A/N: To everyone who's waiting on my other stories, gomenasai! Just finished a lengthy history/language arts project *sighs in relief* I plan to have a new chapter up for each of my fics by the end of the month... but you probably shouldn't count on it. Thanks for not giving up on me!

Umbrella

Though the long break from school was long-anticipated and well-deserved by most students, the heavy winters tormented Lettuce horribly. Often accompanied by the thunder she no longer irrationally feared—though they did still scare her—the torrents came and went quickly, defying all logic and weather reports with their unpredictability. Everyone who ventured out onto the streets was constantly glancing up at the sky, wary of another surprise storm.

Quickly the green-haired girl picked up her jacket, throwing it on as she hurried out the front door. Today she hoped to get to the library and back without getting caught in the rain as she had on all previous attempts.

The porpoise-girl ran all the way to her refuge in times of stress and trouble. But once she began leafing through the first book, time lost all meaning and the bespectacled girl forgot that she'd intended to simply pop in and out. She forgot that the rain came so suddenly these days. She forgot everything she had planned to do upon returning home.

She forgot that sometimes rain falls silently.

For so long, the unannounced downpours had thundered and crashed against the ground and buildings, announcing themselves forcefully with noise that didn't let you forget their existence. Now the precipitation was completely soundless, and Lettuce walked right into it, her head still full of calm sceneries and romantic stories.

The first drop landed on her nose, waking her from the rare vivid fantasies she'd been indulging in. Swiping the splatter of water from her face absentmindedly, the shyest Mew Mew blinked when she caught a glimpse of a familiar face in the corner of her eye. It can't be... can it?

Surely it wasn't...

It couldn't be.

Then the tall young man turned, his pitch-dark eyes—no longer hidden under the jet-black umbrella he held—meeting hers.

"Lettuce-san?" Though the speaker was hardly inclined to voice hypotheses before they were proved correct, his mind and heart—not to mention the rest of his body—seemed to take action on their own. Especially when a certain girl was nearby.

The blue-eyed girl whirled around to face him, pale green braids flying. "Pai-san." Her sweet voice was barely above a whisper; the eldest Ikisatashi had to strain his superior-to-humans' hearing just to catch the single word.

Hesitantly the porpoise-Mew Mew walked over to the purple-haired alien, newly checked-out books in tow. "Hi," she managed despite her rapidly-pounding heartbeat. "What brings you here?"

"I am simply observing human behavior so that once all our preparations are complete, my brothers and I will be able to assimilate properly into your society without drawing the suspicion of any of your acquaintances."

"Oh, I see." Her smile was the very personification of shy radiance that was endearingly unaware of itself, always appealing in a girl. "You always work so hard, Pai-san!" The hushed admiration in her voice was charmingly unconcealed, rare but definitely appreciated.

Self-consciously Pai's black eyes met the porpoise-Mew Mew's as he cleared his throat and began hesitantly, "Would you—" Damn, this worked so much more easily on my screen that it is doing now.

Lettuce waited silently, painfully aware of the shyness that made it hard just to take a deep breath and prompt her former opponent, who'd never really been an enemy, "Yes?"

Giving up on voicing an invitation, the stoic alien warrior simply moved his umbrella to cover his acquaintance. Almost shyly, she slipped her small hand into his as they stepped closer together.

No longer staring into those entrancing blue eyes, the purple-haired young man finally managed to complete his query. "Would you join me this afternoon, on what I believe humans call a 'date'?"

Eyes widening in euphoric surprise, the shyest Mew Mew's pale face flushed delicately. "Oh, yes!" she breathed eagerly.

A/N: Review please! Hope you liked this, and the next one too.