Hi, it's me! Forgive me if I've been overdoing it on the fluff, or if I've been rushing. i wanna get to chapter 9 so bad! So sorry! I promise, i'll cut down on the fluff! Maybe...

And I think I'm making mint to OOC, so sorry about that too!

Diclaimer: I don't own Tokyo Mew Mew, Mamotte! Lollipop, Princess Tutu, lightsabers, or any other manga or song used here. Masami-chan belongs to Chiharu-chan, who is an awesome writer. Please read her work, it rules.

Claimer: I do own Kaito, Kinomi, Ichirou, Aiko-sama, and the poem at the begginning here.

Credit for the pickle juice goes to MewBleuberri, who told me about it. I got no reading on how well it works on broken hearts, but it is really good on colds and stuff like that.

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It’s hard to understand this

The emotions I have for you

It’s impossible to explain this

The feeling I get from you

So complicated, so complex

No one knows the chaos that goes on in my head

When I think of you

Opposing emotions

That aren’t really opposites

Insane attractions

That I forbid myself from

You are a taboo to me

But I still find it impossible

To keep my mind away

From the face that makes my heart light

Your face, you hair, your voice

All are forbidden

Yet unavoidable

You are a taboo

But still I love you

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I really wasn’t sure why I was acting like this. I mean, I knew at the start that I loved him. But that didn’t mean that I liked it.

For one thing, he was my enemy.

For another, he loved Ichigo.

And the final reason was:

No.

Just no.

I had sworn never to fall in love again until I was old enough not to be a complete idiot about it.

Especially not with someone who tried to kill me three times a week.

It was the day after the fiasco at the streetfair. The girls were questioning me all the way home about who the guy I liked was.

I would never tell them.

These guys may have been my best friends, but some secrets I wouldn’t even tell my brother.

And the fact that I’m in love with my mortal enemy was one of them.

So, now I was lying on my bed, pillow over my face, trying to sort out my chaotic emotions. It was about an hour until the blind date party, but I had other, more urgent things to think about.

Besides, what else was there to do? Joey was at an art-thing, dad was….somewhere, mom was at her nail salon, Ichirou was at kendo practice with Masaya, the Fong family had gone off to the park to do some more acrobatic moneymaking, so I was the only one here.

Yup, just me and my complicated life.

I honestly don’t get how I could love someone this much while hating him. I could understand hating him, but loving him so fully and completely that it almost hurt just to think about him? That was just….

I sighed deeply, the sound muffled by the pillow. Jeez, I thought my heart had learned by now. Relationships with boys always end in tears. Sheesh, nothing short of my precious all-cure would—

All-cure.

I sat of quickly, pillow sliding off me face. Mo, I really am an idiot! I leapt off my bed and sprinted down the hallway, leaping down the stairs four at a time. In no time at all I was standing in front of the open refrigerator in the kitchen, digging through it to the very back. And there, at the back, behind the mayonnaise, wedged between the cream cheese and the yogurt, I found what I was looking for: an old medicine container, the kind used to hold prescription pills. But this didn’t hold any of Joey’s calcium pills anymore. Now it had been washed out and filled with my precious all-cure.

I call it all-cure because that’s what it is: An all-cure. Good for colds, sinus trouble, headaches, and much more.

Including broken hearts.

I pulled the tiny orange container out, then grabbed a spoon out of the silverware drawer. Two spoonfuls. Just two spoonfuls was what I kept telling myself as I poured some of the miracle liquid into the spoon. When it was full, I raised it to my lips and sipped it slowly.

Mmmmmm……so good….. I fell back onto a chair and filled another spoonful and drank it, savoring the richly bitter/sour/sweet taste. It was on my third spoonful when the front door banged open.

“Hello?” Shouted a familiar voice.

“In here!” I responded, pausing long enough to shout a quick. “Hello” as Ichirou and Masaya walked into the kitchen, tired and sweaty from kendo, and took a seat at the table.

“Hey, Kinomi” Masaya said politely. Ichirou just nodded at me.

“What brings you here, Masaya?” I asked as I refilled my spoon.

“I’m sleeping over tonight”

I stared at him as I sipped my fourth spoonful.

He stared back. “What?”

“You know Pudding’s family is staying here, right?”

“Right…”

I stared at him as I refilled for my fifth spoonful. “You’re pretty brave, you know that?”

Ichirou, who had gotten up to rummage in the fridge for some popsicles as Masaya and I talked, sighed and turned his head to look at me. “Kinomi, are you drinking that again?”

“Hai”

“You’re gonna make yourself sick with that junk”

“No I won’t”

“What’s she drinking?” Masaya asked.

“Pickle juice” Ichirou and I said at the same time.

“What?!”

“It’s like my all-cure” I answered as I took a sip. “Good for sinuses, headaches, colds, depression, broken hearts, and anything else you can think of.”

“So.” Ichirou sat back down at the table, handing Masaya a strawberry (ironic, no?) flavored popsicle. He began to unwrap his own, melon-flavored one. “Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why are you drinking pickle juice?”

“Must I have an excuse?”

“Yes”

“Ok, ok…” I screwed the top back on my drink. “Well, there’s this guy….”

“Who is he where did he touch you do we need to report this to the police again do I know him what did he say how old is he can I please kill him?” Ichirou said this in a flat, monotone voice, like a line said waaaaaaaay too many times. I’m not sure why or how, but it’s become a bit of a joke in the family to say that whenever me or my mom mentions a guy.

“Well, um, let’s see….how do I say this….?” I was in the process of choosing my words carefully when the back door opened and Joey walked in. “Hey, guys. What’s up?”

“Kinomi’s got guy problems.” Ichirou and Masaya said at the same time.

Joey stared at me. “Who is he where did he touch you do we need to report this to the poli—“

“Guys, just stop it!!” I snapped. I didn’t mean to say it like that, but… “It’s nothing like that. In fact…” I closed my eyes. “I think I—“

But before I could finish, I heard the doorbell ring. I sprung up to answer it, relieved to not to complete my thought. When I answered the door, I found Ichigo, Pudding, Zakuro, Mint, and Lettuce standing there.

“Time already?” I sighed and ran upstairs, shouting “Ichirou! It’s the girls!!”

I sprinted to my room and wrenched open the closet. Maybe that vest, no that’s in the laundry, how about these jeans, yah these work. I squirmed out of my sweatpants and wrestled into the dark blue jeans. When I looked up I saw Mint standing in the doorway, laughing at me.

“Oh, hi” I said, a bit embarrassed.

“Hey” Mint walked over to my closet and peered in. A second later she pulled something out. It was one of my many, many sleeveless turtlenecks, this one in a light sky blue color. “Try this one.”

“Um, ok” I slipped off my t-shirt and pulled the new shirt on, then looked at myself in the mirror. Mint was good. The combo of blues looked awesome on me. But there was one teensy little problem…

“My Mew mark” I reached up to touch it lightly. “Everyone will be able to see it.”

“Here!” Mint handed over a black knit poncho with dark pink edging. I pulled it on and found that it looked pretty awesome. As a finishing touch, I put a black beret (which Joey claimed to have bought in Paris, France, but was really bought in a dollar store somewhere in the United States) at a crooked sort of angle on my head.

With my outfit perfect, I walked to the door, but Mint stopped me. “Hang on, there’s something I gotta give you” Mint reached into her purse and pulled out a red fluffy thing.

“Masha?!” I exclaimed, grabbing the kawaii thing in my hands.

“Nope. R2005” Mint said. I stared at her. She sighed and explained “Once Ryou saw how useful Masha was, he built more. One for each of us.” Mint plucked up her own puffball (who had been disguised as a purse charm a second ago) and held it up so I could see. It was powder blue in color, and had a halo, and wings similar to Mint’s when she was in Mew form. “This is R2001, otherwise known as Angel”

“Angel and Mint! Angel and Mint!” Angel said in a kawaii, high voice, rubbing itself on Mints cheek. Mint giggled.

I looked down to my own puff-thing. Now that I really looked at it, I saw it was nothing like Masha. It was light red in color, like a sunset, and it had dark red fox ears and a tail. “Hi, Rose!” I said cheerfully, naming it on the spot.

“Rose!” It chirped, testing out its new name. “Rose like! Rose stay with Kinomi!”

I giggled. I already loved her.

Once Angel and Rose were safely disguised as charms, we entered the kitchen, where the girls were playing with puffballs of their own. Ichirou and Masaya were watching with amused expressions. Joey was nowhere to be seen .

“Eh? Oh, hi Kinomi!” Ichigo called as Rose and Angel retuned to normal size to play with their comrades. “Wha’d you name her?”

“Rose!” I said happily. “What about you guys?”

“Pudding’s is Banana na no da!!” Squealed Pudding, who cuddling a puffball that was the bright yellow of a…well, a banana. It had little brown monkey ears and a monkey tail that was currently twisted around her index finger.

“I-I named mine Ribbon…” Lettuce smiled as she gently stroked a sea green one with a tail like Masha’s and a dark green bow on its head.

“Ume” Zakuro said, blinking at the deep purple one with grey wolf ears and tail that rested on the palm of her hand.

I sat down on the counter, letting Ichirou pick Rose up and examine her. Beside him, Masaya and Ichigo were laughing at something, just basically chatting, Masha flitting between them and squeaking things like ‘Masaya and Ichigo!” and “Aoyama Ichigo!”

“ Masaya knows?” I questioned, watching Mint with a bit of amusement. She was watching Ichirou with a strange look on her face, cheeks slightly pink.

“Uh-huh.” Ichirou answered, poking at Rose. She squeaked unhappily and floated back over to me. He didn’t seem to notice Mint. “So, what do these things do other than chirp, fly, and look cute?”

“They can sense aliens”

Ichirou and I glanced at Mint. Her gaze flicked down from Ichirou’s face to rest on her shoes, and she turned slightly more pink “Keiichiro told me. They can detect aliens, and communicate with each other. When one alien attacks one Mew, everyone will know…” Mint glanced up again. “What?” She demanded in response to our stifled giggles. “Your wings” I managed to say.

“Hm?” Mint glanced behind her to see that her bird tail and small blue wings had popped out in response to her embarrassment. Ichirou and I burst out laughing at the look of shocked surprise on her face. Mint forced her tail and wings down and glared at us. “It’s not funny”

“No!” Ichirou agreed. “It’s hilarious!”

“Hey, guys!” I heard Ichigo call over the noise. “Time to go!”

“Cya later” The guys called as the girls and I stepped outside.

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“Hi, guys!” Hanako seemed to be on a bit of a sugar rush as she greeted us. “Glad you could come!”

“Glad to be here” I heard myself say.

Hanako stepped aside to let us into her backyard, and instantly we were buffeted by the loud music and the rumble of chatter. The middle of the yard was cleared to become a dance floor, with tables, chairs, and snack bars all around the perimeter, a DJ set up at the far end. “Cool na no da!” Was how Pudding summed up the general feeling of the group.

So, with that statement, we all wandered off. Or, rather, Ichigo and Lettuce walked off to the nearest snack bar, Zakuro and Mint went to go snag a table, and I went off to see what those tents in the corner were, Pudding following me. I could easily see from the huge sign on the first that it sold those temporary Mew Mew tattoos. The second, I wasn’t sure. So I walked in and—

“Aiko-sama!”

Aiko was sitting inside, facing a girl with long silvery hair. “Hm? Oh, hi Kinomi-chan, Pudding-chan”

The silver hair girl raised a hand in greeting. “This is Kartami Masami” Aiko saved us the trouble of an introduction by doing it for us. “I just finished giving her a love test. Masami-san, this is Konichiwu Kinomi and Fong Pudding.”

“Nice to meet you”

“Same to you”

“Hi Masami-san na no da!”

“Hey!” Hoshiko stuck her head in the tent. “Masami-chan, Hanako-chan’s looking for you. She says there’s this one guy your gonna luuuuuuuv” She said the last word with a heavy dose of sarcasm. I giggled slightly as Masami groaned “Again? That’s the fifth guy tonight…” But, grudgingly, she followed Hoshiko out, calling over her shoulder. “Bye, Kinomi-san, Pudding-san, Aiko-san” As she left, I heard her mutter. “Now, how should I kill this guy….”

“Bye” I called, trying not to giggle.

I turned to Aiko. “So, uh, Aiko-sama…can I talk to you for a second”

Aiko smiled. “You don’t have to call me –sama, you know”

“I know”

“Pudding’s hungry…” Pudding whined as her stomach growled loudly. “Can we go get some food now na no da?”

“You go ahead, I’ll meet you at the snack table”

“Ok Kinomi-oneechan na no da!” With that, the little monkey-girl ran out of the tent to fill her already hyper self with more sugar.

There was a kind of silent tension when Pudding ran out. Aiko and I just stood, staring at each other, waiting for the other to speak first. Which neither of us was planning to do anytime soon. Now, faced with the prospect of finally discussing this with someone, I was tongue tied. To ease the silence, I walked the perimeter of the tent, inspecting everything I passed. There was a mini-fridge in the corner, piles of books, foldable chairs, candles, a flashlight, a battery-powered radio, Ipod sitting on top of that, and—

“You like Pichi Pichi Pitch?!” I exclaimed as I came across a little stack of the book that sat atop another stack of larger books with titles such as Computers for Dummies, Basic French, and Cooking for Two: An Introduction to Simple Menus.

“Uh-huh. It’s my favorite”

“I bet Hanon’s your favorite character, right?”

“Yah, how’d you know?”

But, after that brief splash of chatter, the silence once again overtook us.

“So, uh, what was it you wanted to talk about?” Aiko said in a desperate attempt to regain conversation.

“The love test”

Aiko nodded as if to say ‘go on, I’m listening’.

“Th-the guy I love…..” I began softly. “I can’t love him”

“You can’t or you won’t?”

“Both”

Aiko put both her hands on my shoulders. “Kinomi-chan, your feelings toward him are complicated, chaotic, and, in your opinion, forbidden”

“Exactly”

“But they aren’t”

I looked up to her. “Wha….?”

“You love him.”

“Yah, we went over that already.”

“And you’re obsessing over that?”

“I guess……”

“Well, don’t”

I stared at her, waiting for her to explain.

“Look, no one ever said love was easy. But trust me. Stay true to yourself, and your heart will work it out on its own.”

“Um….” I blinked. “Ok…..”

Aiko smiled. “There. Problem solved.”

I smiled back, but it was only a mask. This problem was far from solved… “Do you know who it is?” I asked softly, praying that she didn’t.

“Nope! Not a clue!” Aiko said with a touch of sarcasm and a little wink that made me wonder if she did know. Then her face turned serious. “Look, I’m only gonna say this once, so listen up”

“I’m listening…”

Aiko just stared at me. She seemed to be thinking about how exactly she should say this. I felt a chill descend over my body. When someone looks at you like that, you know its bad news.

“Kinomi-chan…” Aiko said slowly after a long pause. “I can see the road ahead is dangerous. And I don’t mean just a broken heart.” Aiko’s words was beginning to scare me a little. “If you’re not careful, you’re gonna end up dead. And not just you, your friends, your family… everyone”

I just stared at her. Just stared.

“And, soon…” Aiko looked…sad as she said this. Not crying, no teary-eyed manga-sad. True sad. Slight frown, big concerned eyes, a slight edge in the way her fingers gripped my shoulders. “J-Just…just be careful. Ok?”

“Alright, Aiko-sama”

Aiko looked like she wanted to tell me more, but at that moment Pudding popped her head in, her face smeared with chocolate. I could hear lyrics of “One love! Two love? Three love! Come on! One love! Two love? Three love! Four love? One love! Two love? Three love! Come on ! One love! Two love? Three love! Four love? One love! Two love? Three love! Come on!”Being yelled from the dance floor

“Kinomi-oneechan na no da! Come dance with Pudding na no da!” Pudding yelled as she ran over and grabbed my hand to pull me outside.

I looked at Aiko, but she had already wiped every trace of unhappiness from her face, and was now smiling as though nothing was wrong. I grinned at her and let Pudding pull me out. As I left thought I heard her whisper “Be careful, Kinomi-chan…”

“C’mon, dance na no da! Dance with Pudding na no da!” Pudding beamed as she dragged me into the middle if the ‘dance floor’. I grabbed Pudding’s hands and spun her around. She giggled and ducked under my arms. She’d lead, then me, then her, until it was hared to tell who was doing what.

It was almost impossible to dance correctly, and all the more fun because of that. Pudding and I were right in the middle of a clump of dancing, yelling, laughing, singing, and sometimes making-out people. So while Pudding and I were singing our vocal cords to shreds and spinning and jumping and just basically having the time of our lives, so were about 50 million other people.

“Aitaku natte Aenai nante

Tsumaranai kara moshishite IIn janai?

Watashi no Sadness Sayonara Sadness

Rockin' Roll otoreru? Nee asonjao”

I spun Pudding away from me for what felt like the eighth time, and held out my hand to grab her back. But the hand that closed around mine was bigger, rougher. I looked up to see a boy, tan and tall as I was, with dark brown hair with green streaks.

“Hey boys!

Can you tell us to rock 'n roll?”

Now me and the mystery guy were dancing, he leading and me following. I glanced over to Hanako, who was dancing close to her boyfriend. She caught my confused look, pointed to mystery guy, and mouthed “Don’t worry, he’s for you”.

So I continued the dance in the arms of some guy I didn’t know.

Wonderful. Just great……

“Who are you?” I asked over the yelling as he swung me under his arm gracefully.

“Kaito. You?”

“Kinomi” I glanced around to see where Pudding was. The song had ended barely two seconds before, and already she was at the snack table stuffing herself with chocolate. Again. I stifled a small chuckle, then felt a sudden tugging at my hand. The Kaito guy was pulling me to a table in the corner. I followed willingly for I had nothing better to do, since I hated the song that had come on now.

“So” I said when he plopped into the seat across from me. “I guess Hanako set us up”

Kaito shrugged. “Uh-huh.”

“She always does that, it dives me nuts……”

“Gomen” Kaito said, giving the slightest hint of a smile. “I wouldn’t know, I’m Hoshi-san’s friend”

“Hm.” I said. It didn’t really mean anything, just a sort of sound to show I had heard him. Hoshi was Hanako’s boyfriend, by the way.

“Um…..” Kaito fidgeted slightly, trying to find a conversation topic. “Y-You like Mamotte! Lollipop?” He said after a short pause in reference to the fact that we had just been dancing to it’s theme song.

“Uh-huh. Zero and Nina forever!” I shouted enthusiastically, punching my fist in the air.

“I personally think Sun-chan and For-chan area cuter couple.”

I blinked. “Huh?”

“What?”

“You watch that show?”

“No, I read the manga. It’s a lot better than the anime.”

“Right.” I said. I was surprised that there was actually a guy that liked Mamotte! Lollipop. Mostly only girls read that. Even Ichirou hated it. And, let’s face it, he’s not normal. He watches Princess Tutu.

And that’s how the chat started. Ranging from manga to anime to ice cream. Basically, he seemed sweet, funny, polite, and free-talking. I swear, I was aboutthisclose from confessing all my dark secrets to him, like the fact that I still sleep with a little stuffed penguin named Hippo-sama. Not even Joey knew that. Or Ichirou. Only Pudding, and that’s because she shared my bed (which is fun but annoying. She kicks in her sleep and snores. But fair enough, seeing as I always hog the covers).

Honestly, I’ve never been this open with a guy. I was feeling that tiny trigger of hope that I would be able to fall out of love with Kish and in love with him.

Whoops. I shouldn’t have thought about Kish. His face appeared over Kaito’s, Kaito’s explanation of how to make an accurate Zero cosplay drowned out by Kish’s voice.

Falling out of love with a guy who could make me grin like this was gonna be harder than I thought.

“Hello? Earth to Kinomi-chan?”

“Eh?” I blinked myself back into present day, striving to keep my mind from Kish-land. Kaito was waving his hand in front of my face. “Sorry Kaito-kun. Did I space out again?”

“Yep. I’m guessing you like someone?”

“Uhm……” HOW THE SMOOF DID HE FIND OUT?!

“Your bushing.”

“Oh….”

And the next second I was blushing a whole lot more. Up started a slow song. ‘Listen to your heart’. The slow dance, romantic version.

I know there’s something in the wake of your smile.
I get a notion from the look in your eyes, yea.
You’ve built a love but that love falls apart.
Your little piece of heaven turns too dark.

“Who is it?”

I remained silent.

“C’mon, you can tell me!”

More silence.

“Please!?”

Silence.

Sometimes you wonder if this fight is worthwhile.
The precious moments are all lost in the tide, yea.
Theyre swept away and nothing is what is seems,
The feeling of belonging to your dreams.

“Why can’t you tell me?”

“It’s none of your bussness” I said quietly.

Kato was silent for a long time. Then he said in a slightly hopeful voice “Is it me?”

I stared at him. He had a face that was a combination of hopeful, determined, and defeted. He had just as good as confessed love to me, threw himself at my mercy. Now I had to respond.

Perfect. I opened my mouth to say ‘Yes’ and just get over my love for some guy I shouldn’t love (Kish) but before I could speak…..

Listen to your heart
When he’s calling for you.
Listen to your heart
Theres nothing else you can do.
I dont know where youre going
And I dont know why,
But listen to your heart
Before you tell him goodbye.

Kish immedaitly jumped to my head.

I listened to the song lyrics. And Aiko’s words reverberated in my ears. Trust your heart and go with your gut. Casually spoken words, but now they sounded like the most importaint nugget of wisdom in this lifetime.

What does my heart say?

Who do I really love?

Why am I even bothering to ask?

“No” I said softly. “I like you a lot, Kaito-kun. But I really love someone else. Gomenesai”

“Oh…..” He blinked. “W-Well, that’s ok….” He didn’t sound ok though……

“Gomenesai…”

“N-No, really, it’s fine”

“You sure?”

“Uh-huh” He answered confidently. He looked a lot better now. “Who’s the lucky guy?”

“Uhm….”

Kaito must’ve seen there was gonna be no answer for that, so he changed tactics. “What do you like about him that much?”

Sheesh, what wasn’t there to like. “He’s nice. And strong. And…” I blushed, my speech becoming more rapid. I had now reached what I truly loved about Kish. “He’s playful, and very passionent! He’s the type who’ll die for what he loves! And he’s daring, not afraid to kiss you! And he’s hoooot!! His eyes feel like they’re staring right into my soul!!”

I will admit:

I was blushing and squealing like a fangirl.

And then it hit me. “I just said all that out loud, didn’t I?

“Uh-huh”

I mentally kicked myself.

“So, who is this passionent, hot, strong, nice, playful, daring, stare-into-your-soul dude anyways? He sounds like a real piece of work to me.”

I ignored the insult. Dare I tell him?

I trusted him.

He didn’t even know who Kish was.

“His name… his name is—“ But before I could finnish, Pudding jumped up from a bush beside us. “She’s gonna tell us na no da!” Then I saw Ichigo pull her down, and hear Lettuce say “Uh-oh”

THEY HAD BEEN SPYING ON US?!

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“Thanks for coming with Pudding to pick up some milk na no da!!”

“No problem. It’s not like we don’t need it”

I walked beside Pudding down the sidewalk. On the way home from the chaos known as the blind date party. I relived the scene in my head as we walked and Pudding ranted about nothing in particular.

“WHAT’S GOING ON?!” I asked angily.

Lettuce, Pudding, and Ichigo stood up and stepped out of the bush, looking guilty. Or, at least, Ichigo and Lettuce did. Pudding just looked hyper as ever. Kaito looked surprise, which in my opinion was an understatement.

“Plan didn’t work, huh?” Zakuro was walking over, Mint folowing like a puppy.

“Plan? What Plan?”

And so it was reveiled. Ichigo had told Hanako that I liked someone, so she set me up with someone who could get me to tell who it was. I was just about to explode in fury when Zakuro put a hand on my shoulder.

“They were worried” She said calmly. “Your’ve been so stange lately, we wanted to make sure you were ok”

And so I let them slide.

Just this once.

I walked into a telophone pole.

“Are you ok Kinomi-oneechan?!”

“Uh-huh” I said numbly. In reality, I knew I’d have a bruise the size oof a softball by morning, but whatever….

I walked around the pole and strolled on. I wasn’t mad at Kaito, he had no clue that he was being set up for this.

“Hey losers!”

Triple smoof. I knew that voice. And it was only confermed by Pudding excited squeal of “TAR-TAR NA NO DA!!”

“ACK, PUDDING, GET OFF OF ME!!”

I tried not to giggle as I looked up to see Pudding hugging Tart tightly. Tart pushed her off and flew out of her reach. “I’m here to kill you, not get hugged by you!” Tart yelled as he made a fist. He punched it in the air, and I wondered what the heck this little brat was—

“GET OUT OF THE WAY KINOMI-ONEECHAN NA NO DA!!”

Something small pushed me in the back, and I fell forword. When I picked myself off the concrete, I turned to see..

Roots or vines or whatever had sprung up out of nowhere, ensnaring Pudding, sufficating her. I saw her face steadily turning blue, saw her mouth for the words “Tart-Tar na no da”, but no sound came out. I glanced to Tart, and was surprised by the look on his face.

He looked shocked. I could tell he had been aiming for me, but Pudding got in the way. Tart looked completely frozen. There was something like pain in his eyes as he watched Pudding gasp for air. He didn’t want to hurt Pudding.

He blinked, reganing control of himself, and forced the vines down. Pudding dropped the ground. I didn’t know if she was alive or right now I didn’t really care. Right now all I cared about was killing Tart as painfully as possible.

I kicked him in the stomach. He was flung backwards onto the hard ground, but he sprung back up faster than a daruma and summoned his swords. I faked another kick at him and grabbed one of the swords as he ducked.

“So you think you can fight, huh?” Tart shot. In truth, I had no clue in the world how to use a sword. Looks like I was about to get a crash course.

He slashed at me. I dodged. He was good. I wasn’t. His moves were all coordinated as we fought, each thought out and planned perfectly in a millisecond. Mine weren’t. Mine looked like if you had handed a four-year-old a Lightsaber. Wild, slashing, and bound to cut off someone’s head eventually. So I didn’t think what I was doing when I brought the sword slashing down enexpectedly.

It was like that sudden slow-motion in the action moves. Every suddely seemed to move at half regular speed. My sword was aimed right at his neck. He was shielding in the wrong direction with his sword, free hand raised over his face.

Inseconds this sword whold slice across his neck and slit his throat.

I was going to kill him.

I was going to kill the guy who hurt Pudding.

And I’m glad I was gonna kill him.

I wanted him to die.

But then my mind jumped back to that time so many eons ago, as Chi taunted Tart about his family.

The image of shaking, sobbing Tart had been burned into my mind. This kid’s entire family had been murdered in cold blood right in front of his eyes. From what Chi said, Tart had nearly died trying to protect his sister.

Mid-swing, my sword shifted.

A spray of red hit me in the face.

Smoof, did I really kill him?!

I had moved the sword ever so slightly off course so it wouldn’t hit him.

I didn’t want him to die.

I don’t know why, but I couldn’t kill him.

But now I think I just did by mistake.

I was nearly sick as the thought hit me. I had just killed someone. Murdered him. I was no better than Chi. I chanced at open my eyes, and nearly fainted in releif.

I didn’t kill him after all.

Instead I had slashed open his arm. Blood dripped from the deep cut that ran from elbow to wrist, but it wasn’t life threatening. It would heal.

I suddenly grabbed Tart’s free hand, the one that had been cut, and flipped it palm-side-up, and pressed the handle of the blood-spattered sword into it, closing his fingers around the hilt.

“Wha…?”

“You win” I said with finality, taking two steps backwards. Tart stared at me, then teleported away, muttering “Humans are so weird…”

I nearly broke out in a smile, but then I remembered one importiant thing…

“PUDDING!!” I ran over to beside the child and felt at her neck for a pulse. She was out cold, her neck red, but she was breathing and alive.

Good.

I scooped her up in my arms and continued walking as though nothing had happened.

“Tar-Tart na no da” Pudding giggled in her sleep. I smiled slightly to myself. She really loved that guy, even though he was our enemy.

I blinked. And ran the thought through my mind again.

Pudding was in love with Tart.

One of the aliens.

One of our enemies.

And Tart didn’t love her back.

Wow. Pudding and I were more alike than I thought.

“Kinomi-oneechan?”

I glanced down at the small girl in my arms. She was awake now, sitting up in my arms, eyes big. “Why does Tar-Tar hate Pudding na no da?”

She sounded so innocent. I don’t think she knows that Tart didn’t really wanna hurt her. “I don’t think he hates you, Pudding”

“He says he does na no da”

“He doesn’t. He doesn’t want to hurt you.”

“Then why does he always say he hates Pudding? Why is he always so mean to Pudding na no da?”

I hugged Pudding tight. “I sure wish I knew, kiddo”

She hugged me back. I felt like we were on the same wavelength.

Sisters.

Loving someone they shouldn’t.

It felt good to know I wasn’t the only one.

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Millions of thanks for reading this. and, yes, the only reason i gave them all robots is so that Kinomi could get one! They're so cute! So sorry if i overdid it any here, and R&R and tell me your thoughts. i will not update untill I get 15 more reveiws! Cya then!