Chiyo: Yes I know you're probably thinking 'But they went on a date why is this story still going on?' Well just because someone goes on a date, doesn't mean they're dating :P so we still have to see how things play out for the two of them! :3

Ichigo: *intense glare at me*

Chiyo: Ok ok ok ok ok ok ok ok ok.. ok ok... ok... Ok anYWAY! I do NOT own TMM ;a; but lets stop making me cry and lets just go on with the story...

Chapter 12

Night Is A Terrible Time Of Day

With a heavy sigh, Ichigo walked into the changing room. Her mind was on so much, she was actually kind of nervous. What if Nanako was actually here? Here in Tokyo? And not to mention that Moe and Miwa probably spread rumors about Ichigo and Ryou dating... Everything was seeming weird to Ichigo...

She still didn't understand her true feelings for Ryou... The cafe was packed, families were talking, friends went there together and hung out, the normal. But what shocked everyone, was what they were talking about. "Hey, sis, I heard that Ryou Shirogane has a girlfriend!" A little girl smiled, proud of what she found out.

Her older sister looked at her oddly. "You mean the Ryou Shirogane that talks to most no one?" She asked, laughing. "I heard the same thing!"

Mitsukie walked into the kitchen quietly as Keiichiro was finishing his pie. "Keiichiro..." She called, making him jump and drop the cherry in the middle of the pie. "Sorry... But whats up with people? You hear how they're talking?" She asked, helping out with whatever he was making.

"Yeah, I wonder what made them start thinking that." Keiichiro said.

Izumi and Ichigo were working really hard, Lettuce was just working, and Pudding was hogging the register again. It was a beautiful night out, not a cloud in the sky. Everything seemed normal, but nothing felt normal to Ichigo and her friends. They just pushed it off, hoping the day would go by really fast. It felt like they were working for hours, but when they looked at the clock, it was still 9:00. What felt like ages later, the cafe closed and the girls went to the changing room. "Today feels..." Izumi started.

"...Off." Ichigo finished.

"Yeah, like nothing seems..." Mitsukie said, shoving her head through the hole of her shirt.

"...Right." Lettuce said, cleaning her glasses. "It's like everything isn't real..."

"Like that one time when Kisshu shoved Ichigo in dream or when he shoved the rest of us into some pile of DOOM!" Pudding yelled. She was the only one that wasn't effected by this. "At least we're all alive!" She yelled happily.

All the girls but Pudding sighed and ploped down onto the bench. They just sat there for a while. Silent. Scaring the crap out of the others, Lettuce stood up with a small gasp. "That's it! That's got to be it!" She said, pushing her glasses up.

"What's what?" Ichigo asked, looking at her friend. "What did you just think about?"

"What Pudding said! What if we're shoved into a dream? and we can't escape?" Lettuce said, no one else seeing why she thought of it. "Remember, Ichigo, how Kisshu wanted you and Zakuro to fight?" Ichigo nodded. "I have no idea what was going on, you had my glasses, but what if Kisshu put us in another dimension like that?"

"That's... Not possible... Zakuro and Mint could still probably be Mew Mews." Ichigo said, sighing heavily. "So without being able to find them, and put them here with us at the same time, would be hard for Kisshu."

"Right, because we can sense each other." Izumi said quietly, her eyes closed. "Like right now, I can tell that Pudding is crawling underneath the bench..."

Everyone looked at Pudding, who was indeed crawling under the bench. "So if Zakuro and Mint were here, wouldn't we be able to tell?" Ichigo asked, standing up. "We should talk to the boys."

Everyone nodded and started walking upstairs. "What if they don't know?" Pudding asked, bouncing up the stairs.

"Then we find out ourselves." Ichigo and Lettuce said in unison.

Ryou and Keiichiro were talking to each other, and with the look on Keiichiro's face, it sure was a serious conversation. "Girls." Keiichiro called, waving them over.

"Keiichiro, Ryou." Lettuce started. "What are you guys talking about?" She asked, her hands infront of her.

"Today. Do you girls have any clue as to what's going on?" Keiichiro asked, obviously worried.

The girls were quiet for a moment. "I think Kisshu put us in another dimension... Like he's done before..." Lettuce said, looking down at her feet.

"Or that creepy guy is just messing with our heads..." Ichigo pointed out, folding his arms.

"Then there's Killi." Pudding said, folding her arms. "She could be messing with us..."

"I think it's a dream." Izumi said, not looking like she regretted saying it. "Look at the clock." She said, pointing to the clock that still said 9:00. "Time hasn't changed. In dreams, it takes forever for time to pass. One of them has to have the ability to put us to sleep, in a stealthy matter." She said, pushing her hair back, out of her face. "I think it's the most logical answer."

With a heavy sigh, Ichigo, Lettuce, and Pudding sat in a couple chairs nearby. "Ugh I don't like this at all. It's been like this about all day." Ichigo whinned, folding her arms.

"Yeah..." Lettuce and Pudding agreed.

"Well, lets try to get some kind of sleep, maybe tomorrow it'll be better..." Mitsukie suggested, hoping her friends would feel better. "Maybe it's just an off day."

Everyone thought it was a good idea to spend the night at Ichigo's house, not thinking about using the cafe or anything, and waved to the boys. "So, Ichigo, people have been talking about Ryou dating someone~" Izumi giggled, nudging her redhead friend with her elbow.

"We are NOT dating!" Ichigo yelled, folding her arms as they walked out of the cafe. Keiichiro just looked at Ryou who chuckled and walked up to his room.

"Mmmmmmmhmmmmmm..." Izumi responded, holding back her giggle as she pretended to agree with Ichigo.

"It's been a while since I spent the night at Ichigo's house!" Pudding yelled, running in circles.

It was still 9:00 when Ichigo and the others got to her house. "Ichigo! Shouldn't you be at work?" Sakura asked, hugging her daughter.

"U-um... Ryou gave us the day off..." Ichigo said quietly, pushing away from her mother. "My friends are going to spend the night here, if that's ok." Sakura nodded and sat down on the couch with Shintaro. Ichigo brought her friends to her room, flopping onto her bed.

Pudding dove onto the bed, laying like a starfish, face down, on the bed. "So, what exactly is going on?" Izumi and Mitsukie asked in unison.

"It's probably one of the smartass aliens playing tricks on us." Ichigo mumbled, her head in her pillow. "I don't think sleeping will matter..."

"No, it wont." Izumi said quietly. "Am I the only one paying attention to the time?"

Everyone turned their attention to Ichigo's alarm clock. '8:59' It read. "What?! Time's going backward?!" Ichigo cried, knowing no matter how loud she was, her parents wouldn't come running or anything.

"How?!" Lettuce asked, panicing.

"Guys, guys!" Mitsukie yelled, getting everyones attention. "We have 9 hours to do something. We have to stop panicing." Her voice was serious, she cared for her friends, but if they were panicing because of something like this, she felt like she had to do something. "We need to figure out what.. Whoever wants from us."

Izumi nodded. "What happened when you and Lettuce were trapped in the other dimension, Pudding?" Izumi asked, putting her number in everyone's phones.

"There was sand! Lots of sand! And it tried killing us!" Pudding yelled, flailing her arms.

"If we split up, maybe we can find something." Lettuce suggested. "We need to look for something or someone..."

"But if time runs out..." Ichigo whispered.

"It wont." Izumi said, stuffing her phone in her pocket. "I'll start by my studio, text everyone when you found something." Everyone nodded and ran out of the house, keeping an eye on the time.

Ichigo was running down the road when a car slowed down, going next to her. "Ichigo, where are you going?" Keiichiro called, not stopping her.

"I'm heading towards my school, we have to find something! Time is going backward!" Ichigo yelled. "The others and I all split up."

Keiichiro nodded. "Ryou and I split up as well. We'll text you girls if we find anything." Ichigo nodded, showing she understood and Keiichiro drove faster.

There was no one on the roads anymore, the people on the sidewalk didn't really notice Ichigo. It was 8:30 by time she reached her school."Hey, Ichigo!" Miwa called, running over to her.

"I gotta go!" Ichigo yelled, running away from Miwa, but running into Moe.

"Come on, stay!" Moe smiled, grabbing Ichigo's hands.

"I can't!" Ichigo yanked her hand away and started running again. A small black cat jumped out of an alleyway, running infront of Ichigo. Without thinking, Ichigo followed the cat, despreate for an answer. She was brought to an airport, where everyone else soon got to. The cat just dissapeared. Everyone checked their phone and the time read 7:45. "What's here?" Ichigo whispered to herself.

The girls transformed and stood next to each other, ready for a fight. "Killi! I thought you said this would work!" Taruto whinned, following Killi to the middle of the airport.

"I said it MIGHT!" Killi yelled, pure anger in her voice.

The girls sighed, summoning their weapons. "You said it WOULD work, no questions asked." Taruto snapped, folding his arms.

"You believed her?" Kisshu laughed, flying over. "Psh, Taruto, you should know better."

"Yeah yeah yeah..." Taruto turned his back to the other two.

Izumi lunched towards Killi without hesitation. "Izumi!" The girls yelled as Izumi and Killi fought. "If we defeat the Cyniclons, maybe we can get out of here!" Ichigo yelled, readying herself for a fight.

Mitsukie teamed up with Izumi and started attacking Killi, while Ichigo and Kisshu fought. Lettuce and Pudding were left with Taruto, but there was still something they were forgetting. The time counted down without stopping. Seconds past. Minutes past. A couple hours past. It was 4:20 and the Mews were extreamly tired. A deep chuckle echoed from above, but no one saw anything. The Cyniclons flew to the middle, keeping an eye on their targets. Ransurot floated down from who knows where, smirking at the girls. "Get lost, Ransurot!" Izumi shouted, standing in front of her friends to save them from any kind of danger he deicded to bring.

Ichigo, Lettuce, and Pudding were very tired and fell to their knees. "Why is he here? And what is even going on?" Killi asked, clenching her hands in fists.

Time was ticking, and Izumi needed to help Ichigo save her friends. "Ichigo, you're the leader... You're the one that has to do this..." She helped Ichigo up, smiling worriedly at her.

With a heavy sigh, Ichigo stepped forward. "What's going on around here?!" She asked, clenching her Strawberry Bell tightly in her hand.

"I thought you guys would have figured that out." Ransurot sighed, running his hand through his blonde hair.

"Yeah, time is going backwards and we're probably in a different dimension." Ichigo said, putting her hands on her hips.

If Zakuro and Mint were actually still Mew Mews, wouldn't they come help? "Yep." Ransurot smirked, looking Ichigo in the eyes.

Maybe she had a choice to not fight. "Why are we here?!" Ichigo wanted answers.

"Experiment purposes." Ransurot responded, folding his arms.

A familiar voice echoed from behind the girls. "Well your experiment is over!" Mint ran over, not transformed or anything, she just ran over and stood near the girls.

"Mint!" Zakuro yelled, chasing after her. She wasn't transformed either, but Ichigo was happy to see them. The time was 3:50 and the entire group was here... Finally...

The two transformed, and the 6 beat the crap out of all of the Cyniclons before the time turned to 3:25. Before they could get the last hit on Killi, she flew above them, out of their reach. "Ugh, lucky humans. Don't think we wont be back! I want payback for Deep Blue's son! Sure you guys are good, Ransurot proved that himself... And the fact you guys can keep Earth.. But our master still wants Earth! So expect us to be back!" She shouted before teleporting off.

The girls pretty much blinked and they were all back in Ichigo's room, Zakuro and Mint as well. It was 4:27 in the morning, and everyone watched the time until it turned to 4:28. "We did it!" Everyone but Mint and Zakuro yelled, highfiving each others.

Although the Cyniclons left again, Ichigo had a feeling they would be back soon enough with stronger friends. Zakuro and Mint just left the house, walking back to where they came from... Who knows? But at least they got to Ichigo in time to save Earth again. Everyone fell asleep, Ichigo on the bed with Pudding like a starfish, face down, at her feet. Lettuce and Izumi fell asleep on the floor and Mitsukie fell alseep in Ichigo's desk chair. About two hours later, Ichigo's alarm clock woke everyone, making almost everyone late for school. They all plowed out of her room, giving her mom a good scare and her dad even more to be mad at Ichigo about. They charged to school, and for once, Ichigo was early!

Moe and Miwa smiled at Ichigo. "You're early." Moe yawned. "Oooo!" She started clapping with a big smile on her face. "Does this mean you two are actually dating?!"

"No." Ichigo yawned, crawling into her chair and passing out.

The day was normal. Everything was fine. And it was all thanks to Mint and Zakuro who came without a word, and left without a word. The Mews were extremely tired from the night before. They were actually pretty worried about tonight... Would the same thing happen again? They really didn't want that to happen again. Ichigo was sleeping in almost all her classes, Lettuce couldn't focus, Mitsukie wasn't as active in class, and Izumi was the quietest of everyone. Pudding was her normal, adorable, self. Although she did gain an attitude towards Ichigo, she was still hyper and cute. Yes, a lot was on her mind, but she didn't really show it. 'Hey guys. Are you worried about last night too?' Ichigo texted everyone in a group message. Everyone responded yes almost immediately. 'What was that about? I mean with Zakuro and Mint...'

'They seemed to know we were in trouble... They didn't even have their power pendant, so how were they able to transform?' Lettuce replied. Moe and Miwa were gossiping like always during lunch while Ichigo texted her friends. A group of kids walked over to Ichigo, tapping her on the shoulder. She turned around, expecting the three Beckys. "You're pretty lucky, aren't you?" A girl with shoulder length blonde hair said, folding her arms. "First you get Masaya, and now you're with Ryou. You're pretty damn lucky. Just don't mess it up." She said before she turned away from her and started walking off with the rest of the kids behind her.

"See, you guys are totally dating!" Moe giggled. "Ryou is extremely well known, who wouldn't catch on that he has a girlfriend?"

"We're not dating!" Ichigo yelled, folding her arms. "Ugh, one stupid little date doesn't mean we're dating!"

Miwa elbowed her blonde friend lightly. "She says that as a red car pulls up." She whispered quietly, trying not to laugh.

"She can't fool us!" Moe said proudly, putting her fists on her hips.

"No one is here, guys. I'm pretty sure I know when a car goes by, there's like no traffic on this road. You guys can't fool me." Ichigo said with a heavy sigh, looking down at her phone. 'What if the same thing happens tonight? Do you think we would be able to handle it?' Pudding asked. Ichigo sighed and flipped her phone shut as the bell rang. Once the day was finished, Ichigo started heading towards the cafe.

Her and the others got to the doors at the same time, hesitating before pushing the doors open. It was the same cafe, the same color, same everything. "Hopefully they're gone for good..." Pudding said, following the girls to the changing room.

If the Cyniclons just left that easy, that would just mean they're retreating for now, until they get better fighters. Which could also mean Ichigo and the others need to get stronger, or make Zakuro and Mint come back. But either way, it was over for now. The girls changed and went on doing their job, and this time, Pudding offered Izumi a break by working at the cash register. Everything was back to normal, the way it should be. And the way it will be for a while. Keiichiro didn't even talk about it, whenever Mitsukie tried bringing it up, Keiichiro avoided the question. And just as easy as they came, they left the night before. Killi's words still linger in everyone's head, but they didn't worry too much about it.

Chiyo: Ok sh no this is not the end, Ichigo and Ryou are still not offically dating so maybe next chapter? Or the chapter after? Or neither and this just stops here? ooo the suspense!

Ichigo: Or you can just... Stop it here...

Ryou: I am NOT going to date her... *folds arms*

Chiyo: Yes you will. *Folds arms*