The last chapter was pretty short, so this one is longer to make up for it. Yah, wrote it in twenty minutes flat, so sorry if it doesn't make too much sense.

Enjoy!

11- Don't Turn Your Back On Me

Re-cap of Chapter 10:

" Whilst we had peace for a while, we need to regain our bonds now. It's time to get serious. If we do not trust one another and tell all information, it could lead to arguments and the possible end of the earth." Zakuro finished, her lips thinned.

" Wait up." Kish stood forward. " You're talking as if these other aliens are trying to take over earth again!" He stood still as silence took over the room.

" If they're not," Purin muttered, " Why did they set off the Chimera Na no da?"

---

" Our leader." Tart bowed his head. " He set them off. We should have known that he'd warn us like this."

" So this could have been avoided? I knew I shouldn't have trusted you all!" Ryou yelled, stepping towards Tart, who was cowering slightly.

" Oi!" Kish yelled back, stepping towards Ryou, blocking him off from Tart. " Don't get Tart into this! He had nothing to do with this at all! Nor did Pai!"

" Then it's your fault Kish!" Ryou bellowed.

" No one got hurt Shirogane, why the drama? It was a warning! You only have to warn someone once! I have a week left and it was just a reminder!"

" People may have gotten hurt!"

" But no one did!"

" They still could have! If they did it would have been your fault and you'd have to pay for it!"

" I didn't hurt them though! Why is it my fault? Why am I being blamed for backing off years ago to save this stupid planet and all of you, resulting in me being executed from my home and being turned on by my family? Why is it that you're acting like your involved Shirogane! You aren't! No one here is!" Kish screamed, getting fired up. The Mews, Keiichirou and the aliens stood back, forming a circle of sorts around the arguing duo.

" Get out." Ryou whispered, pointing to the door. " I don't want low lying scum in my lab. I don't want someone who is threatening this planet and doesn't give a damn in my home!"

" Ryou!" Ichigo yelled, but Kish had already reacted.

" Fine by me!" He muttered, teleporting away.

" Ryou, that was a bit harsh." Keiichirou walked toward Ryou, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder, only to be shunned off.

" I'm going out." Ryou said, rubbing his head. " I need a drink."

" I'll take you then." Keiichirou smiled. " We don't need a car accident in the middle of this."

" Everyone, let's leave." Mint muttered, motioning towards the other exit. Everyone followed the bird mew, leaving Keiichirou and Ryou alone to go out.

" He has nerve!" Ichigo muttered, clenching her jaw and her fists when they were out of earshot of Ryou and Keiichirou.

" Ichigo-san, please calm down. Ryou-san possibly is stressed because he wanted the Mew Project to be over and now it has begun again." Lettuce offered, petting Ichigo on the back.

" I agree with Lettuce. For now, let's just go home, take a long bath and have something to eat and sleep this off. If Shirogane isn't out of it tomorrow, we'll do something. But this will blow over. So, let's go." Zakuro suggested, walking towards the road.

" Hai, Onee-sama, wait for me!" Mint yelled, waving goodbye to everyone as she joined Zakuro down the road that led to the mansions of Tokyo.

" I'll take Pudding-san home then Ichigo, since we live that way. Ja ne, for now." Lettuce bowed and waved as she walked away, Pudding in tow.

" Bye Ichigo-Onee-san! See you tomorrow Tar-Tar!" Ichigo giggled slightly as Tart blushed, waving goodbye to Pudding.

" Ichigo." Tart muttered suddenly. " Where do you think Kish went?" Ichigo's face went pale once more and she remembered that Kish wasn't with them.

" I… I don't know. Ryou would know, he has a tracking system on all unearthly creatures, such as us Mews and you guys. But I don't want to return back in there." She motioned towards the Café, where in the window you could see Keiichirou and Ryou grabbing some things together, such as jackets and keys.

" Then we'll split up. I will go look at our ship, Tart can fly over the city to his favourite places and you… go home. He may already be there. In one hour we'll meet you at your residence and if he's not there, we'll start the search over. Tart, if you find him, either tell Ichigo or bring him to her."

" Why me?" Ichigo asked, not understanding why Pai didn't want Kish to be with them, to train and whatnot.

" Because you can calm him down. Do you not remember the last time he was annoyed?" Pai pointed to his nose, bringing back some memories. He smiled a slight, rare smile as Ichigo's face lit up in realization.

" Yah, he broke Pai's nose when Kish thought you were dead, old hag!" Tart laughed.

" I'm gonna let that one slide. I'll see you in an hour at the most." Ichigo smiled at Tart, who was gawking at her. " What? I'm not in the mood." She bowed and walked towards her house, hoping that Kish was already there.

---

Ichigo sighed. Her parents were giving her a long lecture about not having her cell when she wasn't home and how worried they were that she was hurt.

" Mum, dad, I'm fine. I went to the Fair today and nothing happened, I just got caught up with something at work afterwards." Ichigo slumped back further in her chair, wishing her parents would let her go up to her room already.

" Ichigo! We heard about what happened at the Fair! It is dangerous out there for you! You don't know what could happen! A monster was at the fair! Tell me you saw it!" Shintaro screeched, pulling the hairs out of his head in frustration.

" I saw it all right…" Ichigo muttered.

" And what? You thought that it'd be ok? That the Mews would save you? They're only little girls like you Ichigo! One day they wont be here to protect us! And what then? You'll be hurt, and possibly dead with no way of telling us where you are! And why were you even at the Fair? Were you with a boy?"

" Dad!" Ichigo stood up, not knowing how she was going to tell her father to chill without giving her secret away. " I'm fine! Sure, something bad happened today and it was a coincidence that I was there! It could have happened to anyone! Chances are it wont happen again! The Mews may be 'little girls', but they're strong and they'll hold through! They'll keep us safe!"

" Ichigo, Shintaro, please, both sit." Sakura said, her calm voice sounding out of place in the father-daughter yelling contest.

" Shintaro, Ichigo's right. She's fifteen and can take care of herself. Since there are people out there such as the Mews, we are much safer than in other places. What happened is an once-in-a-lifetime thing; it's probable that it'll never happen again. But Ichigo, your father is right, you should keep your cell on you at all times, who knows what could happen?"

" Ok, ok. Can I go to my room now? I'm tired and I need to go to sleep." Ichigo whined, telling the truth. She felt exhausted from her fight with the Chimera- it seemed that her body always caught up with her slower than normal.

" Ok dear. Goodnight, see you in the morning."

---

" Kish?" Ichigo whispered, turning on the light of her bedroom. She could see no body on her bed, or in the room. She sighed, putting down her bag. She was hoping that Kish would be there. Glancing at the clock, she sighed again. It had been thirty-four minutes since she; Pai and Tart had started searching for him.

" Kish… if you're there, if you can here me, please, come here…" Ichigo murmured, looking out the window. She opened her door and sat on the small balcony, her legs dangling down the sides and her chin resting upon her hands.

" Koneko-Chan?" Ichigo's head shot up, looking for that voice.

" Kish!"

" Why are you looking for me?" Kish asked, jumping down from his hiding place- the roof.

" I was worried about you, you baka!" Ichigo giggled, trying to hold back tears of relief. She was so moody lately and anything could set her off. A downfall of being a teenager I suppose. She and Kish hugged and he murmured in her hair.

" Aw, thankyou Koneko-Chan. But I would have thought everyone would have joined sides with Shirogane, he has some valid points."

" No! No way. Kish, don't listen to that big baka. He's just worried about all of us Mews. He's like our protector."

" I thought I was your protector Koneko-Chan." Kish said, letting go of Ichigo. He sighed and turned around, looking at the stars, his back to Ichigo.

" Don't turn your back on me Kish, I need you. You need me. I don't want you to feel alone now! You have so much to deal with and I just want to help. Everyone does. So please, don't do this."

" Ichigo…" Kish turned around and hugged her again. " I can't do this alone." Ichigo wasn't sure, but she could almost tell he was possibly crying. Ichigo felt a stab of guilt in her gut once more- it was her fault, ultimately. She had made Kish a traitor and if it weren't for her he wouldn't be in the pickle he was now.

" You don't have to." Ichigo felt tears come to her eyes and buried her head under Kish's chin, blushing slightly as she felt the cold chain of silver around his neck push against her forehead and face. He squeezed her tighter and Ichigo sobbed.

" Shh… don't cry Koneko-Chan, it doesn't suit you. Let's get some sleep ne? Tomorrow, we'll figure it all out." Ichigo nodded, feeling herself be teleported by Kish into her room.

---

Ten minutes later, two shadows loomed outside Ichigo's window.

" Yuck. It's all mushy and gushy!" Tart whined, pointing at Kish and Ichigo, who were sitting on Ichigo's bed, kissing and hugging. Pai just closed his eyes.

" Well, we were right, he's calm now. We'll figure it out tomorrow."

Pai and Tart left the balcony, and yet, there was still a strange figure looming out side Ichigo's window, one that none of the aliens noticed.

---

Ryou and Kish fought! Growl! Shintaro and Sakura got all parental on Ichigo! Ooh! Things got mushy! Aw! A shadow looms over Ichigo and Kish! Gasp!

Sorry, but that's the chapter in a nutshell. Haha, nutshell. Most of you probably have seen the Tokyo Mew Mew: In A Nutshell fan-dub (by 'Hika Yagami') on Youtube, if not, it's hilarious so check it out!

Anyway, I always wondered why Shintaro and Sakura didn't notice Ichigo was always missing and the like when she was fighting. If she was three hours late on a date with Aoyama, and the date would only go for an hour (for example), doesn't that mean they'd be worried? None-the-less, trying to make things seem realistic is a bit hard!

So please review if you want more! I'm going away on the 9th, so if I get enough reviews (good quality ones), I'll put up one more chapter before I leave to NZ! I'll be away from the 9th till the 23rd, so you wont get an update until late January that way. Sorry guys!

(My dad IS brining his laptop and we will POSSIBLY have Internet service over there… perhaps I will be able to write if I'm sneaky!)

In any case, I won't update for a while during that time period, possibly only once or just replies to some reviews!

Once again, review! Thanks a lot!

MK