Couple of days late, but MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Chapter Thirty-Seven:

"This is stupid!" Rin complained, pacing madly back and forth. Well, not really pacing. She was floating, as she, Pie, Rirī, Rōzu and Tart were currently in the alternate dimension.

"Rin, calm down," Rirī muttered, glancing up from where she knelt beside Tart, who lay flat on his back wearing only a pair of soccer shorts, pulsations that matched his heartbeat going through the "floor" from where he lay. He only stared up at the green fog above him blankly, his face and eyes hard.

"I will not calm down!" Rin yelled, stamping her foot in midair. She turned to Pie and started alternately pointing at him and their younger brother. "You're the oldest! Tell him this is stupid and he's not going through with this!"

Pie gave her a glare from where he stood at Tart's feet.

"You say that like you think any of you actually listen to me!" He snapped. "Taruto is not a child. He can issue and partake in a Duel of Honor, and he is not doing so lightly. He fully intends to honor the outcome." Pie glanced down at his little brother. "And he does not intend to lose."

Rin stamped her foot again in frustration, knowing Pie was right. That didn't make her any less angry, though.

"Rin, how about you stop throwing a tantrum and help me and Rōzu out here?" Rirī said, glancing up again.

Rin was still fuming but she fell to her knees beside Rōzu, grabbing the small jar from beside her sister and put some of the light brown salve on her own hands before gently rubbing Tart's leg.

Part of the ritual for a Duel of Honor was for a Healer and two assistants—often sisters, lovers or close female friends of the ones partaking in the Duel—to use a slave over the muscles of the dueler's arms, legs and back, which allowed the muscles to relax before and during the duel. After that, the forearms, calves, hands and feet were bound to protect the skin. The purpose of this was so that injuries were limited and so that the Duel could go on for as long as it had to. Also partaking in a Duel of Honor was definite grounds for being nervous and stressed, so there was a great need for the muscles to be relaxed in order to fight.

Pie stood at Tart's feet, gazing at his brother sadly. He was not allowed to touch Tart because he was a warrior; the only male warrior who could touch him after the issuing of the Duel of Honor was the other dueler. But he could still offer support. Pie did wonder if this was a good idea and he was worried about Tart. If he did lose, he would never see Pudding again. Pie didn't think Tart could truly be able to do that, just as he knew that he couldn't live without Lettuce.

The siblings stayed silent, then Rōzu finally muttered,

"So, how's Kish?"

Rirī sighed.

"He'll live," She said as she finished tying the binding on Tart's arm. "After Ichigo and I held him down and finally got him sedated, he was an angel. A snoring angel, but an angel nonetheless. He should wake up soon, and no doubt be completely delirious. But at the moment he's Ichigo's problem, not mine."

The silence resumed.

The girls were just finishing up the last of the bindings on Tart's leg when Pie glanced at his cellphone.

"I will return momentarily," He said before teleporting.

Tart didn't care. Millions of different scenarios were going through his head of what could happen during the fight, planning both his offensive and defensive tactics. However, that was the last thing on his mind as soon as he heard,

"Can I help?"

He blinked, looking up to see Pudding standing over him. Her eyes were still red from crying. He frowned slightly. Had she been crying the entire time?

"Yeah," Rirī said softly, holding up the jar of salve. "We need to put this on his back."

Pudding nodded, taking the jar from Rirī.

"Can… can we be alone?" She asked, her voice nothing but a whisper.

Pie, Rin, Rirī and Rōzu nodded and disappeared, leaving Pudding and Tart alone.

"Can Taru-Taru sit up for Pudding, na no da?" Pudding asked softly. Tart did so, happy to hear she had gone back to the third person and her na no da's.

Tart pulled his legs to his chest, resting his bound arms on his knees. Pudding knelt behind him. She put the salve on her own hands and rubbed them together before placing her palms on between Tart's shoulder-blades.

They sat in silence as Pudding gently rubbed Tart's back, making sure that she didn't miss a centimeter. She watched as his muscles became less tense, loosening under her fingers. She kept her hands moving, though her eyes were now filling with tears so that she couldn't see. But she didn't stop, even though she knew that his back was completely covered. Finally, she stopped, wrapping her arms around his waist, burying her face in his loose hair.

"You smell like cinnamon," She whispered. "Spicy."

"But when mixed with the right amount of sugar, very sweet," Tart mumbled. It was the first words he had spoken since issuing of the Duel of Honor.

"Like a piece of candy," Pudding said softly.

They sat in the quiet, then,

"Why, Tart?" She whispered. "Why did you challenge Yuebin?"

"Because you are worth fighting for," Tart said, still staring straight ahead of him.

"But what if you lose?" Pudding asked.

"Simple. I won't," Tart said.

"But what if you do?" Pudding pressed, tears finally falling from her eyes. "I can't… I can't live without you, Tart! I could fake it well enough for two years, because I held on to this belief that I would see you again someday. But if I don't think I can if I know I never would see you again! Tart, please!" The tears were falling faster now and she was hiccupping. "Taru-Taru, please don't leave me!"

Tart looked over his shoulder before turning around completely and pulling her to his chest, letting her cry as he stroked her hair gently, pressing his lips to the top of her head, rocking her back and forth as she got the last of her tears out.

"I won't leave you," He said, whispering into her ear. "I never will again. You're stuck with me, monkey-girl, and don't you ever forget it. I'm going to win tonight, going to show everyone that somehow I am worthy of you. Then everything will be okay, because we'll be together."

"P-promise?" Pudding asked, still sniffling.

"I promise," Tart said, giving her a small smile.

"Pinkie Promise?" Pudding pressed. Tart grinned and held up his little finger, wrapping it around Pudding's.

"Promise," He said.

Pudding smiled and held onto Tart again, not wanting to leave his arms.

Because despite his promise, she was still scared of what could be.

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"Just how much of that stuff did you give him, Rirī?" Mint asked as they watched Kish teeter slightly, a large, dopey grin on his face, his eyes glassy as he giggled.

Rirī sighed.

"Unfortunately, not as much as he really needed," She said. "Which, by the way, is his own fault of not holding still."

"The effects of the sedation will wear off soon, though, right?" Masaya asked as Kish suddenly grabbed Ichigo, making her squeak as he lifted her off the ground.

"You're a cute little kitty-cat!" He said, loudly kissing her cheek. Ichigo's nose wrinkled as she gently tried to get Kish off of her. His grin grew even wider as his eyes trailed down to her chest, causing Ichigo to blush and his eyes to become brighter. "Heh, you're cute absolutely everywhere!" He reached out with his hands, but Ichigo gently smacked them away, causing Kish to look like a kid who got yelled at, his lower lip trembling and eyes filling with tears.

"Wah!" He cried. "Koneko-Chan hit me!"

In addition to having more than enough energy in his drugged-up state, he was suffering horrible mood-swings. So by the time he had finished informing everyone about what they already knew and had seen, he was back to pestering Ichigo.

"Unfortunately, not soon enough," Rirī answered Masaya's question.

"Great…" Zakuro said sarcastically.

"What are we waiting for?" Rōzu asked. They were standing in the Fong family dojo AKA a large garage in the backyard that had been refurnished to be a dojo. Beside a large mat that had a circle around it marking the boundary, Tart and Yuebin stretched and did other things to warm up for their Duel. Or distract themselves, no one was sure which. Pudding sat in the corner by herself, asking to be left alone with her fears.

"Mr. Fong, I believe," Keiichiro said. "He had to go get the younger kids."

They heard the door slam open by the quadruplets. Their eyes suddenly lit up when their gaze landed on Pie.

"WŪSHĪ-CHAN!" They yelled. Pie braced for impact as the four boys leapt upon him, hanging onto his arms, legs and torso.

The other Tokyo Defenders looked very confused.

"Uh, what does 'Wūshī' mean?" Homare asked, unfamiliar with the Chinese word.

"If I had to take a guess, I'd say it means 'Wizard'," Lettuce said. Everyone glanced at her in confusion.

"Why do they think Pie's a wizard?" Ryou asked.

Lettuce's eyes twinkled as she smiled.

"Because he is," She responded as if the answer was obvious.

"Whaaa? Pie's a wizard?" Kish said, his eyes wide as he teetered slightly. He turned to Pie, gaping slightly. "Dude! Why didn't you tell me!"

"Muggles like you are not supposed to know," Pie responded as he freed himself slightly from the boys' grasps.

"I'm not a Muggle!" Kish said, putting his hand on his hips before throwing his hands in the air. "I'm a Time-Lord!"

Ichigo sighed and reached into her purse, pulling out a tube of mascara.

"Here," She said, putting it in Kish's hands. "Your Sonic Screwdriver. You gave it to me for safe-keeping. Now go use it to screw stuff, sonically."

"Okay!" Kish said, running off to play with his 'Sonic-Screwdriver'.

"Well, that should keep him occupied for about five minutes," Ryou said.

"I really hope it's a full five minutes," Ichigo said, shaking her head slightly.

"Hey, where's Heicha?" Rōzu asked the Fong brothers, who glanced at each other.

"She's outside," One said. "She says she doesn't want to come in."

"She doesn't want to watch the fight?" Shinji asked. The boys shook their heads.

"Dunno," Another said. "But she was crying."

Everyone glanced at Pudding, who didn't move at hearing of her sister's tears. She was rooted to her spot.

"I will go see about Heicha," Pie said, lowering the last of the boys off of his chest.

"We'll check on Pudding," Rin said.

They heard a small crash as training gloves rained down on Kish.

"Help! I'm getting eaten alive by Adipose!" He yelled hysterically.

"And go free Kish from the… whatever," Ryou said with a sigh.

"Ichigo, what are Adipose in the Doctor Who world?" Lettuce asked as the two girls went to 'free' Kish. Ichigo sighed.

"It'd probably be best if you didn't know…" She said.

Pie stepped outside into the cool night air. He saw Heicha sitting on the back steps of the house, her father kneeling beside her, speaking to her.

"No! Heicha won't go anywhere!" Heicha said, her arms crossed over her chest defiantly. Mr. Fong sighed.

"May I speak with her?"

Mr. Fong glanced up at Pie.

"If you can get her to talk to you, I will commend you," He said, standing up. "Good luck."

Pie sat on the porch step beside Heicha.

"Now, what is the matter, Heicha-Chan?" Pie asked. Heicha's little brown eyes filled with tears.

"It's not fair, Wūshī-Chan," She said, rubbing at her eyes with her fists. "Pudding Onee-Chan has two boys fighting over her and giving her flowers, and not one boy gave Heicha anything for White Day today. Heicha would have liked at least one flower…"

"Just one?" Pie asked. "What kind?"

"Heicha likes daffodils," Heicha said, sniffling. "They're so pretty…" She sighed. "Heicha thought she was a big-enough girl this year to get flowers on White Day. Maybe Heicha's just not big-girl cute yet."

"Well, now, I would not say that," Pie said, gently stroking her hair, causing Heicha to turn to him. "Heicha is very much a big girl, and very cute. She should receive flowers on White Day."

He twisted his wrist and Heicha's eyes widened.

"But she should not just receive one," Pie said, placing the bunch of daffodils in her hands. "She deserves a full dozen."

Heicha smiled and threw her arms around Pie.

"Xin-Xin, Wūshī-Chan!" She said.

"You are welcome, Heicha-Chan," Pie said, picking her up and putting her on his hip, the girl clutching tightly to her bouquet with one hand while her other arm was around his neck. "Now, how about we go give Pudding Onee-Chan some support. She keeps looking like she is going to cry."

"Oh, we can't let Pudding Onee-Chan cry!" Heicha said, her eyes going wide.

"My thoughts exactly," Pie said. The two entered the dojo and Heicha hopped off Pie's hip and ran over to Pudding.

"Pudding Onee-Chan, look what Wūshī-Chan gave to Heicha for White Day!" Heicha said, showing Pudding the bouquet. Pudding smiled.

"Oh, those are very lovely," Pudding said, admiring the flowers.

The flowers distracted her from watching Rirī clamp the Restrictors on Tart's wrists, then wrapping cloth around the Restrictors. Tart glanced at Pudding out of the corner of his eye as the cool metal embraced his skin. The corner of his mouth lifted at seeing Pudding's smile.

He was ready.

"Good luck," Rin, Rirī, Rōzu and Pie said together to him, bowing. Tart returned the gesture.

"Thank you," He said.

As Tart walked into the circle, Pudding's eyes drifted away from the blooms in her hand.

Heicha studied her older sister, who gazed up sadly as she watched Tart and Yuebin bow to each other, both with blank faces as they prepared for their duel.

"Onee-Chan," Heicha whispered. "Why don't you stop Taru-Taru and Yuebin-Chan from fighting?"

"Onee-Chan can't really," Pudding explained in a whisper as she tucked Heicha's bouquet back into her hands. She clenched her fists. "They've both got the idea in their heads that they need to protect me, or at least prove to Daddy that they can. "

Heicha frowned.

"Heicha thinks that Onee-Chan does a good job at protecting herself," Heicha said. "Onee-Chan doesn't need either of them to protect her. But she doesn't want either of them to go away. Onee-Chan loves Yuebin, but she loves Taru-Taru the most, right?"

"Yuebin has always been more of an Onii-Chan to Onee-Chan than a fiancé," Pudding mumbled as she watched Tart dodge a swipe from Yuebin, then Yuebin ducked a punch from Tart. "And Taru-Taru is… everything. Onee-Chan can't lose either of them. Doesn't want to lose either of them."

Heicha's frown grew a little deeper.

"Then stop telling Heicha this," Heicha said. "And go show Daddy, and Yuebin-Chan and Taru-Taru that."

Pudding looked at her little sister and smiled.

"You are very wise for someone so small, Heicha-Chan," She said.

Heicha just grinned.