\AN/

First ever chapter dedication! XD I dedicate this to Cherrie-Sakura, because when I wrote this chapter it reminded me of what she told me her first kiss was like. XD Love you Chera!

Enjoy!

Chapter 7: A Mew's Life: Sports and Studying

"Maken." Dlender only needed to speak his name for him to appear obediently.

"Yes," he asked, bowing his head.

"Why haven't you been sending out more scouts?" she asked, narrowing her eyes. "Are you not going to try at all, so you don't fail me as Rinya has done?"

"Of course no," he replied. "I have come up with a new plan. A new way of going about things. It's just taking longer than I expected to set everything up. I didn't want to waste any more pets."

"Well, time is of the essence," Dlender snapped, narrowing her eyes. "I want you to send out more scouts until you are done with your planning. We needn't worry about wasting pets."

"Yes my lady," he replied, bowing low again, before disappearing.

"Soon," Dlender sighed warily, turning toward the window which showed the black abyss of space, dotted with millions of planets. "Soon I'll have it, and I can restore what has been lost."

\NMM/

"I can't believe I'm waiting until the last minute to study," Aneeta grumbled, putting her things in her bag. "I got to do the tutoring thing first before I can even begin studying, and I can't study tomorrow, because its the final game in Kyoto, and we're going all day. Wow. Maybe I'll give Kita an assignment, that way I can study while she works on that. That'll give me some extra time."

"Hey Aneeta!" Aneeta's heart began its marathon at the sound of his voice. A smile slide across her face, when she turned to see Jeremy walking toward her.

"Hi," she greeted, sheepishly, closing her locker. They'd been dating for a week now, but she was still adjusting to having a boyfriend, and being so close to him(metaphorically and physically), and was a little anxious because they still haven't kissed yet.

"Did you here tutoring is canceled?" he asked.

"Really?" she gasped, feeling a weight being lifted from her shoulders. "That's great! I can have more time to study."

"That's exactly why they canceled," he nodded. "I was wondering if you'd like to come over to my place to study together." His house?, she thought, hoping her surprise didn't show on her face. He wants me to come to his house?

"Well, I have to pick up Jay....," she began, not sure where she was going to finish her sentence.

"He can come too," Jeremy said with a smile. "I'm sure he'd love my collection of video games."

"But he needs to do his homework first," she pointed out.

"Okay mom," he said with a teasing grin on his face.

"Well, my parents are busy most of the time, so someone's gotta make sure he does it," she said cocking an eyebrow.

"I was just kidding," he chuckled.

"Oh," she replied, feeling a little embarrassed.

"So you're coming then?" he smiled, eyes looking brighter with hope.

"Yeah," she nodded. "I'm sure Jay would like it too."

"Then let's go get him," Jeremy grinned, taking her hand and leading her to the doors.

\NMM/

The school had been the same as any other day for Kotona. The whole school day she focused on her classes, and finished her homework easily. She wasn't comfortable with being with groups of kids, so she avoided everyone, and ate lunch by herself, but had her sports magazine to keep her company. By the end of the day, she had only one essay for her English class, which wouldn't be that hard since she could speak the language well. Leaving the school alone, she expected to have a quiet journey home, but she say Kita waiting for her with a big box in her hands.

"Hey!" she grinned.

"Um, hi," Kotona replied looking confused. "What are you doing here?"

"Wesley asked me to give you this," she grinned holding out the box. Kotona curiously opened it as it still lay in the little girls' hands, and inside was a Cafe uniform, but a light pink.

"Thank you," Kotona smiled, taking the box from her. "You know you could have just given it to me when I started tomorrow."

"I know, but I wanted to hang out with you today!" Kita announced, jumping up and down.

"H-hang out?" Kotona stammered.

"Yeah, you know, when friends do stuff together," she explained.

"Um, well, I don't know," she said, looking doubtful. She remembered her parents, and how they hated it when she did things at the last minute, especially when it was on a school night.

"Oh, come on!" Kita pouted. "Tiffany's off gallivanting with her posse, Aneeta's getting ready for the finals and studying. I'm left all alone!" Kotona sighed, and scratched her head. She didn't see anything wrong with it, but she wasn't sure if her parents would approve.

"Please?" Kita begged, flailing her arms impatiently.

"Alright," Kotona nodded giving in.

"Yay!" Kita cheered hugging her waist. "So what are we going to do?"

"Would you like to come to my house?" she suggested.

"Of course," Kita beamed, a wide grin on her face.

"I don't live that far from here," Kotona said, pointing in the direction of her house.

"Let's go then," Kita grinned, starting down the sidewalk. "So what's your family like?"

"Well, my parents are nice," she answered hesitantly, "but not as nice as yours. Your parents must be the nicest people in the world."

"I Inherited that gene for sure," Kita grinned proudly. "It skipped over my sister sadly." Kotona couldn't help but laugh.

"Do you have any siblings?" she asked, a grimace on her face.

"I have an older brother," Kotona nodded, with a smile. "He's really great. Sure he picks on me, but he's always there for me."

"Wow, you're lucky," Kita sighed, looking envious. "The only thing my sister's good for is finding ways to beat me. Thanks for those tickets again. If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have beaten her."
"It was no problem," she shrugged. "I never use them anyways."

"Why not?" she gasped, astonished. "You could have a million by now and trade them in for something awesome!"

"I don't really like anything they have," Kotona shrugged. "I used them once for a basketball." Still got it too."

"I can tell you're a great basketball player," Kita grinned.

"Learned everything I know from my brother," she smiled. They reached Kotona's house then, and Kita looked it over approvingly. It was a nice two floored house, with a large garage, and a basketball net in the driveway.

"My parents aren't home yet, but my brother should be soon," Kotona explained, unlocking the front door, and stepping into an ordinary living room.

"So what do you want to do?" she asked, slipping off her shoes, and putting the box on the couch.

"Do you have a computer?" Kita asked expectantly.

"I'm not allowed to use my parents," she replied. "but my brother has one in his room."

"Then let's use it!" Kita cheered. "I wanna show you all the stories I wrote and-"
"I have to wait until he gets home to ask," she interrupted, hoping not to sound rude.

"Oh that's okay," Kita grinned. "Hey! Let's use that basketball you won with those tickets. Wanna teach mt how to make great shots?"

"Yeah," Kotona nodded, feeling very excited now. She absolutely loved playing sports. It was her favorite pass time, and the best part of her day was being out in the driveway playing with her brother, and any friends he invited over.

"Do you wanna borrow some shorts?" she asked, making her way to the back of the house.

"Okay," Kita beamed, following her.

\NMM/

"I'm done!" Jay shouted, slamming down his pencil. The three of them had settled at the table in Jeremy's kitchen. While Aneeta and Jeremy reviewed over their subjects, and quizzed each other, Jay was doing the little bit of homework Aneeta forced him to do.

"Are you sure?" she asked, looking doubtful. "You just want to get the video games don't you?"

"I did it honestly," he said, holding up his papers. "I know if I don't do them right the first time, you'll make me do it over again, which will waist more time."

"Can't argue with that," Jeremy laughed. "Come ion, I'll set you up upstairs."

"Yahoo!" Jay cheered, ditching his homework. Aneeta couldn't help but smile, watching Jay follow Jeremy out of the room. She turned back to her math text book and flipped through a few pages before realization hit her. Jay's going to be upstairs, she thought, and we're going to be down here. Just the two of us. Alone. AHH! She felt her heart rate pick up.

"What if he tries something?" she whispered to herself. "He hasn't yet, but we haven't truly been alone yet. We've always been in public. He may try to kiss me! Will I like it? Will I freak out thinking its disgusting? I don't think I'm- AHH!" The phone went off unexpectedly, catching her off guard. She heard footsteps thunder down a flight of stairs and Jeremy appeared.

"Sorry about that," he said picking up the phone. "My mom likes the ringer loud. Hello?" Ah, he heard me, she thought, feeling her face get hot.

"Oh, hi," he said, recognizing the caller. "Yeah, I'm studying with Anneta, and her brother's playing video games....Okay....Yeah, that's fine......I'll ask....Alright...Love you mom." he hung up and put the phone on the counter.

"That your mom?" Aneeta asked, feeling stupid for even thinking about asking.

"Yeah," he nodded. "My parents run a convenient store, and my cousin baled today, so my mom's staying late, and my dad's unloading stock."

"Oh," she replied.

"Yup, so I've gotta hold up the fort an cook," he laughed. "Would you and Jay like to stay for dinner?"

"U-um," she stammered. He said it so casually it caught her off guard.

"Sure," she smiled. "I'm sure Jay would like that too."

"Yeah, more time to play," he nodded.

"I'll just call my dad to let him know," she said, standing. "That way he's not left starving.'

"Sure," he said, motioning toward the phone, before opening some cupboards. "Hope you don't mind spaghetti. The store may get restocked, but sometimes the house suffers."

"Spaghetti's fine," she nodded, taking the phone out to the living room. After a quick phone call to her dad, she returned to find a pot already bowling with water, and a pan of sizzling meat. Jeremy was over the pan, chopping the meat. Aneeta put the phone down, and noticed a jar of spaghetti sauce. She pick it up and inspected it.

"What's in here?' she asked.

"Um, spaghetti sauce," Jeremy replied.

"I meant, what is in the sauce?" she corrected.

"Whatever it says on the label," he shrugged.

"So, basically nothing," she concluded putting it down. She went over to the fridge and stuck her head inside. Satisfied, she emerged with an onion and a green pepper.

"What are you doing?" he asked coming over.

"I'm adding flavor," she replied opening up a few cupboards until she found a can of mushrooms.

"Do you have a chopping block?"

"Yeah, under hear," he nodded, going under the counter and pulling out a white board.

"Thanks," she said washing her hands. Getting out a knife, she got to chopping, while Jeremy finished cooking the hamburger, and boiling the noodles.

"So you excited about the finals tomorrow?" he asked, striking up conversation.

"I'm excited about going to Kyoko," she grinned. "I'm anxious about the game though."

"You'll be fine," he smiled. "You're a great soccer player."

"Thanx," she said sheepishly. "You think this is enough?" Aneeta had finished cutting up half of each.

"Yeah, that looks good," Jeremy said, coming over.

"Just wanted to make sure," she smiled, looking up at him, and her heart jumped when she realized how close their face were. His eyes held a soft gaze as he stared into hers, and a smile was tugging at his lips. Aneeta's heart was running its usual marathon, and she felt it begin to jump hurtles when he leaned closer.

"I did it!" Jay shouted triumphantly running into the room. Aneeta and Jeremy leaned away from each other instantly and turned to face him. Aneeta felt her face burning.

"I beat your score on the Lost Salton!" he cheered.

"You did?" Jeremy replied, sounding surprised.

"I beat it by 500 points," he grinned widely. "Oh, are we staying for dinner?"

"Yeah," Aneeta replied, her voice sounding squeaky.

"YAY!" Jay cheered again. "More time to play!" He ran out again, leaving them in awkward silence. Aneeta turned to back to the counter, and was gathering up the diced food when Jeremy's hand took her chin, and tilted her face up and toward his.

Instead of closing, her eyes widened with shock when his lips cover hers. Not polite, not polite, she repeated to herself, barely remembering on of the rules Tiffany gave her because her head was spinning. She finally closed her eyes, and allowed herself to relax, but couldn't help tense up a bit again when his arm wrapped around her waist pulling her closer. Oh my god! She panicked, when she felt his tongue against her lips. I'm not ready for THAT! This is moving too fast! Instead of pulling away, she actually found herself opening her mouth slightly, but it was enough to allow him entrance.

"GROSS!" Jay gagged from behind her, taking the word right out of her head. Jeremy chuckled, and pulled away.

"Then why are you watching?" he asked, sounding amused. Aneeta's face was on fire.

"I actually came back to ask how long until dinner," Jay replied, looking totally grossed out, "but I think I lost my appetite now."

"Oh I gotta check the noodle," Jeremy nodded. He smiled down at Aneeta before going over to the stove. Oh my god! She thought. That happened. It REALLY happened! I had my first kiss! She did her best to contain her composure as she turned back to her food.

\NMM/

"So this hand to guide, and this hand to push," Kita repeated for what seemed to be the millionth time.

"Exactly," Kotona nodded. "Now take a shot." Kita took her stance,a few calming breaths, and launched the ball into the air. It came short, missing the net completely.

"Why can't I just lob the ball?" Kita whined, stamping her foot stubbornly.

"It's best to develop good form," Kotona explained. "If you just lob it, you won't have consistency."

"I'd at least hit the net," she mumbled.

"Giving lessons now huh?" an older teenage boy with darker hair than Kotona rode up to them on a bike.

"This is Kita," she introduced. "Kita, this is my older brother Shieru."

"Hi," he waved dismounting his bike.

"H-hello," Kita stammered, wide-eyed.

"I'd join you guys, but I got mid-terms in a couple days," he explained.

"You study?" Kotona laughed.

"I can't fail now can I?" he smiled. "Nice meeting you." He waved again, and retreated into the house.

"Please tell me you don't have a crush on my bother," Kotona sighed.

"Oh, no, no, no!" Kita gasped, shaking her head. "It's just he scares me."

"Really?" she asked, cocking an eyebrow in surprise.

"Yup," she nodded. "All guys do. If it's not thinking they're gross, its cause they are intimidating." Kotona only shook her head and smiled.

"Come on," she chuckled. "Let's schrimage." The girls managed another half hour together before Kotona's parents returned home.

"Hi," she greeted nervously. "This is my friend Kita."

"Hello," they nodded politely.

"Can I talk to you for a second," her dad asked, motioning for her to follow.

"I'll be right back," she told Kita following them into the house. Kitta nodded, and waited patiently, practicing her shoots, and coming short every time.

"You ready to continue?" Kita asked, energetically when she returned. "You're only 4 points ahead, so I-"

"I'm sorry," Kotona sighed. "I have to take care of some some things."

"Oh," Kita replied, surprised by the abruptness. "That's okay. I'll see you tomorrow at work then?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "You can give me the shorts back tomorrow."

"Okay," Kita said, looking sad. She went back inside to retrieve her things, and left without another word. Something's up, she thought. I gotta figure out what.

\NMM/

"It's so slow," Tiffany complained leaning against the counter inside the kitchen. "Why aren't there more people?"
"You never work even if there are people," Kita said rolling her eyes. "I hope Aneeta does well today in Kyoto."

"She said she'd call right?" Wesley asked, drying a plate.

"Yup," she nodded. "I made sure she brought her Mew Cell."

"Here's the dishes from table 4," Kotona said, coming in with a tray of dishes.

"Thank you," Wesley smiled, taking them from her.

"I still can't believe she's got a pink uniform too," Tiffany scoffed. "I'm the pink mew here."

"I'm light pink," she pointed out. "You are dark pink. There's a big difference."

"Not to me it ain't," Tiffany

Kita had yet to talk to Kotona about what happened yesterday, and she thought it'd be a great opportunity since it wasn't that busy.

"Come with me," she ordered, grabbing Kotona's arm.

"Um, okay," she replied, allowing herself to be dragged out of the kitchen and into the employees lounge.

"What is it?" she asked, cocking an eyebrow in surprise.

"I'm just gonna come right out and ask," Kita sighed. "Why did I have to leave yesterday?" Kotona looked surprised, and hesitated with her answer.

"I, had to do stuff," she said, fiddling with her apron. "I told you that already."

"What kind of stuff?" Kita pressed, tapping her foot impatiently.

"Just...stuff..." her voice trailed off and she stared at the floor.

"You can tell me," Kita said, looking sad herself. "I'm your friend. I'm here for you." Kotona looked away. Kita suddenly felt patient, and just stood there, looking worried.

"My parents wanted me to study," Kotona replied quietly. "they always want me to study. They want me to do nothing except focus on my school work. They think sports are a waist of time and will get me no where." She looked back at her, and her eyes were filled with tears.

"They don't care about my social life, they only care about me succeeding, and getting high grades," she sniffed. "That's why my brother taught me to play sports, so I can have a way of escaping everything."

"Oh," Kita gasped, feeling stupid for trying to push the information out of her. "I'm so sorry to hear that."

"It's fine," she shrugged, whipping her eyes with her hands. "I'm use to it. Not being allowed out late, always having to show my progress on an extra credit assignment...."

"I'm so sorry!' Kita cried, flinging herself at her. "I'm making you cry! I'm so sorry for bringing it up!"

"No, please do be upset," Kotona sniffed, looking down at the strange girl.

"But it's my fault," she wailed. "I'm making you sad!"

"I won't be sad anymore if you aren't," Kotona chuckled lightly. "Deal!"

"Kotona!" Tiffany gasped, barging into the room. "There's a really hot guy out there asking for you!"

"Huh?" she asked confused.

"You know," she sighed. "Tall, dark brown hair, tussled hair, gorgeous biceps."

"Gorgeous biceps?" Kita and Kotona squeaked in unison.

"Are you talking about my brother?" Kotona gasped.

"I think he might have mentioned something about being your brother," she nodded, "but I was too busy checking him out. He's so fine! Please tell me he's single."

"Please, quit talking about my brother that way," Kotona pleaded, looking mortified. "It's weirding me out."

"Answer the question!" Tiffany shouted, ignoring her plea. "Is he single or not?"

"No," she sighed. "He's had a girlfriend for 4 months now."

"Dammit," Tiffany scowled. "Looks like I'll have to put in more work, but oh well. Not gonna let that stop me."

"You can't steal someone's boyfriend!" Kita gasped.

"Watch me," she smirked, strutting out of the room, and throwing her hair over her shoulder. Kita and Kotona glanced at each other for a second, then dashed out after her. Sure enough Sheiru was waiting out in the lobby. The two of them dashed past Tiffany to get to him first.

"Hey, Shieru," Kotona greeted. "What are you doing here?"

"Can't I come visit my sister on her first day of work?" he grinned.

"Are you going to actually buy something?" she asked, putting her hands on her hips.

"Nope," he grinned. "Girly cafes aren't really my scene."

"Then why are you even in here?" she laughed.

"Just to check it out, and, again, see who you're holding up," he shrugged. "I see you guys are slow today huh?"

"Yeah," Kita managed to nod.

"Why does she keep staring at me like that?" Shieru asked, nodding toward Tiffany, who was sitting at a table, showing off her legs.

"Because she's got problems," Kita mumbled.

"Don't worry about her," she snapped, waving her hands in front of his face. "You're here to see me remember? Eyes on me then." She yanked at his jacket to turn him back to her.

"You have a girlfriend remember?" she warned, narrowing her eyes.

"I know," he said, blinking widely, "and I have no intention of leaving her for another girl. I'm a guy though, I can't help-"

"Yes you can!' she snapped again, hitting him in the head.

"Ouch!" he growled, smacking her back on the head.

"Hey!" Kita shouted, kicking him in the stomach.

"Kita!" Kotona gasped, pulling her back.

"That hurt," Shieru grunted, bending over. "You're stronger then you look."

"Don't hit my friend," she huffed angrily.

"We were just playing," Kotona sighed. "It's what we do."

"Oh," Kita said, looking embarrassed. "I'm sorry."

"It's all good," he sighed, straightening up again.

"Girls!" Eliot called urgently from the kitchen.

"Gotta go," Kotona smiled, pushing Kita toward the kitchen. "Thanks for stopping by."

"No problem," he smiled waving. Tiffany followed, winking back at him before entering.

"Quit hitting on my brother!" Kotona snapped angrily. "He's got a girlfriend, and its freaking me out!"

"I take it he's noticing," Tiffany smirked triumphantly.

"Kind of hard not to when you're throwing yourself out there," Kita snorted, disapprovingly.

"Well it's the only way to get noticed in this world," she sighed, checking out her nails.

"Can you please focus?" Eliot shouted, gaining their attention. "MAL has located an alien."

"AA! AA! AA!" the little android chanted zooming around their heads.

"So what are we going to do?" Kita asked. "It's still open hours."

"It's very slow right now, so Eliot and I can handle it," Wesley smiled. "You girls go out and find it."

"Can we at least change first?" Tiffany pouted.

"No time girly," Kita growled, grabbing her ear and dragging her out the back, with Kotona skipping behind them and MAL buzzing over head.

\NMM/

"How....much...farther?" Tiffany huffed, struggling to keep up with the two younger mews. They had been running the whole time, following MAL's directions.

"Quit complaining!" Kita shouted over her shoulder. "Come on girl! Move those legs!"

"AAA!" MAL shouted, pointing straight ahead.

"We almost there?" Kotona asked, looking hopeful.

"MM! AA!" MAL nodded, picking up her speed.

"Slow...down!" Tiffany begged, falling even more behind. The other two ignored her, keeping up with MAL. She led them to a large parking lot, filled with cars, behind the mall.

"We ran...all the way...to the stupid mall?" Tiffany gasped, falling to her knees. "This is....ridiculous!"

"Are you sure it's here?" Kotona asked MAL.

"AAAAAA!" She pointed to the other end of the parking lot.

"Better power up now so no one sees us," Kita grinned, taking out her power pendent.

"Mew Mew Licorice! MEWTAMORPHOSIS!" Giving her pendent a big kiss, Kita was surrounded by red light, and her unuform changed into her Mewfit.

"Now you try," she smiled at Kotona, who was staring at her in amazement.

"Um, what do I say?" she asked uncertain.

"Just listen to your heart," Kita grinned, quoting Eliot. "Go with what your instincts say." Kotona held out her pendent, looked it over carefully.

"Just say something already!" Tiffany sighed looking agitated. "It doesn't take that long to come up with something."

"MMMMMMM!" MAL said, shaking her paw at her accusingly.

"Mew Mew Rose! MEWTAMORPHOSIS!" Tiffany gave her pendent a sensual kiss, losing her uniform, and having it replaced by dark pink Mewfit. Kotona finally took in a deep breath and readied herself.

"Mew Mew Cotton Candy! MEWTAMORPHOSIS!" Uncertain, she kissed her pendent, and Kotona was surrounded by a light pink, and her clothes melted away. She was being drifted away on a cloud made of different colors of cotton candy. A strong wind blew, causing a couple little clouds to collide with her body. It wrapped around her, and formed a light pink, sleeveless Chinese blouse and a short skirt that ended smoothly at her knees. She saw a couple sparkly lights on the other end of the cloud, and ran over to find out what it was. On the way, she raised her arms up to catch a couple delicious looking clouds, but they slithered around her arms, and created a couple light pink arm bands, trimmed with white. Her feet suddenly got stuck, and when she pulled them out one by one, there were light pink sneakers with white laces on them. Continuing her run, it began to rain colored blotches. She was only hit by light pink ones, which colored her hair that color, as well as her eyes. The cloud came to an abrupt end, and she fond herself going over the edge. She feared she would surely fall, but a pair of pink wings sprung from her back, catching her and lifting her up into the air. Her pendent appeared around her neck, and she struck her final pose when she landed on the cloud again.

"Oh wow!" Cotton Candy gasped, looking over herself.

"You look pretty sporty," Licorice smiled. "Now we-" She was cut off by an eery squeal and a snort.

"Look out!" Licorice cried dramatically, throwing her hands up into the air, and began running in a random direction. A few cars were sent flying at them, followed by another squeal.

"AH!" Rose and Cotton Candy screamed, taking off after Licorice, the cars just missing them. From behind them they heard the crushing of metal and shattering of glass. Cotton Candy dared to look back, and saw a mutated warthog charging after them.

"It's Pumba gone carnivore!" she screamed.

"What ever happened to slimy yet satisfying?" Licorice pouted, turning when the parking lot ended, running down a row of cars. The drooling hog turned with them, and shoved cars out of its way.

"Why do we always run?" Rose shouted, tears streaming from her eyes. "I HATE running!"
"We're only little girls!" Licorice shouted back. "It's our first instinct!" Cotton Candy's wings opened up, and she took to the sky. Licorice finally jumped to the side, leaving Rose to be the lone distraction.

"Again, why meeee?" Rose whined, as the hog moved in on her.

"Hey Kotona!" Licorice shouted up at her. "Do as I do! Glitter brush!" A giant colorful brush appeared, which took both hands to hold.

"Um...," Cotton Candy hesitated, trying to think of a good name. "Cotton Candy Rod!" A staff like-object appeared in her hand. It was thin handled, but the end was thick, and stuck out like a hockey stick. It was white, with pink swirls down the handle, and the part that stuck out was shaped like a heart.

"Beautiful!" Licorice commented, giving her a thumbs up, almost dropping her paint brush.

"HELP!" Rose screamed, jumping up suddenly, and doing an impressive back flip over the hog, landing gracefully on her feet. "Or not."

"LICORICE....!" She swung her brush to the side, and spun the brush in front of her. RIBBON...PAINT BLAST!" Pointing the brush at the halted hog, it hit him dead on, toppling him over, and causing him to thrash around in pain.

"Score!" Licorice cheered. "Your turn Kotona!" Cotton Candy smiled, a new found confidence flowing through her.

"COTTON....!" She held out her hand and an orb of energy appeared before her. "CANDY...!" She spun the rod skillfully in her hand, which cause the light of the orb to increase in intensity. "GLOWING..." She lined her rod with the orb, and sung back. "PUTT!" She swung as hard as she could, hitting the orb, and sending it soaring at the hog. It hit him, causing him to disintegrate instantly.

"That was too easy," Licorice huffed, powering down. "That can't be all there is!"

"LLLL," MAL nodded.

"But it was too easy!" Kita growled.

"Maybe it wasn't meant to be strong?" Kotona suggested shrugging. "Like scouts. They are sent on ahead to survey an area while the stronger ones stay behind. They usually are fast."

"So this could have been a scout," Kita nodded, understanding.

"I hate these shoes!" Tiffany complained. "I need heels for this uniform!" The other two only shook their heads, and began their long walk back to the cafe.

\NMM/

"It's Aneeta!" Kita freaked, when her Mew Cell began to ring. Their shift had ended long ago, but they were chilling together in the employee lounge.

"Well answer it!" Tiffany grinned, excitedly. "Put it on speaker." Kita flipped it open, and pushed a button, and the room was instantly filled with the shouts of excited girls.

"Aneeta?" Kita laughed.

"Hey Kita!" Aneeta shouted over the other girls. "We won!"

"YAY!" the girls in the lounge joined the girls on the other end in their celebrations.

"We won 4-2 points!" Aneeta continued. "It was so awesome!"

"Did you score a goal?" Kotona asked, feeling really excited to be talking about scores.

"I got the first three!" she giggled with excitement.

"Way to go girl!" Kita shouted, giving her a salute.

"Did you call Jeremy yet?" Tiffany asked, pushing to get closer.

"Not yet," she answered.

"You didn't tell us how your study date went yesterday!" Tiffany gasped, in realization.

"You can't seriously want to talk about that now do you?" Aneeta asked in disbelief.

"Anytime is a good time to talk about boys," she said matter-of-factly.

"Speaking of boys," Kotona cut in. "She's hitting on my brother, and he's already got a girlfriend."

"Shame on you!" Aneeta gasped.

"As I said before, that ain't going to stop me," Tiffany sighed rolling her eyes. "Stop changing the topic!"

"We didn't," Kita grinned. "We're still talking about boys."

"I meant about Aneeta and her man," Tiffany snapped. "Spill! What happened?"

"Well I'm not going to go into complete details right now," Aneeta sighed, "but we studied a lot, cooked dinner, he kissed me, we ate, played some racing ga-"

"WHAT!?!?!" all three girls screamed. Kotona surprisingly found herself as excited as the others. It must be a contagious mew thing, she thought shyly. They do seem pretty awesome.

"He kissed you!" Kita shouted at the top of her lungs.

"Way to go!" Tiffany squealed. "What kind of kiss was it?"

"I said I'm not going to go into detail right now," Aneeta repeated, sounding just as excited as them though. "I explain more when I get back."

"I expect a full out explanation," Tiffany told her. "Every juicy detail!"

"She needs some privacy," Kita snapped, pulling at her hair.

"OW!" She screamed, and pulled at her bangs.

"Hey!" Kita growled, launching herself at Tiffany's hair. While the two of them got into a pulling hair fight, Kotona held the Mew Cell awkwardly.

"They're fighting again aren't they?" Aneeta asked, sounding annoyed.

"Yeah," she replied.

"Man," she sighed. "They can get along okay for awhile, then something flips, and they fight. I'll let you go now. My friends are pulling the phone away. See you when I get ba-" The line went dead. Kotona closed up the phone, and saw Kita sitting on Tiffany's shoulders, pulling at chunks of her hair. Kotona smirked, and pulled out her pendent.

\NMM/

"I think the team is coming together nicely," Wesley commented, sitting at a table in the lobby with Eliot. "They started off bumpy, but they ironed out their differences." He took a sip of his tea.

"They still got a long way to go," Eliot said, stirring his. The silence among them was disturbed by screaming. They turned to the lounge.

"Still think their getting along?" Eliot asked, putting a few sugar cubes in his cup.

"They're still ironing," he smiled. Tiffany and Kita burst out of the lounge holding their heads, with Kotona walking calmly out with her rod in her hand.

"What?" she teased with a huge grin. "I needed practice, and your heads were the perfect size."

"My head," Kita groaned. "I thought you were nice!"

"I am," she grinned again. "I just really love sports."

"A lot of ironing," Eliot nodded, and they both sipped their teas in unison.

\AN/

Got the spaghetti idea from my memie when I stayed over her house, and got the "Move those legs" comment from my bro. XD I love using this kind of stuff in this story.

Disclaimer: Do not own Pumba! He's awesomess, but I don't own him XD He belongs to Disney, the creator of the Lion King!

Preview of Chapter 8:

The Horrors of Mewgoya

Aneeta – We're going out on a night hunt?

Kotona – That's what Eliot said. He said that the attacks haven't been that life threatening, and he wants us to investigate.

*Tiffany and Kita keep a little distance from Kotona*

Tiffany – So the aliens are getting lazy? What's so weird about that.

Kotona – He's obviously thinking they've got something weird planned. Remember that scout?

Kita – I like the dark! We can tell some ghost stories!

Aneeta – Oh please no. I'm not really a fan of the dark.

Kita – You're a bat! Bats love the dark!

Aneeta – Ironic isn't it?

Kita – Ironic my butt! You are going out ghost hunting tonight!

*Kita drags Aneeta out of the room*

Kotona – I thought the plan was to go alien hunting.

Tiffany – She just got caught up I the night expedition.

*Tiffany looks at Kotona with caution*

Tiffany – So what does your brother like in a woman?

Kotona – He's got a girlfriend!

Tiffany – Again, not gonna stop me.

Kotona – Stay away from my brother!

*Kotona gets out her Cotton Candy Rod*

Tiffany – AHHH!

*Tiffany runs away*