I want to say thank-you to the kind readers who, if I'm reading into messages I've received correctly, really love my work and enjoy reading it. :] I was selfish enough to save them so I could read over them at later times to relive the fun butterflies of happiness I get reading them. It means a lot to know you guys like my work, so I also want to say real quick, if you would ever like me to read yours, it would be an honor to read what my reviewers have written, just let me know! Also, you must all come to recognize that I wanted this to be longer, but if I kept going and ended where I wanted to, we might be looking at 6,000 words, and I wanted you to be able to read this in one sitting. Recap: Lettuce is alive, don't panic! But no one is really aware of this. And the Chimera is a jerk.

Begin.

"LET ME OUT!" Ichigo banged angrily against the door. "You kidnapped my best friend, threatened me and my team, and now you've killed Lettuce and are going to hurt everyone else! I demand to be let out this instant!"

On the other side of the doorway, Taruto made faces at the confined prisoner, his childish face already back to its petulant and impish self, seemingly having forgotten the terrors it had witnessed moments before. "What's the matter witch? Don't you like your room?"

A loud bang to the lower left told Taruto Ichigo had kicked at the doorway in frustration. "Taruto! When I get out of here, I'm going to tie your snotty little ears over that whiny mouth of yours!"

"Ha!" Taruto made of point of looking arrogantly down at the door before him. "Stupid hag, you're never getting outta there! Once we take over Tokyo, and get rid of the rest of those mew brats, we'll come back and deal with you! Face it, you and your friends lost."

Perhaps under normal circumstances Ichigo would have considered the words, maybe even have felt twinges of apprehension. After all, despite her hot headedness, she was rational enough to recognize a desperate situation. And this was a desperate situation, despairingly so.

Ichigo had helplessly watched in blind anger as Pai had approached Lettuce and teleported away so her best friend could begin 'the next phase'. Actually, no, according to Lettuce, her best friend didn't exist anymore. According to Pai, his Chimera had done away with Lettuce. It had eaten her soul. Ichigo still couldn't believe it, but how could it be otherwise? In the midst of this gut retching turmoil, Kisshu had suddenly grabbed her before she realized what was happening. Without so much as a 'by your leave', the mew leader rippled out of existence and rematerialized within a small and dank grey room (there was no way she could know that it was here Lettuce had first been placed as well). She was left with only three real thoughts. Her best friend was gone. By all appearances the aliens had won.

And she was mad. Really, really mad.

Thus, Taruto's words were nothing but annoying buzz in her ears, a noise she was determined to drown out. And speaking of such things, the little prate was gibbering off again. Apparently she hadn't answered soon enough and he found it was necessary to fill the fuming silence with his own crude speech. "What's this? Giving up completely now? Whatta wimp! You gonna break down and cry, hag?"

Two things happened at once; a loud, furious bang echoed as Ichigo beat once more at the door. And Taruto, who had leaned against the door to see if he could hear her sobs, was sent sprawling into the wall. There was a brief, charged pause that Taruto used to stand and rub his head, only to throw is hands over his ears as a blaring scream ensued from the inside of Ichigo's cell. "LIKE HECK I'M GIVING UP!" She began pounding on the door incessantly, not to be let out, but simply to vent her frustrations on something. "WHEN I GET OUT OF HERE YOU LITTLE BRAT I'M GOING TO RIP THAT SMART ALEC MOUTH RIGHT OFF YOUR FACE! YOU THNK YOU'VE COWED ME YOU LITTLE PUNK? GET IN HERE AND SEE HOW COWED I AM! IT'S NO WONDER NOBODY TAKES A MIDGET LIKE YOU SERIOUSLY, YOU WEAKLING, YOU COWARD!" The rant went on longer, but Taruto was beginning to feel the forceful sting of her words and decided to retreat to Kish.

Right where the youngest Cyniclon predicted, Kish was inside the room looking through the cameras to Ichigo's cell. Taruto's eyes widened as he took in Ichigo's still ranting form and the remarkable amount of dents that she'd made against the door. "Man, the bookworm was a lot easier to deal with." Realizing this statement could almost be taken as something to be awed about, he quickly added, "And she didn't scream like a dying pig either!"

Kish looked at him with a raised eyebrow at the observation. Under normal circumstances, he would have probably become angry, even aggressive towards such remarks made at his kitten. But he knew why Taruto was making them. He hadn't liked what had transpired back at the lab, and mocking Ichigo was a good way to help forget what he had witnessed. Of course, there were other ways to help remedy the situation as well, and Kish wasn't about to leave such an easy opening untouched.

He looked back to the captive mew, his signature smirk rising to his face. "I bet those other mews are completely oblivious to their friends' peril. Personally, I hope they figure it out soon."

Tart, true to his nature, immediately grasped at the bait dangled in front of him. "Huh? What do you mean? Why would we want them to know?"

Kish shrugged, his eyes slyly looking towards the smaller figure. "Well, they'd be totally distraught, completely unable to do anything to help their friends, their people. They'd probably just break down crying…" The glint in his eyes should have been noticed by Taruto.

Unfortunately, he had already fallen into the trap. "Crying?" Taruto's eyes widened in realization. "Yeah… yeah! They're so helpless right now, and weak, their probably running around stupidly not knowing what do to!"

Kish sighed, his tone bored and relaxed. "Especially that monkey one, isn't she good friends with Ichigo and Lettuce?"

"Kish, I just remembered… uh, I think my frog got away in the last battle, and we'll probably need him again. So, I'll be right back…" But he had already disappeared, earnestly searching for the distraught monkey mew.

Kisshu lowered his head so that all but his fanged smile was hid in shadow.

Xxx

"Let. Me. OUT!" Ichigo banged futilely on the door, the vast storm of anger she had earlier felt within her practically drained to nothing after such an explosion of physical release. What can I do now? She banged half-heartedly against the door, choosing to conserve her voice for future verbal onslaught. What good am I as a superhero if I can't even protect my own teammates? For about the fifth time she reached into her pocket to grasp the pendant that wasn't there. Some part of her had still hoped the aliens would be stupid enough to forget about it, but, along with her cell phone, it had disappeared. Useless, useless, absolutely useless to everyone! She gritted her teeth and turned back to the door, pounding with renewed vigor. "I know you jerks can hear me! I won't say it again!" She missed the tell tale ripple behind her. "Let me out!"

Strong hands gripped her shoulders and spun her around to face Kisshu. The look on his face made her heart leap without consent. Her voice, however, was not affected and came out in a rather vicious hiss. "Kish!" She raised her hand in anger, apparently about to slap him, but whatever she had planned, Ichigo didn't get the chance. He swiftly shoved her back until she hit the door, throwing off her attempt. When she went to try and repeat the last gesture, his hand shot out and grabbed her wrist, pinning it above her head. His other hand wrapped itself possessively around her waist, and before she could even comprehend his intentions Kisshu was suddenly kissing her.

It wasn't like the other kisses he had stolen from her. It wasn't quick and soft and sweet. It was long, passionate and rough. Like a dying man drinking from the well of life. For a few brief seconds, Ichigo forgot what it meant to be the Cyniclon's enemy, what it meant to be a Mew Mew. Suddenly all that mattered was the way Kisshu was making her feel. The intense need that seemed to fill her, making her long for the kiss.

Obviously she did something that brought this to Kish's attention, because he suddenly dropped her captive arm and let go of her waist to dig his long fingers into her red tresses. His body pressed against hers, making it hard to get away even if she had been aware of doing so. Ichigo's arms acted without her knowledge and suddenly she had wrapped her arms forcefully around his neck, securing Kish from being able to move away from the kiss. Kisshu, unable to keep self-satisfaction from rising up victoriously, chuckled as he drank more of her in.

And hearing that familiar, egotistic chuckle, is what finally broke the spell Ichigo was bound in.

Oh my gosh, did I just? Did I just…? She quickly removed her hands from around his neck as if she had been burned. Even worse, every fiber in her physical body was still happily excepting the shivers that had begun to tingle playfully down her spine to her toes. No! No no NO! Anger came back into her eyes as she shoved him away, face flaming. "You pervert!" She took a swipe at him, like an agitated cat. "You, you, you…!"

The slight hurt expression in his eyes did not go unnoticed to her, but she didn't care enough to make something of it, and in a moment it had been replaced by his sly, coy grin. "Pervert? Kitten, I'm not the one who asked for more." He licked his lips slowly, like savoring a particularly exquisite dessert. "But I'd be happy to supply as much as you'd like, no charge."

"I don't want anything from you!" She shouted angrily, her cat ears popping out from the mixed defensive and embarrassed instincts.

Kish laughed loudly, like he heard a great joke. "'Course not Ichigo." His glowing golden eyes penetrated her slightly scared brown ones. "'Course not."

And Ichigo, not liking the direction of this conversation, immediately changed tactics. "How can you laugh like that? How can you act like nothing's wrong? Your about to murder an entire city, the whole world! And you're laughing?" Ichigo was ashamed to recognize she actually had tears pricking at her eyes. "But heck, what's it matter to some idiot like you? I mean, it's what you Cyniclon's do isn't it? You just toy with people, and people's emotions, until you get bored and then kill them like… like… Lettuce…" She looked down to try and hide her blurring vision.

A firm hand reached out and brushed the tears from the mew leader's face. She looked up to see him coming towards her, his other hand reaching out to cup her wet cheek. Ichigo tried not to let her breathing hitch as he broke through her personal bubble, his face inches from hers. "Ichigo," his voice was light and careless, but something hid cleverly under his suave tone that Ichigo wasn't sure she wanted to identify, "you know that it's different for me. You know how I feel…" He moved in to kiss her again.

But his spell had worn off, and with unhidden disgust Ichigo shoved him away again. "What is wrong with you?" Her clenched fists turned white. "My best friend is… gone, my team needs me, I need to save humanity, and you're sitting here trying to steal kisses?"

The wild glint in his eye had died somewhat, but nevertheless twinkled in his eyes. "Hmm, you do need to help your team, don't you?"

Not exactly expecting this form of response, Ichigo stood incredulously looking at him. "What?"

"Ichigo," he made a move towards her again, but she dodged. He sighed and stopped, giving her his famous crooked smile. "How about we make a deal then?"

She was definitely not expecting that reply. "A-A deal?" Her eyes narrowed in immediate suspicion. "With you?"

He chuckled again and held up his hands. "How about this. I'll send you back home, in exchange for another kiss." He smirked at her furious blush.

"Excuse me?"

"Really, Ichigo, do you have another option?"

"Your lying! You'd never let me leave!" Her mouth started speaking without her consent. "Do you really think that after all this time, chasing me around and messing with me, that now that you have me right where you want me I'm going to believe that you'll just let me go?"

The alien shrugged nonchalantly, "All very true statements, but there's something I'd prefer more." His eyes darkened slightly, that pain earlier displayed flitting back into view. "I promise Ichigo, on my honor as a Cyniclon warrior, that if you do as I ask, I will keep my end of the bargain."

Ichigo continued to glare, beating up the thought that he sounded almost gentlemanly. "I do have a boyfriend, just in case you're forgetting."

"I promise not to tell him our little secret." He said with a rather cynical grin. "Though, if you don't kiss me and don't get out of here, I don't think he'll ever have a chance to find out."

Ichigo sucked in her breath as his words sunk in; if she didn't get back Masaya would be killed just like Lettuce was. She faced him again, her eyes still showing traces of doubt.

"On my honor, Ichigo, I will keep my word."Kish looked her up and down hungrily. "Of course, I wouldn't mind if you'd like to stay-"

"No. I'll," she swallowed, trying to keep the bile of shame from rising in her throat, "I'll do it."

Kish couldn't have looked more pleased with himself. "Then here's what we do." He tentatively walked up to her, not sure if she'd try to attack him or not. "It's not easy to teleport without the teleporteractually teleporting, so while we're doing this, you need to concentrate on where you want to go."

Ichigo tried not to grit her teeth, or allow the butterflies in her stomach to overwhelm her. "Fine."

"So, then," Kisshu came towards her again.

Ichigo quickly brought her hands out and stopped him from coming further. "Wait," He looked at her with one raised eyebrow, eyes slightly narrowed in annoyance. Ichigo swallowed and stared him down. I'm going to regret this. "What did you mean, 'something you'd prefer more'?"

Surprise lit up the teenage Cyniclon's eyes, a desperate longing quickly taking it's place. He stared at Ichigo, his voice coming out surprisingly husky. "For you to want me." And then he pulled her close again to kiss her.

Ichigo realized that, just like the last time, he was not going to hold back. Passion burst inside her to match his ferocity with her own. He hugged her body to his own, and she could feel the heat radiating from him in a most tempting way. One of his hands found hers, and he pressed something into her palm. She found that trying to focus on her destination and not being pulled under by Kish's kisses was a harder task than she had realized. Think of the café… making it back… back to… the café… For one split second, Ichigo forgot again what she was doing, and thought only of satisfying the desperate longing within her.

And in the next moment, the air around her rippled, and she stumbled onto the sidewalk outside the café with a cry. Her body trying to recover from its folly, she glanced down to see what the Cyniclon had given her.

Her mew pendant.

Xxx

Kish sighed to himself when his arms were left encircling only air. If only you knew Ichigo. His body screamed abuse at him for putting it through such feelings. You couldn't passionately kiss someone you're naturally drawn to and then end it abruptly without consequences. He had known that, but, true to his nature, didn't really care, it was worth it. Kish looked at the space in front of him forlornly. If only she knew.

When Ichigo had almost fused with the chimera, something in him had snapped. It wasn't the kind of anger that Pai had displayed when Kish had grabbed his porpoise mew, but the kind where you were thrown into a vortex of despair, and all you knew was you had to do something, anything to save the person you cared about. So, without realizing it, his hold on Ichigo's friend had wavered. And that had been all the help the bookworm had needed. In moments she had done what Kish had only wish he had the guts to do: take the hit meant for the one he cared about. Only later, after they had gotten Ichigo to her cell, had he realized that because of his sudden weakness, he had allowed the boring mew's death. It was better her than Ichigo, but the fact remained that the mew was gone. Dead and gone.

Or maybe not.

Kish was far more adapt at deception than anyone else on his team, let alone the average human. Pai and Taruto could only suspect because they had known him so long. But, just as Kish knew the ways to tell when one was lying, he had seen a lie spoken himself.

The first thing he had noticed was that Lettuce's body was not meant for smirking. Coming off a face he had been so used to seeing stuttering in embarrassment and smiling when she was with Ichigo, the smirk gave off the same reaction one would have if instead Lettuce had suddenly sprouted two black eyes. Even more so, shy bookworm porpoise mews were not supposed to have possessive Kisshu eyes, especially when looking at Pai, even now it sent shudders through his system. But after that initial discomfort wore off, he started paying more attention to what she said. "That past host was so weak, but just strong enough for me to survive the transformation. The previous owner is gone; you'll have no further interference from her."

Lair. He thought with a frown. The gears in his head whirring ever faster. Her eyes had dilated while when she spoke, and she rushed through it, just to get it out of the way. She even looked away briefly in her last sentence; it's all signs of deception! It frustrated the Cyniclon that Pai would have grasped this as well, but unsurprisingly had been too shocked to really know what was being said. Still, he couldn't confront the elder alien on it. Kish had some compassion hiding way down in him, and after all Pai had gone through so far, he deserved a break at least for a little bit from bad news.

At first Kish couldn't grasp why the Chimera would lie, or even need to. But realization dawned when she had tried to attack Ichigo. Kish's eyes narrowed and he clenched his fists at the memory. He should have guessed that the Chimera would try something like that, it's not like Ichigo was out of danger after avoiding being turned into a monster, and she still wasn't safe. But when he realized that the creature couldn't affect those with mutated human DNA, it all fell into place. Now Kisshu's gamble became even riskier, as his victory was in balance with the mews'. But with stakes as high as they were, what chance did those girls have?

A grim smile curled on his face. Well, it wouldn't hurt if I gave a little bit of help. But he would have to wait, he'd probably only have one, maybe two shots at this, and sadly, it all depended on that despairing elder comrade of his. Kish wondered briefly if he should have told Ichigo the truth, but if he had, he doubted it would have done anything more than torment her. No, the truth that the Chimera was trying desperately to hide would come out in its own time.

She didn't get rid of the fish girl, Lettuce is still in there.

O_O Okay, you need to know, I wasn't going to end it here, but you guys have just been so kind about waiting so patiently for my hind end to get in gear that I just decided I should give you what I have down so far. I know it's not fair, because Lettuce and Pai are absent right now, but they'll be up next! Please forgive my rudeness for not making it longer, but I don't want it to be TOO long…

Anyway, would you be willing to let me know what you thought? Were Kish and Ichigo too OOC? I thought I did Tart well, but those two lovebirds worry me…

Till next time, which will be SOONER THAN BEFORE!