Welcome to chap 11! And I gotta thank you for sticking around for so long!! I honestly think TaruPuri is very underrated and a much healthier ship than Ichigo x Kisshu (aka the most popular ship in the series) and they don't get enough credit for that. And I wish they had more content.

I am very normal about them. (I cry myself to sleep every night because of how perfect they are)

anyway! Hope you enjoy this chapter!

Taruto was Walking towards café mew mew. Yes he could also teleport, however he wanted to walk, because he was deep in thought.

Cuddling is something that is known to happen between people who are romantically interested in each other, however it's also been used in a platonic way. And Taruto was almost 100% sure that this definitely WASN'T platonic. He had his doubts, Ofcourse. However while repeating everything in his mind over and over again, (even if he wanted it or not, he couldn't stop thinking about last night) the way she warmly embraced him, the way she also blushed when he asked her to sleep in the same room as him, the way she snuggled even closer at the end before drifting asleep. Thinking about everything again has Taruto blushing himself. He did not expect this to happen this way.

He honestly can't think of a reason why Pudding would ever like him that way because of the way he used to treat her in the past. But like Zakuro said, he has to be more confident in himself, otherwise this will get nowhere. And Taruto wanted it to get somewhere, desperately.

And for some weird reason, she kissed his forehead. And Taruto can't think of a single reason why she did that too, it's either a thank you or she's just very comfortable with him, or, the best possibility, she liked him and took her chance.

Taruto's head was spinning, he slowly got more flustered thinking about how much he wanted this, the denial has been long gone but its embarrassing him to death, but it also felt so good at the same time. She made him so happy.

Things Taruto used to claim as "stupid" and "cheesy" suddenly became somethings he really wanted to do, with only her.

He wants to go on stupid cute dates, he wants to Hug her with no questions asked, he wants to...kiss.. her.

Taruto stopped in his tracks and slapped himself, shocking the nearby people.

"What is happening to me" he blushed. He's admitting to so many things he normally wouldn't admit to. Is it the confident boost?

Taruto honestly hated how his feelings towards Pudding dominated his mind to the point he couldn't think about anything else, it used to bother him a lot 2 years ago because he had a job to do, a planet to take. Which is why he was in denial, however with this plan in mind being gone, he unconsciously started admitting to more and more, because now he was allowed to be with Pudding, without the guilt hanging off of his back.

And it was a wonderful feeling.

He arrived at café mew mew and stood in front of the door, mentally preparing himself to see Pudding after all what happened the night before. Is she going to bring it up? Does he have to bring it up? How are things going to play out now? The many possibilities made him a little sick to his stomach.

"first thing comes first" he sighs. Even though he really wants to proceed his relationship with Pudding, she was still going through a harsh time, so if she doesn't bring it up, neither will he. And he promised himself he will definitely bring it up after her mom's death anniversary passes.

He walks into café mew mew, and immediately sees Lettuce and Pai cleaning the tables while having a friendly chat in front of him. While on his left, Zakuro and Mint are behind the cash register counting the money. Kisshu however was noticeably absent, while Ichigo was probably late again, like always.

He looks at his right, there she was. She was also cleaning a table, Pudding was quietly humming to herself while smiling.

Taruto also smiled, she physically looks better than yesterday, and she was smiling again.

Pudding looks up and makes direct eye contact with him, before Taruto could even say anything, her entire face reddens and she speed walks to the back room without saying anything, which left Taruto speechless.

"I-?" He looks back on his left and sees how Zakuro and Mint also witnessed the situation happen, they also look a little bit shocked.

"well, I didn't see that one coming" Mint sweatdropped.

Taruto angrily stomps over "what, WAS THAT?? Is she mad at me?!" He worries

The wolf mew shakes her head "I don't think so, I think she has the same problem you have" she informs "I think she has no idea what to even say to you"

"so it IS gonna be awkward" Taruto says worriedly, his biggest nightmare was coming true.

"I don't want to be awkward with Pudding, I hate awkwardness, even more when it comes to her!!" He half yells

Zakuro made a small gesture to let him know that he should dim his voice down "calm down, you don't know that's going to happen, we know for a fact that Pudding is a very sociable person, but at the end of the day she's also still a girl in lo-" Zakuro stopped in her tracks as she realised Pudding probably hasn't confessed her feelings herself yet.

looking into the innocent eyes of the young alien who tilted his head in confusion about what she wanted to say, she continued "-a girl... who's also... a person with feelings. And you know, people have their low days. Pudding can be sad or nervous or unsocial, too."

Taruto slowly nodded, still confused. He felt like she wanted to say something else there.

Mint nodded "why don't you head to the back too you'll be alone with her there and you can talk privately."

"R-Right.. but what if she left 'cause of something else? Like her mom's death.."

Mint looked at him with disappointment lingering in her eyes "are you serious Tart? Her face just exploded in the colour red, and you think that's 'cause of her deceased mother?"

Taruto rolled his eyes at her, she had a point. He made his way to the back room, on his way he got more nervous. What was he even going to say to her? He doesn't even wanna think about all the other bad possibilities but he decided to be positive about the situation.

he slowly opens the door "uhm.. Pudding?"

"Yo, Tart!"

Taruto's nervousness immediately disappeared the moment he heard that familiar raspy voice, it was Kisshu. He looked at the older alien in annoyance.

Kish was sitting with Pudding at a table.

Taruto looked at Pudding, she Wasn't Even looking at him, she was in fact looking in the opposite direction of where Taruto was standing, meaning he couldn't see her face clearly.

The younger alien felt another imaginary knife stabbing him in the stomach.

"Me and Purin are talking about last night's show, did you see it too?" Kish happily asks, not noticing the obvious tension that was present In the room.

"No- No I didn't" Tart replied, the annoyance could be heard in his voice.

Kish started giggling "Ohhh mannn you totally should! I just Found out Purin also watches it, we should all watch it together like some dumb movie night, right Purinring?"

Pudding, who was still looking the other way nodded "Y-Yea.. Pudding agrees with Kish-oniichan-" she replies.

Kish sighed dreamily "then we'd invite everyone, cozily sit on the couch where I could sit next to Ichigo~ our hands would accidentally touch as she dreamily looks into my eyes.. I'd lean closer and-"

"Thanks for Sharing your wet dream, Kish." Taruto Spat out, rolling his eyes as he sighed real loud.

Pudding softly giggled at Taruto's comment, while Kisshu glared at him.

The 3 of them then heard a faint yell in the background, it was Shirogane.

"guys! Opening time is in 5 minutes! Make sure you're ready!"

Kisshu stands up from his chair and grinned "let's go Purin, we'll give Tart his quality time to change into his uniform" he says as he makes his way to the door way.

Pudding nodded, standing up and holding her head low, she was looking at the ground while she followed Kisshu out the door,

Taruto didn't keep his eyes off of her though, he felt kind of sad that she was kind of avoiding him afterall.

And as if on cue, before she left the room Pudding shot a quick look at Taruto, he could see it clearly right then and there, that she was blushing.

The monkey girl smiled at him and then slammed the door behind her.

Taruto didn't notice it himself yet, but seeing her flushed face, flushed his face in the same color that was occupying Pudding's face at that moment.

Pudding rushed out.

"Why's Pudding so nervous, Noda?!" Her entire face flushed in the colour red as she tried to shake it off.

"It's only Taru Taru, the Taru Taru Pudding's always has known, The Taru Taru Pudding flustered in the past, but why is Pudding so flustered right now?!"

It's as if the years of perfecting her acting, and the years of building up that mental wall, that mask, it's as if they all were crumbling down. No matter how hard she tried, her blush just didn't want to leave her face.

For some reason, she couldn't look at him directly. For the entire day, flashbacks of the night before was replaying in her head over and over again.

She remembered she had to use all of her willpower not to explode the moment Tart placed his hand on her waist... and The moment he turned around to look at her, and the moment he wiped her tears away.

It was such an exciting feeling, but for some reason Pudding didn't feel like herself, her usual energetic self that would fluster HIM instead of her, and that was annoying her a bit, as if he was getting back at her for the years beforehand.

However, the fantasy she almost had let go, was slowly fading into her mind again, and she wanted it. So badly.

while being so hopeless for the past few days, the moment Taruto took the first step into asking if she wanted to sleep with him jumpstarted her heart again, she could feel the happiness she always used to have drawing out the bad feelings. And only one thing was on her mind, and that was him. Completely distracting her from the bad feelings she was having at the time.

And Taruto was right, she didn't get any nightmares after falling asleep. A dreamless night, one she dreamed of the moment the nightmares started. And it was all thanks to him.

Pudding blushed even harder, "It'll be fine... na no da. Pudding just has to do her best even more Noda"

she sighed and mentally prepared herself for the day.

After a few hours it was finally closing time.

"hey, Pudding! Can you come here for a second?" Shirogane yelled from the kitchen.

The monkey mew left her cleaning duties over to Lettuce as she made her way to the kitchen.

"yes na no da?" She chirps as she walks in.

Shirogane shoots her a smile "I baked this cake however no one ordered it today, it will probably go bad if I leave it here so take it with you, you can share it with your siblings and Taruto if he's in the mood for cake." He says.

Glitters and sparkles slowly faded into Pudding's eyes as she took the bag holding the cake from Shirogane "thank you Shirogane Noda! I'm sure everyone will love it!" She chirps.

"it's no biggie, I'll see you tomorrow" He says, Pudding Nods.

The crew stepped outside and left on their own path. Kisshu however was noticeably following Ichigo in secret instead of teleporting back to the ship. Taruto sweatdropped while witnessing the entire thing.

The sky was painted in a warm colour of yellow and Orange as the sun slowly went down.

Pudding was still inside the cafe as she had to do something real quick, so Taruto decided to wait outside.

Taruto was a bit nervous, this is the part where he and Pudding walk home together while talking about the day that just passed, however Pudding was ignoring him a bit, so he was afraid things was going to turn awkward. Even while waiting on people in the cafe Pudding made 0 eyecontact with him. Zakuro told him to not worry about it so much, that she's probably also nervous because of what happened the night before, and Taruto's putting his hope on that because being ignored by the girl you love stings, a lot.

Finally, Pudding came out of the front door and closed it behind her, shooting Taruto a big smile "Let's go home na no da!", which startled Taruto a bit.

He nodded at her and they made their way down into the park where they always walk down when they go home from the café.

Pudding was chatting the day away, which surprised the younger alien quite a bit. He thought it was going to be a silent walk, so for her to talk so much was quite a shocker. He tried to shoot his shot.

"ehm. Pudding?"

"yeah?"

"are you okay? You seemed a bit off today in the café" he says.

Pudding smiles at him "Pudding's sorry for worrying you Taru Taru! Pudding's fine, she was just feeling a bit unsocial that's all. Oh Taru Taru, look, Shirogane-oniichan gave us cake, we can eat it after dinner with everyone na no da!" She chirps.

"oh- great!" He says as he smiles back at her.

"I wonder what caused this change of attitude." He thought. However he sighs in relief as he warmly smiles at the talking girl next to him.

She seems so much more like her old self again. Her eye bags are slowly fading away and she's talking with him again, and that's all that matters right now.

The evening was so much more fun now due to the fact that Pudding was feeling a bit more like herself again. Not fully, but she's there. Fun conversations with the siblings and playing games, just like before.

Pudding made her way down the stairs as she just put her siblings to bed. She smiles at the younger alien who was sitting at the dining table playing with the boy's toy cars.

"Aw shoot!" Pudding gasps.

Taruto looked at her "what's wrong?"

"Pudding forgot about the cake she put in the fridge" she sobs "She wanted to eat it with everyone.."

"it's alright! Keep it in the fridge I'm sure it'll still be fine tomorrow." Taruto responded.

Pudding sighs as she puts her hands on her hips looking into the fridge "yeah I guess so..." Her head turns to look at him "Does Taru Taru want a slice right now?"

Taruto's head nodded faster than the speed of light as he was beginning to feel hungry again.

Pudding giggles at his reaction and sliced 2 slices, one slice for her and one slice for him.

she hands him the plate with cake on it and sits next to him at the dining table.

Taruto looks at her and smiles to himself, he's so happy she's feeling a bit more like herself again. However there's a bit of a problem, because neither of them mentioned what happened last night. Taruto was twitching in his seat as he looked at his cake, he wants to bring it up, but the moment he wants to he holds himself back. Its like 2 forces are fighting inside of him. He really wants to talk about it because he wants to know how she feels, very badly. He shook his head "Don't get too desperate"

He softly glances over to her cake and noticed something "wait you have a different cake than I do" he says "didn't Shirogane only give you 1 cake?"

Pudding stops eating and looks at her cake and then at Taruto's and gasps "oh they are different Noda!" Then walked over to the fridge to check on it.

"looks like Shirogane-oniichan made It a half half cake, he's been doing that lately Noda." She responds "one half is strawberry the other is banana."

The monkey girl closed the door of the fridge and made her way back to her seat "looks like Pudding's eating the strawberry one Noda" she sighs in disappointment.

"What's wrong, you don't like strawberry?" He asks her.

"Pudding likes strawberry however she likes Banana more, Pudding can't slice another slice cuz they're for her siblings noda.." she sighs. Taruto secretly took a mental note.

"I don't mind trading with you" Taruto responds.

Pudding shook her head in return "no need Taru Taru! Pudding already ate half of her cake, it wouldn't be fair. So its okay" she says, smiling at him.

Taruto looks back at his cake and frowns.

then suddenly got an idea. Another risky one, but he's willing to risk it. He had a feeling it would go well, just like last night.

His face slowly heats up as he takes a small piece from his cake and turns towards her. "Pudding, you can taste it like this," He held the fork maintaining the small slice of cake towards her, with his hand underneath Incase it falls.

Pudding turns towards him and her eyes widen, noticing what he meant by that.

"T-Taru Taru will feed Pudding?" She stammers

Taruto slowly nods as he's shaking a little, blushing uncontrollably.

But he soon won't be the only one cuz after his nod Pudding's face flushed in the shade of red.

As they're both now blushing uncontrollably, Pudding gulped and puts her fork down.

"okay T-Then" she says as she leans forward.

the closer she got to him the redder his face got.

She carefully took a bite and took her head back, munching on the fluffy banana cake.

"W-Well?" Taruto stutters.

"I-iss v-very delicious na Noda!!" Pudding stammers.

"G-Great!" Taruto responds as he now took another slice from his cake but now ate it himself, still heavily blushing.

Pudding however was still watching him and was also still blushing uncontrollably, as she also noticed something else.

She giggled to herself as her face reddens even more

Taru Taru and Pudding shared an indirect kiss na noda

End of this chapter!

I'd like you to keep in mind that its very hard to write a character who's mainly always bubbly and smiley in a bit of a romantic way. I'm very sorry if Pudding feels a bit OOC in this chap cuz it feels like it a little :sob:

I'm fine with Taruto however, cuz now that he's stepped over his denial and fear, he's taking more risks than before (which was never), but it still flusters him to his core. Which feels in character for me.

But also mainly cuz they're 2 years older here! They're now fully teenagers, they're not kids anymore which means they've matured, which is why I don't write my Pudding the way others write Pudding, which is : the funny and hyper kid who kisses Taruto whenever she likes and doesn't get flustered about it much (and also flusters him).

Yes she's still hyper, however she thinks more about her actions than she did 2 years ago. Which plays the main part in maturing! So that's why I've written her this way.

I'll hopefully see you again in the next chapter! Ty for your patience!