Just a Valentine's Day P/L one-shot. Kinda canon, kinda AU.
I own nothing. Enjoy.
Man Among the Boys
Lettuce smiled as she watched as Ichigo beamed while Masaya enjoyed the Valentine's chocolates she had made for him. She was happy that her friend was happy, especially after this stressful day she had had. Almost getting kidnapped by a psychotic Kisshu topped with discovering that her boyfriend was her Blue Knight and both barely avoiding serious injury from Kisshu's attack would be a cause for anyone to be stressed.
Lettuce took a deep breath, thinking about the chocolates in her locker. Now, now was her time. She was going to give the chocolates to Ryou and tell him that she liked him.
She felt her heart pounding in her chest as she threw open her locker and carefully extracted the small white box with the red ribbon. She held it in her hands, smiling as she stared at it for a moment, heart beating so hard she thought it might jump out of her chest. She was so excited, and so nervous…
She closed her locker and stepped out of the room, preparing to go find Ryou. However, as she entered the kitchen, she heard voices coming downstairs near the basement lab. Carefully, quietly, she stepped down, recognizing Ryou and Zakuro's voices.
"For you."
"Eh? Chocolates?"
"Well, it is Valentine's. I can take them back if you don't want them."
Ryou let out a small laugh and teasingly said,
"Careful, Fujiwara, or someone's going to think you like me."
Zakuro stayed quiet and Ryou's voice sobered.
"You, no, you can't really like—"
"Any moment now, Lettuce is going to come down and give you chocolates and tell you that she admires you. Anyone and everyone can see it. It was clear that the day Keiichiro taught the girls how to make chocolates, it was you who was on her mind as she did so, you she was making them for. She is a sweet, kind girl and truly cares for you."
"That's not answering my question Zakuro."
There was another pause of silence as Lettuce sat with her heart still pounding, but for another reason now. She was also turning scarlet. How could Zakuro just give away her feelings like that! Then, Zakuro spoke again.
"Does your question need answering? Yes, baka Shirogane, I like you. More than that. I think I might just love you. But so does Lettuce. And I'm not going to take you from her."
"Then… the chocolates…"
"I don't know why I gave those to you. Maybe just some desire in me to at least make my feelings known somehow."
Lettuce felt warm tears stream down her face. Zakuro liked Ryou. No, she loved him. But she was pushing aside those feelings for Lettuce, so Lettuce could be happy… Though she could mask it well enough, Lettuce could hear the pain in Zakuro's voice. She didn't want to give up Ryou, but she would for her friend.
And Lettuce couldn't let Zakuro do that.
Yes, Lettuce still liked Ryou, but she couldn't let Zakuro make that sacrifice. Wouldn't.
"I should leave…" Zakuro said softly after the moment of silence between her and Ryou, him gaping at her and trying to form words.
She turned to go and Ryou grabbed her hand.
"Zakuro, I lo—" Ryou said, stopping short, choking on the words, Zakuro's eyes begging him to remember what she had just told him about Lettuce and her feelings.
"Go ahead and finish, Shirogane-San," Lettuce said from the top of the staircase where she was still hidden, glad that they couldn't see how much she was crying. Carefully, she stood up. "I… I want you both to be happy."
"Lettuce!" Ryou and Zakuro both said at the same time in shock, but it was too late.
Leaving the back door of the Café swinging behind her, Lettuce was gone.
She rubbed her eyes as she walked down the streets, hiccupping slightly as the last of her tears came out.
Why are you crying, baka? She asked herself. You had a crush on him, get over it.
That didn't take away from the ache in her chest. The heart that was pounding excitedly before was in pieces now. She had really liked him… But, try as she might, she couldn't really seem to get past that. She had thought that her love for Ryou would have been like Ichigo's for Masaya, but… no, it just wasn't.
But you're not Ichigo. She told herself. And you'll find a guy who loves you.
She let out a bitter laugh.
Like that could happen.
Who would fall in love with a dorky book-worm like her?
She glared at herself in the glass of a shop window.
She wasn't even pretty. Not when compared to Zakuro and Ichigo and Mint. Even Pudding was much more cuter than her. Big round glasses, childish braids, even her clothes didn't hang on her body right. No, she wasn't pretty at all.
What boy would even give her a second glance?
Suddenly, something caught her eye within the shop. It was a hobby store, one Lettuce often frequented for materials for her dolls.
And within, resting on a countertop, was a spool of beautiful ribbon.
Lettuce quickly went to enter the shop to get her hands on the ribbon, picking it up to examine it with awe. It was a dark purple color, with a thin line of gold going down each side with an intricate red and gold flower-like shapes running down the middle.
The colors… they reminded her of someone. But who?
"Ah, that's on sale," One of the workers said, noticing Lettuce's fascination. "It's very pretty, but it's hard to work with and incorporate into designs unless you have something specific in mind."
"But it would make a nice bookmark," Lettuce mused out loud, before turning to the worker. "Can I have two strips of this?"
She left a few minutes later with the two ribbons tucked in her bag. It had been an impulse buy, but with the way she was feeling, she didn't feel any remorse. She thought about heading to a bookstore, but decided to go to the library instead. That way she could preserve the remains of her paycheck.
However, she almost regretted that decision when she walked in, two librarians sitting at the desk and chatting while working.
"Satsuki-Chan looked so pretty in her dress, didn't she?"
"Yes, and Norihiro-Kun was such a handsome groom!"
"They are quite a cute little couple, and so happy!"
Lettuce ducked her head, biting her lip to hold back the tears, instantly regretting coming to the library.
Norihiro-Kun. Her first love.
She had never gotten a chance to express her feelings to him, either. Didn't matter, though, did it? He loved someone else. He was just being a friend to her. Wasn't Ryou the same way? He treated her kindly and courteously, probably just because he knew she needed a friend, or wanted to be her friend.
But nothing more.
Lettuce yanked books off the shelf at random, having trouble seeing through her tears. She took her stack of books over to a table and set them down before pulling out a chair for herself.
She sat down in the chair with a sigh, scooting up to the table. However, her foot soon met… something. It was firm, but soft, and didn't seem to be moving. With a frown, she nudged the thing with her foot again softly, then doing so a bit harder, trying to guess what exactly it was that her toes were touching.
"Would you please stop that? It is rather uncomfortable."
Lettuce froze, recognizing the voice instantly. With wide-eyes, she leaned over to look under the table, just to have a pair of dark purple eyes stare back at her.
Lettuce jumped up with a small scream, hitting her head against the table and knocking the chair over, the porpoise DNA in her debating on whether to fight, flee or play dead.
The few library patrons there gave her dirty looks and shushed her, not realizing what it was that frightened her. They all thought it could perhaps be a spider or another small insect.
None of them could imagine that the thing that invoked her scream was a tall, broad alien male with purple hair and eyes, currently lying on his back underneath the table, head supported by a stack of books with one in his hands and more lying in stacks around his feet.
"I would prefer no one knew I was here," Pie said simply as Lettuce stared at him with wide-eyes.
"S-So you can lie in wait to attack?" Lettuce asked, trying to sound confident.
"No," Pie said, turning back to his book. "I am currently in hiding."
"Oh," Lettuce said as she picked up the fallen chair. "Um, from what?"
"My brothers, if you must know," Pie said as he turned the page, eyes never leaving his book. "Kisshu, in particular."
"I don't blame you," Lettuce blurted out before she could stop herself.
"Yes, I apologize for the nuisance he made himself to be earlier this afternoon. I assure you, Taruto and I knew nothing of it until nearly too late. I arrived to stop him, but it appeared that Mew Ichigo had everything under control." Pie said, voice still blank as he continued to read. "Now, I am simply avoiding having to deal with whatever temper-tantrum or sulking he will be doing for the rest of the evening till who knows when."
"By camping out at the library?" Lettuce said as she knelt on the ground so that she could see the alien better.
"It was an efficient strategy," Pie stated dryly, glancing up with half-lidded eyes. "Until someone came to kick me in the kidneys repeatedly."
"Ah, gomen-nasai," Lettuce said, blushing. "But, um, you don't have to stay under that table."
"I don't?" Pie said musingly, the corner of his mouth lifting like something amused him. "I believe your reaction to finding me is the explanation as to why I have taken refuge down here, out of sight. So that I am not interrupted by the screaming of frightened humans while I am trying to read in peace."
"I wasn't expecting anyone—least of all you—to be under the table!" Lettuce said in defense, still blushing some. "But, certainly you'd find a chair or couch to be more comfortable. You'd definitely have better light to read by."
"It makes surprisingly little difference to me," Pie explained. "Until you arrived, I was undisturbed and my vision allows me to be able to read in little to no light."
He then laid the book on his chest and turned to her again.
"Why are you here?" He asked. "There are very few who are, not only for this time of day, but for this Earth holiday. Shouldn't you be celebrating St. Valentine's Day with that Shirogane human?"
Lettuce turned scarlet again and averted her gaze, not wanting Pie to see her eyes watering. She swallowed tears.
"I'm… well, I'm just not," She said.
Pie arched an eyebrow and sat himself up some, leaning on an elbow, book still lying on his chest at the place he had stopped reading.
"I was under the impression that this was a day for lovers, and the information I had gathered from our previous encounters told me that Shirogane was yours." He said, no scorn or jealousy or even apathy in his voice.
"No," Lettuce said, now really wanting to cry. She had forgotten about kissing Ryou under the water of Tokyo Bay with Pie watching. Ryou didn't seem to remember it, telling her later that he had blacked out and that the next thing he knew Lettuce had a mermaid tail and they were at the surface. But she had remembered it, though she didn't breath a word, deciding that the next time they kissed, she wanted it to be Ryou who kissed her.
Looks like that wasn't happening.
"No, no we're not lovers, and I don't think we'll ever be." She whispered.
Pie frowned and lowered himself back to the floor, picking up his book again.
"He is a fool, then," He said with a small grunt.
"Why can't any of the guys I like like me back?" Lettuce asked with a sigh as she folded her legs and leaned her elbows on her knees, holding her head in her hands. "Why can't boys give me a second look? Why can't they look at me like they look at my friends? If only I was prettier, then boys would look at me."
"You do not want that."
Lettuce looked up, tears streaming down her face. Pie merely turned the page again before speaking.
"You do not want boys looking at you the way they look at your comrades-in-arms," He said. "I have seen how the males of your race ogle Mew Zakuro, admiring her appearance, but I doubt any of them would appreciate her personality or intelligence. Kisshu is similar in his lust for Mew Ichigo, falling for her beauty, but does not know much about her personality. He does not realize that this is why she will choose that human again and again.
"You do not want a lover who merely thinks you are beautiful, Mew Lettuce. You need to find someone who loves your mind and heart in addition to your body. The latter of which, I might add, has no need for envy. You do not need a 'boy'. What you need to find is a man among the boys. I apologize on behalf of my sex that they are so difficult to find."
With that, he stopped speaking. Lettuce's cheeks flushed, flustered by his words. But she realized he was right. She didn't need the boys who ogled her school 'friends', eyes clearly more on their chests than on their faces. The boys like the ones who followed Zakuro and though she looked better in a bikini than a designer dress. She had once talked with Ichigo, who confessed that one of her favorite things about Masaya was that he didn't stare at girls and spoke directly to them, treating them like a real person, and that he enjoyed being with Ichigo to be with Ichigo, not just her cuteness.
Ichigo had found her man. And soon, so would Lettuce. Someday.
"Arigato, Pie-San," Lettuce said, bowing her head.
"For what?" Pie asked, glancing up at her.
She smiled at him.
"For reminding me that this isn't the end, and I'll find true love someday, and when I do, it will be worth the wait," She said.
Pie merely grunted and turned back to his book, bringing it up to hide his face, not wanting Lettuce to see the blush that was like red ink spilled on his paper white skin.
Lettuce then stood up and walked over to the nearby couch, plucking a pillow off of it. She thought for a second and grabbed another one.
Needless to say, Pie was very surprised when the stack of books his head was resting one was suddenly pulled out from underneath him. But before his head could hit the floor, it hit something softer. He sat up, smacking the top of his head on the bottom of the table, as he looked at the pillow with an arched eyebrow. He then noticed that Lettuce was sitting against the closest table leg, a pillow against her back as she, too, began to read.
He was annoyed that he apparently wouldn't be getting rid of her anytime soon. But, at the same time, also slightly pleased. Meanwhile, Lettuce kept snatching glances at Pie occasionally, smiling as she saw him intently reading.
They sat quietly, basking in the peaceful moment of their temporary, unspoken truce. The only sounds you could hear from the two were the turning of pages and calm, relaxed breathing.
The library's intercom paged, announcing that the library would close in fifteen minutes. Lettuce glanced up and turned to Pie.
"Are you going to stay here all night?" She asked.
"For a while, at least," Pie said, eyes still on the pages before him. "I need to make sure the two bakas get their supper."
Lettuce nodded. She decided that she was going to check out this book that she was reading. She smiled when she remembered that she had gotten a new bookmark, and was ready to use it. She reached into her bag…
And sucked in a gasp.
The colors of the ribbon… The purple matched Pie's hair and eyes. The red and gold, his fans. Even the design was somewhat similar to that of his fans.
She had been unknowingly drawn to it by the colors, the colors that reminded her of something, something pleasant and calming to her in that moment when she desperately needed something, anything, to soothe her broken heart.
And it just happened to be Pie.
She took a glance over at the alien boy. No, not a boy. He was too mature, too calm, to be a boy.
He was a man.
Lettuce couldn't help but smile at the oblivious alien. He had unknowingly made her feel better twice that afternoon.
And, the longer she sat there, the handsomer he became.
Had he always been such to her? Or had she shoved all thoughts of him aside out of fear of him and his mission and her loyalty to her own mission?
Perhaps… Perhaps, was that why she had fallen for Ryou? There were many ways that they were alike: primarily in intelligence and devotion to the protection of their race, but also somewhat in personality.
Had her mind unconsciously told her to pick Ryou, a 'safer' option than the purple-haired alien?
The big question was, did he like her?
Of course he did, she realized with a jolt. Why else would he have asked about why she wasn't with Ryou, calling him a fool, even telling her that she needed to find someone who saw her inner beauty as well as her exterior. He didn't chase her off when he easily could have, didn't tell her to leave him alone. And… had he—in a roundabout way—told her that she was pretty?
The question now was, what should she do?
A part of her said to confess, while another part quivered in fear of the thought of being rejected, and yet another part of her screamed that he was the enemy.
Still, there had to be a way to express her feelings…
She glanced at her bag, the small box of chocolates on top. No, she couldn't give those to Pie, not when they had been made with another man in mind.
Then, she had a perfect idea.
"Pie-San?"
"Hmm?" Pie said, lifting his gaze to see Lettuce once again sitting on her knees, something hidden behind her back. She looked a little shy.
"Is there something the matter?" Pie asked, sitting up carefully to avoid hitting his head.
"Ano," Lettuce said, cheeks suddenly red as she stared at the carpet. "Uh, after I leave, we're enemies again, right?"
"That is the way it must be," Pie said with a small nod. "There is no other way."
"Then, for now we're friends?" She asked, almost hopefully.
"If that is how you prefer to look at our current situation," Pie said, failing to see where the porpoise Mew was going with this conversation.
"Then… well, um," She said shyly. She looked up, cheeks still scarlet but eyes and smile bright and sincere as she presented to him a ribbon lying across her hands. "Happy Valentine's Day, Pie-San."
Pie blinked once in surprise as he gazed at the ribbon. She held her hands out to him, looking both eager and bashful, like a child, and incredibly cute.
"You can use it as a bookmark," She explained as Pie cautiously plucked the ribbon up, examining it with his eyes and fingers, gliding his fingertips over the soft threads. Lettuce suddenly picked up her book, a similar ribbon hanging out of it. "See, it's a match. We both have the same bookmark. The… the colors, well, when I saw them, they reminded me of you, but I didn't know it at first. All I knew was I was drawn to this ribbon when my heart was broken over Ryou earlier. And… and even though tomorrow we have to fight each other—you for the sake of your people and me for the sake of mine—I want to remember this afternoon, everything you've said to me and even just sitting here, the first peaceful time we've been together."
Lettuce pulled the book to her chest, averting her eyes as her cheeks became even darker.
"And… And this might sound silly, but this ribbon will remind me of all this, remind me of you. And… I can't believe I'm saying this, but, I hope that ribbon will remind you of me."
Lettuce cringed, unable to believe she couldn't put a filter on her mouth. Now he was just going to think she was a weirdo, or laugh in her face or even just disappear without a word.
Instead, she felt a large hand cup her chin, lifting her face to gaze into Pie's.
"I will treasure this gift forever," He said, face and voice still blank, but his eyes were much softer than before. It made her heart melt some before speeding up.
Then, carefully, gently, he pressed his lips to her forehead, this time the blush spreading all the way to her ears.
Slowly, he lifted his head again and released her chin.
"If you do not wish to be locked in, I would advise you go now," He said in a husky whisper as he gently squeezed her hand.
She remembered the tears falling then, not wanting to leave that moment, the moment she finally found him, finally found the right one to be with. She didn't remember checking out her books, or the librarians fussing over her tears. The only thing she remembered about her walk home was that she felt eyes watching her. Not menacingly or threatening harm. Protectively. Lovingly. She felt them all the way up till she stepped inside her home.
She remembered crawling into bed and picking up her book. But she didn't read a word. Instead, she just pulled out the ribbon and held it close to her chest, a small smile on her face as she drifted to sleep.
The next day, Lettuce had just entered Café Mew Mew when a slightly frantic Zakuro pulled her aside.
"Lettuce, I am so sorry about yesterday, I didn't know you had heard and—" She started to say, getting uncharacteristically flustered.
"Ah, Zakuro, it's me who should apologize for eavesdropping," Lettuce said with a small bow.
"Still," Zakuro said with a sigh, averting her gaze. "I… well, I knew that you really liked Ryou and I didn't want to take him away from you."
"I know," Lettuce said. "Because you are a great friend, and I thank you for that. Which is why I can't let you do that. You love Ryou, and it seems like he really likes you. I'm happy for the both of you, really I am. Yes, initially, I was a little upset at first. But, I'm not anymore."
Zakuro twisted a lock of hair around her finger, looking like she was trying to decide what to say. Lettuce freed Zakuro's hair and took the wolf-girls hands in both of hers.
"Ryou, he is the man among the boys. Moreover, he is your man. He doesn't just think you're a pretty face, he loves you truly and whole-heartedly. I am not going to take that from you." Lettuce said, giving Zakuro a big smile.
Zakuro smiled at her friend's sincere maturity.
"Arigato," She said. "And, Lettuce? I know someday you are going to find your 'man among the boys' as you put it, and he will be the luckiest man in all of creation."
Lettuce smiled shyly.
"Arigato," She said. Together, the two went into the main room, where Ichigo and Ryou were arguing yet again, Masaya by Ichigo's side, his hand in hers.
Lettuce tucked her hand in her pocket, gripping hold of her ribbon, knowing that its twin was with Pie. What she didn't know that currently he stood with the ribbon clutched in his hand as he searched for signs of Mew Aqua throughout the city. Didn't know he glanced down at it and, very quickly, so fleeting the chattering Taruto didn't even notice, smiled.
And, though she knew it would be on the field of battle, every little bit of their Valentine's Day in the library pushed to the side, she still couldn't wait to see him.
Her man among the boys.