Hey, it's me again!

I know it's been a very, very, very long time since I updated on any of my stories, but 4 those of u who have stuck 2 reading the story, I want 2 thank all of u 4 being so patient.

Hopefully now the wait is over, of and I realize that the end of the last chapter was kinda dodgy but hopefully it will make sence within a few chapters or so…

And I will try 2 b a bit better on updating my stories…like I said b4 4 those who have stuck with the story, thanx very much 4 being so patient and now on with the story!

BRING!

At last the final bell for school rang and all the students began to run out screaming and shouting with joy, for they were finally free of the school day.

Now only Ichigo, Moe, and Miwa were left in class as they began to pick up there things and leave for home.

"So Ichigo, are you going to stay and watch Aoyama's kendo practice today?" Moe asked a smile on her face.

"No, I can't I've been asked to come straight to the café as soon as school was over cause we are excepted to be busy with Keiirchiro's new double chocolate strawberry cake recipe." Ichigo answered back glumily.

'Well, it's not entirely a lie, Ryou predicted the café would be packed thanks to the new dessert, but I also have to help the others in convincing the café is still safe for me to work at.'

"Oh, that's to bad, cause I think he was asking about you the other day too."

"I'd be careful if I were you though Ichigo…" her friend Miwa warned.

This caught the other girls' attention. "Huh, why?" Ichigo asked innocently.

"You mean you don't know?"

"Know what already?"

"All through class and even through lunch today, that new guy um…Drake right, well he kept looking at you, it was like you were the prettiest girl in the entire country, or maybe even the whole world."

"Come on you guys are being ridiculous, he was probably just staring at me because I may look weird to him or something."

"Oh no, I think he is in definite crush mode, Ichigo." Miwa answered back.

"Maybe you should ask him out then…" Moe suggested as they began to walk out of the room.

"No! Guys, I keep telling you, I like Aoyama-kun, and besides I barely know the new guy…" Ichigo tried to explain.

"Doesn't mean you can't get to know him." Miwa suggested.

"That, or we could Miwa, after all if Ichigo isn't interested we could have a shot at him." Moe decided to point out.

"Yeah, sounds good to me…but what do you think Ichigo?" Miwa asked.

"Why are you asking me, I already told you, I'm not interested in him, heck I barely even know him." Ichigo said back.

'Or at last, I don't think I do…' she thought as she remembered that slight moment when Drake touched her hand and just for a second she thought she saw herself when she was younger playing with a young boy who looked just like Drake.

"Then perhaps, we could get to know each other better then, Ichigo." The three girls turn to look at the owner of the voice.

"Drake, hi!" Moe cried out rushing to greet him.

"Hello Drake!" Miwa followed soon after.

"Ladies…"he simply greeted as he passed them, but neither girl seemed to pay attention, hearts fluttering above their heads and in their eyes.

"Ichigo, how nice to see you again." He said as he took her hand and gently kissed it.

"Um, thanks…"Ichigo said, a blush beginning to creep onto her face.

"I was hoping that, if you were not too busy you could show me around this town, I recently came here and I'm afraid I don't know my way around…" he charmingly said.

"U-Um..w-w-well…" Ichigo stuttered nervously.

"She'd love to!" Both her friends answered for her.

"W-What are you doing, I already said-"

"She was telling us, that she would love to show you around town, in fact we were talking about some places we wanted to stop by this afternoon, maybe we could join you?" Moe asked.

Drake chuckled. "Thank you for your generosity ladies, I would love to be shown around by you three lovely ladies."

Moe and Miwa blushed like crazy, that was until Ichigo said "I can't."

Drake raised an eyebrow in curiousity. Ichigo then explained. "I'm real sorry, but I have a job at this café and I was told I need to come in as soon as I was out of school…"

"Oh, that's right, I forgot…"Moe thought out loud.

"Oh well, guess we'll just have to show Drake around ourselves…" Miwa winked to Moe, who seemed oblivious of her friend's obvious excuse.

"Actually, I'd be very interested to see this café, perhaps since I will already be shown around the city, you could show it to me?" Drake asked politely.

"Uh…sure." Ichigo said blushing, with Moe and Miwa cooing and weaving dreamily.

So the four headed out of the school, the three girls walking in the front and Drake smirking evilly in the back.

"Where is Ichigo?" Minto asked annoyed. "It's 3:25, she should've been here 10 minutes ago?"

"We all know that Ichigo one-chan always runs late, na no da! So why is it a big surprise all of a sudden na no da?" Pudding asked kinda gleefully.

"Well, because she does need to be here, after all she did warn us that her parents are coming here pretty quick to see if Ichigo-san can continue working at the café." Lettuce pointed out.

"Yeah, but the plan's as good as a bust if the person who's parents are the problem isn't even here!" Minto shouted back angrily.

"All right everyone, remember we need to make a good impression if Ichigo is to continue working here so we need be on our best behavior." Keiichiro politely said as he walked in with Ryou following close behind.

"In other words, if we want Ichigo to remain a part of the Mew Project we have to really make them believe that the place is more wholesome than it really is…" Ryou bluntly pointed out.

"WHAT WAS THAT!" Minto, and Pudding angrily shouted, Zakuro merely looked uninterested, and Lettuce was trying to calm the two screaming girls down.

"What Shirogane means to say is that just for today, we need to act like actual waiters and waitress…"

"So in other words…"Ryou began as he began to point to each of the girls

"Minto-san, you need to get off your butt and actually do work, if something spills, you clean it, if a customer needs something give it to them…and of course absolutely no afternoon tea-I don't care what excuse you come up with, but no tea." Minto then showed a mix of anger and a pout upon hearing Ryou criticize her.

He then pointed to Pudding. "Pudding-san, I know that you love to do tricks in the café, and where I'm not usually against it, you won't be allowed to do tricks." Pudding then started to get teary eyed.

"Zakuro…"he started out. "try to be a little more friendly with the customers, especially Ichigo's parents." She simply nods.

Last was Lettuce, "and Lettuce, try to keep the clumsiness to a minimum…" He slightly smirks, and Lettuce's face flushes.

"HEY !" Minto yells out furiously. "Why did I get the hardest criticism out of everyone else, I need my afternoon tea!"

"Yeah and everyone loves my tricks!" Pudding cried out.

"And yet, you quickly forget , we're only doing this for today, for Ichigo…" Ryou pauses.

Everyone's eyes are on him now as they listen to him.

"I know this is usual routine for us, almost the same as asking you girls to hunt down aliens. But keep in mind that without Ichigo, it will be much harder to fight off the aliens and keep them from destroying the human race. And to make sure she remains a part of the team, we have to not only keep our identities a secret, but convince them that Ichigo can be trusted to work here. I know these are some specific and perhaps tough sacrifices-that's why you only have to do this for the day. Understood?" he asked.

"Yes sir!" The mews saluted. (Well except Zakuro…)

"And don't worry, once this is all over…" Ryou smirks. "I'll make sure Ichigo pays us all back.

Not too far away Miwa, Ichigo, Drake, and Moe were walking through the park.

"And this is the park, where well, people come here a lot to play and stuff!" Moe pointed out gaily.

All the while Ichigo looked annoyed and Drake looked, but with only slight interest.

"What was that about?" Miwa whispered harshly to her.

"What?" Moe asked oblivious.

"We finally get to the park, and you tell him about it because you wanted to show him so bad, and the most obvious thing you could ever say comes out of your mouth!"

"Well it's not my fault, you try and keep a solid face when talking to him, I mean he's so gorgeous."

"Be that as it may, you could have at least tried to come up with something better to say then that pathetic excuse of a sentence!"

Not too far away Ichigo and Drake watched from the sidelines. Ichigo had a sweatdrop on her head and Drake, frankly looked annoyed.

"You really hang out with these two girls?" Drake asked in annoyed curiosity.

"Well yeah, they're my best friends." Ichigo tells him back.

"Still, you could make 'friends' with more desirable people."

"What are you saying, are you dessing Miwa and Moe, you know they really kinda like you!" Ichigo ranted to him.

"I never cared for their type." He puts bluntly.

Ichigo then just stares at him, an annoyed expression still on her face. "Then why did you want to come so badly if you don't like my friends so much?"

"I thought it was obvious…I wanted to see the sights of the city, and I wanted to…get to know you better miss Ichigo." His finished with a smirk growing wider on his face.

"Why me?" she asked.

He gently grabs her chin. "To tell you the truth, my dear, when I first saw you I thought you were like all of those other typical school girls-you hardly appealed to me…" Ichigo began to get irritated.

"And yet, when I looked at you again, I noticed that you were actually quite different from them, you had a certain …spark about you if you will."

"O.k? What are you getting at?" she asked cautious.

"What I am getting at miss Ichigo is that you seem very interesting to me, just when I thought I had you figured out, you surprised me, and I had to start all over again, and frankly you are still a mystery to me…"

The two simply continued to stare at each other for a time, her with annoyance, anger, and some confusion, and him with smugness, charm, and for a moment, what looked like lust?

'BRING! BRING! BRING!'

Just then Ichigo's phone began to ring, and she picked it up and answered after an annoyed Drake reluctantly let go of her to let her answer he phone.

"Hello?" She asked.

"ICHIGO, WHERE ARE YOU? IN CASE YOU FORGOT, YOU…HAVE…A…JOB! AND IF YOU WANT TO KEEP IT, AND MIGHT I ADD, KEEP YOUR PARENTS FROM SUSPECTING ANYTHING, YOU NEED TO QUIT WHATEVER YOU ARE DOING AND GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE!" Ryou practically shouted into the phone.

In that moment Ichigo panicked and began running as fast as she could to the café, leaving behind apologies to a stunned Drake and her two friends (who finally finished arguing).

In only a matter of seconds Ichigo at last reached the café with Ryou standing slightly in the doorway.

"Your late." He said.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't really help it, Moe and Miwa dragged me out to show this new kid in our class around the city, and I tried to explain that I had to work but then Drake said that since we were out he wanted to see the café, and so Moe and Miwa kept stalling and taking us to different places and-"

"I could care less, why you were late Ichigo, but the important thing is for you to get to work now…" He then points behind him. "your parents are here."

Not far off to where Ichigo and Ryou could easily see them were Ichigo' parents. Her mother sitting down and waving with a smile spread across her face, and her father hunched over on the table, his fingers tapping impatiently as he looked at the two.

Ichigo's face showed it all, while she knew they were coming, she was still surprised to see them.

"Go ahead and get changed." Ryou said as he walked back into the café.

"Yes sir…" Ichigo sighed in defeat.

"Now remember dear, while we are here to make sure Ichigo is alright here, we need to be polite." Ichigo mother kindly warned him.

He scoffed, "I'll be polite only if I need to, I mean did you see how her so called boss addressed my little girl, I have a bone to pick with him!" He said back with flames in his eyes, not long after his body was covered in the fire and Sakura was trying to calm him down.

Not far off in the kitchen the mews and Keiichiro were shocked and a bit scared at her dad's attitude to judge them so crucially.

"Hello, and welcome to Café Mew Mew, what would you like to order?" Ichigo asked kindly as she appeared suddenly along with the other mews fully clothed in their waitress outfits.

For the rest of the afternoon up till after dusk, the mews and Ichigo helped to serve the many customers that came into the café, keeping in mind that they were all the while under the watchful eyes of Ichigo' mother and father.

By the time the café was ready to close and the mews said that they needed to clean up her parents finally left, smiles now on their faces as they began to head out the door.

"I'm glad to here that Ichigo really is happy here!" Her mother said as they walked out the door.

"Yeah, but her boss could pay her a bit more you know…" Her father grumbled.

"Well, it is a waitress salary, and I do admit it is kinda low, but not all restraints pay the same honey, and besides if Ichigo is happy working here then we have to respect her decision."

"Yeah, I guess, but does he always have to keep her out so late?"

"At least we now know it's to help clean or sometimes hang out with her new friends." Her mother reasoned. Soon the couple began to walk back home.

All afternoon while the girls were waiting on customers, the mew girls worked hard to please their customers, and her mother was no exception.

Her father however, ended up talking with Ryou for practically the whole visit, asking every question that came to his mind about Ichigo's late streak and her sudden new job after working for months at the café, and being as smooth as he is, Ryou was able to give her father all the answers he needed to be satisfied.

And of course to Ichigo's greatest surprise all of her friends were actually pitching in and really helping her for once. Minto complained over her shoulder every once in a while but she actually helped and didn't stop for tea.

Pudding tried to pull off a trick at one point, but thankfully Lettuce stopped her at the last minute before her parents saw her.

Lettuce still had her moments where she would slip, but thankfully Ichigo and the girls were usually able to help her back on her feet.

Lastly Zakuro, still intimitated people, but she was nicer about how she served often saying words like "enjoy" or "hope you like it".

It was perhaps the biggest and one of the best surprises of Ichigo's life.

"I can't believe you guys really did all that stuff today, just to keep my parents happy and so I could keep working here!"

"Well, what can we say, it wouldn't be the same with you gone and frankly we do need our leader to save the human race. And while I would jump at the chance, I think one-same would be perfect for the job." Minto finished with a blush creeping onto her face.

"Not likely." Zakuro simply said. "You do a good job as is Ichigo-san." She smiled.

Ichigo smiled back.

"Um, Ichigo-san…"she turned her attention to Lettuce. "We would also really miss you if you suddenly left like that, and we really like having you here with us."

"Yeah, especially since we all work so good together at kicing alien butt!" Pudding cheered with a wink and a thumbs up.

Ichigo chucked a bit.

"You girls after all were destined to become a team and save the human race, so it's important to keep the team together." Keiichiro smiled as he explained.

Everyone was smiling.

"But of course, you do realize that while we need you on the team, you were late for work and you made us skip all of the things the café may usually do or be involved in." Ryou smiled evilly. "So you will be paying us back." He finished, all the while Ichigo wore a terrified expression on her face, in her frightened eyes her friends had turned suddenly menacingly gleefully at the thought of her punishment.

"Alien! Alien!" Masha suddenly cried out.

"Nani!" Ryou said in surprise.

Not a second after that the air near the door rippled and the mews readied themselves for action.

Stepping out of the portal slowly, the alien came out at last, even though the café was dark they were all able to tell easily that the figure belonged to Kishu.

"Kishu!" Ichigo cried out in anger and surprise.

He smiled as he slowly raised his head. "I-Ichigo…".

At that moment lightning seemed to flash out of nowhere and in the sudden flash of light, the mews anger and determination to fight vanished and changed to horror and shock.

All over his body, arms and legs, he covered all over in nasty cuts, with some smudges of dirt and bruises, even his face was no exception with a trail of blood running down the side of his face, very close to his eye.

His clothes were also badly shredded and torn also covered in blood in some places, the wrappings on his arms were unraveling down his body, and one of the ties in his hair was gone while the other was threatening to give.

"K-Kishu…"Ichigo stared back in horror.

"I-I'm glad…to see someone…I know I can trust, I- I-Ichigo." With that he slumped over and began to drop to the floor.

"KISHU!" she cried as she sprang to catch him.

Ichigo had successfully caught the young alien and gently eased him onto her lap with her now sitting on the ground.

Her eyes began to water as she looked at his broken form. "Kishu…"

Kishu looked back with a happy yet pained expression, to think he finally got his wish to be in her arms, but with him badly hurt and her very upset.

He lightly chuckled before he slipped into unconsciousness.

The other mews and Ichigo looked at him, and then at each other, all wondering the same thing…

'What should we do?'

'And what could've done this?'

PHEW!

At long last I am done! (With this chapter, that is, the story still has a ways to go…)

Now I'm not gonna lie, I know this took over a year to finally accomplish, but I had quite a bit going on what with school, friends, family, and all the usual stuff.
As well as procrastination, and writers block, I mean I have the highlights of the story worked out, I just haven't gotten to it yet…

Well anyway, for those of you out there who hadn't given up on my story, I wanted to say I am very grateful that you were super patient on waiting and with any hope my newest chapter wasn't a total let down.

And to the people who reviewed the story in the past, thanx very much!

While I'm still thinking about it, I want 2 bring up two other things….
As far as my other fanfictions go (the Inuyasha based Pirates of the Carribean and TMM Magic Style, well I probably won't b working on those 4 a while-just to let the people who liked the stories know.)

I just feel that I should get further along or complete the story before I work any further in the TMM story-plus I have a bit of a writers block on it and I'm not quite sure where or how I want to go with it right now…

And as for the Pirates story, pretty much the same thing, as the other stories, I have it planned out, but I just don't always thinks of the details involved yet, and I'm not in much of the pirate mood right now.

Well anyway, I just that those who do read my story should know that I will continue the stories, but it will take a while, and I will try to update much quicker for the next chapter.

Thanx again 4reading and 4 ur patients.

PLEASE REVIEW, AND I WILL SEE U NEXT TIME!