Chapter 7: Started From
The hardest thing to do is watch the one you love, love someone else.
-- Anonymous
There was an interesting story behind why Kish was in a tree.
He just had to see Ichigo the second they landed. Why shouldn't he? Kish, remembering where the groups were supposed to meet, had hurried to Café Mew Mew. And he sat there, waiting. For an hour. For her. For Ichigo.
And then Ichigo had arrived. With Masaya.
Kish had growled in his hiding place, and that stupid pink puffball of hers shouted out warning alarms. It seemed as if every time Kish dared to move, that flying toy she called "Masha" would beep. And then, he fell. Fell at Ichigo's feet.
He was not expecting his heart to hurt, but it hurt. Looking into her brown eyes, watching her surprise and concern for his fall, it hurt. It hurt him more than the fall itself. Because in one moment, he realized he wasn't over her in the slightest. That his feelings hadn't changed like he thought they had.
He was right back where he started from.
It hurt watching Ichigo in Masaya's arms, watching her kiss him. Watching her be so happy with him...
But wasn't that what he had wanted? Her happiness?
Wasn't that all that mattered in the end...?
"Where is that idiot?" Tart complained, throwing his hands up in disgust. "We just landed, Kiah disappears to apparently the middle of nowhere for who knows why, and we're supposed to meet the Mew Mews at the café in half an hour... What are we gonna do, Pai?"
"I don't know," Pai said, "but we need to find him soon. If not, it seems as if we will be visiting them without him."
"Ouch," Tart whispered. "Harsh..." Soon after he murmured the words, there was a rippling in the air. "Kish!" Tart shouted happily. "Pai! Pai! Kish's here! He's back. Can we go now?"
Pai turned to face the two: an utterly excited Tart and seemingly sad Kish. "What's the matter, Kish?"
"It's not Ichigo, is it?" Tart sighed. "It's always her..."
"No, it's not her," Kish snapped, then cheering up. "But, hey, Tart... You get to see your girlfriend again!"
Tart turned red, and began to object, when Pai cut in, "Kish, what happened?"
Kish shuffled his feet, grinning as he looked up to answer. "I saw them again. The Mew Mews. And Ichigo!"
Tart rolled his eyes. "I knew it was her..."
Kish shot him daggers, but Pai appeared not to notice as he simply replied, "We should go see them now then."
"I told them I was coming to get you guys." Kish nodded his head.
Tart sneaked a grin to himself at the mention of visiting. Pudding! He had to see Pudding, he hadn't seen her in two years, he had to tell her everything and then maybe, just maybe...
"And remember," Pai informed them, interrupting Tart's sudden case of daydreaming, "we agreed that we can not tell them anything."
"What?!" Tart cried.
Kish shook his head. "For once, midget..."
"I'm not a midget!"
"... I agree with you completely. Pai, what's going through your head right now?"
Pai sent Kish a look of concern, and his voice rose in volume as much as his emotions permitted. "We agreed, on the basis of leaving, that we can not tell them anything. That they should not be informed of a single thing about the occurrences happening on our planet and--"
"But, Pai!" Tart whined.
"Not 'but's, Taruto," Pai sent his searing look in his direction and Tart gulped because Pai only used his full name when he was being wholly serious. "We all agreed that the Mew Mews should be unaware of our current situation...."
"But what am I supposed to tell Pudding?!" Tart cried. "I haven't seen or spoken with her in two years and... And... And now she's going to hate me! And it's all your fault!"
"To be truthful," Pai informed him, "I, honestly, don't care."
"Pai," Kish started.
"And I'm ashamed of you, as well, Kisshu," Pai counteracted, shaking a finger at him, "because it was, after all, your idea in the first place."
Kish snorted. "What? Liar!"
"Do you not remember?" Pai raised an eyebrow. "Because, if I remember correctly, you said that it was because of the fact that they may worry too much."
Kish sighed, remembrance in his eyes, then reached over to pull Pai's ear. "Yeah, yeah, I remember now. Let's go."
The corners of Pai's mouth twitched. "Good. Now that this ridiculous matter has been settled--"
"What do you mean I can't tell Pudding?!" Tart exploded, rising into the air in anger. "What the hell am I supposed to tell her? 'Oh, sorry, Pudding, I ditched you these past two years because, oh gee, I don't know, the ships were disabled?!'"
"Don't curse," Kish rolled his eyes.
"You curse all the time!" Tart shouted.
Kish shrugged. "That's true."
"Make up a lie," Pai told him, still exhibiting the same uninterested gaze.
"Yeah, I know that's the smart thing to do, genius! And for such a smart guy, you can be pretty stupid, " Tart bellowed. " But nothing is a good enough explanation for her...! She's not going to take 'unable to access ships' or 'Pai said no' or 'Kish threw a fit because we told him he couldn't see Ichigo and broke the control panel'--"
"Hey!"
"-- because she's not an idiot, Pai! So, what am I supposed to say?" Tart fumed, crossing his arms in anger.
"I'm going to ignore your comment and give you some advice, Tart. Tell her," Kish remarked quietly, "you met a girl." When he did not receive any answer, but a shocked expression from Tart, Kish continued, "and tell her that you think you love this girl. And that you'll do anything for her..." Tart's jaw dropped. "... And that that's the reason you didn't want to see Pudding anymore. Because it endangered your relationship with your new girlfriend."
Tart didn't say anything at first, and then hastily moaned, "I can't do that! It'll destroy my relationship with Pudding forever!"
"That's the point!" Kish snapped. "You want to end your relationship with her, don't you? You don't want to end up like me, do you? Because you know what I just realized?! I just realized that I still love her! I still love Ichigo!" His volume rose. "And she's getting married!"
Pai looked blank. Tart gulped.
Inspired, Kish continued passionately, "So don't you get it?! You're going to end up like me: in love with some girl who is going to move on to some normal guy and leave you behind. That's what's going to happen to you, Tart, what's happening to me right now! You don't want that, do you?!"
"Kish," Pai said, "calm down, you are overacting."
"I am not overacting!" Kish yelled. "I'm pointing out the truth! And, now, because I can't stand the thought of her marrying him more than the day we even left that planet, I'm right back where I started from! And there's only one thing I can do: stand back and watch her get her happily ever after because if I don't, then I'm the villain! Again!"
Tart looked up at Kish, biting his lip. "Fight for her."
"Excuse me?! Don't you get it?" Kish huffed angrily. "I can't! I can't fight for her anymore! She's getting married...! Married, Tart? Do you understand that concept?"
"Yeah, I do," Tart bared his teeth, "but don't you get it?"
"All I get is that she's marrying him, and not me."
"But," Tart managed a short smile, "she's not married to him."
"What?"
"She's not married to him yet."
Slowly, Kish began to smile. It started out as a flicker at the corner of his mouth and then a full blown grin. "Tart! You genius! That's the answer to all my problems! I can still get to her...!"
Pai's nostrils flared. "I forbid you, both of you, to interfere what is more than necessary in the lives of the Mews."
"But," Kish mentioned sneakily, nudging Pai on the shoulder, "that means that you won't be allowed to get, uh, friendly with the green Mew Mew... Lettuce, is it?"
Pai froze, before quickly replying, "We are not going to do any of the following... Tell them what is going on with our planet." There was silence, and Pai signaled that he was done with a sigh.
"That's it?" Tart asked, shocked.
"That is it."
"I noticed," Kish grinned, "you didn't mention interfering in their lives."
Pai replied pointedly, "Kish, at times, you have a light of reason."
"I knew you'd see things my way," Kish said happily.
"I guess I can't call you a midget anymore," Ichigo sighed, talking to Tart. "You're taller than me now."
"I know," he grinned, "but I can still call you an old hag!"
"Hey!" Ichigo shouted angrily, reaching up to smack him on the head, but Tart teleported away, close to where Pai and Lettuce were talking nervously. Pai ran a hand through his hair and Lettuce smiled slightly. "Get back here, you midget!" Ichigo yelled, waving a fist at him.
There was a chuckle, and the voice behind her said, "Sorry about that."
"Kish!" Ichigo smiled, turning around to hug him. As much as she hated to admit it, he had grown up well. In the light, he actually looked quite attractive. Surprisingly handsome, almost as good looking as Masaya. Maybe even a little more... She shook her head, annoyed at herself.
He grinned, amber eyes sparkling. "I missed you," he said, pecking her on the cheek.
Ichigo blushed slightly, looking to where Masaya was talking with Ryou and Keiichiro. Masaya smiled at her and waved. "How have you been?" She giggled, turning back to Kish.
"Pretty good," he said, "but I missed you. A lot."
"I missed you, too. We all did." She looked up to him. "Oh, whoa! You got a lot taller!"
It was true, Kish was at least a head taller than her. He reached down to ruffle her hair. "Well, Kitten--" Ichigo opened her mouth to correct him. "I mean, Ichigo, you didn't expect me to still stay the same did you?"
She shifted from side to side, surveying him. His clothing was more or less the same, but his face had evened out more. His golden eyes still playfully watched her, light dancing off of them, but they seemed wiser. The look behind his eyes was slightly older than she last remembered, but nothing could keep the mischievous glint out of them. And he had still, suddenly, turned amazing to look at... "Well, I guess I did expect you to stay the same," Ichigo said as a matter of fact.
"Don't worry, I'll still be the same around you." He stretched, his arms rising above him. Ichigo briefly noticed the newfound muscle in them before pushing the thought out of her head. Kish grinned. "Were you just checking me out?"
Ichigo's slapped him, turning red. "Did not."
"No, you did!" He smirked. "I don't mind though."
"Kish," Ichigo said warningly, "I'm getting married in almost a year."
He looked at her, not even bothering to shake his dismay out of his expression. "Yeah, I know, Kit-- Ichigo..."
Ichigo's next comment was drowned out by Pudding's laughter as it echoed in the air. She hugged Tart in an airtight hug. "Taru Taru! I... I missed you!"
"Don't call me that." Pudding's iron grip tightened around Tart and he grinned, making sure she could not see it, before teasing, "Well, I didn't miss you at all."
Pudding giggled again. "Then why else did you come?"
He paused, about to remind her of Ichigo's wedding invitation when he saw her golden locket. "Uh..."
She tapped his nose, corners of her eyes crinkling in mirth. "I knew it! To see me again, right? And, hey, how come you haven't visited me in a while?"
Tart's eyes widened. "I--"
"No, wait, don't tell me yet!" Pudding smiled. "I'll guess!"
"I have a girlfriend," Taruto blurted, thinking of Kish's advice.
There was a crashing sound, and a frazzled looking Ichigo, hand mid way to smacking someone, and overly confident, but apologizing, Kish looked over to them. "I need to leave." Pudding looked blank, and she picked up her backpack that had dropped to the grass. "I, uh, I... I have to be home. Nice to..." She mustered a weak smile. "Nice to see you again, Kish... Pai... T-Tart..." She looked to the brunette alien, biting her lip, and ran off.
Tart sighed, and Kish glanced at him knowingly. Ichigo looked to Kish, and he stared back at her. "Tart, what did you say to--" Ichigo began angrily, and was interrupted.
There was a loud scream.
A/N: Oh no, cliffie! The start of the main action, fighting wise, will be coming up next!
I think that it's never once been mentioned in the anime or manga that "Tart" is short for "Taruto", "Kish" is short for "Kisshu", and I decided that I preferred "Pai" over "Pie"... But I really liked the concept that they were so I've kept that in.
Ooh, Ichigo and Kish. Looks like they've got a bit of some starting chemistry now that Kish is no longer considered her enemy... I wonder how this is going to work out...? :D
Poor Pudding! She doesn't know the truth, but will it all be cleared up? And soon? Because Tart and Pudding both seemed to really like each other...
Thanks to everyone for reading, reviewing and staying tuned in! You guys are the best! :)
~ Bunny
