Prologue

Hello and welcome to my original second fanfiction based on the amazing manga by Mia Ikumi and Reiko Yoshida. Now, before we start, I would like to stress that this is going to be a MATURE fanfiction and for a very GOOD reason. There will be plenty of mature content involved, of both sexual and violent nature, so please read the tags carefully before you start with the actual reading.

(These include: dark romance, gothic romance, angst, tragedy with comedic features, mature humor, explicit sexual content, violence, sex, coercion, emotional manipulation, mind games, sexual frustration, sexual awakening, enemies to lovers, falling in love with the enemy, unresolved sexual tension, secret affair, secret relationship, sexual addiction, affair with consequences, toxic relationship, good girl/bad boy)

If you are looking for a dramatic love story entrenched in romantic undertones but barren of violence and sexual scenes, please refer to my previous work The Road to Perfection.

If you are looking for something dark, intense and edgy, then let's proceed!

This story originated first in my head when I was absentmindedly listening to the song by 3Oh3! ft. Katy Perry 'Starstrukk' and when I, more or less, started typing aimlessly. I initially intended it as a funny one-shot but, then, an idea hit me and that's when Libidinous began to take shape. Another great influence, which held far stronger grip on me I must add, was the song 'She Was' by Camille which is featured in the recent drama film Corsage and which I heavily recommend to watch if you are into history, the historical image of princess Sissi, gender struggle and/or feminism. That song is so powerful that it basically laid the foundations for my whole first draft of this story before other ideas and plot twists came to life. That is probably why you might find yourself laughing at some parts of this fic, and then feel angsty and nervous during others, since these two songs (as well as the rest of the playlist) form polar opposites in the mood they strike. Just as this story will.

Among other notable songs that I oftentimes played were definitely:

My Chemical Romance 'The Foundations of Decay,' 'Famous Last Words,' 'Sleep,' 'Skylines and Turnstiles,' 'Demolition Lovers,' 'Drowning Lessons,' 'The Light Behind Your Eyes'

3Oh3! 'Richman,' 'Don't Trust Me'

30 Seconds to Mars 'The Kill (Instrumental),' 'Attack'

Avril Lavigne 'Sk8er Boy,' 'Take Me Away,' 'Anything But Ordinary,' 'My Happy Ending,' 'Hot'

Lady Gaga 'Monster,' 'Government Hooker (D00nik Remix)'

Billie Eilish, 'You Should See Me in a Crown,' 'Bad Guy (Dachaio remix)'

Skrillex 'Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites,' 'Kyoto'

Linkin Park 'Numb,' 'In the End'

Tatu 'All About Us,' 'Fly on the Wall,' 'Not Gonna Get Us'

Evanescence 'Bring Me to Life'

Muse 'Supermassive Black Hole'

T.I. 'Big Things Poppin,' 'Whatever You Like'

Kerli 'Tea Party'

Jack Harlow 'First Class'

G-Eazy 'I Mean It'

Dove Cameron 'Boyfriend'

Tyga 'Ice Cream Man'

Nayeon 'Pop!'

Limp Bizkit 'Behind Blue Eyes'

Simon Curtis 'Flesh'

Marilyn Manson 'Tainted Love'

BTS 'Boy in Luv'

Madonna 'Die Another Die'

Please note that everyone in this story is, yet again, older than in the original TMM series.

As for the M rating, the respective sex scenes/smut featured in this fanfic may vary in regards to their sexual explicitness; some are going to be more rowdy than others; some may not even raise an eye brow. You have been warned.

Also, this story is taking place when the Cyniclons are STILL fighting the Mew Mews, meaning they are actively trying to kill each other. This little detail is extremely vital for the whole plotline. The same goes to the level of affiliation of our favorite pairing; Kisshu is interested in Ichigo and he finds her interesting and entertaining enough to toy with, but he is nowhere close to being in love with her at this point.

As opposed to The Road to Perfection (TRTP), Ichigo's character in this fic is less whiney and more horny; Ryou's relationship with Ichigo is far less friendly; Mint's way less emotional and supportive of Ichigo's actions, and Kisshu's as evil and cunning as ever; Masaya once again operates as a supporting character; he does not know anything about Ichigo's Mew Mew identity; Deep Blue is still the 'shapeless' God whose orders Cyniclons blindly follow; Blue Knight will probably not make an appearance.

There will be likewise no OCs minus, perhaps, some one-time minor appearances in this story (if you wanna see more OCs, go check out TRTP to meet Elton and Yuri); and, also, no other alien/human pairings except for Ichigo and Kisshu, as I intend to make it very Kishigo centric.

Lengthwise, I am gonna aim for circa thirty chapters again, just like with TRTP.

Regarding the picture I used for Libidinous, it was drawn by a very talented artist named ak_ism49_FA. They, together with mtbkrr2, create a lot of TMM stuff on Twitter/Pixiv, so if you have time, go and check them out. They're real awesome!

Lastly, you will be able to read this fic once again on both AO3, as well as on fan fiction.

I hope that you are going to like it and please let me know your thoughts! Any kind of feedback and/or criticism is always heavily appreciated!

Now, with no further due, let's delve into another story about Tokyo Mew Mew.

P.S. The song that I listened to during writing this particular segment is MGK ft. Naomi Wild's 'Eyes on Fire'

P.P.S. Happy Holidays/Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, everyone!

Disclaimer

I do not own Tokyo Mew Mew

It was cold and ghastly dark and there was not much to do in the relatively small, dimly-lit room that she was presently occupying.

With the straight empty walls built all around her, she felt trapped and cornered by both her current premises, as well as the inner crevices of her own mind.

No longer could she tell where the sick unnatural darkness began and her grim thoughts ended. It was that dark.

The only consolidation Ichigo acquired was the fact that she was there not alone. Still, the gnawing feeling that had been biting at the back of her mind never ceased to stop; a painful, relentless reminder of everything that had happened; everything they had done; her choices and the subsequent consequences.

Would she have chosen differently if she had known what was about to give? Or would everything remain pretty much the same, no matter which path she had decided to follow in the end? Was there even such a thing as fate? And, if the response to her question was yes, then could it be possibly wielded so that it would serve one's objective entirely?

Quite often, Ichigo wondered.

For a brief few minutes, hours even, she unleashed her imagination and let it run wild, as her subconsciousness presented her innermost dreams and desires right in front of her eyes.

They always felt so real; so tempting.

And Ichigo found herself frequently reaching up with her hand to grasp at them; to feel them; only to find out that they were merely another false series of projections of what her conscience had conjured up to torture her some more.

What was romance good for anyway? Suffering? Temporary pleasure, or was it the pain that inevitably followed shortly afterwards, which made love so attractive in the eyes of most?

Hard as she might, Ichigo could not come close to offering a satisfactory answer. She was positive, however, that love was something she would never ever pursue again. She had already had a fair share of heartache in her life and for good, she might add. There was no reason to seek more. It hurt to seek more. Not that it was even possible, with the current state of affairs.

She watched the little window at the top left corner of their cell breathlessly, basking in the thin stream of moonlight that was feebly penetrating the blackness behind the titanium vertical bars. It was too small and too high to provide any real picture of the outer world, banishing all hope of a sufficient means of escape in an instant; but, from time to time, Ichigo was imagining that she would climb up the wall and flee through that tiny little constrictive space. She would kiss her pendant, change into her superhero persona and disappear. From her past, her present, her everything, leaving nothing but a lingering shadow of her former self behind.

But she was not that foolish not to know that there was another magnetic shield blocking their way out, even if she somehow magically managed to squeeze her body through the small barred opening.

Cyniclons were not stupid and despite her, more or less, harmless state, they still apparently did not want to take any chances.

She grasped in her hand the smooth edges of the pendant that was no longer there, as the first tear rolled down her cheek at the memory of who she once had been; who they had been; and who and what was left of them now.

A lot of things did not exist anymore; or rather, they only prevailed in the form of her memory, creating a distinct fantasy, fictitious and surreal; a memory that was constantly haunting her, tormenting her, never fully leaving her mind and thus scarring her permanently.

They said that there was no rest for the wicked and, as of yet, Ichigo knew that that saying proved true.

She stared silently at the dust slowly flowing in the air, illuminated only by the glittering liquid moonlight until her gaze became blurry and she was able to see clearly no more.

We came from dust and will return to dust.

She could feel her life ebbing away. Slowly. Excruciatingly. As well as the repulsive tinge of iron that had returned to her tongue, as she swallowed thickly.

Surely, there was some meaningful way of how she could react to all of this. But Ichigo was tired, so tired and completely bereft of any energy or motivation to try to do any of that.

She did not move when the second tear spilled over her eye, sliding down her face and falling onto the stone cold floor with a soundless splatter; nor did she suppress the sob, as she watched it quietly sink further into the unruly surface of the ground before it vanished completely out of her sight.

All she did was to focus on the silent scream incessantly rattling in her mind, while her eyes roamed around the tenebrous room striving desperately to remember and forget.