Disclaimer: Tokyo Mew Mew doesn't belong to me.

AN; most names, places etc I've used the Japanese names, except for one or two small things, also I didn't put in any, you know, 'kun' and 'san' and so and such, so forgive me for not putting them in:)

Also, this is my first fan fiction that I've ever uploaded, so please review and tell me what you think (but please be nice, lol:) )

Ichigo reached out blindly to switch her computer on whilst stifling a huge yawn that made her eyes water slightly. Blinking a few times to clear the moisture there and to focus her sight properly her pc flared to life, the miniature fan that kept her hard drive cool, although near silent was loud to her sensitive ears. Her cat abilities had all but disappeared after the Deep Blue incident. She, along with the others could no longer transform, but they had all found they retained some traits and quirks of their animal counterparts. Not any appendages though, thankfully. Their pink tattoo like marks still remained, faded and dull.

She brushed away the dry sand from her eyes with her knuckles before she rose tiredly to her feet and dragged herself to her bathroom for a quick shower. She reached into the shower to flip the tap towards her and waited for the water to heat up. Soon hot steam drifted towards her in ghostly tendrils and she undressed hurriedly before climbing in.

*

She reached out to shut the tap and the flow of hot water ceased immediately. Ichigo brought her delicate hands up to face to brush away the wet hair that clung to her face before pulling down the fluffy towel that hung over the shower door to wrap around her petite body. She stepped out the shower onto a pale pink mat and grabbed a matching hand towel with a strawberry embroidered pattern on the corners to wrap around her wet hair. She crossed the hall to her room and shut the door behind her before leaning over her chair to check her email and to log onto msn on her pc.

She turned away from the large, beautifully black, flat screen to her closet and started pulling out clothes for the day; some underwear, a pair of dark skinny jeans with dark pink stitching and a black tank top. She towelled off most of the moisture from her hair and combed out any tangles and knots that might have formed from sleep and being up in a towel. Walking leisurely back to her bathroom in her underwear, Ichigo hung the damp towels over the metal rails to dry and as she was shaking her long, strawberry coloured hair out so it could hang and dry better she heard a message come through with a soft beep. She sat down on her comfy office chair and spun round to face her screen looking to see from whom the message came. She sighed and rolled her eyes when she saw who it was.

'Masaya: Hey Ichigo :) '

She hesitated for a moment before replying,

"Hey Masaya, How've you been keeping?"

The reply came in with another beep,

"I've been good thanks, England is freezing though! How are you doing? How're things back home?"

"I'm doing very well thanks. Things are good, it's getting warmer everyday and I don't have to be at the cafe so much, which really helps me when it comes to studying. Speaking of which, how are your studies of Red Data Animals going?"

His reply came through after a few moments' pause,

'Glad to hear things are going well. It's great! I'm really enjoying it, it's a lot of hard work but it's worth it:) If you don't have to rush off anywhere do you want to have a video call?'

She hurriedly typed in her reply,

"I'd love to, but I can't, I'm already running late....again. Gotta run! Chat soon. X"

She read her reply three times before deleting the 'x' and hitting the send button. Ichigo hurriedly logged off without waiting for his reply, and let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. These last few months she had been growing a bit distant, and even slightly irate towards Masaya, and Ichigo wasn't able to explain why, even to herself. Once or twice Ichigo had vaguely wondered if Ryou's attitude towards Massaya where rubbing off on her. But that still wouldn't explain it, they never discussed Massaya, Ichigo never spoke of him, except to the girls when they asked, and Ryou certainly didn't bring him up. She wasn't ever rude or anything when she spoke to Massaya, but sometimes the things he did or said seemed to irritate her when they had never fazed her before. Not that they were major issues either, just his mannerisms, and the strange thing was, it was the things Ichigo had once been drawn to and loved about him. Ichigo knew she was probably nit picking, but she didn't care anymore.

She shrugged it off and turned her attention to other matters. She pulled her clothes on before reaching out for her hair dryer out so she could rid her long red hair of the last bits of moisture. Once her hair was dry she brushed it back and let her bangs fall into place over her forehead. She had long since grown out of wearing her hair in pigtails and it was too long in any case, reaching well past her shoulders. She applied a slight amount of make-up, consisting only of thin line of black eyeliner and mascara, having near flawless skin had always allowed her to never need foundation of any sort.

Lastly she pulled her pink, ankle high Converse out her closet, switched her pc off and headed downstairs for some toast. She dropped her shoes next to her shoulder bag by the door just before setting down to eat.

She took her time with her breakfast, not wanting to eat too fast. As she was finishing up she glanced at her mobile and jumped when she saw the time, 08:13. Her lectures started in little over forty five minutes and unless she kicked it into high gear she would miss the train. She shovelled the last bit of toast into her mouth as she leapt out her chair and bolted upstairs to brush teeth and grab her necklace and jacket.

The silver necklace she had grabbed was probably one her most loved possessions. It was something that had been given to her little over a year ago on her eighteenth birthday by Ryou.

She had been surprised to say the least when he shoved the small pink box in her hands. Receiving a present from Ryou was the last thing she had expected. But if that was a shock, what lay inside was enough to leave her speechless.

A delicate silver chain lay on a square of foam and when she pulled it carefully out, she gasped, the silver chain, she saw, was not the main gift, but the silver charm that hung from it was. It was the elegant silhouette of a tall cat sitting, its magnificent head; turned to the side a large, shocking pink, cushion cut diamond for its eye. Its long tail curved and ended in a graceful arch above its head. On the back engraved with the simple words, 'For Ichigo'.

Ichigo was stunned by, but only for a few moments before she reached up to wrap her arms around the tall blonde's neck and planting a kiss on his cheek. Whispering her thanks in his ear as she held him tight Ichigo was slightly surprised when she felt his arms encircle her waist as he returned the display of affection, even holding her firmly to him. But in a heartbeat they pulled away, ending the brief moment.

Since then she had hardly taken it off, save when she slept and showered. Knowing her luck, Ichigo knew she'd end up either strangling herself in her sleep by accident, or the clasp breaking the shower, so to be safe, she took it off every night before showering and put it on each morning, normally straight after.

She raced down the stairs to grab her black shoulder bag decorated with a large; dark strawberry in one corner and pulled on her shoes and laced them up just before stepping onto the porch and locking up behind her. She shoved her keys into her bag and set off at a fast walk to the train station.

She checked her mobile every few moments on her way to the station to reassure herself she still had sufficient time to get to college. She smiled to herself a slight bounce in her step, proud and happy with herself that she was making an even greater effort to be more punctual with things lately. She was just leaving the residential area of her neighbourhood when an uneasy itch right between her shoulder blades made her look over her shoulder behind her. There was nothing unusual that Ichigo could see and she shook it off, but was unable to rid the awful feeling she had, it gave her goose bumps and made the hairs at the back of her neck stand on end. Ichigo hitched her bag up higher on her shoulder and quickened her pace.

The feeling came back and she spun around to try and see what was behind her that made her feel as if she were being followed. She breathed a sigh of relief at what she saw, before laughing at how worried she had been. Of all things to be scared at, it was only a cat for heaven's sake!

A greyish brown cat with large, black spots that in some places extended to bands running longitudinally down its body sat on the sidewalk directly behind her, its large and bright amber eyes staring unblinkingly straight at her. That wasn't unusual, ever since being infused with wild cat DNA; cats had always been drawn to her. She raised a hand in a small wave of acknowledgement and farewell before turning and continuing on her way.

A few moments later a flicker of movement caught her eye and Ichigo glanced down to find the same cat padding quietly along beside her. She smiled down at the feline, glad of her company. It was then that Ichigo noticed the cats' unusually short tail. It was at that moment when several things suddenly happened simultaneously; a loud crash accompanied by a slight tremor of the earth and the same uncomfortable itch between her shoulder blades and the weight of the cat as it leapt into her arms in fright. Ichigo spun around to catch a glimpse at a large snow white frog, or something that vaguely resembled a frog, through the trees. Or rather, Ichigo saw it over the trees as the things thick head stood considerably higher than any of the trees around it, and the realisation that the cat she now had cradled in her arms was no ordinary cat.

Ichigo held the cat out in front of her and found the cat seemed to be almost smiling up at her, her tail twitched slightly and without warning the cat leapt at Ichigo's chest, but instead of the impact Ichigo was expecting, all she felt was a warm, pink glow envelope both of them as they merged into one being.

Her clothes melted away to be replaced by a strapless, tight fitting pink dress that flared out at the hips into a short balloon skirt and was edged at the top in a darker pink, matching arm bands on her upper arms, a garter and a choker all pink edged in a deeper shade and a delicate pendant dangling off the choker. Dark pink knee high boots replaced her sneakers, and her black ears and tail, complete with gold bell and red ribbon appeared. Her hair and eyes both turned a bright shade of pink and dark pink gloves now covered her delicate hands.

Instincts, born from the many months of battling other kirema anima's just a few short years ago, kicked in immediately and without a moment's hesitation Ichigo took off towards the mutated creature. Vaulting over the high fence that ran around the small conservation area with ease, she sprinted to the creature that turned its attention to her for only a moment, its large purple eyes flickered to her then back to uprooting trees.

It appeared to be covered in very course looking, snow white fur and bordered on being nearly three storeys high with several large, pale purple eyes that contained no pupil. It opened its massive jaws revealing multiple rows of needle sharp teeth, each roughly the length of a ruler, and thicker than her wrist. Another crash and tremor revealed that the creature was shooting out a large, electric blue tongue to latch around trees and uprooting them to eat.

"Hey!"

The frog twitched, watching Ichigo out of the corner of its many eyes, "Yes, I'm talking to you, you disgusting toad! I don't have the time for this, so turn around and face me so I can send you back to whatever hellhole your ugly ass crawled out of."

The mutant creature grunted as a response and turning its massive body towards her, shot its tongue at her, Ichigo leapt out of its path as quickly as she could manage, but its tongue still managed to graze her left arm, just below her shoulder, with the sharp hairs that coated it, to latch onto an ancient looking oak behind her.

"Fuck!" Ichigo nearly doubled over in agony as her arm seared with white hot pain and glancing down, she gasped. The wound appeared to fester before her eyes as the skin around it was eaten away as if by acid.

Gritting her teeth in pain, Ichigo muttered darkly to herself, "Oh, you'll pay for that,", she crouched down on all fours, raising her back legs, like an athlete about to begin a race, she glanced up at the thing who wasn't paying her mind, and surged forward like a cat would attack its prey. When she'd gathered enough speed in the short distance she had, Ichigo leapt towards its large head, and before it could react she landed a well placed kick on the side of its head, sending it staggering to the side from the impact; its tongue released the oak immediately, leaving a black charred mark on the trunk.

Whilst the thing was still recovering from its blow to the head, Ichigo summoned her heart shaped weapon, although she was loath to take attack anything that couldn't defend itself, she knew that the kirema, if that's what it was, would not extend the same courtesy to her, had their positions been reversed.

And the god damn thing had caused her an injury that would probably leave an unsightly scar. Leaping into the air once more she aimed her attack at the vile creatures face, "Ribbon Strawberry Check!"

She landed lightly on her feet and clutched her left arm just below the wound with her right hand as pain once more lanced through her. Tears started to gather in her pink eyes, but she blinked them furiously away and instead watched as the white fur on the frog's body where the attack had struck was left slightly singed and the creature, having recovered from both attacks, turned its full attention to Ichigo for the first time.

"Oh crap."

It bared its many rows of teeth at her and let out a deep, menacing growl that shook the leaves on trees and Ichigo felt her chest reverberate with the bass. It reared its ugly head getting ready to either shoot out its tongue to try and eat her or heavens knew what else it could or would do.

But Ichigo was not planning on finding out which it was intending to try, gritting her teeth at the pain she knew was coming she called out, "Strawberry Bell, Version up!" Pale yellow wings appeared on her weapon as she aimed her upgraded Bell at the mutant, 'Ribbon, Strawberry, Check, Surprise!'

The thing opened its mouth dumbly as it was struck in a blinding flash of pinkish colour, when the light had dissipated the creature had already begun to evaporate, leaving no evidence of its existence behind apart from the char mark on the tree.

Ichigo made to lean over to rest her hands on her knees, before stopping and straightening up instead, her lungs would work better if she stood tall. But even so, she was sorely tempted to lean over and catch her breath.

Ichigo's chest rose and fell rapidly, breathing as if she'd been running a marathon, "God, I'm really out of shape with kicking ass." She said softly to herself in between her heavy breaths. Once she had her breath back moved gingerly anticipating pain, but it didn't come, so she made her way over to inspect where the thing had been standing, expecting to find a very bewildered frog and perhaps the remnant of a kirema anima infuser. But nothing remained, only flattened grass. She turned and made her way to the ancient tree to inspect the horrible burn that remained on its bark. The wound looked as her arm had, the wood eaten away as if by acid revealing the pale wood on the inside, but the poison or venom's effect was rapidly slowing down. She put a gloved hand out to the old tree, resting her hand against it. The wood felt alive beneath her fingers, her acute senses picking up on very subtle movement within the tree itself. She smiled to herself, the ancient tree would live, it was oak and they were sturdy and tough, able to survive the harshest of elements living to be hundreds of years old, whilst others grew old and died, but the bark on this particular tree would probably always be scarred. An eternal reminder of what had happened to it.

"Shit," Ichigo muttered to herself, leaning heavily on the tree as pain lanced through her arm originating where she'd been hurt, she glanced down at her arm, "God that hurts." Where she'd been scratched was black as night, with small, unhealthy looking bubbles around the edges. Although it had stopped eating away at the skin around it, it was now double, if not more the size it was. And the pain was creeping back, it burned painfully and she dared not touch it. She shuddered to think what she would look like had she been she reacted half a second later, her whole arm, if she was lucky, if not more would be in this state, and Ichigo didn't doubt that she most likely would be paralysed with pain.

She looked around to check if there was anyone in the nearby vicinity, but the street was deserted, before she turned tail and ran as fast as she could, her body held low to the ground to allow her to move with more speed, to the only person that would know how to help.

Nearly 20 minutes later her feet had found the stairs leading up the back entrance of the petite cafe she used to spend every waking hour of every day at. Ichigo glanced round to make sure no one was watching as she reached out with her right had to try the door, praying silently.

Breathing a heavy sigh of relief as it clicked lightly as she turned the handle and stumbled inside, the door slamming loudly shut behind her as she collapsed back against it and slid to the floor, breathing heavily as her chest burning. She had to have run nearly four miles flat out, with her arm growing more painful and swollen by the minute, if she moved it in the slightest now it would just about bring her to tears of agony.

She heard footfalls on the stairs; no doubt the slamming door had attracted someone's attention, "Ryou!" Ichigo called out as loudly as her burning lungs allowed her. The footsteps increased their speed and as Ryou's form appeared in the kitchen he saw the pink haired cat girl lying in a heap just as a pink glow wrapped around her allowing her Mew outfit to melt away leaving her in her normal clothes. "Ichigo!"

She gave him a small smile, blinking up at him, trying to focus her eyes, "Ryou, my powers...they're back."

Well that's it for the first chapter :)

Please r&r, thanks a mil!

-Serenity