I'M BACK AGAIN!

So, I'm now an official high school graduate! Yay! *throws confetti*
Ichigo: Yeah, now you just have to graduate from college. And get your Masters after that. Face it, you may be done with high school, but you're still a slave to schoolwork for the next 6-7 years. And then, you know, actual work for the rest of your life.
Me: *glares* Who invited you into this conversation?
Ichigo: I did. Now back to your math homework, slave! *cracks a whip at me*
Me: Hey, isn't that Zakuro's whip?
Ichigo: Yeah. She let me borrow it just for this.
Me: Great...
Ichigo: And while we're at it, what happened to the final two chapters of A Change of Heart?
Me: ...
Ichigo: *sweatdrops* You forgot about that story, didn't you?
Me: Didn't forget forget... just decided to change the ending at the last second and totally don't know how I want to do it... And I've been busy... and went through a sudden inspiration burst for AUpgrade...
Ichigo: *sighs exasperatedly* You left people hanging...
Me: Shut up! I know that and I'm sorry!

Anyways, enjoy the first part of this two-part Pudding/Tart-ish arc in Alien Upgrade! While I go work on math... and COH...

Chapter Fourteen:

It was a normal Monday afternoon, getting the Café ready for the afternoon of customers. Almost everyone was there. Ryou and Zakuro had run to the store, and Pudding and Tart weren't back from school yet. Everything was quiet. Peaceful.

And then chaos burst in.

Ryou and Zakuro were both wide-eyed and panting, each holding tall stacks of glossy magazines. Everyone was surprised to see two of the most calm, cool and collected people they knew looking like this, especially considering what they did next. Zakuro quickly shoved her stack into Pie's hands.

"Make these disappear into that green, foggy alternate-dimension place you have, now!" She demanded.

"Uh, why?" Pie asked, looking down at the one on top. It happened to be a very pink and girly teen magazine.

"Because we can never, ever let Pudding see these!" Ryou said, shoving his own stack at Kish.

"Then… why did you buy them all and bring them here?" Rirī asked, confused.

"And, more importantly, where are the groceries?" Rin asked.

"Forget about the groceries!" Zakuro exclaimed. She snatched the top magazine off the stack and showed it to the Mews.

"Isn't that Kawaii Galore?" Lettuce asked. "That magazine about everything cute?"

"Yes, it is, and do you know what time of year it is?" Zakuro demanded.

The other Mews thought, then Mint said,

"The time when Kawaii Award, given to the cutest public figure in Tokyo, is given."

"Mew Pudding's won that award three years running," Ichigo said, grinning. "She loves it, even though it's nothing more than a title."

"So, why don't we want Pudding to see it?" Masaya asked.

Then the three Mews and Keiichiro realized why.

"She didn't win this year?" Lettuce asked, her eyes wide.

Zakuro and Ryou shook their heads.

Ichigo, Lettuce, Keiichiro and Mint's eyes widened.

"Send them away! Send them away!" Ichigo yelled, shaking Kish's arm.

"Geez, easy on the ears, Kitten!" Kish said, banishing the magazines, Pie doing the same.

"Those aren't the only copies in the city," Lettuce said, panicky.

"I'm working on getting those, too," Ryou said, typing away on his phone, pausing just long enough to look at Keiichiro. "And you're going to have to hack the webpage."

"Hai!" Keiichiro said, running for the basement.

"So, um," Shinji said. "I take it Pudding's not going to be happy if she found out about this?"

"Exactly," Ichigo said. "So, we're going to keep her in the dark as long as possible in hopes of nothing exploding or getting 'Ribbon Pudding Ring Infernoed'."

"Infernoed is a word now?" Pie asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, just pretend!" Mint snapped.

"So, who did win?" Homare asked, her brow furrowed.

"That's what makes this really important that we hide the evidence," Zakuro said. "It's—"

"What evidence, na no da?"

They cringed as the door opened and Pudding and Tart stepped inside. Pudding's eyes widened as she saw the pink magazine in Zakuro's hand. Zakuro smacked her forehead, calling herself a baka for forgetting to put it back in the stack with the others.

"The newest edition of Kawaii Galore, na no da!" Pudding said, grinning. "Can Pudding see, na no da?"

"No!" Zakuro said, rolling up the magazine quickly and shoving it to Lettuce, who squeaked and threw it, only to be caught by Rin, who quickly teleported to give it to Pie. Pie flung the magazine at Ichigo, who caught it. Pudding looked like she was about to pounce on her, but at last second Ichigo flung it at Kish, stopping Pudding mid-pounce.

Kish gulped as Pudding approached him, eyes glinting menacingly as she cornered him. He looked at the rolled up magazine in his hand, then up at Pudding and gulped again. Even if he teleported, she was close enough to jump in after him.

So he did the only reasonable thing.

He stuck the magazine down the front of his shirt.

The others face-palmed. Pudding merely raised an eyebrow.

"Kish Onii-Chan is silly to think that's going to stop Pudding, na no da," Pudding said, grinning evilly. She jumped on him, pinning him to the floor and tearing at his vest and shirt, though he screamed and tried to fight her off, begging for help.

But it was too late.

Pudding held the magazine in her hand above her head, victorious.

The other Mews, Ryou and Keiichiro instantly hid behind the cash register counter, and the others took cover behind the tables, Pie pausing briefly to yank a very confused Tart over.

"What is wrong with you all, na no da?" Pudding asked. "It's just a magazine, na no da."

"It's, um, what's in the magazine," Lettuce said softly. "That we don't want you to see."

"Why would Pudding get upset over something in a magazine, na no da?" Pudding said. "Pudding just wants to see who won the Kawaii Awards, na no da." She chuckled as she flipped through the pages. "Though really, the winner is obvious, na no da. Aha, here it is, na no da! 'A member of the famous Tokyo Defenders, our Kawaii Awards winner manages to always look her cutest when fighting evil meanie alien monsters. I mean, just look at those ears! How can you not say those are adorable? Yes, this year's Kawaii Award absolutely must go the cutest Tokyo Defender—'" Pudding cut off and her eyes went wide and she gulped before whispering,

"Warrior Rose."

"What?" The others said together, stunned as they came out of hiding, all surrounding Pudding. Rōzu was the one who was shocked the most.

"I won the Kawaii Award?" Rōzu asked in dismay as she floated up to see. Sure enough, when Pudding turned the page, there was a full page spread of Rōzu in her Warrior Rose form, the photographer having caught the young Cyniclon girl giggling over something.

"No, no, no, I can't be kawaii! There goes my entire reputation!" Rōzu said, going over to bang her head against the wall.

"Pudding… is no longer kawaii…" Pudding whispered in shock, her face blank.

"No, no, Pudding-Chan!" Homare said comfortingly, pulling Pudding into a hug. "You're still kawaii!"

Pudding gently shoved Homare away, her eyes vacant.

"No, Homare Onee-Chan, Pudding's not," She said, her voice hollow. "How could Pudding be, na no da? I mean, look at Pudding, na no da!" She gestured to her teenage self and sighed. "Pudding knew this day would come, na no da. She just didn't know it'd be so soon…" She trailed off, gazing into space.

"Uh, I'm not following," Rirī said.

Pudding sighed.

"Pudding can no longer be considered 'kawaii, na no da'," She said, looking thoroughly depressed. No one had ever seen her like this before. "But Rōzu… Rōzu-Chan is the living definition of kawaii, na no da."

Pudding pulled Rōzu over and made her stand in front of the others, to the awkwardness of the younger girl.

"Look at her, na no da" Pudding said sadly. She picked up one of Rōzu's braids between her fingers. "Kawaii braided pigtails. Looks kawaii in her Café uniform, play clothes, and even fighting clothes. She's got a kawaii face, and even her fangs are cute, and she's just so chibi—"

"I'm not a chibi!" Rōzu snapped, stamping her foot and crossing her arms over her chest. Looking incredibly adorable as she did so and therefore not helping her case.

"And then there's the ears," Pudding said, ignoring Rōzu. She lightly ran her finger over one of Rōzu's long, pointed ears and sighed as it cutely twitched at her touch. "There is no denying their kawaii-ness, na no da."

Pudding sighed again, closing her eyes.

"There is only one thing left for Pudding to do now, na no da," She said. "To say good-bye to her 'na no da's and become a boring, un-kawaii, old person." She looked over at Zakuro, Ryou, Keiichiro, Rin and Pie. "Like you guys."

"Oh, gee, thanks for that," Zakuro said dryly, the other's faces also displaying their displeasure with being considered 'old' and 'boring'.

"Now, if you'll forgive Pudding—" Pudding cut herself off and swallowed hard, her hand over her heart. "If you'll forgive me, I cannot work today. This place… it's just too kawaii… too soon, too soon…"

Pudding's shoulders slumped and she headed for the door, a dark cloud over her head.

The others stood in silence as the door closed.

"Well," Lettuce said. "That was, um, uh…"

"Depressing?" Kish finished for her.

"Well, yeah," Lettuce said.

"Don't worry," Ichigo said, the corner of her mouth lifting. "She'll be fine by tomorrow. She just needs time to recover from the shock. Right?"

The others nodded, knowing that Pudding would be back tomorrow.

The next morning, Tart made his way up the pathway to the front door to the Fong residence, his school bag slung over his shoulder and stepping over toys strewn across the walkway. He knocked on the door, waiting to hear an excited voice call, "TARU-TARU!" and the door to be flung open. He braced himself to be glomped…

But it never came.

Instead, the door was opened calmly and Tart jumped back in surprise.

"Good morning, Taruto."

Tart blinked as he recognized the voice.

"P-Pudding?" Tart said, staring at his girlfriend in shock.

Pudding stood there, wearing a straight brown knee-high skirt, a white blouse, a brown tie, a brown jacket overtop, white tights and brown high-heeled shoes. Her hair was pulled up into a tight bun and she wore a pair of thin glasses. Her face was as emotionless and blank as Pie's, and she spoke with a similar monotone when she said,

"Is something the matter, Taruto?"

"Uh, yeah, why are you dressed like that?" Tart asked. "And why are you calling me 'Taruto'?"

"I am an adult now, and I must dress like it," Pudding said blandly. "And Taruto is your name, isn't it? So why shouldn't I call you by it?"

"What happened to 'Taru-Taru'?" Tart asked, confused.

"A childish nickname that has served its purpose, but no longer has a reason for me to call you by it, as I am no longer a child," Pudding said. "Now, come, Taruto, or we will be late for school."

With that, she walked down the path, nearly falling a few times in her heels.

Tart blinked a few times before groaning to himself.

This is going to be a very long week, isn't it?

The school day certainly was interesting. Pudding, usually the life of the classroom, was quiet, so quiet to the point all of her teachers at one point or another asked her if she wasn't feeling well. And after saying that the light-yellow walls were too bright, they needed to be beige, one teacher did personally take her to the nurses' office.

Needless to say, the new Pudding was also very shocking at the Café.

"What's up with the outfit, Pudding? Loose a bet?" Kish asked as Pudding came into the Café, still unsteady in her heels.

"I did no such thing, Kisshu. For I am an adult now, and adults do not do silly and childish things like that," Pudding said, her nose in the air.

"Uh…" Kish said, not sure how to respond as Pudding walked by him. She stepped into the changing room and stepped back out a second later, approaching Keiichiro with her uniform in her hands.

"This is too bright of a color for me," She said. "Is there any beige I could wear?"

Keiichiro, having a feeling that this was just a phase, she'd eventually grow out of it, said,

"I don't think we have any available, but if you'll bear with it for today, I'll have it ready for you tomorrow."

"That will be fine," Pudding said, retreating to the changing room again. Once she was gone, everyone else turned to look at Tart for an explanation. He just sighed and shook his head.

The Café seemed to have lost much of its vibrancy with Pudding's change. The pink, perky café just was dull without Pudding running around.

"It's… kind of creepy…" Shinji said as he looked around the lifeless café.

"Yeah." The others said in agreement.

Ryou came out shortly after.

"Hey guys, we've got whoa…" Ryou stopped, his brow furrowing as he looked at the dining area and the somber feeling pressing around them. "Who died?"

"Pudding's childhood tendencies, apparently," Zakuro said. "What's up?"

"Mew Aqua sighting, near the amusement park," Ryou said.

"We're on it," Ichigo said.

Pudding gazed blankly as the last of the customers left.

"I am going to have to get into that ridiculously childish outfit to fight with children's toys, aren't I?" She asked.

"You've never had a problem with your Mew uniform before," Lettuce said.

"I was a child before," Pudding said indignantly. "Now I am an adult." She sighed. "Oh well. I guess since the entire planet is depending on this, I shall transform."

The others exchanged glances. Well, this was going to be fun.

They arrived at the amusement park to find Topaz, Zen, Chile, Bell, Pepper and Cayenne waiting for them.

"You're too late!" Pepper taunted. "We already found it!"

Topaz and Cayenne were in the air, circling around the glowing orb of Mew Aqua, both grinning as they slowly approached it. Pie and Rin took to the air, hoping to get to it before the other two could. Suddenly, all four leapt for it.

"OW!" Pie, Rin, Topaz and Cayenne all cried out at once as they held their heads, followed by some choice words from Pie and Cayenne as they all rubbed their foreheads where they each had collided with the other three.

"Where'd it go?" Topaz asked as she looked around. They saw the Mew Aqua glow in the air, flying over the Ferris wheel and roller coasters.

They all followed it and watched as the Mew Aqua suddenly plummeted…

Right into the ball pit.

The Tokyo Defenders, Bell, Pepper, Zen, Chile, Topaz and Cayenne all stared from the edge of the pit.

"It's in there somewhere," Lettuce muttered. "I can feel it."

Bell and Pepper exchanged devious glances and, while Cayenne was studying the surface layer of balls, they shoved on the small of his back, sending him into the balls with a small cry of surprise. Topaz, Chile and Zen laughed along with the twins—who high-fived each other—and Cayenne turned red. Topaz held her hand out for him to pull him out, but Cayenne suddenly grinned, taking her hand and pulled Topaz in with him. She screeched as she fell in, but she was soon laughing.

"Hey, we're not going to find the Mew Aqua standing around, letting those two have all the fun," Rōzu said, grinning.

"I refuse to get in there," Pudding said, crossing her arms. "I am an adult. And adults do not do childish things like—Hey, hey put me down, put me down now!"

But it was too late. Kish had slung Pudding over his shoulder, flying them directly over the ball pit by a few inches.

Then, Kish suddenly stopped floating and Pudding screamed as they fell in.

They were suddenly joined in by their teammates, Bell, Pepper, Chile and Zen.

"What was that for?" Pudding demanded, glaring at Kish, who grinned. He picked up one of the small balls and threw it at Pudding, but she ducked and it hit Zakuro. With a playful glare, Zakuro grabbed a ball and threw it back at Kish, who teleported, so the ball went over to hit Topaz, who turned sharply, grinning mischievously.

"Oh, it is on," She said as she picked up a green ball and tossed it lightly into the air before catching it again.

Mew Aqua and enmity temporarily forgotten, both sides laughed as they threw the plastic balls around at not only their enemies, but also their teammates.

"This isn't a very adult thing to do!" Pudding finally yelled as she launched a yellow ball at Chile's head.

"Yeah, that's true," Kish said, as he leaned back, arms folded behind his head lazily. He grinned. "But a wise man once said 'There's no point in being grown-up if you can't be childish sometimes.'"

"Who said that?" Mint asked before being hit by a ball thrown by Ichigo.

"The Fourth Doctor," Kish said with a smirk.

Pudding smiled and started throwing balls with more energy.

"What the heck are you doing?"

They all looked up to see Mylo and Jalapeno floating above them, looks of confusion on their faces.

"Where's the Mew Aqua?" Mylo asked.

They all looked at each other, embarrassed. They had completely forgotten about what they got in the ball pit for in the first place.

"Uh," Zen said, flying out of the ball pit from where he had been beside Rirī, the two wordlessly having teamed up to attack the others. "It's gone."

"Gone." Mylo repeated, looking ticked off.

"Yeah," Bell said as she floated out as well. "Funny how it never wants to be caught. Well, good-night."

With that, she teleported away, followed by her sister, brothers, Topaz and Zen. Mylo pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Bakas…" He whispered before disappearing as well.

"So…" Ichigo said. "I guess we have to get out of here now."

"Probably should," Rin said as she started climbing out.

"Well, that was fun," Rirī said as they walked out the park a few minutes later. While the others agreed with her, Pudding hung her head sadly.

"What's wrong, Puds?" Tart asked, taking her hand.

"I know what I'm not," Pudding said. "I'm not a cute little kid, but I'm not a grown-up either. So what am I?"

"You're Pudding," Ichigo said. "Pure and simple as that."

Pudding shook her head.

"That's not it," She said. She frowned. "I need to find out who I am."

"Sounds like you're going through an identity crisis," Zakuro commented.

Pudding suddenly jerked her head up, grinning.

"Then to get through this, I'm going to have to find my identity!" She said. She took off running down the street. "See you all tomorrow!"

The others were left standing there, bewildered. Then, Pie groaned,

"We are going to go through this again tomorrow, are we not?" He asked.

No one had an answer. Or particularly wanted the question answered.

They could only wait for the morning to find out.

Tart walked up to the door holding his breath. His knock was soon answered with a creak of the door. His eyes widened.

Standing before him was Pudding…

In full Gothic Lolita.

She wore a long-sleeved knee-length black dress with a skirt full of ruffles and lace around the sleeves, white knee-high stockings with little black bows and ribbon around the knee, mid-calf black boots with white ribbons, a black ribbon around her neck with a silver cross hanging from it and a white headband with black lace edging and two little black bows. Her lips were red and she wore dark eye make-up. In her hand in addition to her school bag was a black lace parasol.

"Lolita." Tart said, blinking. "Gothic Lolita. You couldn't just go Goth, you had to go Gothic Lolita."

"Something wrong with that?" Pudding snapped. She put up her parasol and grabbed Tart's hand, dragging him along.

"Why Goth?" Tart asked.

"I am no longer kawaii. Therefore, I must be the opposite of kawaii," She said blandly. "Therefore, Goth."

"That logic would work if you didn't choose Gothic Lolita," Tart said. Pudding glared at him.

Tart sighed.

This is going to be a long day.

And so it was. Pudding spent the whole day being dark, grim and generally a dark cloud. She didn't smile all day and glowered at everyone. She actually suggested painting the walls black, and was angry when no one agreed with her.

"Uh…" Lettuce said, stopping dead as Pudding entered the Café, followed by Tart.

"Don't ask," Tart said.

Keiichiro approached Pudding, carrying a beige version of her Café uniform. She looked at it briefly, then glanced up at Keiichiro.

"Does this come in black?" She asked.

"Uh…" Keiichiro said. "I think so. I'll look into it."

Pudding nodded, somewhat satisfied. She simply took her apron and tied it around her.

Pudding's dark cloud seemed to extend over the entire Café, confirmed when they heard thunder rumble overhead.

"She's scarier than Zakuro and Pie combined, no offense you two," Kish said, jerking his thumb over his shoulder.

Everyone was quiet, looking away from him. To Kish's confusion, even Pie and Zakuro were doing this, not looking ticked off in the slightest.

Kish frowned, then his eyes widened.

"She's right behind me, isn't she?" He whispered, his voice full of fear.

The others nodded slowly.

Kish sweat-dropped and smiled like an idiot as he slowly turned to face a furious Pudding.

"Hi, Pudding, you look—please don't hurt me!"

Pudding had just raised her serving tray above her head, about to hit Kish with it when…

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

"Rin!" They all said simultaneously, running into the kitchen, finding Rin standing on one of the barstools there, shaking.

"What's wrong?" Rirī asked. Rin raised a trembling hand and pointed to the other side of the room.

"Rat!" She squeaked.

"That is not a rat, that is a mouse," Pie corrected when he saw it scurrying across the floor.

"I don't care what it is, get it out of my kitchen, now!" Rin said, making it clear that she was not going to leave the safety of her barstool, but not yet ready to teleport out of there to make sure her kitchen survived the experience.

The little gray mouse looked up to see three large teenage boys surround it and tilted it's head in confusion.

"On the count of three, we jump it," Masaya said as he, Shinji and Kish slowly moved in closer to the mouse. "One…"

"Two…" Shinji said.

"Three!" Kish yelled. All three boys leapt, but by the time their feet had left the floor, the mouse had scurried away, letting them land hard on the floor on top of each other.

"I've got it!" Lettuce said, brandishing a broom, trying to encourage the mouse to the door. Instead of the door where Zakuro and Homare were waiting to usher it out, the mouse scurried around the floor, underneath the sink. Pie tried to crawl underneath, but the mouse then ran out past him, causing Pie to hit his head on the bottom of the sink with a hiss of pain as he tried to go after it.

Then, the mouse stopped and looked up at Ichigo, who had a Cheshire cat grin as she crouched down, tail behind her flicking through the air, ears on high alert.

"You're not getting away from me, little mousy, nya," She whispered in a sing-song voice.

The mouse suddenly turned, running through the kitchen. Ichigo chased it around, her cat-genes thoroughly enjoying the hunt. Suddenly, Ichigo jumped, getting her hands on the mouse. She instantly rolled on her back and batted the surprised mouse from hand to hand, her eyes wide with excitement and her little fangs out, which were slowly moving towards the mouse...

"Ichigo! Drop it!" Masaya suddenly yelled, seeing what Ichigo was about to do. She looked up at him with a look of innocent confusion. She truly did look like an actual kitten in the moment.

"Bad neko! Drop the mouse!" Masaya scolded as Ichigo got onto her knees. Reluctantly, Ichigo dropped the mouse into Masaya's hand. She looked very sad that her toy was gone. The mouse was very surprised that it got captured, and extremely confused as to why this human girl had a cat tail. While Masaya released the mouse outside, Kish pet Ichigo's ears, which perked her up again as she nuzzled her head against his hand, purring. Suddenly, Ichigo snapped back into human-mode when she heard a noise coming from the doorway.

Pudding stood there, clutching her stomach, laughing hard.

"That," She said through her tears of laughter. "Was so funny! All of it!"

With that she fell to her knees, hardly able to stop laughing. Ichigo climbed to her feet, blushing.

"Glad to see your depression is over," Ichigo grumbled. Pudding stopped laughing and sat bolt upright.

"Oh no," She whispered. She sighed as she looked down at her outfit. "Pudding isn't Goth. Pudding has gone back to talking in third-person. No, this isn't right, na no da. GAH!"

With that, Pudding stormed out of the Café, muttering to herself and running her fingers through her hair.

"Uh…" Rirī said. "What just happened?"

"I have no idea," Zakuro said.

"We'll probably find out tomorrow," Lettuce said.

They just weren't sure they wanted to find out.