that the doctor would change every two hours to avoid infections.

Taruto came to visit him twice, but seeing that he was still asleep he decided to come back later.

It was very quiet in the room. Pai could almost hear his thoughts… although he preferred to hear Kishu babbling his usual nonsense… How could something like this be possible?

And there it was that little gemstone. Resting gently on his chest as if nothing had happened. Pai hadn't had the opportunity to examine it… And for some reason he couldn't remove it from the silver chain.

He was reaching for it again, when Kishu moaned in pain. Pai immediately pulled his hand back.

"Kishu? Are you awake?"

He turned his head and slowly opened his eyes. "W-where… am I…"

Pai helped him sit on the bed. "You're in the infirmary. Try not to move too much, you are burned on the chest."

Kishu looked at himself in confusion, but then it all started to come back to him. He grabbed the amulet hanging from his neck and stared at it in silence. A very sad silence…

"Where did you get that, Kishu?"

The green alien leaned his head against the wall and closed his eyes. "Someone gave it to me years ago." He said in a low voice. "It's a really long story…"