Happy Autumnal Equinox!

Chapter Twenty-Nine:

"So this will work?" Topaz asked.

"Our part of this should work," Pepper said. "We give you zero percent guarantee that your whole convoluted plan will actually go the way you want it to."

Topaz scowled, eyes narrowed. "Oh ye of little faith," She snapped, snatching the parasite out of Pepper's palm. "This will totally work."

As she teleported away, Bell and Pepper exchanged a look with each other.

"This will totally not work." They said in tandem.

()()()()()()()()()()()

"Snakes," Rirī spat bitterly, glaring at the Chimera. "Why'd it have to be snakes?"

"I have had it with these freaking snakes in this freaking city!" Kisshu added before dodging said snake.

"That's not the quote!" Zakuro informed him as she flicked her whip.

"Hey, we have to keep this PG as much as possible in order to make up for the few PG-13 scenes that are in this story, na no da!" Pudding called out.

"Pudding!" Ryou sighed into his mic. "Really, the fourth wall at a time like this? It did nothing to deserve that."

"Ugh, can't this thing stay still for one moment?" Tart growled as the snake effectively dodged his attack again.

"It's a snake," Masaya said. "Which means it's cold-blooded. It needs heat to thrive."

"Which means it won't like getting cold," Lettuce said, already forming an idea. "So if I use my tanets to get it wet, and Pie and Rin use their fans to make a cold wind…"

"It might incapacitate it long enough," Pie said, nodding.

"Mint and I'll cover you in the air," Rirī said, nocking an arrow, shooting it at the Chimera to distract it as Lettuce ran forward.

But something strange happened.

The snake Chimera locked eyes on Lettuce and lunged.

"Lettuce!" Mint cried out, swooping down to snatch up the porpoise Mew. But before they could get away, the Chimera attacked, but not in a way they were expecting.

Instead of biting or snapping, the Chimera let out noxious fumes from his mouth, covering both Mews.

"Not playing around with this thing any longer!" Zakuro said as she ran over to check on the two girls, who were coughing. "Pudding, use your attack now!"

"RIBBON PUDDING INFERNO!" Pudding cried out, successfully encasing the Chimera, which quickly dissolved.

"Are you two okay?" Rōzu asked.

"Yeah, but that snake seriously needed some mouthwash," Mint said, nose wrinkling. "His breath stank."

"Weird attack for a Chimera, but can't say it wasn't effective," Rin said.

Everyone went their separate ways for home, thinking that there was nothing too out of the ordinary about their most recent battle.

To say the least, they were in for a surprise the next day.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

"Hey!" Keiichiro said over his shoulder, smiling at Mint, Lettuce and Jade as they entered the café. Although they were keeping Café Mew Mew closed while Ichigo was at home, resting after being released from the hospital, there was a catering event that was to happen the following morning so most of the team came to help Keiichiro and Rin prepare. Kish alone headed straight to the Momomiya residence, and no one was really expecting to see him for the rest of the day. "How was school?"

"Horrible," Lettuce said, going straight for the locker room to change out of her school uniform.

"Meh." Mint said with a shrug as she followed Lettuce.

Jade alone remained in the kitchen, heaving a sigh as she snatched a cupcake off a tray. She waved it in the air for a moment, eyes serious as she declared, "I need this."

"Everything okay?" Rin asked, looking up from her frosting.

"The day was just weird," Jade admitted as she unwrapped the cupcake.

"Lettuce said it was horrible," Ryou said, jerking his thumb over his shoulder in the direction Lettuce had just gone.

"Yeah, well, you've got to admit it's not your best day when you say what everyone else has been thinking and tell your social studies teacher to shave her mustache," Jade explained.

Homare looked up from the cookies she icing. "I'm sorry, did you say Lettuce said that?"

"Oh, that wasn't all," Jade said, licking off the frosting on her cupcake. "She also told the school's reigning Queen Bee to stop being a jerk to the first year students, and told another girl to stop whining about her boyfriend liking to play video games, and flat-out refused to loan a girl a pencil, citing her tendency to never bring in her own supplies, borrow things and either not give them back or return them in horrible condition."

"That's… not typical Lettuce behavior…" Rirī commented, leaning with her back against the counter. She frowned in thought, then asked, "Hey, Jade? What about Mint?"

"What do you mean?" Zakuro asked.

"Call it a hunch," Rirī shrugged, then looked at Jade expectantly.

Jade shrugged. "Mint was Mint, I guess. Nothing really different." She frowned. "Although…"

"Although?" Zakuro prompted, arching an eyebrow.

"Well, you know how Mint has a problem with saying what's on her mind? As in she'll tell people straight to their faces what she has a problem with or something they should know, but yet she bottles up all her own personal stuff?"

"Well acquainted with that, yes," Shinji said, nodding.

"Yeah. She didn't have that problem today." Jade said. "Let's just say, she got on a soapbox."

"About what?" Masaya asked, a bit tentatively.

"She gave an entire lecture to this teacher about bisexuality and how if a bisexual girl dates another girl it doesn't make her a lesbian, nor does dating a guy make her straight." Jade explained.

"Did she give the short version or the long version?" Shinji asked.

"Which one is which?" Jade asked.

"The long version has a lot more creative insults to that person's intelligence."

"Yep, definitely the long version."

"You've been given this lecture?" Masaya asked Shinji.

"Nope, just have been a sounding board enough times for Mint to rant and vent about bi-erasure," Shinji said. "And I'm going to take a guess that this is the same teacher that's been the focus of her frustrations for months now."

"Where'd she get the soapbox from, though?" Rōzu asked, frowning. "Did someone just leave it out?"

"Rirī, what exactly is your hunch?" Pie asked, choosing to ignore Rōzu's question.

"Patterns exist, especially with our team," Rirī pointed out. "So, the fact that Lettuce acted uncharacteristically, and she happened to be in the path of a Chimera Animal last night…"

"As was Mint," Homare sighed. "Yep, I see your point."

"What point?" Mint asked as she and Lettuce re-entered the room.

"Before we answer that, one question," Masaya asked. "Do either of you feel any different since last night?"

"Uh, no…?" Mint said, arching an eyebrow.

"Should we?" Lettuce asked.

"Er, no reason…" Masaya said with a shrug.

Behind them, Tart held up a finger then snatched up a cupcake and one of the decorating bags. He quickly coated the cupcake with frosting and said, "Hey, Mint, Lettuce, I'm learning how to decorate the cupcakes. Look, it looks just like the ones Rin and Keiichiro have done, right?"

"Not in the slightest," Mint said, shaking her head.

"It looks like one that Rin and Keiichiro decorated that fell on the ground frosting first," Lettuce said.

Everyone slowly turned to Lettuce, who had clapped a hand over her mouth and looked surprised and embarrassed.

"Sorry," She said softly.

Tart just laughed. "You've been holding out on us, Lettuce, being too nice all the time."

"Do not tease her," Pie said warningly, resting his hand on Lettuce's shoulder. "Lettuce, can you repeat this sentence? 'The grass is blue'."

"But grass isn't blue," Lettuce said, her brow furrowing.

"Just try," Pie encouraged.

Still looking confused, Lettuce said, "The grass is bl-green. The grass is green. Why would grass be blue?" She looked even more confused, then she realized, her eyes going wide. "Oh. I can't lie."

"You're just now figuring that out?" Mint asked. "I figured out that we couldn't by lunch."

"You figured it out?" Shinji asked, surprised.

"More importantly, you figured it out and didn't say anything?" Jade exclaimed.

Mint shrugged. "Nothing we could do about it, right? Don't know what caused this either, though."

"The Chimera from last night is our speculation," Keiichiro said.

"Hmm. Makes sense," Mint said, nodding slightly.

"This could be fun, na no da!" Pudding exclaimed, rubbing her hands together, eyes glinting.

"There is no way this could be fun," Lettuce argued.

"Yes, it can, na no da!" Pudding said. "You have to say what you're thinking, na no da! Because it sounds like you can't just tell the truth, you say your exact thoughts when asked a question, na no da!"

Lettuce's face paled. "Oh. Oh no. That is bad. That is very, very bad…"

"We should take you two shopping and judge outfits," Rirī suggested.

"I don't think that is a good idea," Zakuro said. "Just because Mint and Lettuce have to tell us exactly what they are thinking doesn't mean we should force them to."

"Thank you," Lettuce said, breathing a sigh of relief.

"Oh come on," Tart said. "Like you don't want to know what secrets Mint and Lettuce are hiding."

"Deep dark secrets, na no da!" Pudding said cryptically, wiggling her fingers.

"I doubt either of them are hiding too much," Keiichiro said. "Mint and Lettuce both usually speak what is on their minds, within reason."

"Yeah," Ryou added. He genuinely thought he was being helpful. Poor soul. "Besides. I don't think it's possible for Lettuce to have any deep dark secrets. Mint, on the other hand—"

"I never told anyone I had a crush on you, Ryou."

As soon as the words left her mouth and everyone looked over at her, Lettuce clamped her hands to her mouth, eyes wide with horror.

Mint placed her hand on Lettuce's shoulder. "Oh, Lettuce. That was never a secret. We all knew that one."

"WHAT!" Lettuce yelped.

"What?" Ryou repeated, dumbfound and confused.

Mint heaved a huge sigh. "Raise your hand if you knew of Lettuce's crush on Ryou when it was still active at the time."

Mint raised her own hand, and was joined by Zakuro, Pudding, Masaya, Keiichiro, Pie and Tart.

"WHAT?!" Lettuce screeched. "You all knew!?"

"What?" Ryou said again, more panic than anything else in his voice.

"It was, how should we say, a little obvious," Pie informed her as Mint sent a text to someone. Her phone dinged a moment later.

"Yeah, Ichigo and Kish knew, too." She said, not looking up. "I just asked them."

"Wait, what?" Shinji questioned, blinking in confusion.

"WHAT?" Ryou said, much louder this time.

"Yeah, this was a thing," Mint said. "That we never ever spoke about but everyone knew about." She looked up and smirked at Ryou. "Well. Almost everyone."

"Pudding's just glad to know that she wasn't the only one who figured it out, na no da!" Pudding said.

Lettuce buried her face in her hands and let out a muffled scream.

"How, what, how?" Ryou asked.

"I just said, it was a thing that we never ever spoke about but all knew about," Mint said, putting her hand on her hip. "Kind of like how we all know but have never said out-loud that Rin needs to make sure that her fingers are completely clean before she pinches Keiichiro's butt when no one is looking."

Rin and Keiichiro's faces both flushed and Rin let out a squeaky, "What?"

"I'm just saying, it is totally obvious because you get a lot of flour, powdered sugar, and frosting everywhere," Mint said with a shrug. "Stuff like that shows up easily on black pants, Rin."

"Wait, do you all know this?" Keiichiro asked, looking around the room, horror on his face.

No one said a word, but no one exactly looked at either of the bakers either.

"Talking about it—admitting it—would mean we have all spent some time looking at Keiichiro's butt," Lettuce said, her voice still muffled by her hands. She followed that up with another muffled scream.

"Wow, okay," Masaya said, stepping in. "I think we are done with deep, dark secrets and truth serum now…"

"Wait, are there any more deep dark secrets that everyone knows but doesn't talk about?" Jade asked. "Because if there is juicy gossip and secrets, I want to know it all."

Lettuce lifted her head briefly. "How your string of ex-boyfriends and dating life is a tragi-comedy," She then returned her head to her hands in shame.

Jade opened her mouth to say something, then crossed her arms over her chest, nodding slightly. "Yeah, okay, that's fair."

"Right," Rirī said. "As entertaining as this has been, we are definitely done. Here and now."

From a pocket in Zakuro's apron, Masha popped out, crying out, "Chimera Animal! Chimera Animal!"

"As usual, great timing, Masha," Shinji said with a sigh.

"Hey, be nice to Masha, he's just the one who has to be the bearer of bad news," Rōzu said, hopping off her chair.

"Right, so, let's go see which one of Mylo's minions is ruining our day," Mint said, pulling out her pendant.

"Oh, this can't go wrong at all…" Rin groaned, rolling her eyes.

Halfway to the door, Lettuce paused as she felt someone grab her arm. She looked over her shoulder and felt her face heat as she saw Ryou.

"Lettuce, can we—?"

"No," Lettuce said quickly, shaking her head. "No." She bit her lip. "Not now. Not like this."

Ryou nodded and released her. "Okay."

Lettuce swallowed the lump in her throat, then ran out the door, her pendant to her lips, whispering, "Mew Mew Lettuce, Metamorpho-sis!"

Two blocks away, from where she stood on top of a lamppost, Bell frowned. "Are you sure they're even going to come?"

"Of course they're going to come," Topaz said, ignoring the Chimera, watching for the Tokyo Defenders. "This is kind of their job."

"Yeah, but what if they've already figured out about what the one last night did?" Pepper asked from where she sat on the edge of a roof, elbows on her thighs, her chin on her fists. "They do have secret identities to protect. I don't get it but whatever."

Topaz ignored her, smiling upon seeing familiar forms. Her eyes glinted upon seeing the green of Mew Lettuce's costume. Using the toe of her boot, she nudged Hiroki's shoulder. "She's here…"

"Your plan better work, or we've all just wasted our time." Hiroki grumbled.

"My plans always work," Topaz informed him.

"No, they don't." Bell and Pepper mumbled to each other.

"I'll prove it'll work," Topaz said, giving each of the three a scowl in turn. "Because I'll get the truth out of her first. Watch."

In a blink of an eye, Topaz disappeared, reappearing behind Lettuce, taking the Mew Mew by surprise as the Cyniclon girl wrapped her fingers around Lettuce's arms, teleporting away.

Lettuce grit her teeth as she hit the ground, thrown there by Topaz, who floated up in the air above her. Her pulse thundered in her ears, adding to the echo of hearing her own name being called by either Rin or Rirī, too far away to tell for certain and too preoccupied with the Cyniclon in front of her, and her formerly-broken arm ached, bringing back memories of the last time Lettuce and Topaz were face-to-face.

"So I take it you've discovered what last night's Chimera is capable of," Topaz said, smirking as Lettuce pushed herself off the ground. "And now what you're incapable of. Lying. So tell the truth. You purposefully bewitched Pie to take him from me, didn't you? Admit it. There's no other reason anyone would spare you a second glance."

Not for the first time in her one-on-one encounters with Topaz, rage filled Lettuce's veins, eyes hard as she pushed herself to her feet, fists clenched around her castanets.

But she banished the weapons from her hands, instead folding her arms over her chest, eyes glinting wickedly as she smirked back at Topaz, who didn't seem to know what to make of this response, her pale-pink eyebrows furrowed.

"What…?" Topaz whispered.

"You are delusional," Lettuce spat. "You wholeheartedly believe that the reason Pie doesn't love you is because of me. Because of my actions. But what could he possibly see in you? What could anyone possibly see in you? You are vain, selfish, cruel, and think that your looks will make anyone and everyone love you. They don't. No one cares. I'm not your competition. And you were never mine. You are nothing special. The only thing you've got going for you is a pretty face, and I won't even deny that I've been envious on more than one occasion of your figure. But, let's face it," Lettuce spread her arms wide. "There's no denying that I have the bigger—and better—bust, so I've got that going for me."

Meanwhile, the onlookers—the one's both present and in the Café Mew Mew basement—were stunned into silence. Even the Chimera had frozen.

"Whoa." Bell and Pepper whispered.

"Dang, Lettuce Onee-Chan…" Pudding said.

"Holy crap…" Masaya breathed, covering his mic with his hand. "Did she really just…"

"Yup." Jade said, nodding. "Yup, she did…"

Tart's eyes were shining and his grin was wide as he turned to Pie and said, "I love honest Lettuce. Can we keep her?"

"…No…" Pie said after a moment of thought.

Topaz's eyes were watery, and she swallowed back hot tears.

She didn't know what was worse, the words that Mew Lettuce had just thrown at her, every insult that had left her mouth…

Or the realization that the object of her affection had never been in her reach.

Upon spying a stunned Hiroki, evidently Honest Lettuce still had fire left in her as she whirled upon him.

"As for you," She snapped, pointing a finger at him. "I will never, ever love you. Not in the way that you want. Not after all the ways you have hurt me, have tried to control me. You have made my life hell ever since you walked back into it, and I wish you had never come back! You're just as delusional as Topaz is, and you're only going to destroy yourself if you keep down this path! And honestly that hurts the most because we used to be friends, could have still been friends, but you have ensured that that will never happen again! You thought you could just waltz back into my life and pretend you never left. You thought you could just pick up the pieces of a broken girl. But I'm not broken. I was at one time, but now I'm better and stronger than ever, thanks to the people who truly love me. And I will destroy you before you can destroy me."

Hiroki's face was blank, his shoulders slumped. Without a word, he pulled up the hood of his jacket and ducked down an alleyway. Topaz followed suit, disappearing with barely a shimmer in the air.

"No, seriously, Honest Lettuce would be a great thing for the entire planet…" Tart said, yelping slightly as Pie and Rin simultaneously smacked him on the back of the head.

"Well," Pepper said. "That was way more entertaining than usual."

"We'll just… take our Chimera and go now…" Bell said.

The red-haired twins disappeared, the Chimera going with them.

In the awkward silence that followed, Lettuce's expression fell into one of horror as she put her face in her hands.

"What have I done?" She asked no one in particular.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

"LETTUCE SAID WHAT TO WHO NOW?!"

"Ichigo, you just saw the video," Shinji said, leaning a little closer so his voice could be heard over speaker-phone. The battle now over, the assembled Tokyo Defenders called Ichigo and Kisshu immediately in order to catch them up on the day's events. In other words, they were mostly gossiping.

"Are you sure that was actually Lettuce, though?" Kish asked from the other side of the line. "Like, our Lettuce? Not some imposter?"

"That was Lettuce all right," Rirī confirmed. "Who is now hiding upstairs, mortified to face anyone."

"Yep, that's definitely Lettuce…" Ichigo sighed. "What about you, Mint? You're under this truth stuff, too, aren't you?"

"I was," Mint confirmed, sipping her teacup, which made everyone whip around to look at her.

"Wait, was?" Ryou exclaimed. "What do you mean was?"

"It wore off way before I got here after school," Mint said with a shrug. "After I went off on my teacher for being bi-phobic and whatnot. I got what I needed to say off my chest and that was that." She smirked. "Like I wasn't going to take advantage of having a free pass to say whatever I wanted."

"Why am I not surprised…?" Homare said, rolling her eyes.

"Wait, does that mean that Honest Lettuce is…?" Tart asked, his ears starting to droop.

"Most likely back-to-normal Lettuce. Yeah." Masaya said. "Sorry, buddy."

Tart sighed. "Well, it was fun while it lasted."

"I think Lettuce feels otherwise," Zakuro pointed out.

Upstairs, Pie sat at Lettuce's feet, gently rubbing his hand over her blanketed leg. "Lettuce, love of my life?"

"Mmph?" Lettuce mumbled from where she had burrowed herself under the blankets on his bed, face buried in his pillow.

"Are you planning on emerging anytime soon? Not that I am complaining, nor do I mind you being here. But I do not think you can live under those blankets forever."

"I can try…" Lettuce said softly.

"Do you want to talk?"

"Not particularly."

"In that case, can we talk?"

Lettuce heaved a sigh and threw the blanket off of herself, revealing her red-rimmed eyes. Pie pulled her into his arms, pressing a kiss onto the top of her head.

"I understand that you are embarrassed," Pie said. "It is truly unfair to you, though. You were coerced."

"They were still my thoughts, my words," Lettuce said, sniffling. "And I'm not embarrassed. I'm angry with myself."

"Why angry?" Pie asked.

"Because everything I said to Topaz… it was an echo of every cruel thing that she and every other bully has ever said to me. I hate that I did that. I hate that I was so cruel and heartless. I hate how good it felt to say those things. I never want to do that ever again."

Pie gently rubbed her back and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "You hold back a lot. You bite your tongue often. Because you know how powerful words are. You know they can hurt. But you also hold back a lot of your own pain. That is not healthy. You let out a lot of that pain today, which his hard but also brave. I know you do not ever want to experience that again, and I know you will never. But I do not want to be what you take away from this day to be that you have to always be nice, that you have to always accept and never react. You deserve to be happy. You are allowed to be happy. You know that, right?"

Lettuce nodded, her head against his chest. She stretched out her arm, laying her fingertips on Pie's forearm, and looked up at him. "Do you know that?" She asked, seriousness in her voice.

"I am getting there, I believe." Pie admitted, moving his arm, taking her hand. "I have help."

Lettuce smiled as she snuggled in against him. "So do I." She was quiet, then she whispered, "We've gone through a lot, you and I. Not the exact same experiences, but a lot pain in rather short lives."

"I cannot disagree with you," Pie said. "But are we not stronger for it?"

"Not at first," Lettuce said. "You are familiar with kintsugi?"

"Repairing broken pottery with lacquer dusted with gold or silver? Yes. I am," Pie said. "Why?"

"We're like that," Lettuce said. "We've been broken. But every scar that we have—inside and out—means we have been repaired. They just remind us that we are alive, and still on our journey of life. The scars show that we've been broken, but that we've become more beautiful because of it."

Pie held her tighter. "I suppose they do."

They sat in silence for a long time.

()()()()()()()()()()()()

Cayenne knocked on Topaz's door.

"What?" She called out hoarsely, sniffles being heard from within.

"It's me," Cayenne said. "Can I come in?"

"… Yeah."

Cayenne pushed open the door and looked around, frowning at not seeing Topaz. Then he caught sight of her pale pink hair on the other side of the bed, where she sat with her knees to her chest, head down. Cayenne sat down beside her.

"Bell and Pepper told me what happened," He whispered. "Are you okay?"

"No. I'm not." Topaz sniffled, rubbing at her face. "I did this. To myself. That's what hurts the most."

"Because the truth serum from the Chimera made her say all those things?" Cayenne asked.

Topaz shook her head. "No. My obsession with Pie did this. And…" She looked up at Cayenne with teary eyes. "Cayenne… I've ruined everything. I've ruined my own life, my own happiness. Because I wanted something I couldn't have. Cayenne…" She took a deep hiccupping breath, her words hitching as she said, "I… I never… I don't think I ever really loved him. I was in love… in love with the idea of loving him… I messed up…"

With that, she threw her arms around Cayenne, who held her and comforted her as she sobbed.

She was sad.

She was angry.

And she was tired.

Up until that moment, she hadn't realized how much emotional energy she had spent for so long until it all came crashing down on her. Hadn't realized that she had deluded herself for thinking she was actually in love. No, she loved the idea of being in love, being loved.

And she may have lost that chance for good. Not just with Pie, but with anyone.

In her quest to conquer one man's heart, she had lost herself.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

"Hey, Ryou?" Lettuce said, standing in the doorway to the basement. "I think… I think I'm ready to talk now. If you are."

Ryou spun around in his chair so fast, Lettuce was a bit surprised he didn't fall out of it. "Oh, hey. Come on in, have a seat."

Lettuce did so, crossing her ankles, swiveling slightly in the chair. "I, uh… I don't really know how to begin."

"Then let me," Ryou said. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I was so blind to your feelings before. There's no excuse. It was a jerk thing."

"I forgive you for that," Lettuce said. "I never faulted you for that." She paused, then said, "You never led me on, either, really. If you were worried about that."

"I was." Ryou admitted. "You're my friend. I don't ever want to hurt you."

"And I thank you for that," Lettuce said. "And… yes, Zakuro knew about my crush. But she also knew when it was over."

She remembered that day clearly. Shortly after that last battle against Deep Blue, long after her mind had begun to drift beyond the Milky Way. In the locker room with the other Mews, and Ichigo suggested that Lettuce ask Ryou to go with her to a new attraction at the zoo. Lettuce remembered how clearly she said no, not feeling at all flustered or quick to deny any feelings that she had. Pudding saying "But we thought you liked Ryou Onii-Chan, na no da!" and Lettuce shaking her head and saying, "Only as a friend. I promise." The expression that briefly crossed Zakuro's face made more sense now, but Lettuce's statement had been clear enough: her crush was over. Her affections lay elsewhere now. They had for a while, whether she knew it or not.

"I didn't think that Zakuro would get into a relationship with me if she thought you still had feelings for me," Ryou said, nodding. "She values you as a friend and your feelings. She told me that earlier." He glanced down at his feet, then said, "I'm guessing… I'm guessing that you got over your crush on me by crushing on Pie, then."

"Yes," Lettuce said, nodding. She hesitated, then she said, "But, I think I liked you both. At the same time. I know there's overlap in my feelings. I just didn't know when or how or why. I just know that, sometime after that last battle, I realized I was thinking about Pie, wishing that he was here, more than I was thinking about you and the people that I was surrounded by."

"I get it," Ryou said, nodding. He smiled at Lettuce. "You've got a good man, Lettuce. He loves you very much."

Lettuce smiled. "I know. I love him, too."

"So… Are we good?"

"We're better than good. We're great."

"Awesome," Ryou said. "And, sorry again. For being an oblivious idiot."

Lettuce stood up, brushing her skirt as she chuckled. "It's alright. I think it was for the best. We're both happy, and that's the most important thing."

Ryou nodded in agreement.

Lettuce went upstairs, where Pie was waiting for her. He offered her his hand. "Ready?"

She nodded, grasping his hand.

They hadn't made it too far from Café Mew Mew's backdoor when suddenly Pie froze, and Lettuce looked at him in confusion, watching him tense up. She followed his gaze and sucked in a breath.

"Seriously?" She mumbled.

Hiroki stood not too far away.

"He truly cannot take a hint, can he?" Pie grumbled. "Shall I dispose of him?"

"No," Lettuce said, half because she was ready and willing to face Hiroki and half because she wasn't sure what Pie's definition of 'disposal' entailed. She just knew one-hundred percent that she did not want today to be the day she discovered the nuances of that definition. "We'll go together."

"As you wish," Pie said with a small nod.

Hiroki looked up as Pie and Lettuce approached.

"For what little good it will do, I came to apologize," He said.

"You'll understand that we take that with a grain of salt," Lettuce said coolly.

Hiroki nodded. "I do. But I wanted to tell you a few things. The first is, I'm sorry that I didn't listen to you before. I'm sorry that I got sucked up in what I wanted that I ended up hurting you. The second is that I'm turning myself into the cops. So, that kind of leads to the third thing, which is that I won't seek you out again. But, if you can forgive me, I'd like to at least be friends again. Start over."

"Forgiveness is one thing. Friendship is another," Lettuce informed him. "I… I need time. To think, to heal."

Hiroki nodded. "I get it." He hesitated, then said, "There is one other thing that I came here to say. And it's probably the most important thing. For you two, and your cause or whatever."

"How so?" Pie asked, narrowing his eyes slightly.

"It's something that I heard while living in that alien base," Hiroki said. "I heard that guy Mylo talking to himself, alone in some room. It was late at night, everyone else was asleep. But he said something about that it was almost time. And that even without the elements he would succeed 'on the appointed day' and rule over earth. And that there was nothing they could do about it."

Pie and Lettuce exchanged a glance, brows furrowed.

This was an interesting development…

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"Even without the elements? What does that even mean?" Rirī asked, frowning.

"I'm more worried about this 'appointed day'," Zakuro said, arms crossed over her chest, fingers tapping against her arm. "Is that the summer solstice? Or is that a different day altogether?"

"The summer solstice is next week," Rōzu pointed out. "And we still don't know what's wrong with Ichigo Onee-Chan. If that is when we're supposed to fight Deep Blue…"

"We'll figure something out," Rin said in an assuring manner, putting her hand on Rōzu's shoulder.

"Speaking of figuring things out…" Mint said, tilting her head towards Pie.

"Still working on it," Pie growled. Mint merely shrugged and sipped her tea.

Ryou shook his head. "One way or another, we're running out of time."

Tense silence hung thick in the air.

The end was drawing near.

But would victory be theirs?