Happy Winter Solstice and Merry Christmas!
Chapter Nine:
Lettuce kept glancing at the clock, hardly able to sit still. She wanted to get out of the classroom, couldn't wait to see Pie again, to return to the library.
Finally, at long last, the bell rang and Lettuce quickly began to gather her things. However, in hastily standing up, she tripped over her chair, falling flat on her face. Some girls laughed, but no one came to help her to her feet. Lettuce turned scarlet as she tried to gather her possessions before someone kicked them out of her way.
She wished she had been able to stay at the school Mint and Berry attended, as it was more academically challenging for her and she had her friends there. But it was too far out of the way for her to get to school every day, which was a problem for Ichigo as well. So the two girls had gone back to their old high schools. While Ichigo still had her friends Moe and Miwa, Lettuce had nothing to come back to except for a handful of teachers that doted on her.
The Three Ayas—who claimed to be Lettuce's friends—had been held back a year in middle school, shortly after the Mews and Cyniclons victory over Deep Blue. It had been the girls' own fault in the end. As they had forced Lettuce to do their homework, they couldn't do well on tests, especially the midterms and finals. Furthermore, they resented Lettuce as she hadn't gotten in any trouble once the headmaster and other teachers realized what was going on.
The Headmaster and teachers realized that Lettuce had clearly been bullied into the scheme, and were actually rather proud that she was able to come up with four completely different high-mark worth essays and projects all on her own. After this, the teachers became protective of Lettuce, scolding anyone who bullied her when they were nearby, which Lettuce felt was actually making the bullying worse as she was called names like "teacher's pet" and worse whenever no teachers were around. And, unfortunately, this followed her into high school, which many of her middle school peers attended as well. Lettuce knew it was unavoidable, with the school being so close to her junior high, being so affordable and highly refutable.
Lettuce did like her school, though. It was enough of an academic challenge and she liked the teachers. But she still wished to be at school with Mint and Berry, mostly because she had yet to make a single friend by the time her second year began in March. And it was the last week of August.
So, needless to say, Lettuce was glad to have something to look forward to after getting out of school. She ran down the school steps, she had to get to the Café, and…
She skidded to a stop.
For Pie was standing outside of the school, Rin standing beside him with her arms folded over her chest.
Rin, who pretty much hated her guts. Which Pie seemed to be unaware of.
Great… Just great…
She debated on whether she should sneak away, but only momentarily. She had made both plans and a promise with Pie, and she wasn't going to break them just because his sister was there.
So, doing her best to bring in her inner Mew Mew, she took a deep breath and kept her eyes fixed on Pie as she walked over to them.
However, she couldn't help but notice that there were a lot of people staring at the Ikisatashi twins. Girls seemed to be ogling Pie, whispering and sighing over his appearance. It was kind of undeniable that Pie was hot, even though his long ears and blank eyes weren't usually something teenage girls were looking for in a boyfriend. Several of the boys stopped and stared at Rin with wide-eyes. She glared at them and even sneered at one who tried to approach her, showing that she was definitely not impressed with all the attention. In Lettuce's opinion, she shouldn't have worn a mini-skirt, even if there were opaque tights underneath, if she didn't want boys to stare at her. Or maybe on Cynnth boys didn't do that no matter what girls wore. Lettuce wasn't sure. From what she had seen of Cyniclon apparel, though, told her that they were definitely not afraid to show skin.
"Hi," Lettuce said shyly as she approached. She resisted the urge to giggle as she watched Pie's ears twitch in the direction of her voice, quickly followed by Pie turning towards her.
"How was your day, Lettuce-San?" He asked promptly in form of a greeting.
"Fine, thank you," Lettuce said. "I honestly wasn't expecting to find you out here. I thought we would meet up at the Café."
"Because Rin wanted to join us today, I asked Akasaka-San for directions to your school. I calculated that it would save you some time on traveling from here, to the Café, to the library and back to the Café. Not to mention, it will allow us to stay longer as we can leave here and go straight to the library. I am sorry if this is a bother for you."
"Oh, oh no, this is perfect actually!" Lettuce said, feeling shy all over again. "I thought about something similar yesterday, but I didn't think it would work so I didn't mention it."
Lettuce felt her cheeks heat as she glanced at Rin and gave a small shy smile, suddenly realizing that the alien girl hadn't said a word. Rin didn't move or say anything, but apparently Pie picked up on something between them, but, Lettuce only realized later, it may not have been exactly what he thought it was.
"Rin wanted to see the library as well," He explained. "I apologize for not being able to inform you of this in advance, and that we would meet you here. I knew you were at school, and did not know when and if you have any break times, and especially did not wish to get you in trouble by calling."
"Ah, no, that's fine," Lettuce said. "Rin, and anyone else, is more than welcome. I was just a bit surprised to see you, though," She said, now talking to Rin, who just stared at Lettuce blankly with a small frown. "Pie-San was telling me how hard you were working on a project, and Kisshu-San indicated that it was something you were hoping to finish soon so that was why you were working on it so much."
Rin's frown momentarily deepened.
"Kisshu has a big mouth," She informed Lettuce. "I am working hard on the project, but it's nowhere near done. I'm taking a break for now. I'm hoping that a change of pace will help. Besides, this library sounds very interesting."
"It is," Lettuce said, offering a small smile. "And the staff there is very helpful." She then turned to Pie. "Um, should we walk or is the library technically considered familiar enough that you can teleport there? It'd be a short distance either way."
"Walk, then," Pie said. He turned his head back and forth between where he knew Rin and Lettuce stood. "Is that fine with you ladies?"
"Perfect," Rin said, grabbing hold of Pie's hand. "Midorikawa-San, I presume you know the way?"
"Yes," Lettuce said, suddenly feeling immense pressure to impress Rin. "I actually walk by the library every day to get to school. That was why I thought about it yesterday."
Rin didn't respond, just indicated with a nod that they should get a move on.
The walk was quiet, reminding Lettuce of the day before on the trip to the library and how much talking they had done on the way back. Fortunately, they had to travel a lot less than yesterday and were walking inside the building not five minutes later to Lettuce's immense relief.
The three found a table and the two girls took seats opposite each other, leaving a space for Pie at the head of the table, directly between them. Pie, however, didn't sit just yet.
"I am going to return the books from yesterday," He said to them. "I will be right back."
"Let me come with you," Rin said, getting to her feet. "I'll help you—"
"No thank you, Rin," Pie said and Lettuce noticed the smallest amount of edge in his voice. Lettuce blinked in surprise. Was she not the only one on terse relations with Ikisatashi Rindou? "I am trying to build a sensory map, and the best way to do that is on my own."
Rin retook her seat and cheerfully said,
"Okay, then."
Lettuce knew at once that the cheerfulness was faked. As one of the few sighted people in the building, she could clearly see that Rin was not happy with Pie's request. But still she seemed to resist the urge to get up after he had turned his back.
"You're not going to follow him?" Lettuce asked with some surprise as Rin started taking out pens and notes out of a bag at her side.
"Pie has an uncanny knack for knowing exactly when someone is behind him, no matter how quiet they are, no matter if they are floating in the air or not," Rin said, not bitterly. "In turn, he can unconsciously sneak up on anyone and scare them half to death without intending to do so." Her hand paused on an item as she was pulling it out and she seemed to be thinking about something. "The only times that he can be snuck up on is when he's sick or really lost in thought. He'd catch me right away."
"Is that…" Lettuce hesitated. "Is that from, um, part of your… training?"
"No. It's something Pie's been doing since he learned to crawl. Maybe even before that, I don't know," Rin said. "No one could drill that into him, or anyone else for that matter. And I know a lot of people would love to succeed."
Neither said anything else as they saw Pie was approaching the table again.
"Mari-San gave me a sort of reference sheet for the braille," Pie said, predominately showing Lettuce the sheet with braille and bold, black letters above the corresponding combination of raised bumps. "She suggested that I find something longer now that I understand the basics, though perhaps not ready to try to decipher kanji yet."
"She mentioned that the regular braille was separated from the kanji braille," Lettuce said. "Do you have any idea what you want to read?"
"Actually, I was hoping you had a suggestion," Pie said. "As I know very little about Earth literature."
"Ooh, this is a tough one," Lettuce said, putting a finger to her chin. "Fiction or non-fiction?"
"Fiction," Pie said after a brief moment's hesitation.
"Okay…" Lettuce said, trying to think, though grateful that his answer opened up many responses. What were the books Pie absolutely had to read and would hopefully be in braille? "Well, I can think of quite a few Japanese writers you'd like." She listed them and then said, "But then there's Jane Eyre, Great Expectations, Animal Farm… Those are all British, but I think you'd like them." Suddenly, Lettuce's eyes widened and she clapped her hands together, wondering why she hadn't thought of it before. "Oh, and Harry Potter! "
"Harry Potter?" Pie repeated, almost testing the words as he said them.
"Yes, I think you'd like it… It's about a boy who goes to a wizard school and there's a bad wizard that tried to kill Harry when he was a baby and if I say too much more I would completely ruin it," Lettuce said.
"You really like those books, then?" Pie said.
"Very much," Lettuce admitted. "It's one of my favorites."
"Then it must be good," Pie said with a nod. "If it is here, I want to borrow it."
Lettuce looked it up using a nearby computer and confirmed that the first book was in along with a few others that Pie was interested in. She told him the call numbers and he nodded with each one, remembering.
"Do you want help finding them?" Lettuce asked. "I'll look for some and you look for the others?"
Pie shook his head.
"I want to try finding the books on my own. The braille will help me from getting too lost and I will not be too far away." He said.
Lettuce smiled and there was a small whisper in the back of her mind that said that she wished he could see it.
"Okay," She said. "I'll be over at the table with Rin-San. Will you be able to find your way back to us?"
"Yes," Pie said. The corner of his mouth lifted ever so slightly. "I have started a system for being able to do so easier. I will explain it to you on the way to Café Mew Mew."
"I'll hold you to that," Lettuce said. With that, the two parted. But when Lettuce got back to the table, she instantly felt horrible. She didn't even need Rin's piercing glare to feel that way. She and Pie had both completely ignored Rin. Or perhaps it was the other way around? She hadn't joined in the conversation or followed them. She wasn't tailing Pie either, though her eyes moved ever so slightly to indicate that she was trying to visually find him. She hadn't tried to add in her own opinions or thoughts. But, then again, neither of them gave her an opening to do so.
Lettuce felt ashamed; she had unintentionally done something that had been done to her since kindergarten. Talked around but never talked to. She knew how horrible that felt.
As Lettuce took her seat, shame-faced, Rin lowered her eyes to the piece of paper she was scribbling on, numbers, equations and symbols that Lettuce had no idea what they meant but apparently were perfectly clear to the older girl.
"I'm sorry, Rin-San," Lettuce said quietly. "Both for what I said the other day and how I have treated you this afternoon already. I didn't mean to say something hurtful and neither Pie-San nor I purposefully meant to speak exclusively to each other."
"I am not concerned about the latter," Rin said coolly as she dug her pen in a little rougher than Lettuce thought she should. "Your babble did not distract me from my work."
Lettuce noticed that she didn't mention anything about the first part of the apology. Lettuce translated that to mean that forgiveness was not given at this point in time.
"But please tell me why my brother is wandering around on his own at this moment?" Rin said, looking up again from her work with a tight frown.
"Pie-San wanted to find the books on his own," Lettuce explained. "So I let him, just like you let him take the books back just a bit ago."
"That was different," Rin said. "That time I could see where he was going."
"Pie-San knows where he's going," Lettuce said, feeling a sudden need to stick up for Pie. "And he says he can find his way back to the table once he's gotten the books he wanted."
Rin's lips puckered and she narrowed her eyes.
"Have you already forgotten the reason why we are here in the first place?" She hissed.
"I haven't," Lettuce said, feeling herself shrink back some.
"Then why did you let him go off by himself?"
"Because he can do things by himself and he knows he can, and I think sometimes he needs to be reminded that he can," Lettuce said in a very low voice, unable to look at Rin but also unable to believe how freely she was speaking her mind in the situation. "And finding his own books at the library is one of them. He needs to be able to do it for himself."
"What do you know?" Rin demanded. "This is only the second day you've been around him. You weren't there with him at the beginning of all this. You don't know anything, least of all what he needs."
"You're right," Lettuce conceded. "I wasn't there since the accident. And I don't know what Pie needs."
But before Rin even had a chance to look smug, Lettuce said,
"But I do know he's very happy, and very proud of himself, with things that we think are so small. Finding a book, familiar people at a table. It's monumental for him, a victory. And he should enjoy it."
Lettuce then clammed up, feeling tears of humiliation rush to her eyes. She couldn't believe she just said all that to Rin. She had no place to say anything. She wasn't family or even a really close family friend. She was just Pie's friend.
Not even his girlfriend.
Lettuce bit her tongue at that thought. She wondered if Rin and Tali got along. Probably, because Tali was perfect for Pie. She had to be.
Because Lettuce was very certain that she wasn't.
Soon enough, Pie came over with an armload of spoils of war, taking them to the librarian behind the check-out desk.
Neither Rin nor Lettuce said it, but they both were relieved that Pie seemed to be completely oblivious to their argument.
"Scent." Pie said at random as they walked out of the library.
"Scent?" Rin and Lettuce repeated at the same time, each looking just as confused as the other.
Pie nodded.
"I am starting to use scent to identify and locate people I know," He explained. "This is the system I was referring to earlier, Lettuce."
"And how exactly do you do that?" Rin asked, a bit skeptical.
"I realized that Cyniclons are blessed, or at certain times cursed, with a strong sense of smell. But it was not one I used much until I lost my sight," Pie said. "After that, I started to realize that everyone smelled different, maybe just slightly. But enough for me to be able to discern."
"Is it like scents from shampoo and soap that we use?" Lettuce asked. "Or perfume?"
"It affects the memory if they change, but yes, those help," Pie said with a nod. "But there is also an underlying scent. Cyniclon sense of smell resembles that of a canine, being able to find that unique scent."
Lettuce nodded, while adding a note to herself to catalog all of the brands and scents of soap and shampoo and make-up she used so that she didn't change anything.
"That sounds like a very tricky system," Rin said with a frown. "If it weren't for the underlying scent, it'd be really easy for someone to trick you based off of scent."
"I realize it has its flaws," Pie said. "It's not a perfect system for use. Yet. But for now it does what I need it to."
Rin let out a soft sigh but also smiled some.
"Well, that's the important part, I guess," She said.
Suddenly, Pie's ears twitched as he realized something, turning to Lettuce.
"Do we need to teleport to the Café now?" He asked. "I do not want to make you late for work."
"Oh, no," Lettuce said. "Shirogane-San knew I'd be coming in just a bit later and he said not to rush. Besides, we still have plenty of time."
Rin couldn't complain. She wanted to see the route to and from the library and all the spots in between. She added them to a mental inventory of places to teleport to.
They were greeted with a surprise when they walked into the Café.
"Pie Onii-Chan!" Éclair said excitedly as she ran over, jumping up and latching herself onto Pie's chest, Rin quickly grabbing hold of the bag full of books before Pie could drop it. "Guess what!"
"What?" Pie said, wrapping his arms around Éclair to support her against him.
"Éclair got a waitress uniform! Éclair and Rōzu are going to help pass out menus right here at the Café!" Éclair declared proudly.
"Are you now?" Pie said. That explained the unfamiliar fabric and ribbons that he could feel Éclair wrapped up in.
"Yep," Rirī said as she came over. Lettuce noticed that Rirī wore a waitress uniform that was a shade of pink between that of Ichigo and Berry's dresses. Rōzu wore one in red and Éclair's was in a shade of pale blue that matched her eyes. She also noticed that their brothers were dressed similarly to Tasuku.
"What exactly is going on?" Rin said, arching an eyebrow.
"Well, since we're going to be on Earth for a while, we decided we were going to do something productive with our lives during that time," Kish said. "And Ryou said we start our training this afternoon as part of the wait-staff."
"Which is great because this means I might actually get a full day off sometime," Ichigo said, looking very pleased with that thought. "Lettuce, go get changed and then you can show them how to ring stuff up at the cash register while Zakuro, Mint, Pudding and I finish getting the tables set. Berry and Tasuku have already taken off with a delivery, but that's their only one today."
"Hai!" Lettuce said. She was about to take off but she stopped to say to Pie, "I'll talk with you soon, Pie-San." Then to Rin she said, "And I am glad that you joined us on this trip to the library, Rin-San."
Rin didn't respond and Lettuce took that as her cue to walk away.
Rin flipped her curls over her shoulder and turned to Pie.
"I need to get back," She said. "Come on, I'll teleport us back."
"Go on ahead," Pie said. "I will come back later."
Rin frowned.
"Are you sure?" She asked. Pie nodded.
"Positive," He said.
Rin sighed.
"Okay," She said, standing on her toes to give Pie a kiss on the cheek. "Don't stay too long and I'll drop your books off in your room for you."
"I will not stay too long and thank you," Pie said.
Rin teleported away, but not before glancing back at Pie with concern.
While the others worked on getting the Café open for business, Pie found his way to the kitchen, where Keiichiro was putting finishing touches on cakes for the day.
"Ah, Pie-San," Keiichiro said pleasantly. "Come in and take a seat."
Pie did so, looking very serious as he said,
"What can I do?"
Keiichiro paused in icing a cake.
"What do you mean?" He asked.
"I cannot serve as a waiter, and I doubt I could work the cash register, but I want to be able to do something here. I do not even care if it is a menial task. If there is any way I can be help, I want to do it."
Keiichiro thought for a moment. Then, it hit him.
"We roll up our silverware into a napkin," He explained. "It's the easiest way to put out fresh silverware when the tables are cleared and prepare them for new customers. But it does take time to do this and we are usually busy enough that no one has time during business hours to do it. What we really need is one person who can focus entirely on this task. Pie-San, are you willing to be that person?"
"Yes," Pie said with a nod.
"Then let me help you get started," Keiichiro said.
Keiichiro laid out all the supplies Pie needed and made a quick reference sample. After watching Pie for a minute or so, Keiichiro left Pie on his own so that he could get a cake out of the oven.
"He put you to work quick," Kish commented as he came around to stand across from Pie.
"I asked for a job," Pie said simply.
"I bet you did," Kish said with a grin. "So, what did Rin think of this library?"
"She offered very little of her personal opinion to me," Pie said. "But she seemed to approve of it."
"And, uh," Kish said. "Rin and Lettuce together… how did that go?"
Pie's brow furrowed as he raised his head towards Kish.
"Fine," He said. "Why?"
"No reason," Kish said nonchalantly. "Just curious."
Pie frowned but didn't press.
"And how is everything going out in the dining room? Are you and Taruto behaving yourselves?" Pie asked.
"I note you didn't ask about Rirī, Éclair or Rōzu," Kish said dryly with narrowed eyes.
"I have no need to," Pie said. "I can trust them to behave."
Kish swatted at Pie's shoulder but couldn't disagree.
"Everyone's doing fine," Kish said. He smiled some. "Rōzu and Éclair are a big hit with the crowd and Ichigo's letting Rirī, Tart and I do our own hands-on experience. She's so happy for the extra help, because apparently Mint is no help at all, Zakuro is kind of scary, and Berry and Tasuku are in and out all the time on deliveries."
"And Lettuce and Pudding?" Pie dared to ask.
"Messy is the only word I have to describe it," Kish admitted. "I'm sure you've heard the sound of plates breaking in there?"
"I did as Keiichiro-San advised me and ignored it," Pie said.
"It's better that way," Keiichiro said simply from the other side of the room.
"I wish it were that easy out there," Kish said. "Ichigo doesn't show it to the others, but I can tell she gets frustrated when stuff breaks."
"How do you know, then?" Pie asked.
"Trust me, I know when she's annoyed. It's often because of me," Kish said with a somewhat self-satisfied smirk.
Pie hovered his hand over the stack of forks for a moment. He knew of his brother's feelings for the cat Mew. Everyone knew. But Ichigo never reciprocated them. He didn't want his brother to get himself all worked up over a girl just to get turned down again.
"Kisshu," Pie said in a low voice. "Have you and Ichigo discussed, by any chance—"
"She and her boyfriend are still together," Kish said before Pie could finish. "He's studying in another country at the moment, but should be coming for a visit in a few weeks. He sends her e-mails and texts all the time, but because of the time difference they don't get to actually talk a lot. She even went over to study with him for a little while a year ago. But they are still very much in love and apparently he's planning on spending his last year of high school in Japan with her."
"Kisshu… Are you alright?" Pie asked as the silence lingered for a moment.
"Eh. I think I will be," Kish said, grinning. "Maybe I still like Ichigo a bit, yeah. But as long as Ichigo's happy, I'm happy. Besides, I'd like to be her friend even if that's all I ever am to her."
Pie understood that sentiment.
"As long as you are happy," Pie said.
"I am," Kish said. "But maybe not in the way I thought I should be."
Pie also understood that feeling. A year ago, sitting and rolling silverware into a napkin would be something he considered degrading. But now he liked it. It gave him something to do, to feel useful, helpful.
Pie continued wordlessly with his task as Ichigo came in and chastised Kish for wandering off while Kish tried to argue his case. His ears twitched every time he heard Lettuce's voice, which usually followed a crash. It happened often.
Pie found sitting at a table in the corner of the Café Mew Mew kitchen calming, relaxing, even amongst all the noise. It was almost normal. Something he hadn't felt enough of and was very glad to be feeling once more.