Chapter 9: Lettuce-san, Marry Me
In The Tokyo Mew Mew Dimension:
Mint had arrived at the café first, since she was just a limo drive away. She was sitting at a table drinking tea when Zakuro walked in.
"Hello, Mint." She said as she waved to her.
"Hello Zakuro Onee-sama!" Mint said admiringly.
Zakuro went upstairs to get changed into her café uniform. Suddenly, the door swung open, and both Lettuce and Ichigo were standing in the door way, panting.
"What, did you run here?" Mint asked putting her tea on the table.
"Yeah… We… Did…" Ichigo said between breaths.
"Oh. Well, you better go get changed into your uniforms then, oh and by the way, Happy Birthday Lettuce." Mint said sipping her tea once again.
"Thank you…" Lettuce said as she and Ichigo went upstairs.
A moment or two later they returned, in their uniforms along with Zakuro.
"Hey, work has started already and Pudding's not here. Has anyone seen her?" Zakuro asked glancing at each of her friends, who all shook their heads.
All of a sudden, the door burst open and there stood Pudding, holding in one hand Taruto's hand. He was completely out of breath and had a toothbrush hanging out of one side of his mouth that said in fancy writing, 'Pudding.'
"Sorry Pudding's late guys, she had to wake Taru-Taru up and show him how to use a toothbrush, Na no da." Pudding said entering the café, dragging Taruto with her.
"Da weast yo couwd dwo iz wet mee fwinis." Taruto said with the toothbrush hanging out of his mouth still.
"Sorry, Taru-Taru, Pudding was going to be late." Pudding apologized.
"What is HE doing here?" Ichigo asked angrily.
"Because he is Pudding's best friend." Pudding said smiling.
"… Gross…" Ichigo whined, "And why is he using your toothbrush anyway?"
"Because he doesn't have one, Na no da." Pudding replied.
"Ew! Are you still thinking of using it after he had it in his mouth." Ichigo said taking a step back disgusted.
"Why not, Na no da?" Pudding asked cocking her head.
"GROSS!" Ichigo screamed.
"Here." Taruto said as he finished brushing his teeth and he handed the toothbrush to Pudding.
"Thanks, Taru-Taru!" Pudding said happily.
"It's Taruto…" Taruto said angrily.
Pudding wiped the toothbrush off once briefly with her shirt, then suddenly she had a tube of toothpaste and squeezed a little on the toothbrush.
"You're not going to do what I think you're going to do, are you?" Ichigo said; her eyes as wide as globes.
"What would that be, Na no da?" Pudding asked, just before plopping the toothbrush right into her mouth.
"T-That…" Ichigo said with her mouth agape.
Pudding still didn't know why Ichigo was so freaked out, and began to brush her teeth. Taruto tried to pull away from Pudding, who was still holding onto his hand, but not with much luck.
"Let me go!" Taruto said still trying to break free.
"Nu-Uh! Puwding wansh Tawo-Tawo two shtay wid hewr!" Pudding said with the toothbrush still in her mouth.
"But I have to go see and Kishu and Pai; they are probably wondering why I'm not there yet!" Taruto whined.
Pudding finally removed the toothbrush from her mouth and ran into the kitchen, with Taruto, to spit out her toothpaste and wash her toothbrush. Within ten seconds or less, she ran back out, dragging an annoyed Taruto with her.
"Okay, bye-bye Taru-Taru! Pudding will miss you! But before you go, give Pudding a hug, Na no da!" Pudding said happily.
Before Taruto could say no, Pudding pulled him by the hand towards her and locked him in a tight friendly hug.
"Hey!" Taruto said trying to push her away.
Finally she let go of him and waved goodbye as he teleported away. All the Mews started work for the day.
That night Lettuce, Ichigo, Mint, Zakuro and Pudding were all sitting at a table in the café. In the center of the table was a huge birthday cake with Lettuce's name on it, and several candles ablaze.
"Happy Birthday Lettuce!" Everyone said together.
Lettuce blew out all of her candles at once, as her friends clapped their hands. Lettuce smiled at how nice this was. Only one thing was missing.
"What did you wish for?" Mint asked leaning closer.
"I can't say." Lettuce said grinning shyly.
Outside, Pai, Kishu and Taruto watched the Mews celebrate. Pai couldn't take his gaze away from Lettuce. He smiled a small sad smile.
"Go inside." Kishu said to Pai.
"Yeah, we know you want to." Taruto said tauntingly.
"Hmm…" Pai thought for a moment, he suddenly felt an odd, mysterious tug that helped him in deciding.
In the café, everyone was laughing and having a good time. Lettuce was smiling and eating some cake with her friends.
"Lettuce-san." A voice from behind Lettuce said.
"Pai-san?" Lettuce said quietly, as she turned and looked at him.
"Happy Birthday." He said simply.
"Thank you, Pai." Lettuce replied with a smile.
"Hello, Kitty-cat." Kishu said appearing next to Ichigo's ear, with his arm around her neck.
"KISHU!" Ichigo screamed, almost falling off the chair in surprise.
"Yes, it's good to see you too." He replied grinning.
"Get away!" She yelled, pushing him away from her.
"Oh, playing hard to get?" Kishu asked raising an eyebrow.
"EW!" She screamed back at him.
"Oh come now, I know you like me." Kishu said stepping closer.
"I DO NOT!" She shouted, standing.
"Yes you do, and you know it. Now, give me a kiss." Kishu said coming closer.
Ichigo ran around him and hid behind a table. He levitated into the air and followed her, kneeling down beside her with a grin plastered on his face.
"AH!" She yelled, as she began to run again, coming to a wall. She stopped just before she ran into it and turned around.
"Aw, don't be like that Kitty." Kishu said pouting his lip.
"STAY BACK!" She screeched, waving her hand in the air threateningly.
"You would want that…" Kishu said, the grin returning to his face.
Kishu floated over to her, until he was about a foot away. His grin widened.
"YES I WOULD!" Ichigo yelled; a little scared.
He floated a little closer and placed his hand on her chin, slowly raising it. She didn't move at all, she just stood there staring. His eyelids slid half shut as he moved closer to her; his lips almost touching hers. His eyelids slid back open and he smiled; showing his teeth. Gently he let her chin slip out of his hand and floated slightly backwards.
"No, I won't ruin this night for Pai." Kishu said, landing on the ground.
"W-What do you mean?" Ichigo asked, still a little scared.
"Pai is here to do something nice for Lettuce, and he asked me nicely not to ruin it for him." Kishu said shrugging.
Kishu took a step closer to Ichigo.
"But it wasn't easy." He whispered into her ear.
He grinned again, slowly took her hand, and floated with her to where she was previously sitting. He sat down in an empty chair next to her and smirked.
"Let go of me," Ichigo said pulling her hand away from him and turning away, "And what do you mean something nice for Lettuce?"
"Well, I can't say exactly, Pai didn't give me all the juicy details, but I know it's probably not something to be worried about." Kishu said resting his arms on the table.
"Probably?" Ichigo questioned.
"Well, Pai is a pretty hard guy to read. But I know he's got some kind of affection for your friend." Kishu replied, glancing at them.
"Are you serious?" Ichigo asked, turning to him.
"Of course, all of us aliens seem to do things like that." Kishu said sitting up strait and looking over at Ichigo.
"Not him." Ichigo said turning to Taruto; who was running as fast as he could, with Pudding running after him yelling 'Stop running Taru-Taru!'
"Hmm? You can't see it?" Kishu said, sort of surprised.
"See what?" Ichigo asked, looking closer at the two.
"Taruto just wants to seem tough, make it seem like he hates her. But he doesn't." Kishu said grinning at Ichigo.
"Hmm…" Ichigo grunted, looking closer, "Wait, did he just slow down?" Ichigo asked, leaning back and raising an eyebrow; Taruto slightly slowed down, what looked a lot like he did it intentionally, and Pudding caught him in a tight hug which almost knocked him over.
"Yes, you see? I told you so." Kishu said laughing a little.
"Okay, so you Aliens sort of like us, what does that matter?" Ichigo said crossing her arms and looking back at Kishu.
"Well, why don't we just watch?" Kishu suggested, turning his chair to the direction of Pai and Lettuce.
Pai was standing next to Lettuce, who was sitting in a chair across the table from Ichigo and Kishu.
"Lettuce-san, I'm sorry I am late." Pai apologized, bowing his head in respect.
"It's alright, Pai-san." Lettuce said kindly.
"Thank you, and how have you been, may I ask?" Pai asked.
"I have been fine." Lettuce replied, "What about you?"
"Just thinking a lot, I suppose." Pai said staring into her eyes. Her glasses made her eyes look large, and twinkled and sparkled with the light of the chandelier.
"Really, about what?" Lettuce asked shyly.
"About many things." Pai said softly, "I was in the city, and I was observing the humans, when I saw something interesting. There were these two people in the park, and the male got down on one knee and asked the female something special. I have studied human culture, and all about marriage, but I have never seen someone ask someone else. There was this look in the female's eye; it was like pure happiness, Lettuce-san." Pai paused for a moment, "I want you to have that same look."
Pai slowly got down on one knee and took out a small black box and raised it.
"Lettuce-san, marry me." Pai said in a hushed tone.
Everyone in the room stopped what they were doing and stared, not knowing what else to do at a moment like this. Pai stared up at Lettuce, who stared back at him; she was shocked, but happy at the same time.
She had received her wish.
'I wish that Pai-san were here, and that we could be together.'
