Pudding's big sleepover went without hitch for the first few hours, during which the two girls watched movies in complete dark after night fell. The girls watched a movie about aliens and ordered pizza from a nearby pizza place for dinner. Pudding taught the older girl how to play poker, and they played while the blonde girl complained that alien's skin wasn't green and they probably didn't suck out brains like that.

"You sure eat a lot of American food here, na no da," Pudding observed, glancing suspiciously at Lettuce.

"I was raised under an American-Japanese lifestyle?" Lettuce said lamely, hearing her excuse fall dead on the floor even as it left her mouth. She quickly invited Pai to eat dinner with them on the couch to change the subject and he watched the last half of the movie with them. He watched it with considerable irritation, to say the least, still managing to beat Pudding at seventeen hands of poker.

"Anyone want popcorn?" Lettuce asked, jumping to her feet as Pudding cheered enthusiastically.

Pai rolled his eyes, standing up next to her. "Stop troubling yourself over little things, Lettuce-san. I'll get the popcorn," he commanded. She started to feebly protest, insisting that it was the hostess's job to all the little things, but was silenced with a simple raised eyebrow.

Blushing, Lettuce obliged and watched him leave the room. She and Pudding sat for a few seconds in silence while she stared at the television.

"So, Lettuce-oneechan. . ." Pudding said, a confused expression clouding her face. "Did you and Pai make out, na no da?"

Lettuce's face turned a dark shade of tomato red, contrasting nicely to her hair. "P-Pudding! You shouldn't say those kind of things-You're only ten! Besides, I hardly know him!"

The small girl smiled darkly, as though she now knew a secret. "Don't worry, na no da-I won't tell anyone."

Lettuce stammered denials in embarrassment, but Pudding just stuck her fingers in her ears and hummed. When Pai returned with a bowl of popcorn, she moved away from Pudding, sinking into the far end of the couch. She patted the cushion next to her, smiling in a way that immediately reminded the alien of Taruto. It was not a good smile.

And thus Pai was left with no choice but to sit next to Lettuce, who was blushing painfully.

Pudding took no notice. She started the next movie, which Lettuce soon realized was a horror film.

"What movie did you rent, Pudding?" Lettuce hissed across the older boy.

"I dummoh," Pudding mumbled incoherently through a face full of food.

A half hour into the movie, Lettuce was sitting with one hand over her eyes, peeking through her fingers, teeth clenched in terror. Bright flashes of blood flickered across the screen, and high-pitched screams were being emitted through the loudspeakers. Pudding, on the other hand, was fascinated with the gory movie.

'Humans today. Completely desensitized by the media,' Pai thought in shock, glancing down at the blonde girl. He turned slightly, trying to see if Lettuce was still breathing.

And he became distracted by other matters.

Like the fact that Lettuce's immaculate nails were now digging into the palm of his hand, her knuckles white.

'How long has she been holding my hand?' Pai wondered. He looked up at the screen, where crowds of zombies were surrounding a house.

The teenage girl jumped in her seat, latching completely onto his arm, her eyes squinted shut. He jumped too. Her face was pressed against Pai, probably creating a bruise on his upper arm. But what scared Pai more than the possibility of a bruise or the horde of zombies on the screen was that Lettuce was hanging onto his arm for dear life. . .

. . .and he didn't mind. In fact, it kind of made of made him warm and fuzzy. If only he was helping her be being a sufficient pincushion. Wow, he could really do without the nails. He silently tried to pry the embedded nails out of his hand, quickly giving up.

'I've finally gone mad,' Pai thought dismally. But it was bound to happen. Practically impossible if you usually lived with Kisshu and Taruto 24/7. He sighed, causing Lettuce to realize what she was holding onto. She turned red and pulled away, turning in her seat.

But the movie finished without problem, aside from Lettuce possibly being psychologically scarred for life from all the blood. Pudding had fallen asleep through all the screaming, silently snoring on the couch.

Pai turned off the television and Lettuce covered the sleeping mew with a fuzzy blanket.

"I'm probably gonna sleep out here, too," she said, yawning. "You can stay up if you want, Pai-san. Just don't make too much noise."

"No, I'll probably go to bed now." He paused, half-turned towards the staircase. "Hey, can I ask you something?"

"Um, okay," Lettuce said timidly, looking up from her makeshift bed.

"Tomorrow-I was wondering. . ."

"Y-yeah?" Lettuce asked, thinking for a wild moment he was actually going to ask her out.

"Will you show me how to use the computer? I'm kind of curious about the human technology."

Or not.

"Sure, Pai-san," Lettuce said with a smile. "Good night."

"'Night."l