Chapter ten: Conflict

AN: Holy... how long has it been since I've updated this? (dies) Sorry, this chapter gave me a TON of trouble... gomen. The next one will be better, I swear.

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Taruto carefully watched Pudding, then thought to himself, 'I'm definitely just being silly.'

"Fuu, I'm tired!"

Ichigo came into the room and stretched, not that much unlike a cat.

"Hi, Ichigo-oneechan! What're you doing here?" Pudding asked, quickly turning her attention to Ichigo.

"On break," she answered, smiling tiredly.

Taruto stared blankly at the leader of the Mew Mews. He couldn't forget how much he used to hate her, and notice how the feeling still lingered, albeit not nearly as strong as it was. Kisshu's love for her still bothered him, but less so now...

Now that he understood...

Although he would never, ever forgive her for calling him a midget.

Realizing he had gotten lost in thought once again, which was the reason he was in the kitchen playing with the ice cream in his bowl in the first place, he looked around himself.

Ichigo had left, presumably to get back to work, along with Keiichirou. Where he went, Taruto had no guesses and didn't particularly care.

But what he did notice...

...was that he was now alone with Pudding. Again...

"Taru-Taru?" Pudding called softly, closing in a large amount of the distance between his face and hers. He could feel her warm breath, they were so close... "You're not sick, are you."

It wasn't really a question, but it wasn't exactly a statement either. Nevertheless, Taruto felt he was supposed to answer.

"Not... really... it's something else."

"Well, do you want to talk about it?" Pudding pulled her chair next to his, her expression holding earnest compassion and concern.

"...I'm not..."

"It's all right." The blonde girl smiled her infectious smile. "You don't have to tell me. What about last night?"

Taruto's expression screwed up into one of confusion. "Last night?"

"Did you sleep alright? No... bad dreams?"

"Nnn... well... it's nothing important..."

Pudding put a reassuring hand on top of his own. "I won't make you, but talking about things that make you sad to other people can make you feel better, you know."

"..."

---

"Kisshu!" The sudden shout caused the frantic alien boy to jump.

"Wh-what?" he spun around and came face to face with his manager.

"Go ahead and call it a day, boy. You worked hard and while I don't normally let people off this early, I'm kinda fond of you."

The tall woman pat his head as if he were some kind of dog, but Kisshu enjoyed the praise.

"Thanks, ma'am!" Kisshu bolted before could change her mind or something of that sort.

---

"Welcome to Cafe Mew M--" Ichigo stopped mid-sentence, realizing who it was she was greeting. "K-Kisshu?"

"Hey, koneko-chan! Aren't you gonna show me to my table?" the boy asked, smug grin in its usual place.

"What are you doing here?" Ichigo spluttered, both surprised and annoyed to see him.

"My boss let me off early, so I figured I'd say hi to my favorite waitress." He leaned down and poked her on the nose, amused at the noise she made in reply, which sounded something like, "Mmghphu!"

"Kisshu-!" The cat girl wasn't sure what to tell him. She couldn't refuse him, since he was technically a customer in this situation. So what to do?

"Yes, koneko-chan?" he answered with his mock-innocent tone.

"Nng..." Defeat. "Your table is right this way."

A glorious victory for Kisshu. He was going to have a lot of fun with this.

"What can I get you to drink?" Ichigo asked, glaring at her notepad as f it were its fault.

"Water is good for me, koneko-chan," Kisshu replied, leaning on his chair's back comfortably.

"Right away..." Ichigo mumbled, although Kisshu's acute ears caught what she said without trouble.

So Ichigo stalked off to the kitchen, gaining the attention of curious customers, wondering what it is the innocent boy could have possibly said to ruffle the young waitress so much. Although in reality, he really hadn't done anything...

---

Pudding wondered to herself if she was supposed to hug the air out of him or let him finish talking.

She stuck with the latter option, and continued to listen to Taruto tell her about his dream, which turned out to be more of a nightmare than anything else.

"So... then I try to grab her hand and she disappears... and... I'm all alone..." The boy's bottom lip trembled ever so slightly as he finished his tale.

Now, Pudding decided, was the time to hug the air out of him.

"Taru-Taru, I'm sorry..." she cooed softly. "I didn't know your mom was..."

"It's... not... that I can't take care of myself," Taruto stated, making some kind of attempt at sounding haughty. "I'm not a baby or anything."

"Taru-Taru, it's okay to need other people's help sometimes," Pudding said, releasing her grip with a steady stare. The boy nodded slowly.

Taruto couldn't help but feel awkward though. He wasn't used to opening up to anyone. What had possessed him to do so this time?

He could guess at an answer but decided not to. The young alien had a feeling it would make him feel even more discomforted.

"We should get back to work before Shirogane-oniichan comes in here and gets mad at us. Angry Shirogane-oniichan is scary, na no da!" Pudding giggled.

Taruto nodded and followed her, still feeling a bit strange, but relieved all at the same time.

---

"Oi, Kisshu!" Ichigo stared in disbelief at the boy. She had come back with his order and found him with his head reseted on the table, his breath slow and rhythmic.

And Ichigo couldn't help but notice, somewhat amused--

--that Kisshu was snoring.

And not just your regular snore, either.

It sounded like a snore mixed up with a sneeze and a chuckle.

It really was a funny noise.

Ichigo smiled and sighed, sitting next to him.

"Ne, Kisshu..." She poked him gently in the arm. Something about watching him sleep made her feel peaceful, like watching a puppy.

And something about it made her sleepy too... she rested her head on the table the same way, closed her eyes, and drifted off into a peaceful nap.

What felt like a long time, although in reality it was only a few minutes, the cat girl woke up to the pleasant greeting of:

"BAKA STRAWBERRY!"

With a yelp, jump, and glare, the girl was very much awake, along with the boy who had been asleep next to her.

"Get back to work! You can't sleep on the job." Ryou thrust a broom into her hands. "Go outside and sweep!"

Unable to come up with a retort, Ichigo sulked out the door, who was chased after by Kisshu.

Ryou sighed and rubbed his temples. Sleeping employees equals an angry manager.

---

"Oi, koneko-chan, wait up!"

Ichigo stopped abruptly, causing Kisshu to crash into her, but by some miracle, both of them maintained their footing.

"I'm sorry I got you in trouble, koneko-chan," Kisshu apologized, a small, bewildered smile on his face.

Ichigo turned around and looked at him wordlessly for a moment before replying. "It's not your fault."

"Well, and I guess I did drop in on you," he continued.

"You have just as much of a right to come by the cafe as anyone else," Ichigo countered again.

"And I didn't mean to annoy you," Kisshu stated as a closing of his apology. Ichigo gave him a smile, then shook her head.

"I was overreacting."

The girl began sweeping up the sidewalk in silence as the boy watched her. The two had somehow reconciled some unannounced fight. Perhaps now Ichigo finally accepted that she'd be seeing a lot more of Kisshu.

And even--

--enjoyed it?

---

Sigh.

Pai stared at the blank computer screen in front of him. After messing around with the Library's index and playing Pong with himself a few dozen times, he had come to the conclusion that he was absolutely bored.

Sure, this was better than jumping around, doing mundane tasks, but this kind of job definitely would wear on his nerves after a few weeks.

Since his section was (thankfully) empty at the moment, Pai decided to sneak off and find a book to read whilst on the job.

He thumbed through a couple of thick books, none of them particularly piking his interest. Most of the things the books taught were things Pai had learned years ago. There was a downside to being a child prodigy.

Pai mumbled something that probably he didn't even comprehend, and he wandered aimlessly into the next book aisle over, when all of a suddden, a tiny object on the floor caught his attention.

He bent over and picked it up. It was a bookmark, colorful, but not bright. It looked as if it were hand-drawn, with random curly designs all about it. His eyes drifted down to the bottom corner, where he noticed in neat cursive was written, "Midorikawa Retasu".

Oh, geez.

Was it coincidence? Was it destiny? Was it fate?

Or maybe was Pai simply the (un?)luckiest guy in Tokyo.

'Do I give it back to her?' he wondered. 'Do I just throw it away? It's just a bookmark. Then again, it could be important to her. But then again, what does it matter to me?'

In the midst of arguing with himself, he did not notice that his boss was standing right behind him.

"Sir, why are you not maintaining your section?"

Pai stuttered, something he was not commonly known for doing. "I, uh... found this." He presented the bookmark to the woman.

"Ah, must have been dropped by someone. I'll just put it in the Lost and Found basket, and--"

"Wait," Pai interrupted.

"Hm?"

"I know... who it is that lost this. I can give it back to her by myself..."

The woman nodded approvingly. "Very well. Back to your station, then."

Pai obeyed, and left, clutching the piece of paper gently in his hands as he went.

What had he just agreed to...?

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AN: Okay, that was a bad chapter, but I hope y'all are happy with it anyway. n.n; I rather like the last bit...

Tomoyo Kinomoto: Thanks for all of the lovely reviews. n.n
eMew.Lemon: Luff ya too. X3
cruelfeline: Ahh, such a pretty review. Oh, demon kitties? Sounds fun. X3

And thanks to everyone else who reviewed! And don't worry, I won't drop this fic. I plan to finish it. XD It just might take a while.