Special thanks to my sister, Mew Thorn, for proofreading, laughing, making some suggestions, and telling me I'm brilliant.

Vignette Two: The First Date

FRIENDS: Meet your boyfriend and say nice to meet you

BEST FRIENDS: Meet your boyfriend and scare the BLEEP out of him by threatening to break every bone in his body if he hurts their best friend

The four older members of Tokyo Mew Mew couldn't have been happier when the youngest member, Pudding Fong, announced that she had a date with Taruto Ikisatashi, one of the aliens they had previously fought who they eventually became friends with. They knew Pudding had liked him for a long time, and they were happy that Tart had matured enough to see that he liked her as well and had asked her out.

However, they were not going to leave at that.

So, when the day of the date arrived, Tart came to Café Mew Mew a few minutes before closing time. The older Mews all smiled politely and were friendly as they chatted with the alien boy. Then Pudding went to get changed, and the girls became no-nonsense.

"Tart?" Lettuce said sweetly. "Will you come here please?"

Tart nodded, a little confused. He approached the four girls, then watched with horror as they started to surround him, Ichigo standing directly in front of him.

"Look here, midget," Ichigo said, putting on an overly-sweet, almost scary smile as she cupped Tart's chin so that he was looking up into her face. "Let's get one thing straight here and now. You break Pudding's heart, we break every, single bone in your little chibi body. Am I clear?"

Normally, Tart would have argued with Ichigo for calling him chibi, but he was suddenly more scared of these girls in their cutesy Café uniforms than he ever was of them in their Mew Mew uniforms.

Tart nodded vividly, the blood in his face completely gone.

"Yes, ma'am," He said shakily.

Ichigo's smile became sweet and perky again.

"That being said, have fun tonight," She said, ruffling Tart's hair.

"But not too much fun," Zakuro said quickly.

"Yes, perfectly G rated fun," Mint added. "And if we find out you went over that rating… well, let's just say that we won't break your bones. However, you will be less one very important part on the male body."

Tart felt his face pale again and shifted awkwardly under their glares, and nodded again.

"Don't worry, I'm not that kind of guy," He said, trying—and failing—to sound nonchalant.

"Good," Lettuce said.

The girls instantly moved away from the boy, and his brow furrowed in confusion.

"Is Taru-Taru ready to go, na no da?" Pudding asked, smiling brightly as she approached Tart. She was completely clueless about what he had just went through.

"Yeah," Tart said, taking Pudding's hand. "Let's go."

As they walked out the door, Tart looked briefly over his shoulder and saw the four Mews standing together, their pendants in hand and slightly evil grins. Tart gulped and quickly pulled Pudding out of the building.

"Was… that too much?" Lettuce asked, putting her pendant back in her pocket.

"Nope," Came the response from her teammates.

And with that, they went back to work, as if nothing had happened.