Author: This early update brought to you by Anony mouse, mostly so I can quell their fears. No worries Anony. I do not plan on leaving this story unfinished. I have written it all out in a series of notebooks, and it does have a finite end. I have already posted the entire black and pink notebooks' contents. Today starts the contents of the purple notebook. This means that we are very near this story's end, as the story ends before the notebook does. To all of my readers, and especially my most loyal reviewer, CelticLily, enjoy!
Pai shamefully hung his head. It appeared Kisshu was right. His body had acted on its own to save Wild Tigress. His mind hadn't even realized what he was doing until he had done it. It was so strange to have his body move without his mind telling it to do so. Pai was beginning to feel helpless when Taruto and Gentiel returned.
Cold, hazel-brown eyes stared at Pai beneath blond eyebrows. "Pai," spoke the great warrior, "I know that you would not protect our enemy willingly. Please explain to me your actions."
Pai hesitated, but he reasoned that a punishment for direct aid of the enemy would be worse than the truth. "I'm bonded to her," he admitted shamefully.
Taruto gasped. "Pai, what do you mean?"
"I surmised as much," nodded Gentiel.
"Did you kiss her?" Taruto asked, aghast.
"No!" Pai's reply was vehement. Then his voice softened in embarrassment. "She forced herself on me."
"Pai…" Taruto looked like he was on the verge of tears. He knew that this was very serious.
"You've been emotionally compromised," Gentiel said matter-of-factly. "We can no longer rely on you for our major battle plans. Furthermore, you allowed this to happen, as I don't believe that mew, of all mews, could overpower you. For that allowance, you must be punished." Pai merely hung his head, waiting for the verdict. Gentiel's next words hit him in his already aching heart. "You are no longer fit to have an apprentice. From now on, Taruto will learn from me."
Pai stared down in shock, barely hearing Taruto's loud objections. The greatest insult to a warrior, apart from losing his position, was losing his apprentice. They had been together so long that the little rascal seemed like his younger brother now. Recovering from the shock, Pai looked up.
Taruto was crying viciously and screaming, "No! No! You can't do this! Not to Pai! Not to Pai…" Gentiel held the adolescent Cyniclon back by the arm as he struggled to go comfort his former teacher.
"Taruto," Pai spoke, and the teenager was silenced, "he's right." Taruto stared up at him in disbelief. Pai nodded once. "This is what's best for you."
"Also," added Gentiel, "Pai, you are refused to enter the temple until further notice." Pai nodded again. "You are confined to your quarters until a better purpose is found for you." Pai grimaced, but nodded once more. "Now go," Gentiel commanded. And with one last nod, Pai left the room.
As he hovered to his bedroom, he could hear Taruto begin to protest again, the shouts and cries echoing the whole way. Reaching his destination, he sunk to the floor. For the first time since his early childhood, Pai Murasaki cried.
"Victory, you…" sputtered Bolt Noir.
"You are Mew Blue Morpho," Lone Wolf said, recognizing the wings and stepping forward for a handshake. "Welcome to the team." Spotting something behind the hedges, she sighed in exasperation. "Why are you hiding? You're supposed to help!"
Josué peeked out from behind the foliage. "I – I didn't have my costume."
Mew Mint teased him. "Hai, hai. And you didn't scream 'bee' like a small child before seeking cover, neh?" She giggled when he frowned at her.
"What does she mean 'I'm Mew Blue Morpho'?" asked Victory with a very confused look on her face.
"Ryou will explain it later," Bolt Noir smiled, Raquel's mindset taking over at the thought of the nekomimi hottie.
"Who's Ryou? And what the heck happened to my clothes? Not that this dress isn't pretty or anything…" Victory paused to scan her outfit.
Lone Wolf smiled at her. "You'll see when we get there."
By the time the girls got back, Berri and Tasuku had arrived. Ryou made the introductions and told the team that he had already explained the situation with the aliens. Berri had accepted it easier than the other Mews from Tokyo as she had never before fought the aliens.
Ryou was surprised that the girls had found another Wild Mew. Raquel took it upon herself to introduce the blue butterfly. "Ryou, this is Victory. She goes to the same school as Aimee and me." The overly peppy blonde then splayed her hands towards Victory like a model presenting a product. "And, she's a Mew Mew!"
"What the heck is a Mew Mew?" Victory asked. "And why does he have cat ears?" she pointed to Ryou.
Ryou sighed, his cat ears flattening against his head. "Follow me," he instructed. Victory looked a little cautious and didn't move as Ryou walked to the basement door.
"Come on, I'll go with you!" Raquel patted her on the back and then pretty much shoved her forward, forcing her down the stairs after the nekomimi scientist.
Taruto's bottom lip quivered slightly. "Pai," he muttered. The pubescent Cyniclon sat on the steps of the temple and waited for his new tutor to come out. He didn't want to cry anymore, and bit his lip to stop its trembling. Fishing into his pocket, he pulled out an object that was wrapped in red cellophane. As he stared at the piece of candy, her voice came back to him:
"It would be more fun if we played as friends na-no-da… Taru-Taru, you saved my life. Thank you, Taru-Taru! You're a friend… Even though I told you over and over," *sniffle* "that playing as friends would be more fun than fighting," *sniffle* "this happened." *sniffle* "WHY NA-NO-DA?"
Taruto tightened his hand around the scarlet sphere. Looking back at all the chaos that came from fighting and its miniscule results, comparing it to their cooperation at the final Tokyo battle, he was forced to admit one thing. "You were right, Pudding." Sighing, he stared at the present she had given him so many years ago. "If only our species could help each other. But… That's impossible. If it we could, Kisshu wouldn't be exiled and Pai would still be my apprenticer."
It was then that Gentiel exited the temple and turned to Taruto. "Go and get Pai. There is a mission for him." Taruto nodded and rose from his seat.
The following day, Ichigo and Bu-Ling arrived. Ichigo was very shocked to see a certain green-haired Cyniclon on the couch.
"Hello Ichigo," he nodded. Just… nodded. No smirk. Not even a smile. He sat there, not rising from his seat to try and force a kiss on her. And… he had called her 'Ichigo'. He had actually called her by her given name instead of 'koneko-chan' or 'nekomimi-chan' or some other pet-name. His eyes held little to no emotion for her, a stark contrast from when he had died at her feet after a failed attempt to save her life. All of this she noticed, but his presence still irked her and frightened her enough to cause her cat ears to pop out of their hiding place and her tail to snake around her left leg.
"K- K-K – Kisshu? What are you doing here?" she stammered.
Ember recognized this girl from the training video; the cat-eared one whom Kisshu had always been trying to kiss. Ember sighed and stood up. "I'm Ember," she introduced herself, "otherwise known as Wild Mew Lone Wolf. I'm the leader of American Mew Mew. It's nice to meet you, Ms. Momomiya." She forced herself to be civil.
"Hai," Ichigo nodded nervously.
"Hello there, na-no-da!" chirped Bu-Ling, hopping onto one foot and waving her hand excitedly.
"Ichigo, where should I put the suitcases?" came a male voice from the doorway.
"Ano…" (Umm….) Ichigo hesitated and looked into Masaya's eyes. She promptly got lost in them.
"Ichigo…?" he inquired.
"Right over there is fine," said Ember, gesturing to a place near the wingback chair that sat against the wall, near the door.
"Arigato," (Thanks) he smiled at her in a friendly manner. Ember found herself frowning; he reminded her of how Josué used to act when they were together. As Masaya Aoyama sat down the suitcases, he spotted Kisshu and froze. "Why is he here?" Masaya asked, staring at the alien.
Ember scowled now. Then, with an air of defiance, she lifted her head high and turned around to where Kisshu sat on the couch. "Okamino-chan?" Kisshu saw something in her eyes that he hadn't ever before seen and he wondered what it could possibly be.
Ichigo gasped and clasped her hand over her mouth. Bu-Ling blinked and asked, "Why is he calling you that, na-no-da? And why are you not bad about it?"
"I think the word you're looking for is 'mad', Bu-Ling," Masaya corrected her, standing up from the suitcases.
"Right, na-no-da!"
To answer her question, Ember forcefully grabbed Kisshu by the shirt and pulled him close. He raised his eyebrows; half in fear and half in intrigue. Just as forcefully, her lips closed over to his, and Kisshu decided he liked the answer to Bu-Ling's question very much. When the kiss broke, Kisshu had a wolfish grin on his face. Ember looked back over her shoulder to a very shocked trio of persons.
The blonde fourteen-year-old monkey mew spoke first. "What the na-no-da!"
"That pretty much sums it up…" Ichigo agreed while Masaya just stood there looking like an idiot.
Then there was a knock on the door, and Ember answered it as everyone else was too frozen to move; three from confusion and one (Kisshu) from pleasured shock that she had been so aggressive just now.
When she saw who stood there, Ember put her right hand on the corresponding hip. "What the heck are you doing here? And why do you come over every day anyways?"
"Ouch," Josué raised an eyebrow. "You know, there was a time when you were happy to see me."
"Yeah, well, everybody goes through an idiot phase," she retorted.
Emma, who had just walked into the room, stated, "Well, it looks like someone's PMS-ing."
Ember bit her lip and turned to her adopted sister. Considering her own actions, she muttered, "You might be right about that." She turned to her alien boyfriend. "Come on, Kish. I feel like I need to hit something and I don't want it to be a person."
Kisshu chuckled. "It seems our roles are reversed today, neh? Okay, kawaii-chan." He teleported behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. The couple vanished in a ripple of air.
"Na-no-da, na-no-da, na-no-da, na-no-da," recited Bu-Ling, unsure of what else to say.
"Well, that was surprising," smiled Masaya.
"Tell me about it," Ichigo mumbled. In her head, she was wondering, "What does it say about you if your stalker is able to move on?"
Keiichiro came into the room at this moment, on his way to the kitchen. "Akasaka-san," said Ichigo.
The chef turned to her. "Ah, Ichigo-san, Bu-Ling-san, and Aoyama-san. You're all here," the brunette smiled like a gentleman.
"Akasaka-san, why did Mew Lone Wolf just kiss Kisshu?" asked a blushing Ichigo.
"She what?" Josué yelped.
"Hai, na-no-da. And quite strongly, na-no-da," Bu-Ling confirmed.
Josué looked a little stricken. He hated being reminded that he had her and lost her to an extraterrestrial elf. It was a severe blow to his ego.
"Kisshu, along with his cousin Chaim," Keiichiro began to explain, "has decided to join us in our endeavor to protect Earth. This may or may not be due to his romantic relationship with Lone Wolf. But either way, it brings strength and information to our side."
"Eh? Really?" Ichigo asked.
Emma spoke up. "The way I heard it from Kisshu, it was all his fault." She pointed at Josué. "If Josué had never cheated on her, she'd probably still be going out with him and Kisshu would probably still be our enemy." With everybody looking at him, Josué sweat-dropped. "I guess you kind of deserve a 'Thank You' card, huh?" Emma finished.
"When did you talk to Kisshu?" Keiichiro asked her kindly.
"Well," Emma answered, "he was holed up in her room for two months while she was unconscious. He needed someone to talk to."
Chaim appeared in the living room holding Grace bridal-style, one arm under her shoulders, the other under her knees. He placed her gently on the floor and greeted everyone with a smile.
Keiichiro had just said, "Ichigo, Masaya, Bu-Ling, this is Chaim and Mew En Pointe," when another figure appeared in the room.
Lilac hair, purple eyes and long, pointy ears were the features of his face. He hung his head in an embarrassed, yes embarrassed, manner and said, "It seems Kisshu was right. I can't fight this anymore."