A re-write of my first ever fanfiction! This story brings back so many good memories. And reminds of how obsessed I used to be with Tokyo Mew Mew. It also... brought to my attention how horribly the original fanfiction was written. Granted, it was years ago, but... yeah. Since I'm bored and pretty much lacking in anything resembling a life now, I figured I might give re-writing this a shot. As of yet, I'm not sure if I'll be changing anything about the storyline. Maybe I'll add stuff. Dunno. I'm quite a lazy person. Anyways! Enjoy?

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters or Tokyo Mew Mew. D: They belong to Ikumi Mia. The OC, however, is mine (possesive cling).

As Ichigo ran down the pact dirt path of the park up to the cafe, her thoughts were elsewhere: Masaya. Far, far off in a dream land, where everything was him and everything was perfect. It made a giggle bubble up inside of her, despite being short on breath from sprinting the whole way. She was late for work... again. It was nothing new. It had come to be her weekend routine, actually. Her alarm would go off, perfectly timed as always, and she would, somehow, sleep over the obnoxious beeping until she had a mere few minutes to run about the house in a flurry of tasks. She would primp her looks for the day, shove some toast into her mouth in a rushed breakfast (in hindsight, probably unnecessary, due to the fact that she worked at a cafe full of pastries that Keiichiro would more than likely have no issues in letting her have there), and then make a mad dash for the hell she called work.

But no, Ichigo shook her head to be rid of the thoughts. As long as she had Masaya, everything was perfect. And so maybe I should tell him that I... Her thoughts were cut short as the ground began to shake beneath her feet, making her stumble to regain balance. It subsided as quickly as it had come, and Ichigo blinked down at her feet in confusion. What was...

Again, Ichigo's musings were stopped short, this time by the familiar door of the cafe smacking her square in the face and a small body crashing into her, sending them both toppling to the ground. Ichigo groaned under her breath, sitting up and rubbing her smarting nose as the voice of her would-be attacker reached her ears.

"Ichigo, transform!" Pudding piped up, realizing now who she had knocked into, but not pausing for the formalities of apologizing; there were more urgent things at hand. "Masha detected aliens just outside the park! It's a Chimera Anima!"

Ichigo stood, shaking off the shock of the moment as she grabbed for her pendant and let the heated, familiar feeling of her animal genes build up inside her. "Mew Mew Strawberry, metamorphose!" The words fell from her lips without needing to be thought of as the light of transformation wrapped itself around her and changed her into her battle attire.

Without another word, the Mews all rushed in the direction Masha was taking them. It was close, and Ichigo thought absently that it was the Chimera Anima that must have caused the small earthquake. A big one... just what I need to start my already hectic day, Ichigo thought regrettably, the monster coming into view as if just to confirm her dismayed thoughts.

The brat of the alien trio was floating cross-legged above it, an amused smirk in place and eyes focused down at his infused creation. Ichigo's gaze followed his to see that under the foot of the Chimera was... it was...

It was a girl.

She was young, from the look of it. Her face was still quite round with youth, and her body, or at least what was showing from underneath the monster, looked small and somewhat frail.

"Taruto!" Ichigo shouted, baring her teeth and flattening her dark cat ears out of angered instinct.

The alien boy's pointed ears perked up, eyes flitting in the direction of his name. "What do you want?" he asked, his tone playfully innocent as if he had no idea why the Mews were there or why he was being yelled at. His aloof act pulled the desired reaction.

"What do you think you're doing, hurting an innocent girl like that!" Ichigo demanded, taking a threatening step forward. This served to make the grin Taruto had to grow.

"I don't know," the boy said airily, shrugging his shoulders as if it meant nothing. "She was in the way. Besides, my Chimera is hungry." By the end of the sentence, his tone turned from innocence to dark amusement.

Ichigo's ear flicked in annoyance, eyes narrowing darkly. That was the final straw.

Without warning, Ichigo jumped at the alien boy, slamming him to the ground with a tackle and moving to try and get her hands around his neck. Taruto's small hands pushed at her arms, managing to keep those seeking hands just off target. His worry did not last long, though, for soon the girl was lifted off of him by the Chimera Anima. "Let go!" she shouted, struggling against the crushing pressure of its claws. "You stupid alien brat! I won't forgive you!"

Mint dashed forward, bow at the ready. "Ribbon Mint Echo!" she called, summoning a shot to free the pink Mew. With an aggravated, deep roar, the Chimera stumbled back, Ichigo dropping from its distracted grip.

It was then that the air behind Taruto rippled, someone appearing along with it. The Mews tensed when Kisshu came into focus, but Ichigo lowered her weapon slightly when she spotted his expression and just who it was directed at. He's glaring at... Taruto? Ichigo wondered.

"Taruto! Call off your Chimera! Right now!" Everyone, especially Taruto, stared and Kisshu in shock. He had never yelled at the boy... not like that. Kisshu floated down to the wounded girl on the ground, expression softening immediately into sadness and worry. Ichigo backed away nervously, weapon held back up at the ready. Ignoring her reaction, Kisshu knelt down, gathering the fragile silver-haired girl carefully into his arms to hold her. "What did you do to her?" he demanded, eyes sharpening coldly again to shoot a glare at his comrade.

"Wh..." Taruto blinked, momentarily taken aback. "What do you mean, what did I do to her!" he shouted back, automatically getting defensive. It was just some human girl! What was he being yelled at for?

Kisshu's eyes narrowed. "What did you do to her?" he repeated, voice just as cold as his eyes now.

Taruto landed by the other alien, lifted his hands to rest behind his head, and rolled his eyes up in feinted innocence. "I didn't do anything, but the Chimera fought her. For a human girl, she was actually pretty strong— " Taruto's explanation was cut short by Kisshu pushing him down.

"Why did you hurt her!" he yelled, only looking angrier by the second. Taruto scooted back a little, expression getting slightly fearful. If it came down to it, he probably would not be able to stand up to the older alien in a fight. But what was he so angry about? What was it about this girl that got him so bent out of shape? Taruto was about to open his mouth and voice his protests, but was silenced upon receiving that icy glare yet again. With a defeated sigh, the boy shrugged and warped his Chimera and himself away.

Kisshu's shoulders relaxed, letting his grip on the girl loosen a little now that the threat was gone. "Kitten," he muttered softly, turning to face Ichigo now, who was still standing at the ready, "could you... take care of her?"

Ichigo blinked, stunned. "U-uh... sure." she said hesitantly, reaching out to take her when Kisshu held the girl out to her. Just as quickly as he had come, Kisshu vanished, returning to where ever the aliens kept themselves. The pink Mew took that moment to glance down at the pale girl she now held. Why had Kisshu gotten so upset? Who was this girl? Where did she live? What was she doing, getting herself caught up in a fight with a Chimera Anima? All these questions and more flooded her mind as she stared down at the mystery girl.

"Any idea who she is?" Zakuro placed a hand on Ichigo's shoulder, pulling her from her thoughts.

"I don't know," Ichigo admitted, slowly shaking her head. "And how does she know Kisshu? Are they friends?" She looked up at Zakuro, though she didn't honestly expect the eldest Mew to know the answer. The others caught up to the two of them then.

"Ichigo! Are you all right?" Pudding asked, nearly bouncing up and down on the spot next to the pink Mew. She looked as if she wanted to jump up onto Ichigo and hug her in relief or something, but at least she knew better. The gaze she got from the little golden Mew promised a million questions in one glance, though.

"I'm fine," she answered, "but we need to get this girl back to the cafe. She might be wounded." With that, Ichigo straightened up and lifted the girl into a proper hold. The girl's lack of weight was a bit frightening, the pink Mew realized. Her strength was higher than normal from being in Mew form, she knew, but even then, the girl was near feather light. There was no struggle in carrying her back and into the cafe.

"Ichigo? Who is that?" Ryou enquired as he entered the main cafe area.

Ichigo huffed, shifting the girl in her hold a little. Now back to her regular self, while still light, the weight was tasking over time now. "We're not really sure. Kisshu asked me to take care of her." Ichigo huffed again, heading toward the stairs ahead of her question, "You have a spare room up this way, right? She needs to rest."

Ryou nodded, catching up to Ichigo and taking the girl from her to lead them in the right direction. Ichigo sighed a little at his seeming total lack of effort, but he was a guy, after all, and she was only a preteen girl, so she supposed it could not be helped.

Once in the room at the end of the hall, Ryou gently set the girl on the small bed by the window. When he was sure the girl was comfortable— or at least not in any obvious pain— he pulled a chair up for Ichigo and another for himself.

"So," he piped up after a few moments of silence, "how does Kisshu know her? And since when do you do favours for Kisshu anyway? Last I checked, you avoided him like a plague, complaining about over-the-top flirting or some such."

A pink blush made itself known on Ichigo's cheeks at Ryou's teasing. "Sh-shut up. I'm not sure how he knows her, but he seemed so upset at her being hurt. I... couldn't say no."

Ryou glanced up from the girl for the first time since picking her up and over at Ichigo, eyebrow raised in obvious doubt of the alien boy caring for anyone other than Ichigo herself. "Don't you have any clue why? They're not the type to worry about just anybody..." he said, eyes trailing back to the unconscious girl.

Ryou was about to stand and leave the room after it seemed she wasn't about to wake any time soon when a small movement from the girl made something catch his eye near her now exposed shoulder. "Ichigo," he said urgently, pointing to the lightly coloured mark on the girl's shoulder. "Isn't that the mark of a Mew Mew?"

Ichigo's eyes darted to where she was directed, gasping. "I-it is!"

Well! There you have it. Chapter one in all its... improvement? I'd like to think so, anyway. Originally a page and a half-ish, it is now about four pages (depending on your idea of font/size, I guess). Reviews are love~ Love that nourishes my poor, deprived baby plot bunnies that still sleep in my brain. Really, I'm so lazy. I should write more of my ideas out instead of just dream about them to myself.