Chapter 7: Watching Over and Staying Over

In The Tokyo Mew Mew Dimension:

"Here we are Kitty." Kishu said as they all appeared in the Café.

"Ew. Get way from me." Ichigo said as she took a few steps away from Kishu.

"Well, we really should be on our way, anyway." Kishu said as he levitated, "Goodbye, Kitty." He said to Ichigo, winking at her.

"LET ME GO!" Taruto yelled trying to break away from Pudding, who was holding his arm with both her hands.

"No! Stay and play with Pudding, Na no da!" Pudding yelled.

"Um…Pai-san?" said Lettuce shyly.

"Yes, Lettuce?" he replied.

"My um…birthday is tomorrow…I would like it if you could come…" she stuttered, turning bright red.

"Of course I will come, Lettuce." he said smiling.

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Thank you."

"Come along Pai, Taruto." Kishu said.

Taruto managed to break free of Pudding's grip, and floated next to Kishu, rubbing the red Indian-burn left by Pudding's tight grip on his arm. Pai joined them, and all at once, they disappeared.

"Um, Lettuce? Was it just me, or did you ask that, slimy alien to come to your birthday?" asked Ichigo crossing her arms.

"Yeah." She muttered back.

"THAT"S GREAT!" exclaimed Pudding. "YOU CAN BE BESTEST FRIENDS WITH HIM, TARUTO WILL BE BEST FRIENDS WITH ME, AND THEN…ICHIGO WILL BE BESTEST FRIENDS WITH KISH!"

"GROSS!" screamed Ichigo, suddenly feeling very dirty.

The Mew Mew's went up stairs and changed back into there normal clothes. After that, they went outside, and Zakuro locked the door.

"Well, goodnight you guys." Zakuro said starting to walk to her house.

"BYE ZAKURO! I'm going to call Driver." Mint said pulling out a cell phone. She dialed a number. "Driver, pick me up at the café." She then hung up the phone. As if he had been waiting behind the corner, a large limousine pulled up in front of the café, and a man got out and opened the door. Mint entered with a small wave of her hand to the rest of the Mew's. The driver got back in the front and the limo disappeared as quickly as it had come.

Pudding started to her house as well, skipping along the side walk. Lettuce headed off down the street dreamily thinking of Pai, and Ichigo started to her house on the run, afraid of Kishu finding her.

Ichigo was down to a jog, for she had been running for a full ten minutes. She was almost out of breath.

"I'll just…take a little rest to catch my breath…" she said to herself resting her hands on her knees and breathing deeply.

A cold breeze blew by her, and she was a little afraid.

"It's freaky out here…" she said continuing, but this time she was only walking. "I hate walking alone at night…"

Luckily she got home quickly. She closed the door quietly, for her parents would probably be asleep, and walked up to her room silently stepping every step. When she got to her room, it was dark. She walked in, and went to her dresser to grab her pajamas.

"ICHIGO, ICHIGO, ALIEN ALERT, ALIEN ALERT!" exclaimed Masha bobbing up and down in the air.

Ichigo spared a moment to look out the window, but no one was there. "Don't be silly, Masha. No one's out there." She grabbed her pajamas and turned on a lamp on her night stand.

"Oh, do you want me to leave while you change?" said a familiar voice behind her.

She quickly spun around to see Kishu sitting cross-legged on her bed flipping through her diary.

"ACK! KISHU! WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY ROOM?" exclaimed Ichigo dropping her pajamas on the floor.

"Well, I was in the neighborhood, and I just thought I'd drop by." Kishu explained casually, not looking up from the flipping the pages of her diary.

"GIVE THAT BACK!" she screamed grabbing the diary from his hands. "GET OUT!" she yelled in her loudest voice.

"Shh kitty-cat. You won't want to wake up your parents, would you?" said Kishu smiling.

As if on cue, she heard footsteps coming from the hallway outside her door.

"Oh no!" whispered Ichigo, her ears and tail ready to pop out at any moment. "You have to leave!" she said turning to her bed. Kishu was already gone.

"Ichigo?" said her father's voice from behind the door. It opened slowly. Ichigo scrambled to pick her clothes up off the floor.

"Yes?" she said, hearing her voice screech.

"Is everything alright? I heard screaming." Her father said looking around her room.

"No, nothing's wrong!" she replied frantically. "Just…getting ready for bed, and I, um, saw a spider."

"Ok, then, goodnight." He said closing the door.

"Phew." She sighed, relieved.

"You look just like your daddy, Ichigo." Kishu said from the window.

She turned to him angrily.

"What would you have done if he saw you?" she said, remembering to keep her voice down.

"I probably would have had to kill him." he said checking his nails.

"WHAT?"

"I'm just kidding kitty. I should leave though, good night. I'll see you later." He disappeared, leaving Ichigo alone in her room, her ears and tail popping out in rage.

Lettuce had gotten to her house quickly, for it was not to far away from the café. But four times, she could have sworn someone was behind her, following her to her house, but every time she looked, there was no one there. She went to her room, and pulled out her books. She had a big test the next day. She put her books on her desk, right next to the window.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw someone out the window, floating there. She quickly looked out, but no one was there.

"My eyes must be playing tricks on me…" she thought to herself, returning to her many open books.

A few minutes later, she thought she saw the image again, but still, no one was there.

"I could have sworn that was Pai-san." She thought wiping her glasses clean.

After that, she didn't see the image again.

It was of course, Pai who had been watching Lettuce. He had actually been worried about her walking home alone at night, and had followed her all the way to her house, and stayed a few extra minutes after she had gotten home, just to be sure. Pai flew on top of the house and sat on the roof.

"I wonder why I care so much about her…" Pai thought out loud.

"I know why." Said a familiar voice behind him. Pai turned around and looked at the figure.

"Hello, Kishu. What is it you want?" Pai asked as he turned to Kishu.

"Well, I saw you over here and wanted to know what you were doing. But, I have my answer." Kishu grinned.

"What do you mean, Kishu?" Pai asked lowering his eyebrows.

"I mean, you love her, am I right?" Kishu said grinning wider.

"Why would you think that?" Pai said cocking his head.

"Look at yourself; you're at her house right now sitting on her roof thinking about why you care so much about her." Kishu said in a serious tone.

"How…" Pai asked himself quietly as he fell silent for a second; he turned away from Kishu in thought. "Kishu?" Pai asked.

"Hmm?" Kishu replied.

"How do I… How do I know when I have fallen?" Pai asked staring up at the stars.

"Fallen?" Kishu inquired.

"Fallen… In love, Kishu." Pai asked still gazing at the sky. Kishu smiled a little.

"It's that feeling, Pai." Kishu said following Pai's gaze up into the dark night sky. Pai understood what Kishu meant.

Kishu and Pai fell silent in thought. Kishu teleported away, to leave Pai alone for a while. Pai was caught in deep contemplation over whether to go and talk to Lettuce, or to give her peace. He finally decided to just gaze at her on last time before he left for the night.

Pai slowly levitated off of the roof and beside Lettuce's window once more. He was hidden in the dark shadows of the trees. He gazed into the window to see Lettuce, asleep on her book. Pai teleported into her room and looked down at her. He slowly bent down and turned off her light. She did not even stir. He gently lifted Lettuce into his arms and slowly placed her on the comfortable bed, and gingerly laid a blanket over her. With one last gaze at her peaceful face, Pai teleported away, leaving Lettuce to sleep.

Taruto sat in a tree outside Pudding's house, watching her carefully.

"WE'RE HUNGRY!" Cried Puddings siblings.

"Don't worry, supper will be ready soon." Pudding said giving her siblings a very warm smile.

Pudding walked over to the oven and took out something wrapped in tinfoil. She unwrapped it slowly, reveling a delicious looking chicken.

"Look, its ready now, Na no da!" Pudding said as she placed the tinfoil in the trash.

"YAY!" Her siblings screamed as Pudding put the food on the table and cut it into small slices and placed it on their plates.

"I'll be right back, okay?" Pudding said as she began to leave the room.

"OKAY!" Her siblings said with their mouths full.

Pudding left the room, and out of Taruto's sight. He watched the room she left, in case she came back.

"Do you want to join us?" Said a voice right next to Taruto's ear, causing him to nearly fall out of the tree, but someone grabbed his hand before that happened.

"P-Pudding?" Taruto said as Pudding helped him sit upright again.

"Well, will you join us?" Pudding said smiling at him.

"I-I… why should I?" Taruto said crossing his arms.

"Because we're bestest friends, Na no da." Pudding said scooting closer to him.

"Bestest? Is that even a word?" Taruto asked raising an eyebrow. Pudding thought for a moment before replying.

"I don't know, probably not," Pudding said shrugging, "But it doesn't matter, let's go eat, Na no da!" Pudding said as she grabbed Taruto's arm and jumped out of the tree, taking him with her.

She ran into the house, dragging Taruto along with her, and into the dining room; where all of her five siblings sat eating the chicken. She sat him down in a chair next to hers and grabbed a plate for him.

"Who's that, Onee-Chan?" One of Pudding's siblings asked, referring to Taruto.

"This is Taruto." She said grinning.

"HI TARUTO ONII-CHAN!" They all yelled in unison.

"Uh… Hello." Taruto said waving nervously.

"No need to be shy, Taru-Taru!" Pudding said grinning wider.

Pudding grabbed some chicken on her fork and put it on Taruto's plate, then cut it into smaller pieces. She picked a piece up on his fork.

"What are you-" Before Taruto could finish his sentence, Pudding shoved the fork full of chicken into his mouth.

"What do you think, Na no da?" She asked smiling sweetly.

"It's… Fine…" Taruto managed to say with his mouth full of chicken.

After dinner all of Pudding's siblings had gone to bed and Taruto was sitting at the table finishing his last bite.

"So, Taru-Taru… It's late… Do you want to… Spend the night here?" Pudding asked, smiling warmly at Taruto. Taruto looked at her frowning.

"What?" Taruto raised an eyebrow.

"We can have a sleepover Na no da! We can stay up all night talking about-"

"No way!" Taruto snapped.

"Come on, I'll even sleep on the floor if that will make you feel better! It'll be fun, Taru-Taru!"

"It's Taruto." He said crossing his arms.

"Fine, Taruto, come on, we can get to know each other! I know we could be the best of friends if you just got to know me better Na no da!" Pudding said taking his hand and smiling at him with big twinkling eyes.

"… Fine…" Taruto capitulated with a sigh. "But no funny stuff, okay?"

"OKAY, NA NO DA!" Pudding yelled happily.

She started up the stairs, pulling him along with her. She opened a door to a big orange room with a light eggshell bed off to the right and purple dressers, along with a small purple table with flowers on it and a single window with a yellow frame. She pulled Taruto into the room and sat him on the bed. Then, she went to the closet and pulled out a folded up orange blanket and placed it on the floor. She sat down on it cross legged and looked up at Taruto.

"What do you want to talk about first, Taru-Taru?" Pudding asked cocking her head. Taruto thought for a moment as he lay down on the bed with his hands behind his head and closed his eyes.

"I don't know." Taruto said dully. "Anything."

"Anything, Na no da?" Pudding asked raising an eyebrow.

"Within reason." Taruto added.

"Okay, let's talk about you." Pudding said grinning. "What do you like to do? Do you like to play games? What is your favorite game? Anything new that you want to talk about? What do you think about? What are you thinking right now? What do you think of Pudding? How many fingers am I holding up? Why-"

"What did that last question have to do with me?" Taruto asked opening his eyes and looking over at her.

"Nothing… I just wanted to see if you were listening, Na no da." Pudding said as she grinned wider, "Answer the questions Taru-Taru, Pudding wants to know!" Pudding said inching closer with big shining eyes.

"Fine…" Taruto said thinking about what she had said. "Uh… I like to make Chimera Anima… Um… I play some games, but I have no real favorites, except hide and seek, sometimes… Nothing really new with me, still trying to find Mew Aqua… Uh… what was the next question?" Taruto asked sitting up.

"What do you like to think about?" Pudding replied.

"Oh, I think about lots of things like my next scheme and what my next Chimera will be… Right now? I'm thinking about how bright this room is." Taruto said looking around." Taruto paused. "What was the question after that?" He asked.

"What do you think of Pudding, Na no da?" Pudding said with her smile growing.

"Well… I… I'm not sure…" Taruto stopped and thought for a moment. "Well, you're kind of annoying most of the time. And you're too happy. You act too much like we're best friends, we are enemies you know."

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean we can't be the best of friends too, Na no da!" Pudding said happily.

"Whatever, Can we go to sleep?" Taruto asked laying back down.

"Taru-Taru wants to sleep?" Pudding asked leaning towards him.

"Yes." He said closing his eyes.

"Oh… Okay…" Pudding said standing up and turning off the light.

She lay down on the ground and cover herself with the blanket. She yawned and looked over to Taruto.

"Nighty-Night Taru-Taru." Pudding said closing her eyes.

"Good night." Taruto replied relaxing.

Within minutes, Pudding had fallen asleep. Taruto opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling. He heard Pudding rustling on the ground and looked over at her. She was fast asleep with such an innocent look on her face, Taruto couldn't help but stare. Finally, he had fallen asleep as well.

"Aww, don't they look so adorable?" Kishu said smiling.

"What is he doing?" Pai asked looking down at the boy sleeping on the bed.

"Sleeping, Pai." Kishu replied looking down at him too.

Kishu raised an eyebrow at his sleeping comrade. Taruto turned onto his side in his sleep and grunted a little.

"What, who's there, Na no da?" Said a voice behind them.

Kishu and Pai turned around and saw a sleepy little girl sitting up on the floor staring at them. She rubbed her eyes to see more clearly.

"Oh, you're awake?" Kishu said looking down at her.

"Wha? Kishu, Pai?" Said Taruto as he awakened also.

"Ah, you're both awake then?" Pai said to both of them.

Pudding stretched her arms and stood. She ruffled her hair with her hands and sat on the bed next to Taruto.

"Have a good sleep, Na no da?" Pudding asked, smiling at him, her eyes still half closed in a sleepy way.

"Hmm…" Taruto grumbled as he shrugged. Then, he shot his glance over to Kishu and Pai, "What are you guys doing here!"

"We were looking for you." Pai said flatly.

"Why?" Taruto asked as he looked out the window, it was pitch black; all the stars shining in the sky.

"We wondered where you might be." Kishu said grinning.

"Taru-Taru is spending the night here with Pudding, Na no da!" Pudding said happily as her smile grew wider.

"Spending the night? Wow, I was only in Ichigo's room for a few minutes, yet you get invited to stay all night? What is your secret?" Kishu asked showing his fangs in a very wide grin.

"Shut up." Taruto said angrily crossing his arms.

"Okay, okay. We should go, and leave you two alone." Kishu said laughing.

Kishu and Pai teleported away, leaving Pudding and Taruto. Pudding moved closer to Taruto and rested her head on his shoulder sleepily. Taruto pushed her away.

"Hey, Hey! That's my personal space!" Taruto yelled.

"Okay Taru-Taru, Pudding will sleep on the floor." Pudding said lying down on the blanket that was laid on the floor.

Again, they fell asleep for the night.