Set just after the previous story, at this time, Ichigo should've just found Mint. Zakuro has not yet encountered anything that bad about her powers, and no one has figured out about the Mew Mew's yet.
One clear and warm day,two women were walking absent-mindedly through the park, just talking among themselves. The sun was shining bright through the trees, and a soft wind was blowing. One of the women adjusted her bag's strap, and she shrugged. "I don't know, I guess I might go." She commented, playing with her hair.
The other woman chuckled, and she crossed her arms. "You'll have to go on a diet." She reminded her, both of them laughing at that.
A hard wind blew, making the women stop. They both shivered, and the first woman rubbed at her arms. "Man, it's cold! I wonder-" She started to say, stopping as she heard something walk up behind them. The women stood there for a second, both of them too afraid to turn around. However, their curiosity got the better of them.
The women turned around, and they saw a giant dog. It looked just like a Labrador, but much larger. It had a big jewel in the middle of its forehead, and its eyes were glowing red. It growled at them, and took another step forward. The women gasped, and they both started to run off. The dog chased after them, an odd pleasure in its eyes. As they were running, one of the women tripped. She fell down, and the other women stopped to run back for her. She grabbed her hand, and pulled her up. Just as the dog was about to leap on them, something hit the dog. The dog was thrown back, and the women ran off. The dog growled, and it looked up. Standing in a tree, was Zakuro, transformed into her other form. She had her weapon out, and she pulled the whip back to her. "You should pick on people your own size, puppy." She stated, pushing her hair over her shoulder. The dog snarled, and it jumped towards her. Zakuro jumped out-of-the-way, landing on the dog's back. She held her weapon up, pointing it towards the dog. "Ribbon Zakuros Pure!" She shouted, the whip wrapping around the dog's neck. A bright light shined, as the whip got tighter and tighter. The light disappeared, and there was a small ghostly shape floating there. It was right above a little Labrador, which looked extremely confused. The ghost flew away, and the dog ran away barking. Zakuro changed back to normal, and she straightened her sleeves. "People need to take care of their pets..." She muttered, looking down at her watch. She grunted, and started to run off. She was late again, as she had been for the past few days. It was kind of annoying, but at least people were safe. She hadn't been seeking out this monsters, but they kept finding her. Zakuro was wondering what was going on, but figured that it didn't really matter. She was doing fine, and it wasn't like there was anything she couldn't handle.
Zakuro was working as usual that afternoon, while all her classmates were on a trip. She didn't mind that, it wasn't like she hadn't expected all this. She almost never got to go on school trips, and she did have school to do. Zakuro was at an interview, promoting her upcoming concert. It was going well, she thought. Still, she knew how fast things could go wrong. "So, Fujiwara-san, I heard that you're planning to go on tour this year after your concert?" The interviewer asked, as he sat across from Zakuro.
Zakuro smiled, and she shrugged. "If all goes well, and I manage to keep my fans." She commented, leaning back in her chair.
The interviewer laughed, and he nodded. "Sure, Fujiwara-san, you're at the height of your popularity! What could possibly happen?" He questioned, leaning onto his knees.
Zakuro paused for a moment, remembering about her new powers. Zakuro chuckled, and she smirked. "Almost anything, actually." She said, hesitantly.
The interviewer looked up at the clock, and he got up from his chair. "We'll be back in fifteen minutes, with more news about Zakuro's upcoming concert." He told the audience, as he waved to the cameras.
Zakuro waved slowly, a bit nervous about what could happen. "And...cut!" The director called, walking out from behind a set. Zakuro got up, and she brushed her hair over her shoulder. "Great job, Fujiwara-san! Thanks for being on our show!" He thanked her, shaking her hand as she extended it.
Zakuro shook her head, and she smoothed her shirt out. "No, thank you. I know it's a lot of trouble to fit me in, and I thank you for the opportunity." She asserted, bowing low.
The director and the interviewer laughed loudly, and they both walked off. Zakuro sighed, and she walked off towards her dressing room. She was so exhausted, she had been using her powers a lot lately. She was always rushing from one job to another, and she was barely on time for those. This transforming thing was tiring, and it didn't seem to be getting any better.
As Zakuro walked into her dressing room, she felt as if she was about to fall asleep right now. She shut the door behind herself, and walked over to the mirror. She had fifteen minutes to herself, and she had to get tidied up again. It wasn't as if she had been doing anything major, but she always had to tidy up after an interview. Zakuro started to brush her hair, and she stared at herself in the mirror. It was hard to believe she had magical powers, even while she was fighting. It felt like it was just another role, and she had a hard time believing she was actually awake. Zakuro yawned, and she rested her head against her hand. "I'm so tired..." She muttered, beginning to doze off.
Zakuro moaned, and her head dipped down. She fell asleep, her free hand falling down beside her. Zakuro was falling deep asleep, when she heard a faint knocking. Zakuro opened her eyes slowly, and she looked up. She looked around, and swallowed. There was a loud slam at the door, surprising Zakuro. She fell out of her chair, hitting her foot on the vanity desk as she did. Zakuro shouted, and she pulled her foot closer to herself. There was another knock, and the doorknob rattled. "Fujiwara-chan, are you okay?" Someone asked, pushing on the door.
Zakuro pushed herself up, and she rubbed at the back of her head. She turned around to walk towards the door, and paused for a moment. She looked back at the mirror, and saw that she had suddenly grown ears. Zakuro stepped closer to the mirror, and she touched the ears gingerly. They drew back at her touch, and Zakuro gasped. She had been falling asleep a lot recently, and been surprised almost as often. She hadn't had ears pop out before, at least, as far-back as she remembered. "Fujiwara-chan!" The person called again, pushing harder on the door.
Zakuro grunted, and she turned towards the door. "Uh, I'm fine! I'll be out in a second!" She shouted, rubbing at her ears. She sighed, and tried to figure out what to do. Maybe this was like the transforming thing, and she could just change back to normal. Zakuro touched her ears again, and she felt something touching her head. Zakuro lowered her hand, and she swallowed. She looked behind herself, and saw a little tail slowly wagging behind herself. Zakuro bit her lip, and she sat back down in her chair. "Great, that's exactly what I need." She mumbled, running her fingers through her hair.
Zakuro tried to think of what to do, since she had to go on in a matter of seconds. She could always wear a hat, but how would she hide a tail? Zakuro took a deep breath, and the ears and the tail disappeared. She looked behind herself again, and she raised an eyebrow. What was going on, she certainly didn't expect to be turning into an animal. Zakuro got up from her chair, and she walked over to the mirror. She spun around, and saw that she had gone back to normal. Zakuro ran over to the mirror, and she fixed her hair. She fixed her make-up, and went over to the door. She opened it up, and ran out of the door. "Sorry that I took so long, but I had to fix my make-up!" She apologized, running over to the set.
The interviewer chuckled, and he patted Zakuro on the shoulder. "That's all right, we're not on for five more minutes." He told her, walking away from her. Zakuro stared off into space, a bit annoyed by herself for being so worried.
Five minutes later, Zakuro was in the middle of her interview. Farther away, in a very pink cafe, two men were sitting and watching her interview. One of the men, with a long brown ponytail and wearing a waiter's uniform, was serving tea. The other man was wearing casual clothes, and he looked very pleased. "She's going through her powers a lot faster than I figured, she's incredibly strong." He commented, putting his feet up on a table.
The first man shrugged, and he sat down at the table. "We'll have to keep an eye on her, I don't think Momomiya-chan and Aizawa-chan are ready for this kind of teammate yet." He asserted, taking a drink from a teacup.
The second man chuckled, and he pushed on his shoulder. "Yeah, well, I'll deal with it. I'm sure that I can take care of her, I have a way with our ladies." He stated, picking up a teacup.
The first man paused for a moment, and he leaned his head against his hand. "She looks lonely..." He muttered, staring absent-mindedly at the T.V.
The second man shrugged, and he leaned back in his chair. "She looks powerful, does it really matter if she is?" He questioned, stretching his legs out. The first man got up, and he walked into the kitchen. The second man clicked the T.V. off, as he got up from the table. He sighed, and looked towards the kitchen. "...Keichiro, she'll be fine!" He assured him, walking off into the kitchen.
After Zakuro had finished her interview, she hung around for a bit longer. It was a lonely walk back home, and she hated it. Sitting in her dressing room, she stared at herself and wondered what was happening to her. Nothing was making sense anymore, not even the usual things. She was fighting strange creatures, her sleeping schedule was all out of whack and she felt so strange. Somehow, it felt a bit lonely now. She hadn't felt lonely since she started to transform, and now she thought that she was just a freak. Zakuro sighed, and she pushed herself up from her chair. She walked out of her dressing room, as the crew were putting the set away. It might be nice if she could just be back to normal, she was so tired of being weird. "Out of the way, everybody!" A crewman called, unheard by Zakuro.
Zakuro rubbed at her nose, and she continued walking. A crewman carrying a large pole was walking through, not noticing Zakuro coming through. Zakuro looked up, just in time to see the crewman. She grunted, and moved of the way. She began to back up, as the crewman passed through. Zakuro felt her foot slip, and she began to fall down a staircase that led to a storage room. Zakuro gasped, and she shut her eyes. How worse could her day get? She hit the stairs, but didn't fall down the steps. She groaned, and pushed herself up. She looked around, and saw people staring down at her. "I thought I saw someone fall down these steps, but it's just a dog." A man said, walking away from the stairs.
Zakuro walked up the steps, finding that things were a lot higher than they were before. She looked up at a girl, who smiled at her. "It's cute, who does it belong to?" She asked, bending down and patting Zakuro on the head.
Zakuro backed up, and she tried to figure out what was going on. She looked down at herself, and saw paws. She sat down, and looked behind herself. There was a wagging tail behind her, and she saw fur. Zakuro looked up at the people, and she swallowed. "H-Hey, what's going on?" She muttered, not sure what was going on anymore. All she heard was a yelp, but she knew it was her who had been talking. What could've been happening? Had she turned into a dog? Was she getting more and more powers? What was going on?!