A.N: Ugh, I finished my first exam yesterday! A Japanese oral exam! So, I had to speak in Japanese for 15 minutes with complete strangers… It was horrible n But it's all over now – for better or worse. So sorry for a slightly boring chapter, but soon the real MEW project will start ;D

Anyway, I'd like to give hi-fives to each and every one of you lovely people who took the time to review! Yes, that means you, RedHoodLover, kisshuismylife, MugetsuPipefox, TigerRates, QueenOfWeird1995 and SoulHikaru!

Despite the new bed in a different room in a strange building, I slept surprisingly well. Well, when you consider the fact I helped kill a Chimera yesterday, maybe it wasn't such a surprise – I was still damn tired, even when I woke up.

I groaned and forced myself out of bed. Luckily, each room had its own bathroom attached, so I could run a brush through my hair and made sure I looked half decent before I went out to greet the girls. What sort of morning routine does everyone have? Sleep in, breakfast in the kitchen, have a chat before off to training? I hoped it wasn't get up early, train, then eat. In fact, not training at all would be awesome – I'd much rather eat than go for a run. Once again, I doubted Shirogane and Dr. Akasaka's ability to pick suitable candidates for their project.

Then I remembered the promise of shopping.

I charged out of my room and into the kitchen. Got to make food, quick. I opened the freezer, grabbed some bread, and began my search for the toaster. The kitchen was absurdly modern, and I didn't recognise any familiar devices. I opened and shut drawers looking for something I could put bread in. Even a microwave.

I soon heard footsteps and a tired groan. I glanced up and saw Mint standing in the entrance to the kitchen glaring daggers.

"What the hell are you doing up so early?" she growled dangerously. I accidently took a nervous step back. It seems that Mint is not a morning person.

"Looking for the toaster," I responded innocently.

"It's 5 in the morning!"

"Ooh… Time zone differences?" I shrugged. I'd completely forgotten about the fact that my body clock was two hours earlier than everyone else's. She huffed in annoyance, stormed to a confusing looking stainless steel device, and slammed the bread into it. Then, she turned around and stomped back to her bedroom where I heard a door slam shut.

I stood in silence until my toast burst out of the toaster thing and gave me a (metaphorical) heart attack. I couldn't be bothered looking for peanut butter, so I ate it plain and helped myself to some milk from the fridge. Not the best breakfast.

Next, I set about finding something to wear. My school uniform was still somewhere down in the changing rooms of the gym and my battle gear was still damp in the laundry. I couldn't steal any clothes from the others since they were all asleep, either. Well, maybe I can wear this blue nightdress out if I put on some cute tights and shoes… I went into the laundry to see if there were any other clothes out to dry. I put my bra on and found a pair of indigo tights, then slipped my black boots on over the top. Not exactly the outfit I'd pictured when I thought about shopping in Tokyo, but it was better than nothing. I guess my pink hair will help me fit in, in a crazy place like Harajuku.

I wandered to the elevator and went down to the fourth floor so I could kill time in the library while I waited for everyone else to get up. I was browsing through the manga section when I heard the doors open and brisk footsteps, rather than the sleepy shuffle of someone who's just awoken. So, not one of the girls?

"Ichigo?" called a voice. It was Shirogane.

"What?" I replied, returning to the main section of the library. He was waiting for me impatiently, tapping his foot against the wooden floor.

"Are you ready to go yet?"

"What about–"

"Oh, come on," he sighed. He walked quickly out of the library and I struggled to keep up without resorting to jogging. By the time I caught up he was already in the elevator. I jumped in just before the doors closed and we went down to the ground floor. Once the doors opened again, Shirogane strode purposely through the large room and to the exit. I chased after him and we stopped outside. A sleek black car was waiting and Shirogane opened the door to the passenger seat for me.

"Aren't you coming?" I asked, hesitating before I got in.

"No time," he said. "I'm sure you'll have fun."

"So you're letting me loose in Tokyo, an enormous foreign city, unsupervised, with no phone – or money, and I'm meant to be shopping?! I'm a legal adult in Australia, but not here!" To be honest, I was freaked out about exploring Tokyo by myself. It would be heaps of fun, but what if I got lost? Or, worse – ran into Kish again?

"Oh, my bad." He rummaged in his pockets and handed me a shiny iPhone and a plain wallet. "Now you're good. Call if you get into trouble, my number's set as a contact. The pin code for the card is ****. In you get!" He placed his hands on my hips and pushed me into the car.

"I–" Too late, he'd already closed the door. I looked to the driver and nearly had another panic attack. Sitting beside me was Dr. Akasaka. As in, creepy ponytail chloroform guy. I casually reached for the handle, prepared to tumble out onto the sidewalk, but it had been locked so I couldn't open it even from inside.

"Please, relax," he cautioned. The car had started to move so I obediently put on my seatbelt. I wanted to get away from him, but even I wasn't willing to jump out of a moving car. That's a few too many steps above a window.

"Ugh, so what do you want now? I'm already part of your stupid MEW project," I grumbled.

"I'm simply driving you to the main shopping district of Tokyo," he smiled blandly. "I work as a recruiter, but I'm also Shirogane's assistant. I'm afraid our introduction wasn't ideal. I hope you can forgive me for doing my job."

"Yeah, yeah," I muttered. His polite tone made me feel guilty for my attitude. "Anyway, when you say shopping district, you mean Harajuku, right?"

"If that's where you would like to go."

"Yes, please!"

The rest of the trip was in silence – I didn't particularly want to talk to him, and he wasn't going to force a conversation. Soon I began to see teenagers dressed in quirky clothing mixing amongst the men and women in business suits and I knew we were drawing closer. Dr. Akasaka stopped the car and gave me a brief set of instructions to get to the main road of Harajuku. I reluctantly thanked him, got out of the car, and tried to get my bearings.

I didn't even need his instructions – I spotted a girl in a baby pink Lolita dress with dyed chocolate brown hair and followed her.

Then, I saw the sign which stretched above the main road. It was weirdly familiar, since I'd seen it in photos and even animated in some anime so many times. Seeing it with my own two eyes was like a dream come true. I allowed myself a squeal of joy and a victory dance before I regained my composure and strolled down the street.

There were so many people and so many clothes shops that I had no idea where to start. I was tempted to go into a cosplay shop and just wear cosplay for the rest of my life, but I figured I should at least start with some basic items. I found an underwear shop and bought adorable pairs of undies for each day of the week – and then some – as well as a variety of socks from sporty to lacy and thigh-high. The shop assistant was eager to try out her limited English on me, although not having to use my own limited Japanese made the experience much easier.

I left the store with a bag full of undies and a big smile. This was fun! Usually shopping stressed me out, since I was always working with limited funds and limited self-control, but now neither was required. I strolled into a general chain store type shop and left with some plain coloured singlets, shorts and jeans.

Then, it was time for the fun stuff. I had the basics covered – in fact, I had enough basics that carrying them was making my arm tired. Still, I had to soldier on!

I wandered in and out of cute little boutiques, deciding what sort of fashion style I was going for and the average prices for different items of clothing. I spent an hour looking around without buying anything, but I couldn't just settle for one style which I liked. The sweet Lolita clothing was intensely adorable, but would take too much effort on a daily basis. I loved the punk style clothing, but some looked uncomfortable and I liked being cute some days, too. There was more traditional Western style clothing, but that was too boring on its own.

In the end, I gave up and just bought anything and everything which caught my eye. Frilly pink skirt? Check. Black leather jacket with silver studs? Check. Baggy shirt with amusing Engrish slogan? Check. I wasn't keeping track of the money I spent, but I'm sure I racked up a total worth hundreds of dollars.

Once I had bags and bags of clothes, I decided to stop in a café for a break. I wanted to go to a maid café, but I knew there would be plenty in Akihabara, so I settled for a cute café with old-fashioned furniture. I ordered a hot chocolate, which arrived in an adorable teacup, then went to the bathroom. There, I changed into one of the Lolita outfits which I'd bought. I'd only been able to find one pair of Lolita shoes which fit me, a baby pink pair with white trimmings, which I also slipped on.

Then, I wandered back out into the café in all my Lolita glory and picked up the rest of my shopping bags. I couldn't carry much more, and as much as I wanted to go to the cosplay shop, I decided to come back another time. Shirogane would probably kill me as it was, even without me buying expensive costumes…

I reluctantly unlocked the iPhone and dialled his number.

"Ichigo," he answered.

"I'm done," I said cheerfully.

"You do realise I can see bank records of how much you've spent," he said tonelessly.

"…Jolly good. Look, can you come pick me up, please?"

"I should make you walk… Lucky for you that Keiichiro's already on his way. Dr. Akasaka, that is. Try not to spend any more money on your way back to the car."

"Sorry!"

"No, you're not. I'll see you when you get back." It sounded like he was smiling – maybe I'm not in as much trouble as I thought I was. And besides, I'd lost my entire wardrobe because of him, which was probably worth far more than this!

I returned to the place where I'd been dropped off, only to find that the car was already waiting for me. I placed all my bags in the trunk and hopped in the passenger seat, to be greeted by a smiling Dr. Akasaka.

Maybe this whole thing isn't going to be as bad as I thought.