The sixth chapter :) Please enjoy!


Walking backwards was by no means Retasu's strong point. Add in a full tub of dirty silverware in soapy water and you have a disaster. "Eee!" She yelped as she tripped on her own feet and fell backwards. Forks and butter knifes clattered to the floor and a pair of strong arms saved her from hitting the floor by hooking themselves under her shoulders. She blinked up at Pai, kneeling with her in his arms. They were both now soaked. Pai stood them both up and Retasu jumped back, her face red.

"T-thank you, Pai-san," she said, "I'm so sorry, I should have been watching where I was...going." She froze up as he started unbuttoning his work shirt.

"It's fine, Retasu-san," Pai said. He shrugged the wet shirt off his shoulders and draped it over the back of a chair. He looked up at her and gave her a slightly quizzical look, "are you feeling alright? Your face is red." He put a hand on her forehead.

"Um, I-I..." she forced her eyes to stay firmly on her shoes, trying to not stare at him. "I'm fine!"

"No fever but you aught to change before you catch a chill," Pai said.

"Okay!" Retasu squeaked and ran off to the dressing rooms.

Pai stared off in the direction she had ran in. "Strange," he mumbled to himself. She was usually much calmer than that. He knelt and gathered all of the spilled silverware into the bucket and took it the kitchen. He found Kish cleaning the dishes at the sink. "Where is Ichigo-san?" He asked, "I assumed you would not let her out of your sight after she was taken."

"Yeah, well, as much as it sucks, she won't let me in the changing room with her," Kish said. He stacked a plate on the drying rack and looked over his shoulder at Pai. He gave him a very confused look, "where the hell is your shirt?"

Pai set the bucket down next to the sink, "it got wet."

"How?" Kish asked, still confused.

"Retasu tripped and spilled this cleaning bucket," Pai answered. "Strange, though, that she became quite red afterwards."

"After she tripped or after you took your shirt off?" Kish asked.

"My shirt," Pai answered. He turned around and leaned against the counter. "I told her to change before she caught a chill."

"Pfftt!" Kish started laughing hard. "She wasn't getting sick, Pai! She's just a shy girl who thinks you're some hot stuff."

"Hot stuff?" Pai questioned, giving him an unamused look.

"Yeah, you know," Kish subsided his laughter, "attractive, sexy, whatever you science types call it."

"I know what it means, Kisshu," Pai said.

"Okay, but now the question is; do you think she's hot?" Kish asked. Pai answered by glaring at him. Kish grinned, "I'll take that as a 'yes.' Come on, already, just admit you like her. It'll feel better."

"Does it feel better to you that Ichigo is being targeted?" Pai asked rhetorically.

Kish's face fell and he glared down at the dishes he was cleaning, "you don't have to be an ass about it, okay? I was just teasing. Besides, it's not like Suika hasn't already found out. I know that's what he was talking about when he took Ichigo to that abandoned building. I just think you should tell her before something happens."

Pai looked away, staring into empty space. He supposed Kisshu was right, but how was he supposed to go about telling her something like that? He wasn't good with emotions, especially fluttery ones directed towards a woman.


The next day, Ryou told the girls the cafe would be closed to give them a break and took everyone to the beach. The girls put on their swimsuits in the changing rooms and the boys had put theirs on before leaving.

Zakuro's was a black and purple striped bikini, Purin's was a yellow one-piece with a short frilly skirt and an orange bow on each hip and she had a clear plastic floaty tube that had a monkey and banana pattern, Retasu's was green with a mid-thigh length skirt and a cute dolphin on the chest, Minto's was a blue one-piece with a white feather pattern, Berry's was a white tankini with a raspberry and strawberry pattern, and Ichigo's was a cotton candy pink bikini with a strawberry pattern and a very short ruffly skirt on the bottom piece.

Kisshu kept pulling at his dark green swim trunks until they hung low on him the same way his old pants did. When he looked up and saw Ichigo walking over, his eyes widened. She looked good in a bikini and the skirt made it quite adorable. She put down a hot pink towel next to his black one and eyed him, confused.

"What?" She asked.

"You look hot," he said, grinning and looking her up and now.

She scowled at him, "do you always have to make things so awkward?" He kept staring so she sat and curled herself up, hugging her knees to her chest. He shot her a disappointed look and plopped down on his butt.

Berry and Tasuku jogged up to join them, putting down a pale pink towel next to Ichigo's hot pink one and a brown one next to the pale pink one. Berry dropped her beach bag onto her towel. "Let's swim!" She beamed at Ichigo and Kish.

"Sure!" Ichigo jumped up.

Tasuku peered around her at Kish, "you coming?"

"Uh..." he looked out at the ocean and furrowed his brow. "No."

Ichigo raised and eyebrow at him. He was usually much more energetic and playful, it surprised her that he'd say no to going swimming. She turned around and squatted facing him, "are you okay?"

"Fine," he said, not taking his eyes off of the water.

She studied his face and then something occurred to her, "you do know how to swim, right?" He turned his head away from her, still keeping his eyes on the vast blue. He looked completely surprised, however, when she grabbed his wrist in her hands and started pulling him towards the ocean, giggling a little. "Don't worry, it's easy! I'll teach you and we won't go out that far."

She stopped when the water was at his knees and told him to stay there while she went out a bit further, where she would demonstrate. Berry and Tasuku went further along the shoreline to play with a beach ball with Purin and Tart.

"When you're swimming, you need to push out in front of you, like this," Ichigo held her hands together in front of her and then moved them out and away. "Keep doing that over and over, and kick your legs. Try it!"

Kish put one hand on his hip and scratched the back of his head with the other, "I don't know..." He started to take a step back, feeling uncomfortable in the water, but Ichigo bent forward and grabbed his wrist. He looked back at her to see her actually smiling up at him for once.

"Don't chicken out," she said, "if you can fight a war, you can swim in the ocean."

He sighed, finding himself unable to say 'no' to her smile, "alright." He waded out to where she was.

Ichigo held up a forefinger, "one rule: you can not use flight to help you. It has to be all you. Oh, and don't forget to hold your breath."

He looked down at the water around his thighs with unease and then up Ichigo's smile. Just the fact that it was aimed at him gave him more confidence. She stepped in front of him and grabbed his hands. "Lower into the water," she instructed. He kept his gold eyes firmly on her pink ones and did as she told him to until his chin touched the surface. "Good, now I'm gonna start walking out further but I won't let go of your hands, okay?" He nodded and she started to walk backwards in the water. Once the water was at her chest, she told him to start kicking his legs. Her smile brightened, "good! You're doing really good! Kick faster, though." Kish started to smile, too, thinking he was getting the hang of it. She turned them, starting to walk backwards again, but made sure the water stayed at her chest. There was a bright flash and she glanced over at the sand for a moment but looked immediately back down at Kish. She started easing her hands out of his.

"Move your arms like I showed you," she told him.

He tried, "gah!" He faltered and lurched himself forward, grabbing onto her arms.

She grabbed his elbows to stable them, "relax, it's not like I'd let you drown."

He let out a breath and nodded. "Am I still doing good?"

"Yeah!" She gave him another encouraging smile. He smiled back and tried again. Ichigo let go of his elbows and he very slowly released his grip on her arms to start moving them as she had told him to. She moved backwards again so he could swim forwards.

"Good, now just keep moving towards me," Ichigo said.

"Pai, look! I'm swimming like a human!" Kish shouted over to Pai, who was several feet away, looking at seashells with Retasu. He looked up and gave a small smile of amusement.

"That's great," he said back. It reminded him of when Kish was little and insisted on showing him everything new he found or learned to do.

A couple walking along the shoreline gave Kish and Ichigo a funny look.

"Eh hehe," Ichigo forced a laugh, "he's just weird," she tried explaining to them. They refocused their attention on each other. Ichigo leaned a little as she walked backwards to whisper to Kish, "you can't say stuff like that. People will find it suspicious."

"Right, sorry," Kish mumbled, not entirely paying attention to what she had said. He was far more focused on his swimming now. She moved to walk next to him.

Tasuku and Berry wadded over to them and she put a hand on Ichigo's shoulder, whispering in her ear. Ichigo's face lit up, "yeah, that'd be so fun!" She said. She tapped Kish on the shoulder, "stand up."

"What are we doing now?" Kish asked as he stabled himself on his feet and smiled. He was starting to find the whole playing in the water thing a bit easier and more exciting.

Berry moved to stand behind Tasuku and Ichigo walked around Kish. Tasuku grinned at him and he stood there, looking confused but happy.

"Chicken fight!" Both girls exclaimed, grabbing the boys' shoulders and leaping up onto them.

Kish almost stumbled backwards but caught himself, grabbing Ichigo's thighs so she wouldn't fall off, "A what fight?!" Ichigo and Berry leaned forward and clasped their hands together, laughing.

Tasuku grinned up at them, "a chicken fight. It's when two people sit on the shoulders of two other people and see who can knock the other into the water first." He had his hands on Berry's thighs, like Kish did on Ichigo's. He guessed that was the standard way of playing the game and must have been why she wasn't asking him to move them. There was another flash and Kish took a quick glance at the shoreline to see where it was coming from. Keiichiro was standing there in red swim trunks and flip flops, taking pictures of everyone. Berry and Ichigo struggled against each other and twisted their arms around, causing them to fall into the water at the same time. The four laughed at the fact that no one had won.

Purin ran out of the water with her yellow beach ball, Tart following close behind. "Let's get some ice cream from the boardwalk, na no da!" She exclaimed.

"What about the others?" Tart asked. They stopped once they were on the sand.

"What about them, na no da?" Purin asked, "it's okay if it's just me and you." She walked over to her hooded monkey towel and put her ball down. She picked up the towel, shook it off, and wrapped it around herself, throwing the hood over her wet hair.

"I'm gonna make sure Pai knows where we're going so he doesn't get mad," Tart said. "Hey, Pai!" He yelled over to his big brother. Pai looked up at him. "We're gonna go get ice cream!"

"Don't wander too far!" Pai called back.

"Okay!" Tart grinned at Purin, "Let's go get ice cream!" Purin grinned back and they headed up to the boardwalk. Among the little surf shops and random food stands was a small ice cream shop. It had a bar and four stools with the ice cream in the back through a swinging door and a blue and white striped overhang. They climbed up onto two stools next to each other.

"Hey, kids, what'll it be today?" Asked the elderly man behind the bar with a friendly smile.

Purin kicked her legs and she sat bundled in her monkey towel, looking up at the menu on the back wall with a bright smile. "Cookies and cream, please, na no da!"

Tart read through all the different flavors curiously, wondering what each might taste like. He looked at Purin, "recommendations?"

"Mmm..." Purin thought about what he might like and then grinned, "Sherbet!"

"That one, please!" Tart said to the man.

"Alright," the man said, "cups or waffle cones?"

"Waffle cones, na no da!" Purin cheered.

"You got it, kid!" The man turned and went to the back to get their order.

"Oh, look," they heard a sarcastic voice behind them. They turned in their seats to see four girls around their own age standing behind them. They were all looking at Purin and Tart guessed they were friends of hers. "It's the freak," the one at the front of the small group said.

"What- hey!" Tart exclaimed, "that's not nice. Take it back!"

"It's okay, Tar-Tar," Purin said with a soft smile, "I don't mind, na no da."

"Who asked you?" The leader girl snapped at him. "Who are you anyway? Her little freak boyfriend?"

"Tar-Tar, this is Keiko-chan, na no da," Purin said.

"Tar-Tar?" Keiko looked him up and down and shrugged, "not bad, I guess."

"Only Purin can call me that!" Tart said. "My name is Taruto."

Keiko muffled a laugh and the other three mimicked her. "Oh, I'm sorry. That is kind of a stupid nickname."

"You should be nicer to her 'cause if it wasn't for her, this whole-" He stopped when Purin grabbed his elbow and shook her head at him.

"What?" Keiko said, "you know, she has this freaky obsession with yellow. It's almost like she's trying to be like that monkey Mew Mew. What's her name again?"

"Mew Pudding, I think," one of the other girls said.

"Just because you almost have the same name doesn't mean you'll ever be as cool as her," Keiko said. She waved and said in an almost mocking tone, "see you when school starts."

"Goodbye, na no da," Purin said, looking down at the ground with a sad smile. The four walked away down the boardwalk.

"No one knows?" Tart asked, surprised.

Purin looked up at him, "of course not, na no da."

"Why? You're heroes and they know it!" Tart said.

"It's safer for us that way, na no da," Purin said, grinning at him again. He started at her, wondering how she could always stay so happy when her life wasn't exactly something to smile about. The man came out from the back and handed them their ice creams.

"Thank you!" They both said and started eating. Tart paid, insisting since he had his own money from the cafe. Paying for things made him feel more grown up.

"Eh..." he flinched at the sudden cold on his nose and looked to Purin. "I don't have a napkin."

"Hold still," Purin said, grinning yet again. Faster than he could register, she had leaned over and licked it right off. His eyes widened and he jumped back in surprise. The old man behind the counter laughed at them. Tart blushed and focused his narrow eyes on his bare feet. Purin went back to happily licking away at her ice cream, her legs kicking, and one hand holding her towel closed around her. Tart looked up at her from the corners of his eyes. He smirked, thinking she looked cute. Flash. They both looked behind them to see Keiichiro standing there, smiling, with the camera in his hands.

"Cute shot," he said, "the others were wondering if you two wanted to play some volleyball."

"Okay, na no da!" Purin said. They hopped off the stools, said goodbye to the ice cream man, and followed Keiichiro back to their spot on the beach. When they got there, though, the sky darkened and the wind picked up.

"That's weird, it's not supposed to rain today," Ryou said as he walked up to Keiichiro.

"You're right, it wasn't," he said, "I guess the forecast changed."

Masha popped out of Ryou's shirt pocket, "alien! Alien!"

"Oh, yeah," he looked over his shoulder at Ichigo, "he's fixed now, by the way." Ichigo shot him a glare before looking to the sky.

"I don't see- Retasu!" Ichigo screamed her friends name as a circle of fire shot up around her.

Retasu stopped dead in her tracks, staring at the high flames dancing in a circle around her. She didn't have her pendent and the flames were too high and too hot for her friends to throw it over to her. Everyone else that had been on the beach started screaming and running for a safer place to be. Kehki appeared high above Retasu, controlling the flames.

"Pai-san!" She yelled, trying to see him through the flames. He had said he'd be back in just a moment and wanted to put some seashells in her bag so he could take them back to his base.

Pai was standing by Retasu's towel. He and Kehki glared at each other, "You know what happens when water meets heat?...Evaporation!" Kehki lifted his hands and the flames rose higher.

Pai calculated his options. If he used his fans, Retasu would get burned, bad. If he tried to fight Kehki one-on-one, Retasu could suffer smoke inhalation. His eyes widened when he saw her collapse behind the flames, holding a hand over her nose and mouth, coughing.

"MEW MEW ZAKURO!"

"MEW MEW MINT!"

"MEW MEW PUDDING!"

"MEW MEW BERRY!"

"MEW MEW STRAWBERRY!"

"METAMORPHO-SIS!"

He looked to the girls, now transformed, wondering what they thought they could do to help. Minto dug into Retasu's beach bag and found her pendent. She flew up and got as close to flame as she could but stopped and shielded her face with her arms. "It's too hot!" She shouted down to Ichigo.

"Drop it!" Ichigo yelled back. Minto tossed the pendent into the fire circle and it landed right next to Retasu's hand. She grabbed it but she was already too overheated and groggy from the heat to have enough strength to use it.

Pai tensed when he felt a hand on his shoulder but realized it was only Kish. "I warned you," he said, "and now you have to do something."

"RIBBON...ZAKURO PURE!" Zakuro's light whip wrapped itself around Kehki's wrist and he was yanked a few feet closer to the ground, making the flames falter.

"Hold him there!" Pai said to Zakuro. He flew up above the flames and summoned his fans, making them large. "Fu-Rei-Sen!" At the huge gust of wind, the flames extinguished, blowing away from Retasu. He teleported himself next to her and picker her up, running for the water. Keeping her in his arms, he lowered her below the surface, making sure her face stayed above for air. He felt her shudder at the sudden temperature difference and noticed a thin layer of black ash was now covering her as well as a minor burn on her upper left shoulder. He hoped what he was doing was helping. She coughed harshly several times. The rest of the mews were trying to fight off Kehki's shots of fire with their own weapons. Pai leaned close to Retasu's ear.

"The ocean will heal you," he whispered, although it was more of a prayer.

"RIBBON...LOVEBERRY CHECK!" He heard in the background, and then "RIBBON...PUDDING RING INFERNO!" But he poured all of his attention and focus on the girl in his arms.

Suddenly, Retasu sucked in a deep breath and her eyes shot open, "MEW MEW LETTUCE! METAMORPHO-SIS!" A green light surrounded her and Pai slipped his arms out from underneath her. When the light faded, Mew Lettuce stood before him, ready to fight.

"Thank you," she said quietly, giving a soft smile that almost seemed...loving? She looked to Kehki and her face hardened as she summoned her weapon and ran for him.

"RIBBON...LETTUCE RUSH!" A burst of water shot at him, drenching him.

His flame went out and he hovered in the air, shaking his hands, trying to relight the fire, "damn it..." He looked down at the mews, glaring at Retasu. "This isn't over." He disappeared.

Pai smiled at Retasu from the water. He felt relieved.

"What was that all about?" Berry asked. The girls had all powered down.

"Why would they go after Retasu-oneechan?" Purin asked.

"I don't know," Retasu said, her voice sounding slightly scared.

Pai looked at the whole group and spotted Kish looking back at him with a serious look as he stood next to Ichigo. "Tell her," he mouthed. Pai looked down at the water and waded towards the shore. He knew Kish was right. It was time for her to know.


"What a day," Ichigo sighed as she sat in her beanbag chair, fiddling with her hair ribbons. Kish was laying on her bed with his hands clasped behind his head, staring up at the ceiling.

"Yeah," Kish agreed. He looked at her and smirked, "hey, guess what?"

"What?" She asked, looking up at him.

His smirk grew, "we had fun together."

She raised an eyebrow at him, "yeah, so?"

"Just fun. No fighting or arguing with each other," he said, "we spent the day together and enjoyed it."

Ichigo looked back down at the ribbons in her hands, "I guess it is a first. Except Retasu getting attacked wasn't so fun."

"True, but she'll be fine," Kish said. "Pai's got her back." He looked back at the ceiling and closed his eyes.

"Can I ask you something?" Ichigo said.

"Anything," he said. He assumed she would ask what Pai's feelings were towards Retasu, but what she did ask surprised him a little.

"How are you, Tart, and Pai related?"

He looked over at her again, "that's your question?"

She nodded, "when you first came back, you said you were family. How so?"

He looked at the ceiling again, "Pai and Tart are biological brothers. I'm the adopted middle."

She remained silent for a moment before slowly asking another question, "do you remember your parents? Like, why are you adopted?"

Kish smirked and huffed out a short laugh, "no, I've been stuck with the peanut gallery for as long as I can remember. I don't know what happened to my parents."

"What about Pai and Tart's parents? What are they like?" She asked.

Kish shrugged, "never knew them either. Pai is my brother, but he's also the closest thing to a dad I've ever known. He might remember their parents, I don't know. He's never really talked about it."

Ichigo gazed at him. "How sad," she thought.

Kish rolled over onto his stomach, his eyes closed, "your bed really is comfy, Koneko-chan," he pressed his face into the pillow, "and it smells like you. Can I take a nap here?"

"Um...sure, I guess," Ichigo said, watching him. She sat there for several minutes until she thought he had fallen asleep. He did seem rather tired. She got up and walked over to her desk, looking at all the pictures she had taped on the wall. She felt like it was time to update them. She reached over and tore down the one of her Masaya.

"Koneko-chan?" She jumped a little at Kish's half-asleep voice. "Thanks for teaching me how to swim," he mumbled.

"No problem," Ichigo said, crumpling the picture and dropping it into her trash bin against the wall. "It was fun." She sat down on her chair and opened her laptop, pressing the 'on' button of the printer with her toe under the desk. She grabbed Masha off her cell phone and used the USB in his tail to hook him up to her computer and get some pictures off of him.


Ta-da! I thought a beach day would be a fun idea. Please review! I really do appreciate it :)