I do not own Tokyo Mew Mew.
For about an hour, Pai did nothing but stand at the entrance of Deep Blue's temple. Part of him feared what was about to happen and the other part of him was feeling like he was slowly dieing from the attack that Lettuce had used on him.
Pai coughed up some blood as the pain once again exploded from his stomach. The pain was not unlike white-hot needles going around his body, painfully pricking all his internal organs. After a few more minutes of waiting, Pai took a deep breath and walked into Deep Blue's temple.
When Pai reached Deep Blue, he fell to the ground on his knees and bowed deeply. "Deep Blue-sama…please forgive me," Pai said with slight fear in his voice. He started to shake slightly…both from fear and the amount of pain that was exploding through him.
The floating disk fell to the ground before Deep Blue appeared once again. His cold eyes seemed to sparkle with cruel amusement. "Why should I forgive you?" He asked Pai, reading Pai's mind and seeing that Pai, Kishu, and Taruto had failed their mission. Pai had successfully blocked the part on losing on purpose from Deep Blue…not that it really mattered. Deep Blue would punish all three of them for failing.
Before Deep Blue could call for Kishu and Taruto though, Pai said quietly, "I was the leader of this assignment Deep Blue-sama. Please give any punishment that is deserved to me and not to them."
"Pathetic weaklings, can't you even kill one simple human girl?" Deep Blue asked as he lifted an "arm," causing an intense pain to explode in Pai's head. Pai had endured many types of pain in his life, but never one where his brain was attacked directly. The pain…the only possible way Pai could describe it is having every single nerve cell in his entire body suddenly activating and tuning in to a new level of torture.
Pai fell over to his side and twitched several times as he grit his teeth. After five seconds though, the pain was so powerful that Pai screeched out in pain. The pain instantly disappeared after the cry, but Pai still couldn't control his muscles yet. "I feel merciful today luckily for you," Deep Blue said in a bored tone, not caring about Pai.
"Don't fail me again, or you will be begging for me end your life…which won't happen before I let you enjoy a few days of this torture," Deep Blue said as he went back into the disk.
Pai slowly got to his knees and said with open fear, "I won't fail you again Deep Blue-sama." Pai stood up before teleporting to his room. The glowing orbs were floating around, but Pai wasn't interesting in looking up anything at the moment. All he wanted to do was try and not remember the pain he had just experienced.
Pai sat down on the floor and reached up to gently touch the sides of his head. "So…that is Deep Blue-sama's power…" he said softly, his nerves feeling fried…literally. After a few minutes of sitting there, Kishu teleported into Pai's room and looked at him.
Kishu's pupils narrowed as he asked softly, "what did Deep Blue do to you?"
Pia sat quietly for a few seconds before answering, "Deep Blue-sama simply gave me a taste his true power…by activating every single nerve cell in my body."
"Pai…why didn't Deep Blue call me or Taruto? Surly he would want to punish us for failing," Kishu said with curiosity.
After a brief pause, Pai said with no emotion, "I told Deep Blue-sama to give me all the punishment that was earned on this mission."
"You idiot!" Kishu hissed as he walked over to Pai. His hands were clinched into fists as he said, "you know as well as I do that Deep Blue doesn't like failure. He's killed people for simply being late in meeting him. You could have died! Where would your precious green haired girl be if you died because of your bravery?"
Pai stood up immediately and yelled at Kishu, "Don't you think I know that? I did it not let myself be tortured because of that reason. I did it to spare you and Taruto the pain that I experienced. Be grateful, damn it, that I did take all the blame. Out of all of us, I have been Deep Blue-sama's most loyal servant and I had the best chance at coming out alive."
Kishu stood silently and watched as Pai walked over to a floating orb. Pai gently touched the surface of the orb and pretended to search for information. "Pai…I can see that your eye's aren't glowing," Kishu said softly.
Sighing deeply, Pai released the orb and turned to Kishu. "What do you want?"
Thinking for a few seconds, Kishu said with a determined voice, "Pai, I want you to know that I am very grateful for you taking our punishment, but I would like to ask you something."
"What is your question?" Pai asked, annoyed.
"I saw the way the green haired mew…Lettuce I think, kissed you on the cheek. Unforced, gentle and caring. How is it that you got her to kiss you?" Kishu asked cautiously.
Pai's eyes narrowed as he said, "What do you mean by that?"
Still speaking cautiously, Kishu said, "I've been trying to get Ichigo to kiss me on her own free will. I know for a fact that you were only with Lettuce for a day and yet she kissed you on her own free will. Why won't Ichigo kiss me?"
Pai's blushed slightly as he said, "Lettuce didn't exactly kiss me out of passion, but rather…gratitude, at me sparing her friend's life."
Kishu nodded his head before asking in a suspicious voice, "so you planned for her to kiss you because of your good deed?"
Immediately, Pai became angry. "You think I planned for it? That thought never even crossed my mind because I was more concerned with living with the knowledge of betraying Deep Blue-sama and ultimately our people!" Pai snapped.
Shrugging, Kishu said with a thin smile, "I was only curious Pai. After all, Ichigo never responds to me the way you got Lettuce to. If I didn't know better, I would think she may actually love you."
Kishu's comment caused Pai to catch his breath. "W…what?" Pai asked, confused.
Grinning with triumph, Kishu said, "think about this Pai. She willingly came with you, her enemy, to your ship knowing full well that you could be lying to try and kill her. Instead, she trusted you and you took care of her. When Deep Blue ordered you to kill Zakuro, you told her about it…but instead of attacking instantly, she listened to your explanation and followed your plan even though she obviously didn't want to hurt you."
Pai didn't say anything for a few seconds before saying stubbornly, "she's not in love with me Kishu. She's only grateful. When I found out about her unwillingness to fight us, I immediately tried to help her out. I don't know why, but I too did not wish to fight her either. I cared for her for a day and showed her kindness. She doesn't love me…she only feels gratitude for my willingness to help her."
Suddenly Pai narrowed his pupils. "I never told you the story behind Lettuce. How did you…" Pai said with growing anger before Kishu waved a hand to get Pai to relax.
"Lettuce told the other mews about what you had done. While you and Taruto teleported here, I stayed behind. You wouldn't believe the grief that Lettuce expressed when she saw your blood on the ground. Obviously, she didn't realize that she had hurt you that much when she had hit you," Kishu said with a frown.
Pai winced when he gingerly touched his stomach. "It hurts worst then she knows, but I wouldn't tell her that. After all, I told her to hit me in my weak spot…twice."
Kishu flinched as he said bitterly, "you said twice? You do realize that after the first hit, it's fatal right?"
"Thanks for the late update," Pai mumbled as he shivered. "I would have to say that the good thing about the pain that Deep Blue-sama inflicted on me is that it actually overpowered the death causing agent and prevented it from reaching my other organs."
"Hell of a price though, wasn't it?" Kishu said softly, looking at the floor.
Pai simply nodded his head. "I fully expected Deep Blue-sama to kill me, so I wasn't worried about the double hit. Instead of killing me, he actually cured me. Kinda ironic now thinking about it," Pai said, looking up at the stars.
That's the end of this chapter. Thanks for those who've reviewed so far, and thank you for those who will review this chapter.
