Chapter 14: Try and Fail

You must always push the limits. Because if you never fail, then you will never succeed.

-- Anonymous

Ichigo knew she was in trouble when golden amber and forest green had "mysteriously" become two of her favorite colors. She also knew she was in trouble when her heartbeat sped up at the thought or sight of Kish. Try or fail, she was attracted to him and it both scared and angered her. Definitely not a good sign. And then...

"Ichigo, what's wrong?" Pudding asked her, full of concern.

Feeling her hair bristle, Ichigo jumped with a start. "Oh, um, nothing," she muttered.

Pudding shrugged. "Okay." A grin spread from ear to ear on her face. "Soooo, how do you like my dress?" Pudding twirled around in the café, giggling. The dress swirled around her, and Pudding added, "I'm so glad you guys chose teal blue colors for the wedding... They're so pretty!"

Ichigo's jaw dropped lower than it should have. "You're wearing your bridesmaids dress outside of the studio? In the café?!"

Pudding cocked her head the side. "You didn't notice...?"

"No!" Ichigo shrieked, clutching the sides of her head. "Wuah! The dress! Gah, get it off, get it off...! I mean, no, it's okay, but just, ahhhh!" Still babbling, Ichigo ran off towards the kitchen and ran straight in Kish. With another shout of surprise and apology, Ichigo dashed off and a chuckling Kish followed her inside.

"I hate the rain," Tart grumbled as he teleported inside the café, kicking a chair as he walked towards Pudding. "And what's wrong with her?"

"Taru Taru!" Pudding squealed, running over to hug him. "You're here!"

"Don't call me that," Tart said grumpily.

"Don't worry about Ichigo, she's just getting jittery about the wedding.. You know, it's really soon!"

"Kish..." Tart growled.

"Say something?" Pudding asked expectantly.

"Nothing," Tart grimaced.

"Taru Taru, why are you being so grumpy?"

"I'm not grumpy," he argued, "I just... I'm sorry, you're right. I am grumpy. It's just..." He held out a rain to gesture out the window to the typhoon outside. "I really hate the rain."

"Really?" Pudding looked surprised, and her eyes twinkled. "But I love the rain!"

Tart's look was incredulous. "You love the rain?!"

"Yup!"

"But why? It's always so cold and boring and..."

Pudding laughed, eyes twinkling. "You can be so close minded sometimes, Tart. So how's Lemon doing?"

Tart froze. She remembered his fake girlfriend's name? "Uh..."

"Have you talked to her lately?"

Tart took a huge breath and the air escaped him with a hiss. "Yes," he said slowly, "she's doing good."

"I bet she misses you," Pudding smiled. It was bittersweet, like always when she smiled at him nowadays. "I'd miss you a lot if I was her."

Tart cleared his throat. "Pudding, I have to tell you something..."

"What is it?" Pudding's eyes were bright, and she was smiling at him again.

"I don't—"

"NYA!" The scream was loud, piercing through the café. All went silent. "MASAYA! I, AH, I CAN EXPLAIN! IT'S ALL KISH'S FAULT! THERE'S A REASON WHY I'M ON HIM! I, UH, TRIPPED! MASAYA, I LOVE YOU!"

There was the sound of a laugh, most likely Masaya's. "Ichigo, there's no need to be so worried about it. It was obviously an accident."

"Yeah." Kish's voice was unmistakable, and he sounded irritated, loaded with sarcasm. "Totally an accident."

Masaya and Ichigo, face bright red, walked through the room. "Hey, Pudding! Tart?"

"Tart," he assured Masaya.

Masaya beamed. "Ichigo and I'll be out for an hour or two, we're going shopping for some wedding stuff and lunch. If Ryou gets mad, tell him Keiichiro told us not to worry about it."

"Be careful in this weather!" Pudding wished them.

"Thanks," Ichigo mumbled, clinging onto Masaya's arm, face half buried in his shoulder.

After the pair left the room, Pudding turned back to Tart. "What were you going to tell me?"

"Pudding, about Lemon," Tart began.

Kish walked in, pulling on a pony tail. He moved over to the two friends, one confused and the other furious. "Kish," Tart hissed, "what are you doing here?"

He grinned. "Uh, yeah, well, Ichigo and I had a total accident in the kitchen and I ended up on top of Ichigo when Masaya walked in so..." Tart was so angry that he turned a color that roses everywhere would envy. Kish's grin fell a little before growing even wider. "Anyway, I'm going to get going now and let you two lovebirds get going..."

"Hey, get back here, you meanie!" Pudding shouted. "That was rude!"

"Kish!" Tart yelled. "Get back here, and stop teleporting away!"

Pudding sighed. "He's gone now. What is it?"

"So, uh, what I wanted to say was..."

"Where is she?!" Ryou bellowed, moving into the room. "Zakuro's doing a shoot, Mint's at a recital and Lettuce is researching with Pai and myself. We need someone to serve! And what are you doing talking to Pudding? She's on her shift!"

Pudding stifled a giggle. "Ryou, it's Sunday. It's our day off! Ichigo was just here finishing up some work from yesterday. I'm just here to try on the bridesmaids dress again."

Ryou didn't even looked flustered, replying before he went back into the lab, "Oh, right. Well, things have been a little crazy around here since the Betrayers came... Sorry about that. I'll be in the lab if you need anything."

Tart ran a hand through his hair. "Is everyone gone now?"

"I think so," Pudding laughed, "but first... Do you like my dress?" Pudding twirled in front of him, still laughing.

Tart bit his lip. How could he tell her that she looked gorgeous when Pudding thought he had a girlfriend? Before thinking, he blurted out, "You look beautiful."

Pudding's eyes grew wide before shaking her head. She bit her lip. "You mean the dress?"

"Oh yeah," Tart replied hastily, realizing his blunder. "But, it's about my girlfriend..."

"What about her?"

"It's a long story."

"Don't worry, I have time!"

"Well, the thing about her is she--"

"Tart?" Pai asked, with a blushing Lettuce at his side. "Have you seen any of the sheets of data that I took back to the ship last night? I think I might have left them here by accident..."

Tart threw his hands up into the air. "How hard is it to get a little privacy in this stupid café?!"

Lettuce looked confused. "What?"

"Nothing!" Tart snapped. "No, I haven't seen any of your stupid sheets of data and I don't care!"

"I was just asking," Pai said slowly, surveying him.

Pudding laughed and punched Tart on the arm. "Oh, he's just being moody because of the rain!"

"Am not!"

Lettuce sighed. "We really need to find those sheets..."

Pai nodded his head in agreement. "Yes, there is some information on there that I want to check."

"Hey," Pudding asked slyly, "is there a reason why you two have been hanging out so much recently?"

"Yeah!" Tart cackled. "You two have been around each other a lot lately..."

Pai froze and Lettuce went from pink to red. "Ooh, are you two in love?" Pudding giggled, clapping her hands together.

There was silence. The question obviously did not want to be answered. "Let's search the other room," Pai suggested frostily.

"Y-yes," Lettuce stammered as he whisked her away.

The corner of Pudding's lips quivered before she burst into laughter. Tears formed at the corners of her eyes from laughing so hard. "Those two really do like each other, don't they?"

"Definitely," Tart laughed along with her. He unconsciously went to put an arm around her shoulders. His arm laid around her for a few moments, the two looking into the other's eyes, before Pudding turned her head away and gently took Tart's arm off.

"So," she said happily, "you wanted to tell me something... I don't think there's anyone else to interrupt us now."

"Just Keiichiro," Tart pointed out.

Pudding grinned. "I haven't seen him all day: I think he's out today, doing errands and stuff, but I don't think Ryou knows. That's why Masaya told us to tell him that."

"Oh."

"Well? What is it about your girlfriend?"

"Pudding, she... My girlfriend, she..." Tart clammed up. Her squeezed his hands together and finished, "she just reminds me a lot of you."

"Oh." Pudding looked disappointed for a second before cheering up. She ruffled the hair on the top of his head. "You have good taste!"

Tart blinked a few times, upset at himself. "Um, thanks."

Once again, it was quiet and all that could be heard was the pounding of the rain against the windows. "Pudding," Tart said, "you never told me why you liked the rain so much."

"Here, I'll show you," said Pudding, taking his hand, "but first I've got to get out of this." She moved a hand to her bridesmaids dress. "I don't think Ichigo will be very happy if this gets wet..."

Tart began to open his mouth, but decided against it. Pudding walked out of the changing room area moments later.

"Why do you take so long?" Tart joked.

She ignored him, grabbing his hand again and looping her fingers with his. "Come on!"

"Where are we going? Why do you have rain boots on?"

"We're going outside!"

"WHAT?!" But it was too late, and Tart was already drenched from head to foot. He adjusted his vision to see Pudding dancing in the rain.

She grinned. "It's fun!"

"What are you doing?! Pudding, stop, you're gonna slip and hurt--"

"Ow!"

Tart sighed, running over to her. "Told ya so." Pudding giggled, using Tart to pull herself up. "Don't slip again..." But, of course, Pudding tripped in a puddle. "Gotcha!" He grinned. She laughed in reply. "Pudding?" Tart shouted through laughing. "So is this why you liked the rain so much?"

"No!" Pudding giggled. "But this is really fun with you! I like the rain because..." And just at that moment, it stopped raining. Tart looked up again and the sun was poking out through the rain. "See?" Pudding whispered, Tart's arms still around her. "A rainbow!"

"Huh?" Tart asked, distracted by her close proximity.

"I like the rain because there's always a rainbow after it rains. Always." She smiled, looking up into his eyes. "And it reminds me how even after the worst situations, there's always something good that comes out of them at the end." Tart slowly began to grin as the rainbow stretched out above them. It was beautiful to him, just because Pudding was standing there. The color that stood out to him the most was the bright and vivid yellow, that just so happened to match a certain someone's hair...

"Pudding..." Tart whispered.

"I need to get changed now," Pudding sighed, "or I'll get a cold. You better go, too! I'll catch you later!"

"... I don't really have a girlfriend," he finished as she skipped off. Somehow, he knew she was smiling and laughing as she ran under the rainbow that was still bright in the sky. He closed his eyes. And somehow, he knew everything was going to be okay.

"Hey!" Tart opened his eyes again to see Ichigo standing in front of him. "It stopped raining!"

"Oh?" Tart asked. "Yeah."

Ichigo giggled. "You're soaking wet... Where's Pudding?"

Tart shrugged, looking over into the direction Pudding was last. "I don't know, she just kind of ran off."

Ichigo tsked knowingly. "Pudding dragged you into the rain?"

Tart grinned sheepishly. "Yeah."

Ichigo looked at him before smiling. "Pudding... She likes you a lot, y'know."

Tart's heart sputtered. "R-really?"

"Oops, sorry, shouldn't have said that!" Ichigo clapped a hand over her mouth. "Gotta go!"

"Tell me, you old hag!" Tart called annoyingly.

"Midget!" Ichigo shouted back before the door closed behind her. Sighing, she hung up her coat and slipped out of her pink rain boots. Her umbrella, useless in the pouring rain, dropped to the floor with a "bang."

A pair of arms smoothly wrapped around her. Warm breath ticked her ear as she heard, "Hey, Koneko-chan. Don't worry, it's just you and me now. No stupid boyfriend around anywhere."

Ichigo shoved her hands behind her to push him away, suddenly angry. "Shut up, Kish. Were you watching our date or something?!"

Kish cast his eyes away. "Maybe."

Ichigo turned bright red with anger. "I'm gonna kill you!"

Kish grinned. "Hey, that's passionate. You must feel strongly for me!"

Ichigo ignored him. "Masaya's not my boyfriend anymore. He's my fiancée, y'know."

"Yeah," said Kish, "and you're not married to him yet either."

"Kish..." Ichigo sighed, sliding out of his grip again. He was persistent and his arms wrapped around her again. This time Ichigo couldn't break out of his iron tight grip.

"Come on, honey, let's have some fun. Just you and me, he'll never find out."

Ichigo wiggled around and turned around to face him. She gasped; his lips were close to touching hers. Kish noticed her stare and smirked, his words slightly reminiscent of the old days. "Maybe we should start with kissing?"

"Kish!" Ichigo hissed.

His eyes sparkled, and the smirk grew. "Hey, that's okay, I can wait. I don't mind talking first..." Ichigo moved around again, only to find she was still in his embrace. "... Although we did have some, uh, fun earlier," he finished, grinning.

"Excuse me?!" Ichigo shrieked, turning red. A hand shot up to smack him and he grasped her wrist firmly before she could slap him. "That was all your fault! I didn't do anything, you fell on me, not the other way around!"

"You threw yourself on me, and we flipped over so I was on top of you," Kish corrected her.

"Did not!"

"Come on, Kitten," Kish whined, trying to persuade her and not succeeding in the slightest, "all I wanna do is have some fun."

"Never!" Ichigo snapped. "Get out of my love life!"

Kish's eyes twinkled even more. "I'm in your love life, Kitty-cat?"

"Ugh!"

"Am I annoying you?" Kish asked sadly.

"Yes!" Ichigo snapped.

"Why? I thought we were having a good time..."

"We? We?! You are having a good time! Not me!"

"So you're not enjoying this then...?"

"No!" Ichigo huffed.

"Then tell me, Koneko-chan, why it is that you're smiling right now. Not that I mind, of course, that you're smiling because of me. You have a pretty smile."

"Eh?!" Ichigo's dreamy smile disappeared immediately.

"All I wanna do is have a little fun," Kish reminded her.

"My idea of fun does not involve you!"

"Of course it does, Kitten!"

In spite of herself, Ichigo's smile was back. "You're persistent, aren't you?"

"Always have been. Always will." Kish leaned his face closer to hers and Ichigo gulped.

"What?" Her voice dropped to a whisper.

Kish sighed, and their foreheads touched. His gaze burned her. "I'm not letting you marry him."

"Who?" Ichigo asked, forgetting everything instantly.

Kish grinned. "That's what I wanted to hear."

Ichigo's eyelashes fluttered, and she cast her eyes to the floor. Kish leaned his lips closer to hers, and Ichigo jumped. "No!"

Kish looked confused, cocking his head to the side. "What, Kitten?"

"No!" Ichigo repeated angrily. "I won't let myself fall for for this!"

"Fall for what?" Kish feigned innocently.

"I know exactly what you're trying to do, don't pretend otherwise! You're trying to make me forget Masaya!"

Kish oozed innocence. It was disgusting; Ichigo could practically see it rub onto her. "And why would I do that?"

"Uh..." Kish's face had swiftly came near hers, and he took her face in his free hand because the other was still holding her left hand in it's grasp. "I..." Ichigo blinked.

"I won't let you marry him," Kish assured her, "I promise you."

"Uh, I..." Their foreheads touched, and Kish licked his lips.

"Now," he whispered, "why don't we finish what we started earlier? Before Masaya came in, we were just about to kiss..."

"Uh..." Ichigo murmured.

"And now, there's no one left to stop us from finishing what was started, Koneko-chan."

"I..." Ichigo said in a hushed tone.

"So," Kish continued as his lips traveled closer to hers, voice just as smooth and velvety as before, "let's kiss."

There was a blue sparkle that momentarily distracted Ichigo. She realized it was her sapphire engagement ring sparkling, and snapped back to reality. "I've got to go!" Ichigo yelped, bolting away from his grasp and running out the door with as much energy as she could muster.

"You love me, Koneko-chan," Kish murmured, grin dancing on his lips, watching her figure hurry off in the distance. "I know you do, it'll just take a little time, but you want to kiss me back. You even said so yourself. And besides, you can't dodge that kiss forever. I've got a feeling."

A/N: Ah, even more KxI romance! Guess I've been in a romantic mood lately. :) Ichigo should realize sooner or later that she can't ignore those feelings... And, aw, poor Tart! Every time he tries to tell Pudding the truth, something happens! Thus, in both cases, "Try and Fail," and there goes the title.

Get ready for some action coming up next! And some, uh, other stuff, too. ;)

There's one thing I forgot last time, and I need to give a special thanks to alice roaming for her uber kind review. Thank you so much! I'm really happy to hear that you're enjoying the story so much, and your review really made me smile. Thank you!!!

Many thanks to all readers, and a special thanks to reviewers as well! You guys are what really keep me going. :)

~ Bunny