Author's note: Okay! Well, here is the chapter that really gets the story rolling! The last one was more of a back-story to show Masaya's newfound love for Haruka... the OC that I might have made a little too perfect. (sweat-drops) I tried not to, I swear!

Also, I realise that the Mew Mews attacks differ between anime and manga, but, after much thought... and a very confused brain... I decided to go with the anime version, but I altered it very slightly to make it sound more Japanese, kay?

Finally, this chapter's title means 'I'm sorry, cat-chan', which I think sounds appropriate for what's going to happen.

Chapter Two: Gomenasai, Neko-chan

The largest and most dangerous-looking Chimera Anima that anyone had ever seen - a thirty-foot, green fire-breathing dragon with burning red eyes - stood before all five Mew Mews, growling and baring its teeth, smoke billowing from its nostrils. The Mew Mews, already transformed, prepared to attack.

Mew Minto, the light blue and dark blue Mew Mew, stepped up, holding her Minto Arrow. "Ribbon..." she said, pulling back her bow and arrow, "Minto Echo!" She let the arrow fly and it struck the dragon, which grunted loudly in pain.

The dragon then reared its head, roared and shot fire from its mouth straight at the Mew Mews. Yelping, they all jumped out the way, rolling back into fighting stances.

Next to step up was Mew Retasu, the darkish green, light green and white Mew Mew, who held up her Retasu-tanets. "Ribbon..." she said, powering up her water attack, "Retasu Rush!"

The water slammed into the dragon, causing it to yelp in pain, actually rearing back a couple of steps. It then roared again before gathering up a huge fireball in its mouth and sending an even bigger flamethrower attack careening towards them. The five Mew Mews only just dodged out the way in time.

Then Mew Zakuro, the purple, brown and white Mew Mew, jumped into action, powering up her Zacross Whip. "Ribbon..." she said, holding her weapon in the air, "Zakuro Spear!" She swung it hard.

The whip slashed across the dragon, which screamed in agony and fell over, writhing on the ground as though it had been tortured.

Mew Purin, the yellow and orange Mew Mew, then somersaulted into position, giggling and pulling apart her tambourine to reveal her Purin Ring. "Ribbon..." she said, back-flipping for dramatic effect, "Purin Ring..." She slammed her weapon into the ground for extra dramatic effect. "Inferno!"

The bright yellow light created by her attack shot towards the dragon and, when it hit, it engulfed the Chimera Anima in a giant yellow flan.

Finally, it was the turn of Mew Ichigo, the light pink, dark pink and black Mew Mew, who attached her Mewberry Rod to her Strawberry Bell before powering up her weapon for the finishing move. "Ribbon Strawberry Surprise!" she called out, blasting the dragon with a powerful light.

It screamed before dissolving into a mass of particles and appearing as a parasite-alien - which was a jellyfish-like alien parasite - and a lizard. Then Masha, the heart-shaped fluff ball robot with wings that was three different shades of pink, flew down and gobbled up the parasite-alien, saying, "Retrieve! Retrieve!" with a happy expression on its face.

Suddenly, a beeping noise sounded, startling sixteen-year-old Momomiya Ichigo out of her sleep. She then glanced over at her alarm clock and saw, much to her chagrin, that it was time to get up for school. She groaned as she turned it off, severely tempted to snuggle back under the covers, then she remembered her dream. She sighed; in all honesty, she really missed being a Mew Mew. She missed pulling out her power pendant... she missed calling out "Mew Mew Strawberry! Metamorpho-sis!"... she missed being scantily-clad in her revealing pink Mew Mew dress... she missed having the ears and tail of a cat... she missed saying her motto, "For the future of the Earth, I will be of service, nya!", before a big battle... she missed fighting Chimera Anima... and she, surprisingly, missed working at Cafe Mew Mew. That was why she was constantly having dreams of such things... they were the good old days. Climbing out of bed, she left her bedroom, headed into the bathroom and closed the door behind her.

After she'd used the toilet, washed her hands, cleansed her face, dried her hands and face on the nearest towel, brushed her teeth and had a drink of water, she opened the bathroom door and headed back to her bedroom. Once closing the door, she changed out of her pink pyjamas, replaced her white underwear with a fresh pair - throwing the old pair into the laundry basket that her mother had placed in her room some time ago, so as to keep her room tidy - pulled on a white bra, grabbed a pair of white ankle socks and, with slight difficulty, pulled them onto her feet, then opened her closet and looked at her school uniforms, which were hanging on a hook.

She smiled; she was now in Toranokokoro High School, so her uniform was much different than the one she used to wear in junior high... and she really liked its new style. Instead of Daiken Junior High's grey uniform with a poufy skirt and a red bow hanging from the collar, this style was exactly like the uniform in one of her favourite animes: Fruits Basket. The winter uniform, which was the one she was going to wear, since it was currently May, consisted of a blue shirt - which was lined with white around the bottom, had long sleeves and three white lines across each cuff, a white collar with two blue lines going across it on either side, a white undershirt attached to the inside with two blues lines going across it and a white scarf hanging from the collar with two blues lines going across the bottom of it - and a blue skirt... and the whole uniform hugged her frame quite nicely. Not only that, but the skirt only reached about a third of the way to her knees. She enjoyed this fact, because it allowed her to dress as attractively as possible for her beloved Masaya every day.

Taking it off its hook, she proceeded to put it on, humming as she did so. She really did look good in this uniform, she had to say; it really brought out her dark red hair and reddish-brown eyes. She turned around and quickly checked in the mirror that everything was in order, turning left, turning right and brushing away imaginary dust.

Sighing happily, she grabbed her brush and slid it through her hair, which, one couldn't help but notice, was considerably longer than it had been three years ago; it now went past her shoulders and touched her shoulder blades... although her fringe looked exactly the same as it had always done, simply because she liked it like that. She continued her humming as she brushed away, thinking of all the times that Masaya had complimented her, both for how she looked in her uniform and how nice her hair looked at its current length.

Finally content with the smoothness of her hair, she put her brush back down and pulled open her top draw, which was full of different-coloured ribbons suited for different outfits. Grabbing the blue ribbon that perfectly matched her uniform, she pulled it out before closing the drawer again. She then proceeded to tie her hair up with the ribbon into the single high ponytail that she now wore it in.

Once she was done, she looked herself over, giving her hair a smoothing down with her hand, and grinned; she looked perfect. Walking to her bedroom door, she opened it and walked downstairs for breakfast, which her nostrils told her, to her delight, was her favourite, pancakes with maple syrup. She smiled again; today was going to be a great day.

As Ichigo neared the school, clip-up leather briefcase in hand, she spotted her boyfriend standing outside, holding his own briefcase and wearing his own gorgeous Fruits Basket-style school uniform: a black shirt - which had long sleeves and was lined with white around the bottom, the collar and the cuffs - black pants and a white tie. Grinning, she sped up until she reached a running pace, excitement and happiness pumping through her veins. She couldn't help it; whenever she caught sight of Masaya, her heart would pound against her ribcage and force her forwards in a desperate attempt to be by his side.

"Masaya-kun!" she called out and felt herself glow inside from saying it.

In Japan, if you called someone by their first name, plus added a friendly honorific to it, it meant that you were very close to that person... and Ichigo always felt so incredibly happy that she was close enough to Masaya to be able to call him that. Two years ago, he'd officially given her permission to and, on that day, she'd been the happiest girl alive.

He turned to look at her as she slowed to a stop in front of him. "Morning, Ichigo-chan," he replied.

Her bright smile faded slightly, despite the friendly honorific that usually made her happy enough to squeal inside; she couldn't help but notice that his smile was much less... natural than usual. Normally, it was the easiest thing in the world for him to smile... and that smile would always be so bright and cheerful that it would bring butterflies to her stomach... but something was definitely different. It looked... slightly forced.

"Uh, Masaya-kun? Are you okay?"

His brown eyes lit up in surprise. "Huh?"

Ichigo gave a half-hearted chuckle. "Well, you kinda looked like something was bothering you. Anything wrong?"

"Uh..." Masaya paused for a moment before shaking his head, his smile now looking genuine, yet with a hint of sadness mixed in. "Yeah, I... I'm fine... Ichigo-chan..."

Ichigo wasn't sure that she believed him, but she could tell that he didn't want her to press the subject, so she made no mention of it again... although... her heart ached for him; it wasn't very often at all that she'd see such a pained expression on his face...

It was mid-way through the school day and Ichigo was still worried about her boyfriend. As she pulled on her gym kit - a white short-sleeved T-shirt and blue shorts - she thought about how that expression had remained on his face all day. He'd tried to hide it - she could tell that - but he hadn't been very successful and it was really worrying her.

All day so far, he'd looked as though he'd wanted to tell her something; he'd opened his mouth, made some sort of noise, then, when she'd looked at him, he'd closed his mouth again and looked away, his eyes looking ever-so sorrowful.

Putting her school uniform into her locker, she headed into the gym, her mind thinking about nothing but Masaya and his strange behaviour. As she entered, she grabbed a tennis racket and a shuttlecock and stood by the wall.

"Hey, Momomiya-san," a female voice said.

"Hmm?" Ichigo asked. Looking to her right, she saw a girl she vaguely knew walk in, grabbing a tennis racket. "Oh, hey, Kobayashi-san."

"Do you have a gym partner?"

"Um, nope. Why?"

The girl Ichigo knew as Haruka smiled. "Well, would you like to be mine today?"

Ichigo smiled. "Sure, okay!"

Ichigo did think that this was strange - seeing as how Haruka had never asked her to be her gym partner before - but she was never one to turn down a nice offer... and besides, she thought that it might be a good idea to see how good a badminton-player Haruka was.

"No fair!" Haruka whined as they all headed back to the locker room once gym was over. She stuck her tongue out. "You caught me on a bad day!"

Ichigo laughed; who knew Haruka was so bad at badminton? And so whiney when she lost? She really was a sore loser... although, at the same time, she did look like she was having fun whining.

She clenched a fist near her chest. "Fear me and my amazing badminton skills!"

Haruka laughed, then winked at her. "Yeah, well, you won't be so lucky next time, punk."

"I bet I will be, Miss Pouts-a-lot."

Haruka pouted, just like she had done every time Ichigo had batted the shuttlecock past her and won a point. "But it's not fair..." She went into a tantrum that was obviously fake. "You must have cheated to win that many points over me! I'm great at badminton, honest I am!" Ichigo smirked at her. Haruka sighed and folded her arms. "Alright, fine." She puffed out her cheeks. "I suck." Ichigo burst out laughing. Haruka looked at her before smirking. "In fact, I suck at all sports. Can't shoot a hoop in netball or hit a ball in rounders to save my life." She sighed dramatically, spreading out her arms in a shrug. "But no one's perfect, right?"

Ichigo continued to laugh. "Aww, don't worry, Kobayashi-san... you're not too bad at your other subjects. I'm sure you'll live."

Haruka chuckled. "'Not too bad' is right. You should see the grades I get in Math..."

It was finally the end of the day and Ichigo was happily walking home with Masaya... and all had seemed well so far, despite his continued strange behaviour... but, as she watched him, he bowed his head, his dark blue bangs covering his brown eyes, and stopped walking. She stopped beside him and watched him in confusion.

"Masaya-kun?" she asked tentatively.

"... Ichigo-chan..." Masaya replied.

"Hmm?"

With great effort it seemed, Masaya lifted his head and looked her in the eyes; he wasn't smiling... and that fact stabbed at her heart like a sharpened knife. Why wasn't he smiling? Where was his gorgeous, perfect smile that always made her heart flutter and told her that everything was right with the world? Why did he look as if he might start crying at any moment?

"W... What's wrong?" She almost felt like crying herself, watching him.

Without warning, Masaya turned around and embraced her, exactly like he'd done three years ago... in the pouring rain... when he'd told her that he loved her. Ichigo felt her face burn, just like it had done that very night.

"I'm so sorry, Ichigo-chan... I... I love you, I really do... it's just that..."

"W... What? What is it?"

"It took me so long to figure it out... but... I realise now that... I love you... but I'm not... in love with you..."

In one instant, Ichigo felt like her heart... nay, her world... had shattered into a thousand pieces before her eyes... He wasn't in love with her? What made him suddenly decide that? And why was he doing this to her? Why was her wonderful, perfect boyfriend that she loved so much doing this to her?

Her eyes filled up with tears. "W... What? M... Masaya-kun, wha... what are you talking about?" The tears dripped down her face and she clenched her eyes shut, the pain in her heart too much to bear.

She felt him begin to shake slightly, as though he were crying himself. "I... I meant to tell you this morning... but... I just couldn't... I... I'm in love with someone else... Ichigo-chan..."

Shock overcame her, straight through the hurt and despair. "You're... what?"

"H... Haruka... I'm in love with... Kobayashi Haruka..."

Kobayashi Haruka? His next door neighbour? The girl that had asked her to be her badminton partner in gym class earlier? Ichigo shook her head against his shoulder; this has to be a dream... a sick, twisted dream... and, soon, she'd be waking up and everything would be normal again.

"No..."

"I'm sorry, Ichigo-chan... but I'm going to have to... break up with you..."

Ichigo couldn't take this... she just couldn't believe that this was happening. Convinced that this was some kind of joke, she violently shook herself free of his grasp and, tears streaking down her face, glared at him.

"No! This isn't happening! Masaya-kun, I love you! I love you more than I've ever loved anyone!" She pointed a finger at him. "And you are not breaking up with me, do you hear? You're not!"

Masaya bowed his head, clearly unable to meet her harsh gaze. "I'm... sorry..."

Her heart panged and, utterly distraught, she was unable to hold her glare. Her hand also fell slack as sobs threatened to wrack her body. Unable to handle it, she turned and ran... ran as far away from Masaya as her feet would carry her. He didn't follow.

On and on Ichigo ran, sobs being choked from her throat and tears flowing down her face as easily as if they were waterfalls. Her world had fallen apart... her Masaya had dumped her... all because of... Kobayashi Haruka...

She'd told herself this morning that the day would turn out great... that everything would be just as perfect as it always was... but that witch, Haruka, had ruined everything. She'd stolen her boyfriend, the most precious thing in the world to her... and she was never going to get him back...

Now she understood why Haruka had asked her to be her gym partner: she'd wanted to butter her up... make sure that they were good friends before Masaya told her that she'd stolen him away from her... If Ichigo weren't so upset right now, she'd be so hacked off that she'd be breaking things...

She had no idea how far she'd run... all she knew was that her feet were tired and needed a rest, so she stopped to lean on the nearest wall, letting the briefcase in her hand fall to the ground. The area looked vaguely familiar, but she didn't know or care where she was... All she wanted to do was to lean on the wall and sob to her heart's content... so that's what she did.

After a few minutes, a nearby door opened and closed, followed by a male sigh and footsteps. "Why don't you go cry somewhere else?" the voice grumbled. "You're giving me a heada- Ichigo?"

Ichigo raised her head at the sound of her name and looked into the face of a tall blonde boy with piercing blue eyes. She recognised him instantly.

She sniffled. "Sh-Shirogane?" she asked in a weak voice. Glancing around, she saw, to her slight surprise, that she was leaning on the wall of Cafe Mew Mew.

He walked closer to her. "Hey, are you okay? What happened?"

Ichigo was so overcome with emotion... so distressed about Masaya... and so relieved to finally see a friendly face... that she couldn't help but throw her arms around him with a wail. He jolted backwards, but, once he regained his composure, he wrapped his arms around her.

Through her sobs, she attempted to speak. "M... Masaya-k-kun... b-broke... up... with me!"

He held her tighter. "He did, did he?" She couldn't help but notice that his voice held a bitter undertone. "And why would he do that?"

Ichigo continued to choke on sobs. "He's... in love... with s... someone else!"

A growl escaped Ryou's throat. "Why, that ungrateful little... Don't worry, Ichigo... I can look after you, if you want..."

She looked up at him. "H-Huh?"

He smiled at her. "Come inside the cafe... we can sit down and talk, if you like... just to, you know, keep your mind off that little slime ball." Ichigo chuckled very slightly. "What do you think? I mean, you don't have to. If you'd rather go home to your parents, then-"

Ichigo shook her head vigorously; Oh, God, no. There was no way that she wanted to talk to her mom and dad about this yet... especially her dad. He'd go ballistic if he found out... Plus, she'd like to spend some time with Ryou... he was the friendliest face she'd come across since running away from Masaya... and it was always nice to be around a friendly face when you were upset.

She sniffled again, feeling much calmer now. "No, it's okay... I'll come inside."

Ryou tightened his hug reassuringly before letting go. "Okay then." He then began walking round the corner to the back door.

Ichigo chuckled, wiping her wet salty face with the back of her arm as she picked up her briefcase. "Hey! Ladies first!"

Ryou stopped in his tracks and turned to smirk at her. "Nuh uh. Age before beauty."

Ichigo smiled, her cheeks tinting slightly; Ryou had just unintentionally complimented her looks... She paused; it was unintentional, wasn't it? Sure, he used to mess her around, like three years ago, pretending that he had a crush on her, but... Wait, he had been pretending, hadn't he? She shook her head; she was being ridiculous. Of course he had... he didn't like her that way. His kisses and his forward actions had just been just a way to way to mess with her head... although... it kind of hurt to think that. The two boys that used to love her, Kisshu and Masaya, had now lost interest in her and fallen for someone else... and Ryou, despite how he'd made her feel at times, had never loved her to begin with...

As she followed Ryou inside Cafe Mew Mew, the building that she hadn't been inside in two years, she wondered a few things. Why was he doing this for her? Why was he offering to look after her, sit down with her and talk to her about her feelings? It was rather freaky for him to be acting so nice, considering how cold and teasing he was normally...

She smiled; ah well... it wasn't as if she was complaining about it. They were... somewhat friends, after all... and he'd been there, by her side, throughout the whole Mew Project, so she felt nothing wrong with opening up to him... plus... Her smile turned into a smirk; she still couldn't deny that he was pretty damn hot for his age...