A/N: Hello everyone!! Christmas is coming closer and closer with each passing second! I need to start trucking if I want to finish this story by the end of the month!

Taruto: Good luck with that.

Pai: Good luck.

Kisshu: Good luck.

Tsukiko: I don't know if your guys are encouraging me or being sarcastic. Anyway, the next chapter is going to be a long one so it might take me a while. Still I hope to be done before the month is up.

Taruto: We were also being encouraging, just to let you know.

Pai: Indeed.

Kisshu: What else would we be?

Tsukiko: Now I seriously don't know if you're telling the truth or not!

Kisshu: Well I was being serious, Tsukiko-chan.

Tsukiko: Uh? 'Tsukiko-chan'?

Kisshu: You heard me. –kisses Tsukiko's cheek- Is that enough inspiration for your next chapter?

Tsukiko: -blushing red- Where's my pen and paper?! I need to write!!

Kisshu: Tsukiko-chan does NOT own TMM or the songs or the movies that she uses in her stories. Thank you all for the amazing reviews so far and please keep them coming. We also appreciate the fact that you're all being patient with her on this story. School's out for her so she should be write a lot, if her mother doesn't decide to make her clean.

Taruto: Hey, Kisshu! What was the kiss for?

Kisshu: For inspiration.

Pai: Liar. You were just teasing her.

Kisshu: Hehe

Taruto: Now I feel sorry for her.

Kisshu: Thank you and please enjoy!!

Ch. 4: Provoking

"We're leaving!" Taruto yells.

Kisshu, not pulling his eyes away from the Black Cat manga he's reading, yells from the couch, "Bye! Have fun and don't bring back any leftovers."

Pai asks, "You sure that you do not wish to come with us, Kisshu?"

Kisshu looks down from his manga then and answers, "No! Now go before you miss the party!"

Taruto just shakes his head back and forth in disappointment of his answer. But without another word, both him and Pai were out the door and Pai closes the door and locks it. Kisshu goes back to reading his manga, now with peace and quiet.

It is now December twenty-fourth and the sun is about to set. Both Taruto and Pai just head out for the Mew Mew Christmas party, leaving Kisshu behind because he still refuses to go to it. He rather just stay in his apartment, read a manga, and possibly start blast off another war movie or the rock station on the radio if he hears even the slightest bit of Christmas music or caroling. He's sitting on the couch with his legs up on it as well and his back leaning against the corner of the chair. He's reading the twentieth volume(random number, I lost track of how many volumes there really are) of Black Cat and he's getting close to the end of it.

Knock

Knock

Kisshu cringes at the sound of that. He puts the book down and glares at the door. "Who the heck is that?!" He closes the book and puts it on the table. He gets up from the couch and goes to the pocket of his long jeans as he's walking to the door. "I know for a fact that Pai has the key to the apartment since Taruto claims that he 'lost' his." He puts the ring on and he appears human as he mumbles, "I swear if it's some kind of Christmas donation, I'm gonna kill that person or one of them."

But when he arrives at the door, he peaks through the hole to see who is out there. He see no one.

"What the hell?" he says, unlocking the door. He opens it and peaks his head out. He looks both down and up the hallway for anyone but he sees no one. "Must have been kids," he assumes. "Just what I need." He gets back in and closes the door. "Some damn kids playing tricks on me. Does that come with the Christmas theme torture package?"

But when Kisshu took a step back and turned around back to the couch, Pudding is right in front of him. She cheers out, "Merry Christmas, Kisshu onii-chan!!"

"AAAAHHHH!!!" Kisshu screams, suddenly seeing her. He takes steps back, until his back is up against the door and he pants from his sudden fast beating heart. Pudding continues to smile as she waves at him.

From what Kisshu can see, Pudding is wearing a weird outfit with a rather puffy skirt. She's wearing red buckle shoes with red and white stripe tights. Her skirt is red but under it is white and it could be at least eight inches long, which means that it's only covering four inches of her legs starting from her hips. Surprisingly, in this weather, her shirt is a bit short so it bares her midriff. But the shirt could be layered. The bottom layer is white with droopy sleeves that hang on her arms and her top layer shirt is a red tank top. On her arms are red and white stripe fingerless, arm warmers. Her hair is the same as always, which is short blond hair with four braids, and she has red and white eye shadow. Red for the bottom part of her eye lid and white for the top. She also has light pink lip gloss that only allow her lips to shine. Her look is very interesting and the white part of her outfit only makes her golden tan look darker. When Kisshu saw her shiny lips, all he could think is that Taruto might get a kick out of that.

"Hello, Kisshu onii-chan!" Pudding greets. "Pudding is here to escort you to the party, na no da! You can be my date, na no da!" To prove her point, she goes up to him and hugs his arm.

Kisshu blinks in surprise of this before saying, "You should be telling Taruto that. He hasn't left too long ago. You can still catch up to him."

"Pudding knows, na no da!" Pudding tells him. "Pudding's been watching this apartment for many hours now to wait for the chance for Taru-Taru and Pai onii-chan to leave."

Kisshu thinks, 'And they call me the stalker of the group.'

Then Kisshu goes to the door knob and he turns it. "Alright then," he tells her. Her face brightens up as he gently pushes her outside. "Just let me get my coat. I'll be right out." As soon as she was outside, he closes the door and instantly locks it. He turns around to lean on the door and he lets out a deep breath. After that, he walks over to the couch and sits back down with his book in his hand. He goes back to the page he was on and continues to reading. He only had a second before he got another surprise.

"What are you reading, na no da?!" Pudding asks from behind the couch. Suddenly hearing her and suddenly seeing her, Kisshu jumps again.

"Whooaa!!"

But his jump causes him to fall off the couch and now half of his body is on the ground and the other half is on the couch's arm rest. Pudding only watches him fall off and land on his back. Then she walks over to him and bends down to him, "Why are you on the ground, Kisshu onii-chan?" He's still surprise that she's here.

"But how did you get back in?!"

Pudding looks confused. "I used the door silly, na no da." Kisshu pulls his legs off the couch and puts the manga book on the floor next to him as he sits down.

"But how did you get in?!" he corrects, looking at her in the eye. "I locked it!"

"I know you did, na no da," Pudding tells him. Then she raises up a key but not just any key. The key that Kisshu recognizes to be the key to the apartment. His eyes widen when he sees that. Then he looks behind Pudding and he sees that the door is open.

Kisshu looks back at Pudding and asks, "How did you get the key, Pudding?"

"Taru-Taru gave it to me," she answers. As soon as she said that, two veins appear on Kisshu's head.

'Lost it, huh?' Kisshu questions in his mind with a dangerous tone. 'Not only am I going to kill him! I'm going to boil him, roast him, toast him, cut him up into tiny pieces and then feed him to the rats on the streets!'

Pudding grabs Kisshu's arm and starts pulling it. "Come on, Kisshu onii-chan! We have to go to the party, na no da!"

Kisshu widens his eyes for a moment when he hears that. He pulls his arm away from Pudding's grip and he tells her, "I am going to tell you exactly what I told Pai and Taruto. I am NOT going to some stupid party where the theme is Christmas! I hate Christmas and I would very much appreciate it if every single one of you would leave me in peace until New Years!!"

Pudding blinks for a bit before asking, "Kisshu onii-chan doesn't want to come, na no da? He hates Christmas, na no da?"

Kisshu lets out a sigh to control his anger as he answers, "Yes. Kisshu onii-chan completely loathes the look of Christmas, the feel of Christmas, the smell of Christmas, the touch of Christmas, and the taste of Christmas! Now make like a good little mew mew and go to your party!"

But Pudding keeps pushing it. "But the party won't be the same without you, na no da! Everyone will be sad, na no da."

"Ha!" Kisshu lets out, not believing that. "All I do is stick to Ichigo like a koala bear and anyone can tell that she doesn't enjoy it because she still has that tree hugger for a boyfriend. If I see him this time of year, I might kill him." Then the light bulb appears above his head. "But yet again, that's not such a bad idea."

"Masaya onii-chan won't even be there, na no da," Pudding mentions.

As soon as she said that, Kisshu tenses up and his eyes went wide. He took a few seconds to progress that. Then he quickly turns to her and asks, "Are you sure?!" Pudding didn't answer right away. It was unexpected that Kisshu just went up to her. "Come on, Pudding! I need some details here! Are you sure that the stupid tree hugger won't be there?!"

Pudding answers, "He won't, na no da. He told Ichigo onee-chan that he had to go to the mainland to spend Christmas with some relatives, na no da."

Kisshu pulls away and looks to the side. "Then that means that Ichigo is by herself for the night." He has a big grin on his face and his eyes reveal that he likes the idea.

Pudding adds more details. "Ichigo onee-chan doesn't have a guy to escort her tonight, na no da. She'll be lonely, na no da."

Then Kisshu lost his smirk and his eyes widen in realization. He turns to Pudding and tells her, "Nice try, Pudding but it's going to take me more than that to get me to come to a Christmas party. I'm not leaving this apartment and that's final!"

"Not even for the first place prize for the games, na no da?" Pudding asks. Now he looks a bit interested and curious.

"What prize?"

How Pudding answer is she goes up to his ear and whispers what the prize is. Seconds later, Kisshu's eyes widen to the size of entrée plates and his hair basically stood up. Pudding pulls back and laughs at his reaction.

"So will Kisshu onii-chan come now or will he pass the first place prize up, na no da?"

XxX

"Pai?"

Pai looks over his shoulder and he sees Ichigo and her Christmas outfit. She's wearing a Santa baby outfit. She has a red short, strapless dress on with a heart shape collar and white trimmings. Her skirt is, like Pudding's skirt, puffy and it looks eight inches long but it covers about four inches of skin on her legs. She has black belt on her waist, hanging over her hips and she has black heel, buckle shoes on her feet. On her hands are white gloves and she has a Santa hat on her head as well. Her short red hair has to be down in order for her hat to fit. Pai only raises a brow at the sight of her outfit and at the black eye liner, red eye shadow, and shiny lip gloss on her face. If only Kisshu could see her now, he might be drooling like a starving man and a golden brown turkey.

"Can we talk?" she asks.

Pai's expression relaxes and he asks, "What of?"

"I want to talk about Kisshu. I just want to understand something."

Pai stares at her for a moment longer and lets a second of silence pass. He turns completely to her and answers, "Sure. Shall we speak in private or is this good?"

"Private, please." Ichigo turns around walks away. Pai follows her, but as they were walking to the hallway that will lead to the dressing room, Lettuce saw them.

"Uh?" she lets out, noticing them. She keeps her eyes on them as they walk to the hallway and out of sight. Her eyes were surprised when she saw them but when they were gone, they narrow down and deep amount of sadness was revealed. She ended up looking away to the treats that she was arranging.

"Lettuce, are you alright?"

Lettuce looks up suddenly and she sees Ryou right in front of him. For the past six years, the only thing that changed was the amount of maturity he gained and the built of his body. Before, he was only well toned with a skinny figure but now he has more of a buffer built. His blond hair is still short and it still has it's beautiful golden texture and his blue eyes still sparkle like blue sapphire gems. Compared to last year, his skin has darken in color. Since the battle between the aliens is over, he got a bit more time to spend in the sun. Unlike the girls, who are wearing costumes of either a Christmas character or a Christmas treat, he's only wearing a black buttoned tank top with four sleeves; two drooping on his arms and two on his strong shoulders. His pants are tight jeans and he's wearing tennis shoes. Interesting attire, considering that it's cold. He must like the cold of winter as well as the heat of summer.

Lettuce turns red when she sees him. "Oh, yes I'm fine!" she answers with a sweet, reassuring smile on her face.

"Ryou!"

Ryou turns around and Mint shows up next to him. Mint has gotten a little taller, compared to six years ago. She's grown at least three or four inches since then. Her hair has also gotten longer as well. She's been letting it grow and now as it lays against her body, her hair is three inches pass her shoulder and it's wavy with a white ribbon head back. Right now, she's wearing a white outfit. Her shirt has a white collar and her sleeves are long and baggy. At the wrist, there is an elastic band in the sleeve. The trimmings of the dress are white fluffy fur and her shirt is shiny with glitter and snowflake designs. Her pants are ankle length, tight white jeans with white buckle heel shoes on her feet. When Mint shows up by Ryou, she hugs his arm and he allows her to. Over the past six years, Lettuce and Ryou became only friends and Mint and Ryou have been dating for three of those years.

Ryou greets, "Hello, Mint. Did you enjoy your reunion?"

"It was nice but I wished you were there? I love the decorations for the party, by the way."

"To your surprise, Ichigo bought the decorations."

"Well this is a big step of her creative outlet."

"Uh," Lettuce lets out, getting their attention. Mint and Ryou look at her and she says, "Please excuse me but I need to continue with helping Keiichiro take out the food."

"Oh, alright," Ryou says. Then with that, Lettuce turns around back to the kitchen.

Mint looks up at Ryou and asks, "Is she alright?"

"I hope so."

While in the hallway, both Ichigo and Pai are facing each other and Ichigo has her arms crossed in front of her chest like she's upset. "Now out with it! What exactly is Kisshu's problem?! I know you know!"

"It fascinates me that you worry about Kisshu, despite the fact that you claim you have no feelings for him and you've been rejecting him during our stay here," Pai says, avoiding the subject with a straight face.

Ichigo has a vein pulsing on her head as she repeats, "Like I said before, I only like him a friend and I worry about him like friend! Now tell me what is the real reason why he's not here!! Kisshu is very cheerful and carefree person. What could possibly kill that part of him around this part of year?!"

"You should already know," Pai tells her. Ichigo lost her angry vein then and she looks startled by what he just said.

"What do you mean?" she asks.

"We're here, na no da!!"

"What the hell?! Kisshu?!"

Hearing that, both Pai and Ichigo took a frozen moment before running out of the hallway and into the café part. By the front door, they not only see Pudding but they also see Kisshu putt his coat up on the coat hanger. He's wearing a long sleeve, turtle neck green sweater and long jeans that are longer than his own legs. He doesn't have his ring on so his big elf like ears are visible and that's okay since it's on the Mew Mews at the party. Everyone is surprise to see him and Pudding, but Taruto and Pai are shocked to see him out. Kisshu's eyes scan the place and when he sees Ichigo, she notices and she can only think of what's going to happen next.

"Koneko-chan!" he squeals, running up to her. Before anyone knew it, he knocks her down and they start to fall for the ground.

"Aaahh!!" Ichigo lets out, falling down. Everyone turns around to see Kisshu on top of Ichigo with his arms around her and his cheek rubbing against hers. Ichigo yells, "Kisshu, get off me!!"

"No," he tells her, sweetly like usual. But he does let her go and lean on his hands to hover over her. "I've missed you, kitty cat. I haven't seen you for such a long time."

Ichigo grumbles, "Oh, I wonder why." Kisshu still only smiles. Then his eyes get a bit seductive as well as his voice.

"Tell me, kitty cat. Did you put on this sexy outfit for me?" He leans closer to her face till their lips are only inches apart as he asks, "You look so delicious, I could just eat you up right now."

Ichigo gets tense when Kisshu is this close to her. Instantly, she lifts her leg up and it hit the family treasures. As Kisshu wallows in pain of Ichigo's hit, Ichigo gets up and goes up to Pai, ticked off. "You know what, never mind! He looks perfectly fine to me!"

Then she feels arms circle around her neck from behind and she feels another body against hers. She looks up and it's Kisshu again. "Were you worried about me, koneko-chan?"

"Weren't you in pain a moment ago?!" Ichigo asks, a vein pulsing on her head.

Kisshu tells her, "Actually, I'm still in pain."

Taruto goes up to Pudding and he asks, "How the heck did you do it?! How is it that Kisshu is right here?!"

Pudding smiles and tells him, "I told him what the first place prize is, na no da."

Taruto's face looks confused. "What's the prize?"

She puts her index finger in front of her lips and she answers, "It's a secret, na no da." Then she changes the subject. "Do you like my outfit, na no da?"

That took him by surprise but as Taruto examines Pudding and her outfit, his whole face goes red and his heart skips a beat. Pudding's smile brightens when she sees his reaction as Taruto starts shuttering. "W-W-Well…ar-ar-are you s-s-supposed to be a..a..a candy cane?"

Pudding jumps up and claps. "Yes, na no da! Congratulations, na no da!" Then she jumps on him and hugs him. His heart starts pounding faster and harder now that he's touching a beautiful, Candy cane angel.

"Aah! Pudding! Get off me, NOW!"