Chapter 2: Recalling the years.
"I can't believe you guys are actually here," Ichigo said once again, eyes sparkling with excitement. After their little reunion at the Silver Cat, the five girls had all decided to hold a pyjamas party at Mints' prestigious mansion to talk about old days and catch up about what have been happening these past few years.
"And I can't believe we're still doing this," Mint said, popping a few gummy bears into her mouth from a bowl resting on her lap. "We're grown teenagers, not a bunch of pre-teen schoolgirls."
"I guess the only thing you're gonna do the whole night is getting fat on snacks, na no da?", Pudding asked, wearing a large and loose pyjamas with her hair loose.
"Oh, I'm sorry, is it really that obvious?"
"Hey, let's not argue already. Let's talk about something else. Like, what've you all been doing the last couple of years?" Ichigo said, lying on her back and hugging a pillow. She turned her head towards Lettuce who was idly flipping through the pages of a teen magazine. "Let's start with you, Lettuce."
The greenette shyly smiled, twirling a strand of hair around a finger. "Well, I've been starting to get over my fear for water, and now I work at a fish museum," she said.
"Heh? You haven't been having a boyfriend or anything?"
Lettuce grew pink in an instant. "N-no, not exactly…"
"Okay," Ichigo seemed satisfied with that. "Your turn then, Pudding."
Pudding was rolling around on the floor, throwing pillows everywhere. "I work at the Zoo, na no da! There're lots of monkeys to play with, na no da!"
"Alright. What about guys?"
Pudding seemed to stop moving around so much when hearing that question. Almost hesitant. "Ah, there've been some guys asking me out from school but I refused them all. The only guy for me is Taru-Taru, na no da!"
"Oh? Have you seen him or heard anything from him these last couple of years?" Zakuro asked with a hint of interest from her seat, where she was engrossed in a book. She wore a long, frilly nightgown and an eye-mask resting on her forehead.
Pudding shook her head. "No…but he said he'd come back; he promised! So, I'll wait as long as it takes, na no da!" Pudding said, determinedly while still flushing a little red from her speech.
"Aw, that's so romantic," Lettuce commented, smiling at the blonde.
"What about you, Mint?" Ichigo asked, now directing the line of question in Mint's direction.
"No comments," the bluenette answered casually with a full mouth, now chewing on some pastry that the maid had arrived with a few moments earlier.
"She's a babysitter," Pudding whispered to Ichigo, causing the latter to hold back giggles. Mint was not amused.
"Pudding!"
"Wow, finally some changes happened after all these years, huh? You're actually working?" Ichigo inquired, smiling and teasing.
"Whatever," Mint replied indifferently, crossing her arms.
"What about you, Ichigo?" Lettuce asked with a smile. Ichigo seemed prepared and not at all worried about answering whatever questions the other four might come up with.
"I've got a job at the café you all saw earlier. The place has an amazing reputation and the job comes with a bunch of really great perks too! I desperately need the money, but…ugh! My boss is such a jerk. And it only gets worse since the café is stuffed with customers from morning till closing time."
Mint found a way of retaliation, it seemed. "Yeah, you probably liked your first boss better, right?" Mint asked, smiling.
Ichigo flushed a little, trying openly to hide it."O-of course not! Ryou wasn't any better than my boss is right now! Besides, it's been years. He…probably has a girlfriend by now or something," she said dismissively.
"Oh, I miss the old days," Pudding wished, dreamily. "Working at our café, fighting mutant monsters and aliens…"
"Yeah. I miss them too," Lettuce agreed with a nostalgic smile.
The previous leader suddenly shoot up from her position on the floor. A snap was heard. "Hey, then how about we all take a day off to spend some time together?" she suggested.
Pudding started bouncing again. "Ooh, I'm with ya, na no da!"
Mink shrugged but didn't decline. "It's not like the kids will miss me".
Zakuro didn't look up from her page but was still sporting a small smile. "Sure".
Lettuce nodded in approval, drawing her legs close. "A day off won't harm."
"Alright, then it's settled!" Ichigo exclaimed with a fist-pump, smiling.
"Hey, I forgot to ask you, Ichigo," Mint began, hand rustling through a bag of chips. "What about Aoyama-kun? You know, your boyfriend."
Ichigo's smile turned downwards. She sat properly and drew her knees closer to her body, facing the other four girls. "Well, Masaya left Tokyo about two years ago to study in Nature Science; you know to help the planet and whatnot. We've been written to each other but his letters are getting fewer and fewer. So, I'm a little afraid that he's either starting to forget about me or worse-"
"-he's cheating on you?" Zakuro added.
"Maybe, but it's just a speculation. I don't have any real proof."
"Do you know when he's coming back?" Lettuce asked.
"His next break is coming up so he's scheduled to arrive next week."
"Then, when he arrives at your doorstep, kick his butt and ask for an explanation, na no da!" Pudding exclaimed, taking on a battle stance on top of Mint's bed.
Ichigo shrugged. "Actually, it's not that bad. I've honestly started to forget about him too until you just mentioned him, Mint."
"Serves him right," Pudding nodded.
"Let's forget about that and get some sleep, all right?" Zakuro said, closing her book and going to turn off the lights.
"I can't sleep; I've eaten way too much sugar," Mint whispered in the darkness of the room.
"Your problem."
The next day, all the girls except Ichigo were up and dressed, bright and early, standing in front of Mints' house and waiting on the last girl to exit the mansion.
"Sorry, I'm late!" Ichigo exclaimed as she burst through the doors and slammed them shut behind her. She was panting heavily.
"Hm. Haven't we heard that before?" Mint asked, mockingly as she tapped her chin with a finger.
"Excuse me that some people didn't bother to wake me up this morning!" Ichigo complained while she joined the group as they went.
"Aw, but you looked so peaceful while you were asleep that we all decided not to wake you up," Pudding grinned, skipping as she went. "Especially not when you were saying such interesting things in your sleep, na no da!"
"I did what?"
"I was just kidding, na no da!"
Just then did a black limousine show up in front of the girls, a chauffeur coming out to open the door for the girls.
"Well, what're we waiting for? Get in, ladies!" Mint urged. All the five teens rushed into the fancy limo and seconds after they were driving away from Mint's property.
"I feel like I'm a celebrity," Lettuce said excitingly, looking out of the windows.
"I don't," Mint said whilst playing with her hair. "I ride in a limo every day."
"Says the babysitter…" Pudding said in a sing-song voice.
"Excuse me?"
"L-look, we're almost at the town," Lettuce quickly said to change the subject. The girls exited the limo not long after and went to blend in with the hundreds of people who were at the town.
"Well, what should we start with? Beauty shop or Manicure salon?" Ichigo asked the girls.
"Neither of those boring things! Look over there, na no da!" Pudding urged. She was pointing at the cinema that was premiering its latest must-see movie.
An American horror movie.
"I heard that it contains so much gore that it's supposed to leave you sick to your stomach after you've watched it," Mint said. "Nearly all who've ever seen it have said so."
"We could definitely go in and watch it," Zakuro said, gesturing to the redhead and the greenette. "That is, if these two don't have any objections."
Ichigo grew a little paler by the sound of all the things that Mint had gone over regarding the movie, but she was determined not to let it show. Too much. "I-I don't have any problem with it! W-what about you, Lettuce?" Ichigo asked, clearly nervous.
"Well, I..."
"You could wait here outside until we're done watching it, Lettuce. The movie ain't for sensitive souls, yanno, na no da," Pudding added.
I can do it, I can do it, I can do it!
"I-I don't have any problem with the m-movie either..." she replied lamely, rubbing her arm.
"Yay! Let's go, then!" Pudding exclaimed happily, running towards the cinema entrance.
"Wow, that was awesome!" Mint sighed contently as the girls walked out the cinema, movie finished and credits rolling.
"If you ask me, I'd say those reviewers didn't have the guts, na no da," Pudding commented, skipping outside and doing a few punches into thin air. "I could've handled a few zombies, no problem!"
"Hey, where's Ichigo?" Zakuro asked. Ichigo staggered out of the cinema, slowly and trembling while holding onto the walls for support. All colour was drained from her face.
"T-that was t-the s-scariest thing I've e-ever seen in my life…" she stammered.
"And where'd Lettuce go, na no da?" Pudding pondered, looking around.
"She did walk inside with us, but I don't know if she actually stayed with us in there. It's really hard to say when you can't see a thing," Mint said, shrugging.
"If Lettuce is gone, we should go look for her, you guys. She's our responsibility and she could be walking around all by herself, not knowing where she is-."
"Who wants pizza?"
"Oh, me, me!" Ichigo answered hungrily after her speech. Suddenly the ground began to shake. The four females were taken off guard and could only guess that was what occurring was due to an earthquake. But nothing was ever that simple with these people.
"W-what's going on?" Mint asked frighteningly, clinging to the nearest light pole. Just then, a strong light appeared in front of them, effectively blinding the girls until the ground wasn't moving so unstably anymore.
"Hello again, girls…" a sultry but familiar voice announced through the light.
"No way! Is that..?" Ichigo asked, squinting through the blinding light as it slowly began to fade out and reveal the people behind it.
Point of View change.
Lettuce.
I-I am not ever going to see that movie again, I thought.
After seeing as much blood in that movie as I could handle without getting too sick, I decided not to see any more of it. I sneaked myself out, seeing as there weren't any lights to reveal my escape and luckily neither of the girls had seen me. But now I could really use an excuse as to why I hadn't seen the movie to the end with them. I was now sitting on a bench a few blocks away from the cinema, waiting for to the movie to finish. I gazed at my watch and sighed. Suddenly the ground began to shake underneath my bench thus startling me.
"W-what's happening?" I asked to no one in particular. Then, light started to appear in front of me and I closed my eyes in panic, exclaiming:
"Waaaahh! Please don't eat my brain!"
As I could feel the light disappearing, I timidly opened my eyes again. I saw a tall person with short hair standing before me. He was wearing a black t-shirt underneath a denim jacket, grey jeans and black sneakers. Although he was wearing different clothing than last time I saw him, I could still recognize him just as easily.
Point of View change.
Normal.
"…Kish?" Ichigo tentatively said after a while. After the light had disappeared, there were two people standing in front of the four girls. The first one was taller than Ichigo, maybe older as well and wearing a black cap, a small black jacket and a red shirt underneath. He was also wearing black jeans and red shoes. The other person was considerably shorter than the first one and was around Pudding's age. He was wearing a grey shirt underneath a black t-shirt, a pair of black shorts and grey sneakers.
"Taru-Taru!" Pudding cried excitingly, rushing over to hug Tart with all of her might. The alien blushed furiously.
"My name is Taruto!"
"I knew you were coming back, I just knew it, na no da!" Pudding said, with small tears forming in her eyes.
"Or else she wouldn't give you candy anymore," Kish commented teasingly.
"Shut up, Kish."
Kish let his gaze run between the four girls to take in their new changes of appearance until he saw Mint. Mint, who wasn't feeling very comfortable with a staring guy, blushed a little and looked away. Even a small blush appeared on Kish' cheeks.
"What was the point with the earth quake, anyway?" Ichigo asked, hands on her hips.
"We thought it was more convenient to just teleport instead of using our spaceship, but it was a bit difficult since it was interplanetary," Kish explained, shrugging.
"Hey, where's Pai? Didn't he come with you?" Zakuro asked, brow raised.
"Actually he did but I guess he didn't teleport the same way as we did," Tart replied. "We still need to get used to teleporting over large distances."
"Then we won't find him! It's a lost cause. What if he's on the other planet or something?" Mint said.
"No, he isn't. Don't freak out over nothing; I can feel that he's very near. Come on, and I'll show you," Kish said, walking in the direction of where he could feel Pai was at.
Point of View change.
Lettuce.
"Pai?" I said slowly, blinking additional times to assure myself that it was really him. I could be seeing things due to that bright light just now. He regarded me with a strange look on his face.
"Did you see a horror movie or something?" he asked, with a raised brow.
Lettuce blinked again, speechless. "How did you..?"
"The first sentence you said when you first saw me underlines my suspicion."
"Oh. Right."
Of course! Why didn't I think about that?
"Uh, if you're here, where's Kish and Tart, then?", I asked. There was clearly no sign of neither of them here. Did Pai come all the way over here by himself?
"My aim was a little off, so I assume that's why I ended up here. Kish and Tart are here with me as well; I can clearly feel their presence nearby. I can guess that they're with your friends already as you were all our primary 'location' when we teleported, so," he explained, gesturing with his head the direction of which he was going. "If you've strayed away from your friends, I can lead you to them."
"Uh…okay," I replied, a little nervous. Sometimes Pai's intelligence never cease to amaze me. We began to walk and just then, a memory from the movie flashed through my mind. I haltered in my steps and began to shake a little, and Pai must've noticed that too since he also stopped and turned around to look at me.
"Is something the matter?"
"N-no, not at all," I lied. "It's just a part from the movie came back and…yeah."
Pai's stare settled on me. It wasn't unnerving per say, but I couldn't cipher what his expression was or what he was feeling through his eyes. "Lettuce, you don't seem like the type who would be overly into those type of movies so why'd you see it?" he asked.
I looked away, rubbing my arms nervously. "Because…because I wanted to act brave and show the girls that I'm not a coward anymore…that I've grown since I was a little, insecure girl," I said, my gaze averting his. That was until Pai grabbed both my shoulders and I stared at him.
"Lettuce, you should never force yourself to do something you're uncomfortable with just to act brave. And at the very least, if you want to, you should do it for your own sake and not to prove something to others," he said, words coming out soft and gentle.
I realized that he was totally right. I felt so stupid in that moment.
"Now, let's go and find the others, alright?" he asked, still giving me that look. I didn't mind, nodding and smiling in agreement.
"Sure".
"And in case you're still scared…" he said and took my hand. I felt my cheek flush with redness.
"…I'll make sure that you have nothing to fear anymore," he continued and smiled a little. I could feel that I were blushing even harder now and my heart were beating faster than ever.
"W-what's happening to me?"