Author's Notes: Okay, as an all-encompassing rule, I do not write fanfiction, ever, thought I think there's a random Zim poem on my account. I stick with my own characters in my own world. Unfortunately, this simple doctrine of mine has been valiantly challenged by what is, in my humble opinion, the abominable pairing of Ichigo/Masaya.

Recently having watched the entirety of Tokyo Mew Mew, I find myself plagued with the bothersome question of why the hell would Ichigo choose dull, boring, one-dimensional Masaya over the grand, fascinating, adorably psychotic wonder that is Kisshu?

This is my first-ever fanfic, so don't expect wonders here. Oh, and if you're Masaya fans, well, I won't kill him (that's reserved for my sweet dreams, thanks), but this won't be Ichigo/Masaya, just to warn. So don't waste your time flaming. If you don't like, just don't read. For the rest of you, I hope you enjoy.

SPOILERS: This happens after episode 39, with spoilers up to 39. So, using the magical skill of logic, we shall discover that, if one has not seen up to episode 39 and does not want the story spoiled for him or her, then one shall not read. Get it? Marvelous. That said, on we go

Disclaimer: Needless to say, I don't own Tokyo Mew Mew. If I did, Masaya would be dead, Kisshu would have gotten Ichigo, and I wouldn't have to write this fic.

The soft sound of winter wind joined the regular scratching of pencil on paper as Ichigo worked on her homework, face set in concentration as her eyes carefully read the math equation: y x/25 + 43/(5x+1). Thinking… thinking…thinki— oh, forget it! She leaned back in her chair with a soft sigh.

There was no sense in graphing y, not when recent events burned so brightly in her mind. Aoyama-kun… thank goodness… He was all right. After all of it, after that terrifying battle, that moment of sheer horror when that stray Mew Aqua— she couldn't even reminisce without shuddering. Most importantly, she remembered with a smile, he was all right, they were all right, after that haphazard confession. Those few seconds, those crucial little moments that had been tormenting her for so long, and now it was over. He knew, and the world had not vanished into oblivion. Her heart had not ripped in two agonized pieces. Everything was wonderful.

Why, then, was peace evading her?

Kisshu…

Every time she closed her eyes, his anguished face assaulted her. She could not forget the feel of his limp body, the feel of that desperate pressure against her arm before he finally collapsed. Most of all, she could not block that pleading voice from her mind.

When he collapsed, and even before that, before their battle, that voice, begging her to come, begging her to understand…

To understand what? What could she understand, but that her home, her world, would be destroyed if she went with him? What truth was there, other than that the Mew Mews were protecting the world and that the aliens wanted it extinguished?

If that was it, then why couldn't she forget?

Why couldn't she keep from biting her lip and wondering if he was all right?

"This is…" Stupid. She wanted to say it was stupid, worrying about the enemy, about Kisshu of all people, the infuriating boy who wouldn't take no for an answer, who wouldn't leave her be, no matter how obviously she loved Aoyama-kun. How desperately she wanted to say it! It would reinforce everything: her confidence as a Mew Mew, her love for Aoyama-kun, her entire purpose for the last few months, yet every time she came close, she saw his face, smelled his blood. She heard Lettuce's newly-confident voice: "'It seems that those people do have feelings…'".

If they had feelings… if those people really had the same feelings… then Pai… Taruto… Kisshu…

She would have gone on staring at her blank white wall, lost in these disconcerting doubts, had fluffy pink not suddenly disrupted her gaze. Masha floated in front of her, bobbing up and down frantically as it urgently squeaked its all-too-familiar warning.

"Ichigo! Alien! Alien!"

Alien? Could it be…?

The window… she had to open the window. Why she had to open it, when it was snowing and cold outside, she had no clear idea. As Masha's shrill warnings rose in volume, she knew that the next step was to open the window.

Fingers clumsy with subconscious anticipation, Ichigo unlocked the window and peered out into the growing storm. Her gaze met a constant swirl of flakes. They caressed her face with their cold feathery touch as she stared out into the night, brow slowly furrowing as Masha flitted about her. Her nerves were tense in sudden fear, but she could not move from her place, no matter how vulnerable it made. She could not keep from staring out into the snowfall.

"Masha, where's the—"

She ended in a barely audible squeak as she felt cold fingers seize her chin and turn her face up into the frigid wind, up into a pair of golden eyes she wished she didn't know so well. Her first coherent thought as she felt those nails press against her skin was how cold they felt and how they trembled slightly. Her second was that his eyes weren't the same as always. She couldn't name the difference at that moment, but they weren't the same.

Different or not, those orbs bore into hers as they always did as his lips (they're chapped, she thought, really bad…) split into his usual smirk. Different, again. Something's not…not right…

"Hello, koneko-chan."

Author's Notes: Ok, that's it for chapter 1. A bit short, granted, but I'm rather new at this, it's Halloween night, almost 1 AM, and I have economics first thing tomorrow morning :P

That said, read and review, please. There's more to come, probably... well, soon. You all have my crazily fluff-addicted friends to thank for that.