(A/N: Yikes,this one was a doozy to write, but thanks to Kisshu,Pai,Tart and Daisy-sama,I got it all done. It's a bit longer than my last ones,I think. Hopefully I pulled off more detail, but I'm not really too sure...! Anyway, please Read and Review!)

Chapter Five-Conflicts of Interest

The battle went into action, with each side giving their best shots. Pudding and Tart seemed to be the only ones that were reluctant to fight with each other.

"You know it doesn't have to be this way.." Pudding told him, after he'd helped her up from one of his blasts. "You could just tell me where she is."

"Really I would, if I knew." Tart replied, backing away from Pudding's weapon of choice. He produced an infuser. "Sorry about this..." He muttered, infusing it with a nearby vine.

"Don't worry about it!" Pudding replied. She continued to fight with the vine, eventually winning. "Alright! Now, it's my turn!" She turned her weapon on him once more, hoping this time to knock him flat on his back. The two continued to fight, though it looked more like a friendly sparring round.

Meanwhile, Kisshu had returned, childless, and was dealing with Ichigo. "Why don't you believe me when I tell you she's safe!" He produced another set of energy balls, and used them to block Ichigo's strawberry check.

"Why should I believe anything you say, you perverted sneak!" Came Ichigo's reply, as she dodged. "She doesn't belong with you!" She wasn't about to give up on getting Arissa back yet.

"On the contrary, Kitty Cat. She really wants to stay with me. Your kind has done nothing but hurt her since the day she was brought into this miserable world." Kisshu folded his arms. "I would never dream of hurting her." Kisshu found that he meant every word of what he told her. He really didn't want to hurt Arissa at all. And he was certain even his human-despising teammates felt the same way. They had fallen in love with Arissa, who wasn't old enough to judge them the way these mew mews did. And I will do anything I can to make sure she keeps her opinion of us the same. Five minutes with these girls would destroy it all! "This is nothing personal, Kitten, but I have to go." Before Ichigo could reply, Kisshu dematerialized.

"Ugh! Okay, girls, stand down!" Everyone, aside from Pudding stopped mid-attack. The youngest Mew Mew was playing with Tart. Ichigo and Pai sighed in unison. "Pudding, let's go!"

"Get over here,Tart!" Pai ordered. The two remaining Cyniclons left.

On their ship, Kisshu let Arissa out of his closet, motioning for her to stay quiet. "Sorry about that...I hope you weren't too scared..." He picked her up.

"I not scared of nothin'." Arissa replied bravely, but she was shaking, just the same.

"Shh! Even I'm afraid of Deep Blue! We'll go where we can really talk, okay?" He wrapped a small shawl around the girl's arms, and they left to go to the new ship Pai had gotten for them.

Pai was waiting for the two when they reappeared. "Have you lost your brains! What if we'd gotten caught with her?"

"Don't worry about it, Pai. She was a perfect angel." Kisshu replied smoothly. "Anyway, we're in the clear now." As he said this, he set Arissa down. "This is your new home, Arissa. You have free run of the entire ship."

"Well, except for the control room. You can only be in there with supervision." Pai added quickly. "Otherwise, feel free to go wherever you want." The two aliens watched the girl take in everything, slowly examining one room after another. Pai followed her around, knowing the ones he'd gotten to work under the table to keep the ship going would do just that. He'd told them that he,Kisshu and Tart had acquired a new responsibility, but hadn't gone into detail about it. "So...I hope this room and the next are to your liking. There's not much to them,but that will change with time." He said now, as they reached the sector of the dorms he had deemed as hers.

"These really big!" Arissa smiled in delight. "And not cold, like before." She added after a minute. She turned, and gave Pai a big hug around the knees. "Thank you, Pai.."

Pai smiled awkwardly, unaccustomed to this show of affection, and not sure how he felt about it. He patted her on the head after a minute. "It was no trouble at all."

"Come and see the neat things I got for you." Kisshu called from within one room that was her bedroom. "I'm sure I saw a few human children with these." He held out a couple of toys to her. Heh, and I had taken them away to give to you...He thought to himself, as he watched her examine them carefully. "Do you like these kinds of toys?"

Arissa studied the stuffed animals and dolls carefully. "I like dolls..." She said slowly, cradling one in her arms. "This one called Ichigo."

"I-ichigo? How about...Serena, or Luna?" Kisshu suggested. I refuse to be reminded of that look of annoyance on my kitty cat's face! It's bad enough I have to see her again sooner than I'd planned!

"Uh uh! I name her Ichigo." Arissa replied sternly. "Her's pretty."

"Okay, okay. Ichigo it is." Pai replied hastily,not in the mood for another tantrum over something silly. "This is all the toys you have right now, but if you're good, and do exactly what we tell you, we'll give you more, alright?"

"'kay!" Arissa ran to explore the other room now.

"She's just at the right age where toys are a good incentive to keep her behaving and on our side." Pai told Kisshu. "It's the best thing we can do for her..."

"I'm not so sure..." Kisshu replied. "I'm starting to wonder if this really is the best thing for her..." He shook his head. What am I saying! It doesn't matter what's best for her! This is about us, winning at least part of our battle. We have something those girls want. And that something thinks we're the good guys because of what I did! If I turn on her now...With a bored yawn, he walked into Arissa's playroom, and after a few minutes, the two friends were playing a quiet game of what Arissa called "Guess What I'm Doing".

Pai watched them in the doorway silently, lost in his own plans for the future. If everything went according to plan, Arissa would grow up on their side, and as soon as she was Tart's current age, he would send her into battle.

"Penny for your thoughts, Pai." Tart had come up behind him.

"Oh, it's nothing for you to worry about. I'm turning in for the night. See you in the morning." Pai left abruptly. There will be time enough for telling them my plans. If I tell them now...The eldest Cyniclon went back to his room across from the control room.

Tart watched him go, and then turned, and went into Arissa's room to see what she would want for a snack before bed.

"You lost her again?" Keiichiro raised an eyebrow at the five girls. "They must really have her under lock and key..."

"I don't think so. I think she actually wants to be with them." Ichigo said, as she wiped down another table. For a Saturday morning, Cafe Mew Mew had been really busy. Now it was closed, after Ryou and Keiichiro had called a meeting.

"When Lettuce and I confronted Tart, she was clinging to him like glue." She sat down with a sigh. This is getting ridiculous! And crazy. First Kisshu adopting a human, and now she thinks we're the bad guys. Things couldn't get any worse if they wanted to!

"Ryou and I did some searching on that girl too. She's not who we thought, though that doesn't dismiss the issue of her staying with the Cyniclons." Keiichiro paused. "Her parents died late yesterday afternoon from suffocation."

"Kisshu..." Ichigo clenched her fists. "I told him not to do it!"

"When was the last time he listened to you?" Mint asked now, putting a hand on her shoulder. "So, where does she go if and when we take her back?" This to Keiichiro, as she sat down. "I mean, after all this, I think an orphanage would be a bit much for her..."

"You're right. I wouldn't want her in one of those places either." Pudding agreed. "They're no fun." She bit into her coffee cake, and grinned. "This is great, Keiichiro. You're awesome."

"Heh...thanks..." Keiichiro beamed proudly.

"Can we get back to the subject at hand? Ichigo did raise an important question..." Ryou stepped in now to restore order.

"It's not important." Keiichiro replied with a smooth smile. "Trust me on this." He looked at the five girls again. "However, it is important that you keep trying to get her back. "

Easier said than done! I feel just awful about this whole thing. She's just a little thing, and she really seems to like Kisshu and his friends. But, Mint was right. She's only six, and she can't know how dangerous they truly are...though, I'm certain they'd never harm her...I don't know why I know that...I just do...Ichigo sighed deeply. "We'll keep trying,but, Keiichiro, you've never seen her with them. They all have a mutual adoration for each other. She completely trusts all three of them!"

"Be that as it may..." Ryou began, but he didn't get to finish. There was a loud buzzing from the basement, where they kept their computer equipment. "Sounds like trouble..."

"So what else is new?" Mint replied in agitation. "Can't a girl finish her tea in peace just once?"

"I'm only sending two of you this time anyway. Zakuro and Pudding, the disturbance seems to be coming from the park."

Ichigo scowled. She knew exactly what Ryou was doing. He figured Ichigo didn't want to help get the girl back from the aliens, and that she would, therefore, deliberately let them go. "I'll go." She said firmly.

"No, I need you here for something else." Ryou told her, giving her a stern Look. "You better go on, girls." He watched the two assigned mew mews leave, then turned to Ichigo. "I'm sorry, but I think it would be better for all parties involved for you to just sit this one out now."

"Sit it out! But I'm the leader!" Ichigo muttered under her breath. "It's not I can help how I feel..."

"Exactly. That's why it'll be better to let the other mews handle this. You're too emotionally attached." Ryou replied, leaving the room. "You can help Keiichiro in the kitchen." He called over his shoulder.

"He's crazy!" Ichigo told Mint. "If he thinks I'm going to sit around and let this go, he's nuts!"

"He's right." Mint replied, looking sympathetic. This was rarity. "As much as you hate Kisshu, you don't want to hurt him by taking away something he generally seems to care for. And you're attached to Arissa because of babysitting for her. It's a lose-lose situation for both of them, if they can't be parted for their own good, and you don't want to be responsible for the results." She stood up, and left the cafe then, leaving Ichigo to think about this. Ichigo watched her, and then, with a deep sigh, went into the kitchen to help Keiichiro.