Tokyo Mew Mew 1. Encounter of the Close Kind

|Tokyo|

Bethany Ashton felt a certain kind of relief being back in Tokyo. She was the type of girl that thrived in big cities, and things didn't get any bigger than this city. She pulled out the parcel of letters from her backpack, tracing a finger over them as she did so.

She didn't need to read them again, but she still couldn't help let her eyes fall on certain words. Aliens. Tokyo Mew Mew. Superpowers. Since her childhood she and Ichigo had been pen pals, but recently the girl had been sending more and more ridiculous letters. These were partly the reason why she had requested her parents to let her go to Japan. The other reason was something she didn't even want to think about.

The cab driver cast a disinterested look on the girl in the back, making sure he was on the right way to the park. It was one of those days when traffic seemed to congest like crazy. At least there weren't any weird attacks going on. Now those were a disaster for public transportation.  
His eyes were drawn to the back again when the foreigner smacked the letters against her own face, muttering something in English. Weird-ass foreigners. He doubted that particular shade of red was natural in someone's hair.

Beth pulled forward a bit when the cab pulled to a halt. Handing over the fare – a little over 4000 yen, outrageous! – she got out, hoisting her back pack over one shoulder. According to what Ichigo had told her, the café she was working at should be around here somewhere. Clicking her tongue she started to walk around, trying to see a place that Ichigo had described as 'impossible to miss'.

Now that was odd. Granted, she hadn't been in Japan for over ten years, but she distinctly remembered people not running in a park, screaming. She watched, trying to decide for a moment what to do. Finally she started to walk against the flow of foot traffic, mumbling apologies every once in a while when someone bumped into her. Not that they cared, it seemed like people really just didn't want to be in one particular spot of the park.

'Brimstone.' She said out loud, looking at the scene that suddenly unfolded in front of her eyes. 'Brimstone and sulfur.' She repeated, resisting the urge to pinch herself. Now that just wasn't normal at all. Maybe Ichigo hadn't been fantasizing things when she wrote aliens created super monsters to attack people.

'LET GO OF ME!' a girl screamed. That pitch… that ability to burst any eardrum in a mile radius. If that wasn't Ichigo, Bethany would eat her cd collection. But where was she? She couldn't see the girl anywhere. At least until she looked up to see her friend dangling in the air, held by some green-haired guy.

Beth practically started fuming when she saw that. No one had the right to do that to a friend of hers! Especially not sweet Ichigo, who she regarded as something of a little sister. Ignoring the fact that Ichigo had seemingly dyed her hair pink – they would have a talk about that later – she looked around, trying to find something she could use as a weapon. Thankfully a lot of people having a play day in the park had left their stuff lying around.

|Kisshu|

His day really couldn't have gone any better. Apart from sneaking away from an ever grumpy Pai he also had been able to pay his playthings a visit. And Ichigo was as cute as ever, thinking she might be able to get away from him. He brought his face closer to hers, trying to steal another kiss when-

Blam.

The shock of impact forced him to let go, letting Ichigo to drop to the ground. She was caught by one of her friends, but that wasn't his concern at the moment. Turning around, he was just in time to catch a glimpse of something fluorescent yellow zooming in at his head. He caught it in one hand, inspecting the ball for a second. He'd seen the humans bat these things around earlier.

Looking down he saw a human woman looking up at him, her mouth set in a determined way. Wait a minute, was she the one who had just taken aim at him? He dodged another ball, flying down in front of her.

'What the hell do you think you're doing?' he yelled at her, waving the yellow ball in her face. This should have sent her screaming in the other way, as fast as her legs could carry her.

The tennis racket in his face gave him an entirely different opinion. 'I could ask the same thing of you!' she snarled back at him, raising the racket for another whack. Her voice was husky, and he managed to catch a glimpse of clear grey eyes before she brought the racket down again. 'What the hell did you think you were doing to Ichigo?'

'What I do with my toys is my own business.' Kisshu replied to her, snatching her weapon from her hands. This was unexpected, and highly unpleasant. Perhaps he ought to make her pay, just to make sure she understood her place.

'Step away from Beth!' Ichogo's voice came from behind the arguing pair. Looking behind him he saw they had gathered their entire team to face him. And he didn't have any parasites with him either. He let out a deep sigh, throwing his hands in the air.

'How unfair, all of you ganging up on poor lil' me like that.' Fleeing for the moment was perhaps the best of all tactics. It was rather troublesome : Pai would surely give him a hard time if he found out Kisshu had snuck out to 'play around' as the eldest of the trio liked to call it.

|Beth|

Bethany couldn't believe her eyes when the guy – an alien? – disappeared through some dark hole. Not to mention he actually flew! She pinched herself, making sure that she wasn't dreaming. That was before she was tackled to the ground by an excited Ichigo.

'Ouch!' she said, trying to struggle back up, which was easier said than done with Ichigo straddling her waist.

'You came!' Ichigo cried out, grabbing Beth in a hug. Poor Bethany couldn't believe what was happening, especially when her friend's pink outfit suddenly disappeared in sparkles, making place for a pink maid outfit.

With big eyes Bethany looked up at Ichigo. 'Brimstone.' She said again. 'At least you didn't really dye your hair pink. I didn't think your parents would have been cool with that.'

|Mew Mew Café|

'Mission succeeded, nanoda!' Bu-Ling shouted as they entered the now deserted sweets shop. They were welcomed by two guys, who both seemed to be curious as to what had exactly happened.

'Kisshu was being an ass like usual.' Ichigo said, putting her hands up in the air as if it was a daily occurrence. 'More importantly, Bethany came back! I'm so happy.'

Beth raised a hand in a greeting, before remembering she ought to bow. 'Nice to meet you.' she said out loud. Her brain was still looking to somehow reconcile itself with the fact her childhood friend was now a superhero. 'Oh, thank you.' she said when the tallest of the two men, Keiichiro Akasaka, handed her a plate with cake on it.

'Consider it an apology for finding the café in such a deserted state.' He said, thinking she didn't know about the Mews yet. He guided her to a seat, before ordering the girls to start cleaning up.

Beth brought the fork to her mouth. 'Ah, that's to be expected I guess. Though I've gotta be honest with you all, I never thought Ichigo was telling the truth.' This brought a dangerous look on the face of the blonde guy.

'The truth about what?' he asked, voice low and slightly intimidating. Beth, still having her adrenaline rush, didn't quite catch on to that. Instead she waved her fork in the air as she spoke, punctuating her words.

'Well, about her being a superhero. Mews, I think the word was?' Ryou turned a shade pink, directing his gaze to the blabbing Mew.  
'And of course there's the aliens, who attack you all the time.' The pink shade was replaced by a darker hue, hovering on the line of cherry red. His lips started to tremble, as if he was on the verge of speaking.  
'Not to mention the Chimaera, who also seem to be causing quite a bit of trouble.' Beth continued, unaware of the damage she was doing to the blondes nerves. 'By the way, this cake is excellent.'

'Ichigo!' Ryou shouted, sending Ichigo in a near stupor. 'What don't you understand about the words 'top-secret', 'don't tell a living soul' and 'should not leave the confines of this room'?'

The young woman laughed nervously, hurrying to Beth's side. She grabbed her friend in a hug, pointing at Beth's face. 'But… Bethany is different! She and I have been friends for so long, we're practically sisters. Not to mention that she knows how to keep her mouth shut, and it wouldn't have been right to keep things secret from her. Let's just say that I respect her a lot and she's known for only a really short while.'

'How long?' the blond asked. When Ichigo blinked in surprise, he repeated his question. 'For how long has she known?' The pink shade was returning to his cheeks, indicating his previous outburst would be due for a sequel pretty soon.

'… since I first transformed?' Ichigo offered, making it sound like a question.

'That's a really long time!' he told the girl, not believing how the leader of the Mews could make such a judgment error. He calmed down when Keiichiro patted him on the back, calming him down.

'I'm certain Ichigo didn't mean anything by it.' He offered as a consolation. 'It's only natural for girls to turn to their friends when they're confronted by changes in their life.'

'And it's not like I believed it from the start.' Beth added, trying to seem as non-threatening as possible. Sadly the flare of her red hair did little to help that impression. 'I mean, that's one of the reasons I'm here. I wanted to check up on Ichigo, to see if she should be put in a mental ward or something.'

'Hey!' Ichigo shouted in indignation. Bethany held up her hands in the universal language of 'you should have seen that coming.'

Mint let out a soft giggle, refilling a tea pot. 'At least your friend has some sense. I have to say, that's more than could be expected with your taste.'

'But… we're her friends as well, Mint.' Lettuce reminded her gently. This remark caused Mint to nearly choke in her freshly brewed tea.

Keiichiro coughed once, restoring order to the group. 'Well, that may all be as it is. But we are now confronted with the problem of an outsider knowing about our group. Does anybody have an idea about how we are going to fix this?'

Zakuro smiled at Beth. 'Well, she does have excellent aim. Perhaps that will help in discovering a job for her?'

This sent Bethany into a start. 'Hey, hey, hey. Before we start employing me, might I remind you people that I have other things to do as well? Ichigo isn't the only reason I came to Japan.'

'I'm not? Then what else is there?' Ichigo asked with a pout.

Beth started to count her reasons on her hand. 'Well, first there was checking up on you. Then there's the curry. And I promised my parents I'd get the apartment in order before they fly over as well. I also said I'd try to get a song released before they're here.'

'You're a singer?' Zakuro asked, raising an eyebrow.

The question sent Bethany in a seeming state of despair, leaving Ichigo to answer in her stead. 'Beth's parents are very famous heavy metal performers. She actually wanted to sing in the same band as them but…' Ichigo cast a glance at Beth, attempting to whisper. '… she's really bad at singing heavy metal, so her parents have been encouraging her to attempt some other genre.'

'I can still hear you.' Beth muttered from between her arms.

Ichigo continued. 'Anyway, she promised her parents she'd try something along the lines of a ballad, or maybe some jazz tune. They think her voice is far better suited for that.'

Bethany let out a moan of agony. 'The worst part is, they're right. I can't sing heavy metal to save my own life. Just stings I really want to sing, so now I'm stuck trying to do something more cutesy.' She propped up on one elbow, renewing her attention for the cake. 'And what country is better for that sort of thing than Japan?'

'Well, it explains the leather pants.' Mint said, as if she considered those to be worst crime since fur. Beth sent the girl a scowl. They weren't even tight-fitting!

Keiichiro smiled, though it was clear from that particular way of smiling heavy metal wasn't his cup of tea. 'Well, that may be as it is, but I would still feel a lot better if we were to keep something of an eye on you. I don't think the aliens will appreciate you interfering like that.'

She puffed up her cheeks, not happy with this turn of events. Still, it would mean she would be able to keep an eye on Ichigo. Superpowers or not, it was clear her friend could still use some sort of support. 'Fine.' She consented. 'I'll let you know when I'm available.'

Everybody in the café applauded her decision. Without knowing it, Bethany had made one of the first steps towards a big adventure that day. Not that she knew. For the moment she was far more interested in getting an extra piece of cake.

|Near The Apartment|

She checked her cellphone for messages from her parents. Not seeing any, she concluded that everything was probably alright. She'd give them a call just in case the next day. No matter how tough her parents managed to look on the outside, they had some of the softest hearts a person would ever encounter.

She clicked her tongue again, thinking. Things were pretty troublesome, with Ichigo being a superhero now. She hoped they would still be able to spend time together, apart from at the café. She hoisted her backpack on her shoulders a bit better, suddenly thinking about the first alien she had seen today. Thinking about how hostile he had looked at her, she considered making a baseball bat her first purchase.

She glanced in the alley next to her, just to check if there weren't any creep waiting for an easy prey. Tokyo was a pretty safe city, but one could never be sure. She stopped dead in her tracks when her eyes fell on a tiny figure, lying in a pile of rubble. Not good.

She walked towards the person lying there, breath catching in her throat. Pointy ears, just like that Kisshy, plus an attire that certainly did not give off the air of being native to Japan.

She squeezed her eyes shut. Of course that would be just her luck. Finding a knocked out, murderous alien right near her apartment like that surely didn't spell any good for her. She almost turned around, when she cast another look on the unconscious alien lying there.

He was so tiny. He didn't look any older than Bu-Ling did, at least she guessed it was a he. With his hair up in pigtails like that, for the same thing it could be a girl. She squatted next to the alien, thinking over her option. Of course the smart thing to do would be just ignore them and walk away. Judging from the area around the boy, something had exploded, knocking him out clean. There were quite a few scratches on his cheeks and arms.

She thought about what her parents would say when they found out she had left a child, clearly in need of help, lying in an alleyway like that. But the aliens and Mews were enemies! Couldn't helping one of them be seen as a breach of loyalty.  
Beth felt herself be torn between wanting to help Ichigo and staying true to her upbringing. When the night chill sent a shiver up her spine she made a decision. Leaving a kid lying on the street in the night would be horrible, no matter who they were.

She hoisted the kid up in her arms, surprised by the light weight. At least that made things easier. She couldn't walk past the receptionist like this, so she'd have to use the stairs at the back of the building. And her parents had wanted the top apartment as well! That would be a long way up.

She brushed some of the kid's hair away from his face, letting out a deep sigh. She knew she was doing something stupid. No way this wasn't going to back-fire on her. She just hoped the alien wouldn't try to kill her the moment he opened his eyes. From what the Mews had told her that was actually a possibility!

Then again, right now he looked just like any other child would have. Frail and in need of help. Curse her own bleeding heart, if she only learned to be a bit tougher. The only times she was able to put on a big mouth was if others did so first. And kids had always been able to charm her into doing pretty much anything.

'Don't make me regret this, kiddo.' She said out loud, huffing because of the height. This always looked so much easier in movies. And who was she kidding? There was no way she wouldn't regret this.

|Moon's note : due to possible mature content, the age of most characters has been upped by a few years. This means that Bethany and Kisshu are both nineteen, Ichigo is eighteen and the age of other characters relative to that, unless stated otherwise.  
Thanks for reading, leave a review if you like (even guests can leave one, no need to be shy) and as always, helpful criticism is most certainly welcome.|


	2. Roommates

|Beth's Apartment|

Turned out hoisting a kid up a flight of eight stairs wasn't the breeze one might expect. Then there was the added problem that she hardly ever worked out. The most exercise she ever got was helping her parents with their musical instruments, and even then it was only from and to the tour bus. Beth managed to open the door without having to put the kid down, which was in its own right a feat for her.

She got him to her bedroom, laying him on her bed. There still wasn't any sign that he was aware of what was going on. She managed to retrieve the first help kit from one of the unpacked boxes. The apartment so far was pretty bare, only the most basic furniture installed. Tomorrow she'd get to unpacking the rest of her stuff.

Beth got back to her room, only to be suddenly assaulted by a pillow flying into her face. It plopped to the ground without doing too much damage, which was soon remediated by the now awakened kid yelling at her.  
'Who are you?' he demanded, standing on the bed, looking like he was ready to flee as soon as he thought she might make a wrong move.

Beth immediately held up her hands to show she was unarmed, for which as a reward she immediately got another pillow thrown at her. 'Hey kid, I'm not going to harm you.' She barely managed to dodge a stuffed giraffe flying her way. 'I brought you here because you looked like you could use some help! Stop throwing my own stuff at me!'

The kid paused, holding another stuffed animal in his hand. He narrowed his eyes at her. 'Yeah, why should I believe you? Who says you're not going to try and hurt me?'

She slowly lowered her hands, keeping a look-out for any more possible assaults on her personal wellbeing. 'If I wanted to hurt you, I could have done so while you were unconscious, right?' She pointed out to him, taking the wind out of his sails for the time being. 'All I want to do is take care of those cuts you received. But I won't do it if you decide you'd rather just get out of here.'

He eyed her, the dark brown hair disheveled as he seemed to think it over. 'I dunnow… I'm not sure if I can trust humans.'

She let out a deep sigh. 'Can't say that I blame you. I met that guy with the green hair today, I think his name was Kisshy or something?' The young boy corrected her, seemingly interested in her encounter with the other alien. When he asked her what had happened she told him. 'I gave him a few whacks with a tennis racket that was lying around. But that was only because he tried to hurt my friend.'

This caused the young boy to double over laughing. 'That is fantastic. It'll teach him, constantly trying to get that human girl to like him.' He gave her an appreciating look. 'I'll let you treat me… if you promise to give me a treat later on.'

Beth chuckled at that. 'Kids, huh.' She said, earning her a shout that he wasn't a kid. She sat next to him, ordering him to show her an arm. 'My name is Bethany, by the way. Beth for short. What's yours?' she smiled at the boy, trying to give off a big sister vibe.

'Taruto.' He answered her, looking sour when she disinfected the wounds. 'I can't believe you managed to get away from Kisshu though. He usually tries to kill any human he encounters on their own.'

'Well, to be honest, Ichigo and her friends were there to scare him off.' She said, cutting some bandages. 'How'd you get these cuts? Did you get in trouble?'

Taruto looked away from her, seemingly embarrassed that somebody had seen him in this state. 'I was trying to make a new type of Chimaera.' He admitted. 'But it exploded, and that wasn't supposed to happen. Yeouwch!' he yelped when she dabbed a cotton swab at the side of his face. 'That hurts!'

She tutted at him. 'I need to make sure your wound doesn't get dirty. Otherwise it will hurt even more.'

Taruto looked at her as if he was expecting she'd try to make him eat his vegetables next. She finished looking over the rest of his cuts, leaving the boy to look like half a mummy. 'Well, that fixes that. But you should be more careful from now on, and only try experiments like that when you have a responsible adult with you.'

'Yes mom.' Taruto answered, the sarcasm almost tangible. 'Don't worry, I cleaned after my ears this morning too.'

'Don't you get smart with me, young man.' Beth warned him, raising a finger. She whipped her head around when she could hear something falling downstairs. 'Did you hear that?' When Taruto nodded, she held out a hand, signaling him to stay in the bed. 'Don't follow me. It could be a burglar or someone dangerous.'

Of course he ignored her orders. 'And who of us is the strongest you think? If there's anybody here who can take care of themselves it's me.' Beth decided to say nothing of the bandages, instead moving out of the bedroom. The apartment was spacious, the advantage of having parents who had a steady income in a lucrative business. It also meant they wouldn't be running into the invader immediately.

She could hear someone screaming profanities as the sound of boxes falling was audible. She considered plugging the kid's ears, just to preserve his innocence. On the way she grabbed a metal pipe, component to an impressive lamp that was waiting to be assembled. When the brat tried to move in front of her she grabbed him by one of his pig tails, yanking him back.

When she entered the living room she couldn't believe her eyes. A tall pale alien was standing in the middle of the living room, observing his comrade who seemed to be struggling to get from underneath some boxes. 'I told you to shut up, Pai!' The one buried yelled, finally emerging from a stack of cd's that had him covered. 'Not everybody has fancy gizmos that let them calculate where there's a space to appear.'

Beth's heart sank. Of course it had to be aliens. But why the hell would they be here? The tall one looked to the side, observing both her and the boy behind her. 'There you are, Taruto.'

'You!' Kisshu shouted, disentangling himself from a myriad of objects. 'I should have known I'd run into you again.' He advanced towards them, floating at high speed. The way he looked at Beth seemed to promise bloody murder. 'If you think kidnapping one of our own will stop our plans, you have another thing coming.'

Beth held the pole in front of her, stopping him in his tracks for a moment. 'Now wait a minute , who are you calling a kidnapper here?' she demanded to know. Kisshu wrenched her weapon from her hands as easily as he would have plucked an apple from a tree. When she decided that this was close enough for her she tried to run away from him, only to be grabbed by the neck.

'Pai, tell me this one has a good soul. At least that way we'll be able to get some redemption from his situation.' Kisshu ordered the tallest of the trio. Beth grabbed at his hand, trying to pry his fingers loose from her neck. How was this guy so strong? She tried to tell him to let go, but her voice wouldn't come out.

Much to everybody's surprise it was Taruto who ended up saving her. Kicking Kisshu in the shins he caused enough of a distraction to allow Beth to drop to the ground, gasping for air. When she looked up she could see the young boy standing in front of her, as if he wanted to protect her.

'Taruto, what is the meaning of this?' Kisshu demanded, looking the young boy up and down. It was a miracle he still recognized the boy, covered in bandages as he was. 'And what did she do to you?'

Taruto crossed his arms over one another. 'She took care of me, that's what!' Taruto made clear, looking up at his older adopted brother. When he continued he looked away, slightly pursing her lips. 'I kind of got in trouble trying to make a special Chimaera. When I woke up she offered to make sure I'd get better.'

He looked back at Beth, who was still on her knees as she nursed her sore throat. 'This doesn't mean I like you, okay? I just don't like owing people something.'

Beth nodded. 'Then I'm glad I decided to take care of you.' she managed to bring out, before she got back on her feet. She looked at the three aliens, one standing in front of her to protect her, one watching from the sidelines and a Kisshu who was practically foaming at the mouth.

'Then what are we going to do with her?' he asked, pointing a finger at her. 'If we let her be she'll just go blabbing to everyone that we were here. I saw we use her to make a new Chimaera and then we get outta here.' He looked at Pai, crossing his arms over one another. 'Well?'

The pale alien looked around the room, seemingly inspecting the space. 'Human, tell me. Is this place very close to the center?' Beth shook her head. 'You live here alone?' Now that was a weird question. What was he trying to figure out? She told him her parents would eventually follow, though it'd still be a few months. He floated towards the window, looking outside. Finally he nodded his head. 'I believe we take advantage of the situation by taking up residence here.'

Both Beth and Kisshu couldn't believe it. 'Excuse me?' they both said at the same time. When their eyes crossed Beth stuck out her tongue at the alien, before continuing. 'I don't think I heard you correctly. You say you want to live in my home?'

'Did I not express myself correctly?' Pai informed. Beth clicked her tongue, her hope that she had misheard dashed on hard reality.

'That's impossible!' she yelled, stepping towards the taller man. 'I am not planning on sharing my living space with three guys.' She grabbed his arm, all thoughts about personal safety out of the window. 'C'mon, move! Get out!' No matter how hard she pulled, he didn't move an inch. This was so unfair!

Kisshu floated up next to them, obviously as displeased with the situation as she was. 'I can't believe I'm saying it, but this woman is right. You can't expect us to live here. I refuse to share a home with someone as needlessly violent as this one.'

Of course this got Beth riled up more. She yanked him by the collar, bringing her face closer to his. 'Who are you calling needlessly violent? You've attacked me two times now, and both times I didn't deserve it.'  
'You attacked me first, remember? I wasn't the one throwing balls at you.' He retorted, still peeved by that.  
'I thought you could use a pair, seeing as how you were attacking a girl. You have some nerve, forcing yourself on someone who's not interested!'

The fight was broken up by Pai, who grabbed the pair of them by an ear. He seemed to be very unimpressed by the situation, and by the screams his unsuspecting victims were emitting. Not letting go off them he turned to Taruto. 'Let's have a vote. I vote yes. Taruto?'

The young alien scratched the back of his head. 'This place is a lot nicer than our hideout.' He admitted. He cast an eye on Beth, who seemed to be like someone who had the potential to be entertaining. 'I want to see Beth beat up Kisshu some more. I'm in.'

'Good.' Pai conceded. He let go of Kisshu, who immediately fled to the other side of the room. He gave Pai a mean glare as he massaged the top of his ear. Beth was still being ignored as she tried to stay still, so her ear wouldn't be yanked off by mistake. 'Kisshu, your opinion?'

Kisshu let out an uncertain laugh. 'Why ask me to vote? Unless you're going to ask the woman's opinion, I don't think it'll matter much.' Finally he rolled his eyes. 'If I can pick on her a little bit while we're here, sure.'

'Good, then everybody agrees.' Pai said, letting go of Beth's ear. She too decided to take three huge steps away from her tormentor, also rubbing her ear.

'What do you mean, everybody?' she asked, throwing her free hand to the side. 'I don't recall having voted. Doesn't my opinion count in this?'

The way the three stared at her could be interpreted as a definite no. Beth pointed at the door. 'Get out, now!' When none of them attempted to move, she pointed again, this time more pleading. 'You guys can't be serious about this. Why would you wanna live in this place, with me? Just get out.'

'It would be good if we don't have to travel between plains to rest up.' Pai said, opening up a notebook as he spoke. 'And I like the location of this place. It isn't too far of our most important strike zones.'

'That's quite a speech, coming from a guy like you.' Kisshu said, looking bored. 'If we're going to stay here, I want to know where we'll be sleeping. Hey, woman, tell us where-'

He was shut up by the sound of a door slamming shut. Looking around he noticed that Beth wasn't in the room anymore. 'Where'd she go?'

Taruto shrugged. 'She just told me to get you two out of here before she wakes up.' Like that was going to happen. In the pecking order Taruto was still just the runt, no matter how much he despised that. 'Say, are we really staying here? If it's a joke, maybe we should tell her.'

Pai floated to the sofa, settling down with his notebook. 'I don't joke.'

|The next day|

Beth finally gave up feigning to sleep when the sun came through the window. First thing she would have to do was hang up curtains, or she'd be waking up this early every time. With a tired yawn she got up, reaching for a brush. Her hair only reached just past her shoulders, but it had the most awful tangles every time she got out of bed.

At least the aliens would be gone out of the apartment. She reached for her cellphone, dialing up her parents. She was met by her mother's voice, who permanently sounded like a chain smoker.

'Bethy darling!' her mother greeted her. 'How are you? Did you arrive safely?'

'Yeah, I did. Had a little trouble at the airport since my Japanese is rusty, but it could have been worse. How's daddy holding up?' she asked, the cellphone in the crook of her neck as she picked out a white ruffled skirt for the day. Reaching over her knees she hoped it was still decent while also projecting the 'cute' look she would have to assume in this music industry.

'He's been crying he misses his little girl.' Her mother said, obvious glee in her voice. 'You would think such a big man wouldn't cry so much, but I always suspected his tear glands are a bit overdeveloped. Did you see Ichigo already? Did you managed to catch up?'

Beth made an agreeing sound, pulling the phone away from her ear as she switched into a green shirt with long sleeves. 'Oh yeah, we had a lot to talk about.' She said, thinking about everything she had been filled in about.

'That's good to hear sweetie. Anything else interesting happen?' her mother continued. The sounds coming from the other side of the phone suggested her mother was brushing her teeth during the phone talk.

Beth looked in the mirror, cringing inwardly. There were bruises around her throat, a clear indicator somebody had tried to strangle her the day before. 'Well, nothing that special.' She lied. If she started spouting talk about aliens her parents would very lovingly find her the nearest straight jacket. And her father would throw a fit if he found out his daughter was in any danger.

She heard her mother spit out some water. 'As long as everything's fine over there, Bethy.' Her mother said lovingly. 'Daddy is already sleeping, or I'd give him the phone for a minute. How's the apartment looking?'

Beth walked out of the bedroom, towards the living room. The solitude showed that the aliens had indeed left her house, causing an intense sensation of relief. Until she actually entered the living room.

Taruto was sleeping on the sofa, a foot dangling from the side as he slightly drooled. She could swear she had seen Pai stick his head around the corner of the kitchen for a brief moment. And all of a sudden Kisshu appeared in her field of vision. He was floating upside down, his face far too close for comfort.

'Bethy dear, did you hear me? I asked about how the apartment is coming along.' Her mother gently reminded her.

'Ah well…' she started to say, eyes growing in panic as Kisshu smirked at her. Did his face have to be so close to hers? She coughed, turning away from the alien as she tried to continue her talk with her mother. 'I'm still unpacking for now.' she admitted. Were those jellyfish things the parasites she'd heard about? What the hell was going on here? What was this goo on the floor?

'Though it does seem we have a bit of an infestation going on at the moment.'

|Moon's note : Thanks to Amandalucia and the Yoshinator for reviewing! You guys are too precious, can I adopt you both?  
Beth won't be singing just yet, since she has to run into a few problems regarding that first (evil writer laugh) And the Mew wiki suggested Bu-Ling as an alternative for Pudding, which I thought sounded a bit nicer. ^^|


	3. Beginning Friendship

|Beth's Apartment|

Once she'd said goodbye to her mother Beth turned around. Kisshu had stopped floating upside down, instead hovering an inch above the ground, watching her with some interest. There were a lot of questions waiting to be asked, but the most important one had to go first. "Why are you still here?"

He looked at her as if she had just asked him why the sky was blue. "Because we decided we'd stay here. You were there yesterday when the decision was made, weren't ya?" he replied, in a tone that suggested she might be brain-dead for not getting the current situation. Beth's reply consisted of a groan and a hand against her face as she reminded herself to keep breathing.

"Why is this happening to me?" she brought out, voice muffled by the hand pressed against her face. She was supposed to prove to her parents she could make it on her own. She didn't think handling an alien invasion was part of being an adult. "All I wanted was to be a singer, maybe get a boyfriend. I never did anything to deserve this."

"It's not that bad, Red." Kisshu told her, looking as if the situation was highly amusing. "You have great me to keep you company."

"Red?" she asked, giving him the what-the-fuck-are-you-talking-about look.

He grabbed a strand of her bright hair, holding it in her field of vision. "Red." He made clear, before grinning at her. "Say, you're friends with Ichigo, aren't you? How about setting us up on a date?"

"Not happening." She told him, starting to walk towards the kitchen. He followed after her, clearly not wanting to let go of the situation.

"Why not? All I want is to kiss her! Maybe make her cry a little bit…." It would seem like respect for gravity was not common in aliens. Did their feet ever touch the ground?

She whirled around, jabbing a finger in his chest. "You make Ichigo cry and I work you over with a tennis racket again, this time with more permanent damage."

He chuckled at the threat. "Really now? You're not even a Mew as far as I know, and even Ichigo isn't strong enough to beat me when she's human. I don't see any reason to be afraid of you."

She got closer to him, grabbing him by the collar. "I already told you I can take you, pointy. If you wanna go, just say the word and we'll take this outside. I'd hate to get blood on my new carpet." Normally she was a rather even-tempered girl. Normally. But she'd never been good when it came to someone trying to tick her off. She had tried to work on it, but threatening a friend was a sure way to make sure she got violent.

He laughed, grabbing her collar in return. "Bring it on, Red. It's been a while since I had a decent punching bag." His other hand suddenly stroked her cheek, a cool touch that sent a shiver down her spine. "But if you keep this up, I might get interested in you as well."

Pai came from the kitchen, or rather, he suddenly appeared into the room. They didn't believe in doors either it would seem. "You two are rather hot-headed early in the morning." He commented, hardly surprised that it was Kisshu who managed to pick a fight with the resident human. He turned to Beth. "Perhaps you can aid me."

"With what?" she asked, not able to keep the suspicion out of her voice. Pai asking her for help? What kind of creepy experiment did he need help with?

Pai pointed towards the kitchen. "I analyzed all of your foodstuffs, but none of it appears to be edible. Give instructions on how the render it fit for consumption."

Her shoulders slumped as she let go of Kisshu's clothes. "What did you do with my food?" she asked with a rising panic. Before the tall alien could give her an answer she stormed to the kitchen, Kisshu still hanging on her collar as if this was some sort of game.

Once in the kitchen she barely suppressed a scream of anger. On every available surface the contents of her freezer were displayed, including her favorite super chocolate ice cream. Her other favorite dish, the best curry in the whole world, was also nearly thawed. She had had five bags of it too!

"How long has this been standing out?' she asked no one in particular. What were they hoping to accomplish with this?

Pai looked at the clock, looking as if he was calculating something. "About three of your hours. Like I said, hardly anything is edible, except the brown stuff. What is appropriate for breakfast?"

How clueless could they get? She resisted the urge to bang her head against the counter in despair, opting for slapping Kisshu's hand away. Pointing a finger at the duo she gave them orders. "Put all of this back where you found it. And set the breakfast table."

"Even this stuff?" Kisshu asked her, holding up the bowl that contained her curry. It was almost completely liquid now, to her great regret.

"We'll have that for dinner." She decided. "So just leave it there for now. I'll make breakfast." The best way to keep a reign on what was happening in the house would be just to roll with it, until she found a way to get them out of the house. Until then she was left with doing damage control. Lots and lots of damage control. "And something wake up Taruto when you're done with clearing away my stuff."

|Café Mew|

Ichigo looked at her friend with a smile, a patch of whipped cream stuck to her cheek. It would seem there had been a small accident in the kitchen. Leave it to Ichigo to make being messy look cute. 'You're looking a bit sulky, Beth.' She said, pushing her cheek against the other redhead. "Didn't you sleep well?"

Beth stared at her cake listlessly. She had been trying to decide if she should tell them if they aliens had invaded her house or not. In the best case they'd be able to chase them out, but that would leave the place in shambles. Maybe it would be better to just keep quiet and hope they'd become so bored with the place they'd leave on their own. "I'm fine… I think I might have a bit of a jetlag, that's all. Clean yourself up Ichigo." She said, taking a napkin to rub Ichigo's cheek.

Ichigo giggled. "Well, make sure to get a good night's sleep. Tomorrow is the day you have your first appointment with a record label, isn't it?" Beth received a thumb's up. "I know you'll do great. There's no one with a better voice than you."

Ryou walked past them at that point, having just scolded Mint for taking her third tea break in half an hour. With a face that was still sour he walked up to the two friends, thumbs in his pockets. Looked like he still hadn't forgiven Ichigo for blabbing.

"Beth. We have an outfit ready for you." he announced, already guiding Ichigo towards the dressing room. "Since you agreed to come help out sometimes."

"Uhm… thanks." She said, giving a slight bow of the head. "But can't I just come to work in some pants and a fancy shirt? I'm certain that will be a lot more suitable." Ever since she had been little she had never been comfortable in strictly cutesy clothes. If people looked closely they'd see that even the ruffled skirt had a very light skull print on it.

A combination of having parents who had to look the part of heavy metal singers and her flaring red hair had left her with a hardcore wardrobe and some intolerant classmates. Any attempt she had made at looking cute had been met with scorn, and soon she had given up and accepted her fate. Beth simply did not have what it took to be a cute girl, the main reason she wasn't looking forward to trying to sing happy poppy music. In a way she was jealous of Ichigo. The girl had no problem looking cute as a button.

Not that those feelings persisted long. The way Ichigo and she had grown together was enough to make any negative emotion falter. Not that Ryou was so understanding of her mentality. He practically shoved her in the dressing room with Ichigo, ordering her not to come out unless it was in the uniform.

"It's very… frilly." She commented on the outfit. The dark green was a nice color, but she didn't think something like that would suit her. Of course Ichigo had to think otherwise.

"You're going to look perfect in that!" she shouted, holding it out in front of her. "Oh, I can just imagine it. You'll be wearing this when a famous pop star enters, and he will love you at first sight! And then you'll work together and become the most loved couple on this planet."

Beth let out a chuckle. If there was one person who believed she could make it, it was Ichigo. Under a lot of cheering and pleading she worked her way into the uniform, feeling extremely uncomfortable in it. She squirmed underneath Ichigo's stare, her face nearly the same color as her hair. Once again she found herself tackled to the ground in a hug.

"Ichigo… this kind of dress doesn't suit me at all." She said, trying to look like the tough girl she always pretended she was. "I look ridiculous."

"Nooooo, you don't." Ichigo said, decisive. She took out some hair ribbons, white with golden hearts on them. "Now all I need is put your hair up in cute tails like mine. You'll be conquering everyone's heart and soul looking like that."

A short struggle later Beth found herself dressed like a maid with twin tails. She had never been this embarrassed in her life! If it weren't for it being Ichigo who had done her hair like this she would have had a fit. "I can't go out like this. Something like this doesn't suit me at all."

She was used to being the tough girl. It was something she was good at. That was not counting Ichigo. Her friend grabbed Beth's face in between her hands, squishing it. "You're so cute like this. If I'm not careful someone will steal you away from me." Beth suddenly found her face pressed against Ichigo's chest, flailing her arms around. "Don't worry, I won't let you get married before me and Masaya-kun get married. That's a promise."

"Ichigo… air." She pleaded, trying breathe. At least she had managed to keep a scarf around her neck, hiding the bruises Kisshu had caused her when he had tried to strangle her. When she was let go she dropped on her back, looking up at the ceiling. "Guess I'll have to get used to dressing like this now, won't I?"

Ichigo pulled her back on her feet. "Don't worry about it, Beth. You're my very precious friend. I know you'll be fine."

"Thanks Ichigo. And I'll always have your back." Beth promised her.

Work in the café was rather fun in the end. For starters, nobody commented on the way she looked in the maid outfit. And it turned out that the girls were all very fun to hang out with. Zakuro was even a professional model, and that at her age. Mint was a ballet dancer, and a pretty good one at that too. Lettuce was one of the best students at her school, getting incredible grades. She could get into any school she wanted. And Bu-Ling was really good at performing stunts, and took care of a whole bunch of younger siblings.

No wonder Ichigo had so much fun working here. On top of that there was a lot of things to gossip about. Mostly Ichigo's relationship with Masaya. "Say, how far have those two gotten?" Beth asked Zakuro in a whisper.

Zakuro flipped a long strand of hair back, staring down a client. "Don't get your hopes up too much. From what I hear that boy is clueless as to what Ichigo is feeling, and she doesn't have any idea on how to make things clear to him. Although they'll be going on a date this evening, so who knows."

"That's great!" Beth shouted, before she was hushed by Mint, who was at her fifth pot of tea. Beth didn't even know where she let it all.

|That Evening|

"I'm home." She said, closing the door behind her. At once she was confronted by an excited Taruto.

"Hey, welcome back!" he said. "You're going to cook for us again tonight, aren't you? Pai is horrible when it comes to cooking." The way the taller alien glared at Taruto suggested Pai thought his cooking was plenty good.

"Sure." Beth said, having wondered why she was being greeted so enthusiastically. Well, at least Taruto seemed to like her, even if it was for more dubious reasons. She felt a lot more comfortable in her normal attire, the ribbons Ichigo had given her safely in her pocket. "Speaking of horrible, where's Pointy?"

"I'm here, you witch." Kisshu shouted at her from the sofa. He was sporting a spectacular blue eye, looking as if he just came from a pro boxing match. That would have been Beth's guess, if she hadn't known Ichigo and Masaya had had a date planned for that evening. She put down her grocery bag with a big sigh.

"I take it Ichigo didn't take your coming on to her as a great idea." She said to him with a smirk.

He glared at her, though the effect was greatly diminished by the black eye. "Shaddap!" he commanded, throwing his arms over one another. "It's not like it's any of your business."

She felt around in the bag, before she found what she was looking for. Asking Taruto to bring the other things to the kitchen for her, she handed Kisshu a frozen salmon steak. "Here."

He accepted, looking surprised at being handed something frozen solid. "What am I supposed to do with this thing?"

"It's for your eye, dummy." She replied, raising an eyebrow at him. "Normally they use steak, but I'm guessing salmon steak can count too… maybe." She'd had her share of cuts and bruises, but never an eye like that.

"… thanks." He finally said, pressing the salmon against his eye with a slight hiss. Beth kept leaning on the sofa next to him, examining his eye. "What?"

"Well, you trying to force Ichigo into kissing you actually is my business. Apart from it being extremely unfair towards her, you'll only end up hurting yourself." She said, making an attempt to make the alien have a change of heart.

"I still don't think it's any of your business.' He repeated, scowling. "And it's not like it hurts that much."

She poked him in the chest, where she assumed his heart was located. "I'm talking about here, dummy. If you chase after someone who's already taken, you'll only end up really hurting yourself. And I can't give you anything to take care of a wound like that."

He stared at her with an open mouth. "Gee Red, it almost sounds like you care about me. If you keep this up, we might become friends."

She stuck out her tongue at him, more playful than trying to anger him. "Only if you stop trying to hurt my other friends." She got up, getting ready to walk to the kitchen to get dinner ready.

"Oh yeah, Red." Kisshu piped up behind her. "I found something in your room a little while ago, and I was wondering if you mind me holding on to it? Since we're getting along so great right now."

What could he have found in her room that he thought was so great? She didn't have anything specific in there after all. Turning around she saw him spinning a pair of lacy pink underwear around his finger. At once a blush forced it's way on her cheeks. Bright red like only a true redhead could ever get. How had he managed to find the only girly piece of underwear she owned? How long had he looked to find something like that?

"You bastard!" she cried out, pointing a finger at him. "I can't believe I was being nice to you just now! You give that back to me right now!"

He chuckled, floating up into the air. He was still pressing the frozen fish against his eye, the other one gleaming mischievously. "Oh, is this something important to you? Then all the more reason to keep it. I'll make sure to keep it close to me all the time, as a way to remember your being nice to me."

She jumped into the air, grabbing one of his feet. Surprised he fell back on the couch, holding the underwear behind his back as he laughed out loud. "Boy, I'm glad Pai suggested we stay here. I never thought it could be this much fun!"

He grabbed her with one hand, flinging her back on the couch with a grin. She fell back with a cry of indignation. "What the hell do you think you're doing? Just give me that back already, that's nothing for you to toy with."

He held up the lacy nothing in between his index fingers, looking at it with interest. "Of course it's for me to toy with. You only get something cute like this in hopes a guy will get to take a look at it, right?" he looked back at her, the frozen salmon long forgotten. "If you want it back, you'll have to work harder to get it. Hey, now even your face matches your nickname."

Beth let out a growl, clenching her hand into a fist. "Prepare to get another black eye, Pointy!"

Pai let out a deep sigh, looking up from his papers to see the two hotheads fighting again. It was nice they were getting along, he just wished they'd be a bit quieter about it.

|Moon's Note : Thanks again for the support you guys! It really means a lot to me ^^ Even though it's a bit frustrating that the beginning of a story is always a bit slow…|


	4. Why Don't You Do Right

|Moon's Note : The song is "Why don't you do right", the Jessica Rabbit version. Gods I love that song, it's wonderful. Give it a listen if you have a chance!|

|The Next Day, Super Sound Studio|

Beth had finished her song, feeling very pleased with her performance of the day. It wasn't that often she actually managed to put heart and soul in a poppy happy song, but now it had really worked out. Maybe it was because of the good luck text message all of the girls at Café Mew had sent her that she had felt inspired.

Now she was sitting in a plush chair in front of the personnel manager of the studio. This was the guy who decided who was hot and who was not. If he said yes, she would have proven she had what it takes to make it on her own, without too much help from her parents. Brimstone and hellfire, the anticipation was killing her. This was the biggest music producer in Tokyo, so getting accepted here was an automatic pass to success.

"Well, yes…" the man in front of her mumbled, scratching his short beard as he shuffled some papers around. "Your singing was quite acceptable, I will grant you that." He continued.

Beth almost choked with fear. It was acceptable? She had given her all and it was acceptable? She resisted the urge to bang her head against the desk in fear. What else was she supposed to sing if she couldn't even sing the sugary sweet songs Japan seemed to live for?

The man had gotten up, walking along the wall that was lined with golden records. He tapped a finger against some of them as he spoke. "As you, miss Ashton, have probably realized, we are a very good music studio. Which is why we get so many applicants who just can't wait until we make them a star."

There it was. She was going to be rejected. What was she going to tell Ichigo, who had had the most confidence in her, even more than her parents had? What was she going to tell her parents? Her father would most certainly start shedding more tears for his daughter' sake.

The man stopped next to her chair, looking down on her. "Which is why you must understand that we cannot let anyone who was only a good voice pass. And you have an excellent voice, young miss."

Beth looked up at him with her pale grey eyes. So her voice was good enough. Then what was his problem.

"The problem is that we must also be able to market you as a singer. And to be fair, miss Ashton, you miss the necessary sex appeal we need to be able to sell you." His hand rested on the top of the chair.

Beth couldn't believe her ears. Her voice was good enough but she lacked the sex appeal to make it? That was nonsense and this guy should know it. Her parents didn't sell sex, they sold good lyrics and smashing jams. She froze when suddenly the man touched her hair.

"Of course, if miss Ashton would want to convince me otherwise, I would not be opposed." He said softly, his hand dropping to her shoulder.

Really now? First telling her she didn't have any sex appeal, and then trying to make a cheap move on her. Her nerves were still raw from that clash with Kisshu the day before, and if this guy thought he was more intimidating than that perverted alien he still had a few things coming.

"Miss Ashton is better than trying to earn her position by sleeping around with perverted old men." She snapped, slapping his hand away. Before the man could recover she shot up from her chair, jabbing a finger in his chest. "And if you think that you can get away with this kind of sexual intimidation I will make sure you never try that again. As if a girl would ever want to be touched by an old goat like you. No wonder the last five singers your company hired have trouble getting in the charts, if they slept their way in."

When his hands reached for her she launched her purse towards his head, causing him to duck. "Brimstone! No wonder I didn't like the idea of singing this genre, if sleazebags like you own this industry!"

"Mister Sanshu, are you alright? I heard screaming." The secretary entered the office, looking surprised.

The personnel manager pointed at Beth. "Get this, this madwoman out of here! Our studio will not be dealing with people who don't understand how business works."

"Oh, I understand all too well how your business works. Just so happens I won't be managing my career like that." Beth replied, crossing her arms over one another. "Don't bother calling security, I am leaving." She said, turning on the spot.

The secretary looked at her as if Beth was the first to ever leave the office in this state of mind. The hapless woman looked to her employer, as if he was able to provide an answer. "You won't be able to find work in this city, little miss!" He yelled after her, sounding as infuriated as she felt. "You can count on that, I'll make sure of it."

Beth's following words were deemed unfit for any kind of audience, which was a bummer because she had just walked by the most famous child-star of all of Tokyo.

|Café Mew|

"And that's what happened." Beth ended her story, taking another gulp of hot chocolate. "Well, then security got a hold of me and actually dragged me out. They thought I was a terrorist or something of that kind, and since you can't actually prove sexual intimidation just by claiming it happened I was deemed to be some kind of nutcase."

She leaned her elbow on the pink and white table, looking as upset as anyone was able to get. "It's just so unfair! He said my voice was good, but then he asks something like that?" She dropped her face down, looking about as depressed as Ichigo had ever seen her. "I'm doomed." She announced. "I'll just have to find work in a supermarket, or at the docks hauling heavy boxes. I don't have any skills except singing."

Ichigo stroked her friend's bright red hair, trying to appear as soothing as she could be. Zakuro surprised both of them by clapping a hand on Beth's back, startling the struggling star-to-be. "I'm impressed by you, Ashton." She said, almost smiling when she said it. "Not a lot of girls would be able to say no to a contract that would cause them to never having to lift a finger in their lives again."

"Thanks." Beth wasn't too sure about the compliment. After all, there was a pretty big chance that now she had ruined every future possibility she had of being a singer in Tokyo. "But still…"

"I'll have a talk with my manager." Zakuro promised her, setting a hand on her hip. A costumer who had thought about asking her for an order soon changed his mind when he noticed the glare she threw him. "We don't do in singing at my agency, but I'm sure he will be able to refer you to some more honorable companies. And if he doesn't… well, you have a nice figure, so maybe you could learn dancing or modeling and work with me."

Beth couldn't believe her ears. Zakuro would go through such lengths for her? "Zakuro-sama, thank you!" she said, clasping her hands together as if she was praying to a Buddha. "You are literally my saving angel now. How will I be able to repay you?"

Zakuro threw her hair back with a smirk. Her job was literally melded with her, since she appeared to be standing on a catwalk when she did so. "By not refusing Ichigo's next request. She's been working on it ever since she heard you could go for a try-out, and it was originally meant to celebrate your being hired. Consider it a chance to build up the relationships with us Mews."

Ichigo, who had wandered off as they were speaking, returned when she heard Zakuro say something like that. "Why did you tell Beth I had plans?" she asked, obviously tearing up. "I mean, I thought we agreed that it would only make her feel bad if we were to go now."

Zakuro crossed her arms. "It's because you made plans like that I asked my manager a night off from parties. I was looking forward to spending some time casually."

Beth looked back and forth between the two of them. "What's going on? What were the plans?"

Ichigo pushed her fingers together, visibly embarrassed about being found out. "We wanted to take you to the karaoke to celebrate your new job. But because you were feeling so bad just now, we thought that maybe we shouldn't go. Because, well, you know…"

"Brimstone, Ichigo. I should be the one on the point of crying here. Why are you the one tearing up now?"

The redhead hugged her friend, really almost crying. "Because I love you Beth, and I wanted to make you happy!"

Beth flailed her arms around, very aware people in the café were watching the two of them. "Ichigo, people are watching. They're misunderstanding! I'll go, I'll go." Ichigo let go of her, looking as if she couldn't register that Beth had agreed to going.

"Are you sure? You don't have to force yourself." She said, hoping Beth wouldn't be doing things that would make her feel worse.

Beth forced herself to smile. "Of course I'm sure. You even asked everyone here to join in, so it would be a bit of a bother if we change plans now. And it will take my mind of off things when I go there."

Zakuro tapped a menu against Ichigo's head. "That being said, we have to continue working." Which meant Ichigo should get back to working. Beth got up, deciding she might as well do some work while she was here as well.

"But Zakuro sure was mean, tricking you into coming with us just so she wouldn't have an empty night." Ichigo complained, before she started to take orders again. Beth thought that comment over, before she shook her head to herself. She thought that maybe Zakuro was a lot gentler than other people gave her credit for.

|That Night|

Kisshu was the only one left awake, because he had insisted on seeing the end of an alien disaster on television. Humans sure had a pretty weird idea about what aliens looked like. Running a hand through his hair to check he didn't have any weird antennas sticking out, he wondered what was keeping his latest toy.

She hadn't managed to give him a black eye the day before, but she had shown she wasn't above some dirty fighting to win. Of course he hadn't been able to use full force against her, that would have resulted in breaking his playmate. Still, he thought sorely as he rubbed a bruise on his leg, she had a rather nasty right hook and a killer kick. He ought to be happy they hadn't turned her into a Mew.

And because being stuck with his adopted brothers was extremely boring he had had nothing better to do than wait for Beth. He had even found that piece of lacy underwear she had wanted to keep hidden back again – stuffed in the back of her closet, as if he wouldn't look there – but when she hadn't shown up as the hours progressed, he'd placed it back.

He yawned as he heard fiddling at the door. It sounded as if someone was trying to get in but didn't manage to insert the key. Wondering what the hell was going on he floated towards it, opening the door. At once Beth fell inside, on top of him. If that wasn't startling enough, she gave him a huge smile. What was wrong with her?

"It's Kisshu-chaaaan." She said, reaching for his cheeks with both hands, dropping her entire weight on him. He didn't know what to say, being ambushed like this. Her warm hands pulled his cheeks as she was laughing giddily. "It's so late though. Were you waiting up for me?"

"Stupid." He said, looking away. "Who would wait up for you?" she pushed herself up from him, stumbling backwards for a few moments before she grabbed the door. He watched as she pulled her keys out, letting the door fall shut. "What's with you? You're being weird."

She clapped her hands as he asked that, jumping up and down in place before she threatened to keel over again. He nearly caught her, trying to keep her steady. She turned towards him, placing her finger against her lips. "Shhh… you can't tell anyone." She said, shaking her head, causing him to make the same movement. "I'm a little bit drink… I mean, drunk right now." she laughed again, tapping him on the shoulder. "It's because they had this delicious sweet drink there."

"Oh…" Kisshu said, recalling the times he had seen drunk businessmen in the streets. He hadn't guessed it could happen to girls as well. "How did that happen?"

"Zakuro said she knew some really good drinks at the karaoke bar, but because I was still so angry, I drank thiiiiis many." She said, holding up six fingers as Kisshu tried to guide her towards the sofa. For some reason her legs had gone all wobbly. "And then, I got this drunk."

He tried to follow her train of thought, not sure what he was supposed to do with a drunk person. For starters it didn't seem like they were how they usually were. This Beth was far too smiley considering he was the company. "Okay, so what were you angry about?" he asked, deciding to start from there.

He'd gotten her to the sofa, getting her to sit down. Before he knew what happened she crawled on top of him, straddling him with his legs. She looked at him with a surprisingly steady look as she remembered why she was being angry. "Because I don't have sex appeal… I think… no wait, wait." She laughed again, waving her hand in the air, the other one on his shoulder to keep her balanced. Did she realize what she was doing?  
"It was because I have a great voice, but I needed to prove my sex appeal." She said, placing her other hand on his shoulder as well, keeping her in balance better. Her skirt stopped at her knees, giving him an opportunity to see more of her than he had anticipated. But in this condition he couldn't give her a hard time about it.

"Okay." He said, trying to grab her to move her away from him. "So, that's why you were angry. Well, try thinking of a good way to show that, and I'm sure you'll be fine." She shook her head, leaning into him heavier. He couldn't help but thinking this would be nicer if she was actually thinking straight. Beth's breath smelled sweet as she talked.

"But I know how to be sexy. I know a really great song for that." She said, obviously trying to remember the lyrics in her state. "Ah, I remember… ahem…" she cleared her throat, sitting up straight for a moment. Kisshu tried desperately not to place his hands on her bare legs, in case she would remember this in the morning.

_You had plenty money in 1922  
You let other women make a fool of you  
Why don't you do right  
Like some other men do?_

Wow. He had not expected her to actually sound sexy in this state. How could anybody resist a voice like that, like warm honey?

_Get out of here  
Get me some money too_

Her hands trailed up his arms again, her fingernails softly tracing his skin. The feeling chased goose bumps all over him, along with the thought that maybe he should stop her now before she did something she would be regretting.

_You're sittin' down and wonderin' what it's  
All about  
If you ain't got no money  
They will put you out_

She moved her mouth to his ear, continuing her song. Kisshu bit his lip. Did she even know how unfair she was being? Her fingertips kept teasing his wrists, dancing back and forth with slow intent.

_Why don't you do right  
Like some other men do?  
Get out of here  
Get me some money too_

Why was he being turned on by this? Her hot breath stroked past his neck as she retreated again, this time drawing her index finger across his chest. He wondered if he should thank or curse the man who had told her she had no sex appeal. Beth seemed to be very determined to prove him wrong, and it didn't seem to matter if Kisshu was the one seeing the proof. She shifted her weight, and he found himself looking up at the ceiling, ignoring the girl who kept him pinned down with nothing but her voice. At least he tried to ignore her.

_Now if you had prepared twenty years ago  
You wouldn't be a-wanderin' now from door to door  
Why don't you do right  
Like some other men do?_

He finally allowed himself to place a hand on her bare leg, on her calve. Her hot skin felt as if it would burn into his cool hands, as if her red hair was a warning that the rest of her body really was that hot. He was only a man, how long was he supposed to survive torture like this? He placed his other hand on the small of her back, trying to reason with her. "You've proven your point, Beth. Now you can-"  
She placed her finger against his lips, shutting him up without ever losing track of her song.

_Get out of here  
Get me some money too  
Get out of here  
Get me some money too_

Was she getting closer to him? She was. A sudden panic rose up in him. He was supposed to be the one hunting the girl, not the other way around. She had messed up the rules of his game, and he didn't see any way to escape her loose grasp. He didn't want to escape from this position.

_Why don't you do right…_

The way she drawled out her voice a little bit was enough to keep him hypnotized. Every thought he could have had about a certain Mew were long lost in the inner turmoil he was experiencing. He slid his hand up her leg, towards her thigh. She made no sign of stopping him, her pale grey eyes looking down on him.

_Like some other men do~_

With an impossible long note she moved her lips towards him, leaning in for a kiss. Her eyes slowly closed, hiding that pale grey he had been staring at. He could go for this, even if she was going to kill him in the morning for doing it. If he said it had been her idea, there was no way she could contradict him. His heart started to beat faster as he closed his eyes, leaning in as well.

The note ended, and he ended up kissing her cheek instead of her lips. "What?" he asked opening his eyes again. She had fallen against him, breathing evenly. He let himself drop back in the sofa, not believing this turn of events. "After all that, you just fell asleep?" he asked, cupping her cheek. She didn't reply, seemingly fast off into dreamland.

He dropped back on the sofa, deciding he didn't need to be anywhere special at the moment. Too bad she'd gotten him hot and bothered before passing out like this. With a slight smirk he made himself comfortable. Beth would never hear the end of this.

|Moon's note : Hope you guys liked this chapter! It was pretty fun to get Kisshu be the one to get driven in the corner for once. The Yoshinator : we can consider this chapter to be his punishment? Kind of at least :p

Amandalucia : well, now you know what kind of genre Beth is suited for… at least without her being aware of it!|


	5. We're Not Mating

|Beth's Apartment|

She was very slowly starting to wake up. The first thing she noticed was that her head was pounding like mad, and her stomach felt as if she had just eaten a live snake. Not very pleasant at all. The second thing she noticed was that she was in a very strange position. How had she managed to fall asleep while almost sitting on her knees?

She furrowed her brow, trying to decide just what it was that made her feel very weird. The place she was lying was warm, feeling sturdy beneath her. That was when the hand on the small of her back moved.

She froze. The light touch could have been her imagination, a touch of wind passing her by. Or it could actually be someone's hand. She focused, realizing that it felt as if she had her head resting on someone's shoulder. Strands of hair tickled against her cheek, and she decided to move her fingers. They reached past a piece of fabric that was most certainly unlike any she had ever felt before.

"Seems like someone is finally up." Her heart sank somewhere to the vicinity of her toes. That voice… she could recognize it anywhere, even if she'd only known the owner a few days. There was no way that he could be the one she was lying on top of, was there? Was there?

She kept her head where it was, fervently praying to every deity she had ever heard of to not make it so. What had happened yesterday? She vaguely remembered Zakuro dropping her off at the apartment, but she didn't even remember getting back up here, let alone why she had been sleeping on top of the guy she had been fighting with every second they saw each other. "Kisshu?" she asked meekly.

He let his fingers tap on the lower side of her back. With an increasing blush she registered just how high up her leg his other hand was. "Yes, that would be your pillow of the night." He conceded, the smile clearly audible in his voice.

She straightened herself out, gripping his shoulder with her right hand while the other comforted her hurting head. The sun was already a ways up, indicating it morning had long since arrived. "Ouch…" she mumbled. She felt sluggish, not quite sure if she would be able to actually stand up. But she couldn't keep sitting here either. "What happened last night?" she asked him. Let her please have been sensible. Pretty please. She would never touch a drink again in her life.

He chuckled. Why did he have to chuckle? Those golden eyes looked up at her, the smile turning his lips slightly upwards. For the first time she really noted how his canines were slightly longer. "Well, are we talking before or after you decided to jump my bones?"

She sputtered in indignation. "I refuse to believe I did anything of the sorts!" she exclaimed, attempting to slip away from him. He held her in place, making sure she stayed right was she was.

"You're the one who wanted to know what she did." He told her with a sly grin. When she replied him with her usual 'brimstone' he patted her head in a sudden display of ordinary affection, instead of his usual inappropriate banter. "Relax, Red. Look, you came in here and you could barely walk, so I brought you to the sofa. Then you started talking about how you lacked sex appeal for some reason." He watched her turn an interesting shade of crimson. "After that you start singing, before you tried to kiss me."

She threw her head in her neck, letting out a whine. "I didn't." she said, making it sound like a wish. "I was drunk, I didn't know what I was doing." She added, her eyes popping open in a sudden panic. What if Kisshu had thought that was actually an invitation?

He started to laugh out loud at her obvious distress. "Sheesh Red, does your body have blood left or does it all just go to your head? You fell asleep right before you could kiss me." He watched her chest heave as she let out an obvious sigh of relief. He propped a fist under his cheek, looking at the girl sitting on top of him. "Though you are an interesting one."

Uh oh. She thought she could guess what that meant. He also thought Ichigo was interesting, and she had enough trouble without the guy being under the same roof as her. This was not good. Alarm bells started ringing, only intensifying when he slid the hand on her leg up a little higher, almost too high for decency. His eyes seemed to grow slightly darker. "Very interesting." He gave her leg a squeeze.

The situation did do wonders for her head. For the moment she was thinking more straight than she had thought possible after the drinks imbibed the day before. "And that is enough fraternizing for one morning." She announced, giving him a friendly clap on his shoulders. Of course he wouldn't leave it at that. He moved up, hands sneaking around her waist before she knew what was happening.

"Fraternizing?" Kisshu asked her with the same sly smile he had had previously. "Is that what you would call our encounter last night?"

This was definitely a big uh oh. Huge even. "Definitely. Nothing more going on between us here, so you just stop thinking about it." She managed to squeeze out a nervous laugh as his arms pulled her closer to him. When her feet left the sofa she realized the bastard was floating up.

"Well, if you're sure you don't want to be close to me…" he said, loosening his grip. She immediately threw her arms around his neck, not fancying being dropped to the ground. She didn't care she was pressing the side of his head between her breasts, she was at the moment a bit too occupied with looking down towards the ground. If she had dared to take her hands away from his neck she could have touched the ceiling.

She hadn't realized how high the ceiling was. For a moment she longed back for the tiny cottage they had had before her parents had become so popular. "Put me down." She said slowly, keeping a close eye on the floor beneath her. "Please put me down, Kisshu."

He let her slide a little bit lower, holding her so that they were face to face. "How about a trade? You give me a kiss, and I put you down."

Now that was the thing to tick her off again. Her suddenly discovered fear of heights when being held by a slightly mentally instable alien was replaced by anger directed at said alien. "Listen, Pointy." She said, releasing his neck and grabbing him by the collar again. She ignored very pointedly the distance to the ground. "Either you put me down or we're going to have a real problem here."

"Well, aren't you scary?" he replied, seemingly finding it all very amusing. "I'm shaking in my boots." He let go of her again, causing her to throw her arms around his neck one more.

"I hate you." She announced pointedly, emphasizing every word. It only made him laugh harder as he folded his hands underneath his head. "You are the devil."

He started to laugh louder. "Bwahaha, Red, you're going to make me blush. I didn't know you were so passionate about me."

Pai suddenly appeared next to them, his eyes narrowing for a second as he watched the two troublemakers being once again their lively selves. "Kisshu, how much longer are you going to be attacked to humans?" he asked, not sounding too pleased.

Kisshu rolled his eyes, not happy at being interrupted in his games. "What? It's not like I'm disturbing anyone?"

"I don't count as anyone?" Beth asked, fuming. If she hadn't feared dropping down she would have slapped him, but as it was she felt a lot securer keeping her arms around the pointy-eared bastard.

He rubbed her head, smiling. "Red, you count in different ways."

Pai grabbed her collar, pulling her away from Kisshu. Though the green-haired alien didn't protest, it was rather clear he did not appreciate this intervention. Beth felt herself being lowered to the ground. When her toes once again reached solid ground she almost hugged Pai. Almost. For now she had had enough physical contact with aliens.

"Thanks, I owe you one." She told him, dusting off her clothes. First she needed a shower and a change of clothes. And then a lot of liquids, since she sensed that her hangover would return in a little while.

Pai observed her for a few more seconds. "In that case, I would like you to repay your debt by showing me how to operate the microwave."

"Sure, consider it a deal." She said, relieved at least this uninvited guest wasn't too demanding. "I'm going to take a shower. Pai, if you make sure Pointy there doesn't come sneak a peek I'll show you how the oven works."

At the same moment that Kisshu yelled 'hey', Pai nodded. "That sounds like a fair deal."

Around forty minutes later Beth emerged from the shower, feeling slightly more herself. She rubbed the towel over the top of her head, disheveling her bright red hair. Despite popular belief it was her natural hair color, and people who didn't believe it were welcome to search her entire apartment for bottles of hair dye. Though she would be hard pressed explaining the three aliens and their belongings.

In a grey sweater that let one shoulder bare and the loose leather pants that had offended Mint so greatly she made her way back to the living room. Taruto was also awake, and happy to see her.  
"Beth!" he practically shouted, floating his way over to her. "Wanna see the Parasites? They're doing super today!"

She cast a look around. Judging from the sounds in the kitchen Pai was setting the table there, with the help of a disgruntled adopted brother. For now it would have seemed that she would have some respite from unwanted attention.

"Sure, Taruto. I'd be very happy to see them." She vaguely remembered that they were used in making Chimaera animals. Ryou had tried explaining it to her, but Ichigo had been talking about Aoyama in the other ear at the same time, so now she had some very confused theories concerning the two topics.

After she had asked, Taruto had found a sort of aquarium for the Parasites where the little glowing jellyfish-like creatures now floated around happily. "So… what do these guys eat?" she asked resisting the urge to tap the glass. They seemed to be quite sweet.

"Oh, they get their food out of the air. All they need is a little bit of water every once in a while, you know, and not even that much." He opened the aquarium, fishing one of the little critters out. "Wanna touch it? Pai says we're not supposed to play with them, but I'm sure he won't mind if you do it. He wants to keep you nice, since he doesn't know how long we'll be staying here."

Beth accepted the Parasite. It floated just a little bit above her hands, tiny tentacles swaying back and forth in the air. Taruto had taken out another one, grabbing it by the sides and stretching it out. "Taruto… that looks a bit painful." She said, cautiously.

"Nah, they like it." He said. He let go of the one he had been stretching and it attached itself firmly to the young boy's hand. "See? It's their way of saying they want more. If they don't like it, they would just fly away."

Beth took the little glowing jellyfish at both sides, between her index fingers and thumbs. She gave it a short tug, before letting go. It flopped in the air, before wrapping its tentacles around her thumbs again. It seemed like the boy had been right about the Parasites. The two amused themselves a bit with the little guys, letting them flop around with squishy sounds. "Say, Taruto… how long are you guys going to be staying?" she asked finally. Out of the three aliens, he was the one most likely to give her an honest answer.

"Dunnow." The boy said, rubbing his Parasite with one finger. "Pai says we need to stay here until we finish Deep Blue's orders. But Kisshu thinks Deep Blue is full of it, and thinks we're better off doing things on our own."

Who was Deep Blue? She wished she didn't feel so bad about asking Taruto these questions but she needed to know why they were here. "What are those orders?" she asked, trying to sound innocent.

Taruto looked back to the kitchen. It sounded like Pai had launched into one of his more complex theories concerning Chimaeras to Kisshu. Not that he expected anyone to give him some useful pointers, but the oldest alien just found it more comfortable to say his ideas out loud. Testing the air is what he called it. When he got like that it could be a while before he focused his attention on anything else, so Taruto thought this might be the best time to inform Beth.

"We're looking for Mew Aqua." He whispered in a hushed tone. Beth kept squishing the jellyfish, feeling the cool critter bounce against her hands in delight. "It's this really powerful thingy, and we're going to use it to restore this planet completely."

Beth wiggled her nose at that. It didn't sound that horrible, honestly speaking. "That actually sounds pretty nice." She wondered why Keiichiro and Ryou would be so opposed to something that didn't seem to be very harmful.

Taruto glanced towards her from the side, suddenly seeming a bit uncomfortable. "Well… you see… I'm sorry Beth, but when we use Mew Aqua to heal this world… we're going to get rid of all the humans."

Beth paled a little bit. So she was giving aliens with dreams of human destruction a place to stay? Well, at least they weren't going to blow up the planet. Strange that that would be the thing that popped into her head first. "That's… well…"

Taruto gathered the Parasites and put them back in the aquarium. He turned back to a very worried looking Beth, gathering his legs underneath him as he floated in the air. "Don't worry too much about it, Beth." He gave her a wide smile, trying to seem as encouraging as he possible could. "When it finally happens, I'll make sure to bring you aboard Deep Blue's ship. You'll be safe there. I'll do the same for Bu-Ling, if she keeps being nice to me."

Beth scratched the back of her head, not sure about what she should say about that. Sure, it was sweet the boy wanted to protect her, but it would be even nice if he didn't want to wipe out the entire human race. "Well... That's nice of you. But what am I going to do when I'm surrounded by your people?"

Taruto puffed up his cheeks, thinking about it. "What you do for us now? I mean, you're pretty nice, and easy to get along with. I'm sure you would be able to make new friends easily. And you and Kisshu get along so well already, it would be a shame to let something get in the way of that."

She frowned. These guys sure had a pretty weird idea about friendship. "I dunnow… if I'm forced to live with Kisshu for the rest of my life, that could turn out to be a pretty short life."

Taruto grinned at those words, floating into the kitchen backwards. "Well, at least it would be fun. You're making things a lot more lively around here. I've never seen Pai so talkative."

She cast a quick glance towards Pai, who was redoing the lock of hair he kept at the side of his head. She wondered if the way they wore their hair had some kind of special meaning. One look at the table showed that they had at least remembered how it should be set. When Kisshu popped up again in her direct line of vision she frowned. She had known something was off this morning.

"What happened to your black eye?" That puppy should have stayed on his face for at least another week. A nice reminder that Ichigo packed quite a punch, and a reason for her to be proud of her friend.

"We have a healing salve that's quite efficient." Pai piped up, pulling back a chair for himself. "As long as it isn't lethal, it cures pretty much everything overnight. Even if said individuals should be in their bed and not mating with other species while it's working."

Beth sprayed out the cold chocolate milk she had been drinking, all over an unsuspecting Pai. "We were NOT mating!" she yelled, wiping her mouth.

He grabbed a towel from the counter behind him, carefully dabbing his face with it. The chocolate milk would be leaving some stains, which presented a good opportunity to get acquainted with the washing machine. "It is only the most logical conclusion. You came home in what could be called a more receptive state, and Kisshu would be hard-pressed to rebuke the affections of what is considered to be an attractive female in your species."

"Stop it Pai, you'll make me blush." She muttered sarcastically. "Anyway, there was no mating going on. So next time you want to draw conclusions, you do so concerning other people."

Kisshu threw another arm around her, pulling her close. "You weren't this bashful last night, Red."

Beth clenched her fist. For Kisshu's sake it was to be hoped Pai had some more of that medicine lying around, because he would be needing it pretty soon.

|Moon's Note : Yay, we got some plot advancement and more harassment from Kisshu. It's that we love him for who he is, other guys wouldn't be able to get away with this sort of stuff. As always, thanks for the reviews my darling readers!|


	6. Start the Chase

|Café Mew|

'It is not okay to hurt the costumers, it is not okay to hurt the costumers.' That was Beth's mantra of the day, even if the costumers were not doing anything wrong at the moment. The café was pleasantly crowded, not so much as to be suffocating and not so much as to feel awkward. To put it in the words of Goldilocks, it was just right.

The reason for Beth's bad mood was in fact a green-haired menace who was well on his way to get neutered if he dared walk into the bathroom one more time when she was in there. True, she had only been applying mascara, but she could have been in the shower. Not to mention he had elected her as his toy of the month for some reason, hardly leaving her alone. She let out a loud sigh when she reached Keiichiro, accepting a cheesecake from him for table four.

"My, miss Beth, you look like you are having a rough time. If you want you can take a quick break." The man with his hair in a ponytail offered her with a smile. Beth took a quick look in the café, scanning the situation. Mint was once again drinking her tea, with Lettuce begging her to go back to work. Bu-Ling followed after Zakuro who practically slammed tea cups on tables, every trace of the sweet superstar gone. Which left Ichigo racing around taking care of most of the tables.

"I think I'll just continue a bit longer." Beth replied, before walking off with the cake. It was a miracle this place functioned, considering how the staff dealt with day to day business. "Bu-Ling, please clear table seven." She asked the young girl as she passed by.

Zakuro walked up next to her, nearly scaring the living daylights out of the unsuspecting couple that had ordered the cheesecake. "So, did you contact the bureau yet?" she asked.

"Oh, uhm, yes." Beth replied with a smile. "They connected me to a sister agency, and I have an audition there next week."

Zakuro nodded, pleased with the news before she stomped off to take a different order. Beth didn't know about the aliens, but she didn't want to encounter that specific woman in a fight.

The day passed without too many incidents – though for some reason Ichigo had managed to break a plate due the shock of seeing Mint work – and with a relieved sigh they handed over their aprons and received some leftover cakes. People could say what they wanted, but getting cake when you got away from a job was pretty sweet. Just when they thought things were over Masha decided to act up.

"Aliens, aliens!" the ball of floating fluff announced. The girls all transformed, save Beth who was looking around in wonder. The wonder was soon replaced by disgust as a couple of transformed chimaera foxes ran up to them. "Let go, let go!" Masha cried out when Beth grabbed him tightly, making sure he wouldn't get gobbled up by the animals.

Ichigo was in form today, not wasting any time going after the animals. The other girls followed suite, leaving Beth to watch. She gritted her teeth, annoyed that she would only be in the way while the others fought. "Oh, this is useless." She said, stomping one foot on the ground.

"Hey there, Red." Kisshu said from behind her, practically purring.

Beth let out a dejected sigh when she heard him. "Oh for crying out loud, Kisshu! What is it now?" she asked him, wondering if slugging him would count as a contribution to the battle.

He floated on the air as if he was lying on a bed, face pointed towards her. "I just wanted to see how my favorite seductress was doing." He replied with what was almost an affectionate glance. "And I wanted to check up on my kitten."

Beth rolled her eyes when she heard that. "Right. The whole speech where I told you she's not interested doesn't mean anything to you, does it?"

Kisshu shrugged mid-air. "Not really. Does this mean that you are interested?"

She nearly stuffed Masha in his grinning face. "Don't flatter yourself too much. If I'm going to be dating out of my species, I want a guy that's only interested in me. Not in my best friend as well."

"You're no fun." He told her, looking how the fight was progressing. "Seems like they weren't slacking off after all. Too bad, I was hoping they would be a bit weaker since we haven't attacked in a few days. Why aren't you helping?" he asked her suddenly.

"I'm keeping the maniac who's orchestrating the attack busy." She replied with an undertone of sarcasm, before eying the battle with a sad look. "I would help, but like this I would only get in the way. And I don't think I want to become a Mew, to be honest." What kind of animal could possible match her?

Kisshu folded his legs, looking surprised at that statement. "You don't? That's too bad, actually." Beth threw him a questioning glance. "Well, it's just that you'd be awfully cute in a frilly dress."

Beth could feel the blush on her cheeks again, hating herself for that involuntary reaction. Kisshu made things worse by peering closer at her. "Hey, I didn't even do anything that's supposed to get that reaction from you!" he exclaimed, fascinated.

"Get your face away from me." she mumbled, leaning back.

He reached out to touch her cheeks, running the tips of his fingers ever so slightly over the reddened skin. "No way…" he said with a smile. "This is the kind of reaction I like best from you, Red." He said with a smile. "It's really cute."

With a yelp Beth turned around, hiding her face in Masha who protested loudly at the treatment. No guy had ever called her cute before, she realized. That was why she was reacting so violently to something the alien probably said casually to every girl he met. "Shut up!" she yelled at the alien, voice muffled by the robot.

Masha betrayed her by flying after one of the Parasites that appeared when the first fox was defeated. "Traitor!" she yelled after it, swinging a fist in the air.

Kisshu grabbed her outstretched arm, examining her more closely. As he pulled her towards him she considered throwing the box of cake in his face. He did deserve it for this kind of treatment. "Red…" he started, bringing his face closer to her. Oh brimstone! "I want to see how much more you can blush." He stated, coming ever closer.

He was interrupted by an arrow from Mint, to Beth's great relief. She pressed a hand against her stampeding heart, not prepared for that kind of attack. When Kisshu attempted to come after her she pressed a vanilla cake in his face. "Pfeh!"

He darted away a bit, wiping his face free from sweet cream. "That behavior is less cute." He complained, not looking happy with her. As he was licking his fingers clean he got hit from behind by an angry Ichigo.

"Don't gang up on Beth, you idiot!" she practically hissed at him, her tail thick in anger. "I catch you trying to force yourself on her one more time I'll-"

"Hey, don't get angry kitty." Kisshu said, floating higher up in the air where he was out of reach for both mauling Mews and cake-throwing future singers. "It's okay if I love the two of you equally, isn't it?"

"It isn't." they both replied in sync, giving him the evil eye. Reading the atmosphere he decided retreat was the surest way to save his hide, creating a portal and darting through it. The two girls looked at each other before they started to giggle.

"Never thought a guy would be chasing after the two of us at the same time." Beth confessed, not able to stop laughing. It was too bad she had to sacrifice the vanilla cake, but in war sacrifices must be made.

Ichigo agreed, the occasional meow mixed in with her giggles. "I know. Though he can become a hassle when you're trying to focus on a fight, y'know?" Ichigo fixed her hair, transforming back to her usual form. "Though it's too bad he's gotten an interest in you as well. This is only the second time he's seen you, right?"

Beth bit her tongue. Should she tell Ichigo? Yes, a certain, positive yes. But she had gotten quite attached to having Taruto in her house, and Pai wasn't too bad either as long as he didn't try to use her for experiments. "Yeah." She agreed, begging forgiveness on the inside for deceiving her friend. But if they didn't stay with her, where she could keep an eye on them, who knew where the aliens would wind up? Even Kisshu had started to grow on her – a little bit, not that she'd ever admit it – and she would feel a bit lonely without the guys around.

"Would you need one of us to walk you home, Beth?" Lettuce asked her, thus quietly offering her services should they be needed. "We can never know when one of them will show up again."

Beth suppressed a fit of laughter that would have made her seem insane. She was going back to an apartment she was co-habitating with the aliens, so if they did suddenly appear next to her on the street it would probably be to offer her a faster way home. "No, I'm fine. Thank you, Lettuce."

The girl sent her a sweet smile, pressing her fingertips together as she did so. Lettuce really was unaware of her charms. If she would only be able to smile so sweetly at a boy – if there was a boy she liked – they would be kneeling in front of her before she could flash her eyelashes.

They said goodbye to each other, Beth promising Ichigo she'd give her a call that evening. As she started to make her way back home Beth started to chew her bottom lip. Kisshu had called her cute. The first guy to ever call her cute! Gah, she shouldn't be getting so hung up over something like this at her age. Not to mention if Kisshu ever found out he would be having a field day, trying to pester her even more. It was bad enough he had such a confounded obsession with her blushing. She directed her thoughts to easier paths, more importantly, what she would be cookin for dinner this evening.

|Apartment|

Kisshu very pointedly ignored every attempt Pai made at questioning him, thinking over the reactions Beth had when he got closer to her. That whole getting red in the face thing was actually pretty cute, even if he considered how she usually approached him. Ah, but then Ichigo was so adorable in her cute pink dress, and the kitten ears.

He let out a deep sigh, stretching mid-air. Why couldn't he keep the both of them anyway? Not that the two of them were playing along with him nicely, with how they were constantly yelling at him. He ran a hand along his face, checking for remnants of cake. At least Beth had had a very delicious way of avoiding a kiss.

Speaking of that specific redhead, she had seemed rather upset about not being able to help out the other Mews. Maybe he should check into given that annoying blond guy at the café in injecting her with some DNA? But there was the very real chance that Pai would find out and if he did that meant his older brother would never stop pestering him about 'not messing with the plan'.

He turned around in the air, looking up at the ceiling. Seriously, screw the plan. Deep Blue wanted to take things slow, Deep Blue wanted them to find him and wake him up first, Deep Blue… Kisshu took a deep breath, letting his lunges expand with oxygen. Deep Blue could go and perform various bodily acts which were deemed physically impossible for all he cared. But if he said something like that out loud he would never hear the end of it.

They could take over the entire plan, once Pai had a fool-proof plan. One that the Mews couldn't mess up. Though he would feel a lot better knowing when a plan wouldn't be foiled, because he really wanted to get his girls in safety in that case. As the door opened he turned around again, looking down on that impossibly red haired girl that they now shared a living space with.

Beth was sweet enough in her own way. She kept to herself most of the time, but for some reason she really seemed to be hitting it off with Taruto. What did that little brat do that Kisshu didn't? He watched as his latest pet nearly jumped out of her skin when Pai floated out of a portal right next to her, observing how she threatened to clobber the taller man.

"Kisshu, you get your ass down here as well." She said, pointing to the ground. He floated down, curious as to what she wanted now. She looked the three aliens up and down, hands placed in her sides in a way that suggested she had a new plan. "Okay, time for some ground rules. Rule number one, we have doors for a reason, so why don't you all consider using them?"

Pai glanced towards one of the doors, seemingly not so impressed with the suggestion. "That seems like a waste of energy." He admitted, glancing back to Beth.

"It'll be a waste of energy when one of you all decides to randomly appear in the shower when I'm in there." Beth replied, glancing towards Kisshu. He scrunched his face at the not so subtle accusation. Like he had known she was in there this morning.

"Also, walk. Put your feet on the ground and walk." Beth said in the tone of voice that people got when they've been eating themselves up over a certain detail. "Stop insulting gravity and keep your feet on the ground." She said, moving her fingers across her arm as she was mimicking a human being.

Kisshu watched her pale grey eyes with interest. She seemed to have slightly perked up since the encounter at the park, but she still wasn't completely herself yet. Maybe he should find a way to make her feel a little bit happier? Crossing his arms over one another he made the first necessary sacrifice to that end, lowering down to the ground until his feet were firmly planted down. "What are you waiting for, a written invitation?" he asked the others who looked as if they didn't believe their eyes.

Okay, so he wasn't usually the type of guy who obeyed orders from a human. This was Beth they were talking about here, and he would actually like being able to approach her without having to worry she'd rip his ears from his head. If something as mundane as submitting to gravity would get her a bit more receptive to his advances he would be able to bear with it. If he managed to remember, that is.

She looked at him in the same way as the others, surprised he would be the first one to acquiesce to her request. "Yes… well… Thank you, Kisshu." She said slowly, as if she couldn't believe the words coming out of her mouth. He watched as her sleek hair slightly bobbed when she gave him a nod of appreciation. Maybe getting her to like him wouldn't be that hard after all. Though he probably should lay off waving her underwear around for the world to see as well, for a little while.

The others followed his example, Pai's eyebrows raised so incredulously Kisshu for a moment feared they would be stuck that way forever. "Can people stop with the staring? Sheesh, it's like you've never seen a guy walk around before." He said, shrugging his shoulders.

Beth coughed, moving towards the kitchen. "I'm going to start dinner. Thanks for listening to me!" she said, her grey eyes focusing on him for a moment. Kisshu resisted the urge to pump his fist in the air. Okay, so maybe behaving a little bit would make Beth like him better? Though he had to wonder, why should he care about whether or not Beth liked him. He'd only known her for less than a week.

Then again, he'd kissed Ichigo the first time he'd spoken to her. But this was the first time he could observe a human girl in such close proximity. Ignoring the looks the others threw his way he sat down on top of the couch, looking at the kitchen. For the first time since he had found his little diversion of flirting with humans he found himself wondering if Beth was right. Maybe he shouldn't chase after two girls at once?

But then, which one of the two should he choose? He liked Ichigo and Beth both for their spunk and how they refused to deal with any sort of nonsense. They both had that fighting spirit that attracted him. They were both cute, even if one of them seemed to be stuck in a chronical denial about that aspect of herself. He bit the nail of his thumb as he was thinking things over, listening to the sounds came from the kitchen.

Maybe he should focus on Beth for now, and see what made her tick? If she continued to be interesting to him, just maybe he would consider letting up on his chase of Ichigo. He had acquired a taste for seeing her blush, so it would be a welcome diversion from stern Pai and Taruto's antics.

What was a guy to do?

* * *

Moon thanking people again!

The Yoshinator : I always thought the Parasites were kind of cute - but maybe I have a weird definition of cute - so I wanted to have them appear at least once in the story! Glad you liked it!

Amandalucia : Well, they'll be having a lot more moments together now, since Kisshu has decided to give chase. Though of course the other half of the couple may not be so receptive xD

To my other, more quiet readers : I promise I won't bite if you tell me how you feel about the story. I always welcome reviews, and some criticism never hurt anyone. What did you like, what did you hate? Tell me ^^ (Or forever stay silent, dun dun duuun)


	7. A Date?

|Beth's House|

"Would you say you are average for a human female?" Pai asked her, peering into her open mouth as he did so.

"I woun't saa tha I no." Beth replied, unable to form exact words thanks to the device Pai had placed in her mouth to ensure he would be able to examine her without losing a hand. So far the examination reminded her of an average dentist visit. The alien seemed to have the same inclination as them to ask question when the other person could in no way reply.

She watched as the pale alien wrote something on a piece of paper before he removed the metal from her mouth. She wriggled her jaw around, happy that she was still capable of that action. "Anything else you need to know?" she asked, rubbing her cheeks.

Pai hummed something, an unknown ditty that might be alien in origins, or just something he had picked up from the radio. "Would you say your body mass is average?"

Beth looked down on her body, shrugging. "I dunnow, would you?"

"I'd say it's marvelous." Kisshu whispered in her ear as he passed by. Beth froze, but before she could retaliate he had already passed her, grabbing an apple from the table as he walked. Taking a bite he winked at her, going round the corner into the kitchen.

"Average, write down average." She mumbled in between gritted teeth, trying not to blush. Sadly enough this was a body function that didn't take orders, leaving her with a tint almost corresponding with her hair color.

Pai tapped one of her cheeks with a pencil, writing down some more. "This color you turn… are there events that trigger it? Is there a way I can research this?"

"I think Kisshu is already working on that research." Beth mumbled, excusing herself before more strange questions popped up. Where did that idiot get the nerve to harass her like that? She plopped down in the sofa, turning on the television. Trying to find a channel that didn't air cheesy romance – she didn't need any of that stuff right now in her life – she bit the knuckle of her middle finger. If she kept up behaving like this she'd end up making Kisshu think she actually did want him.

She nearly dropped out of the sofa when an apple appeared in her field of vision. "Want a bite?" a familiar voice asked her. "No?" Kisshu withdrew the apple, but didn't bite in it just yet. "Oh, that's right. What do you want to give me?"

"What are you talking about?" she asked, resuming her original sitting position.

"Well, you allowed Pai to examine you and you're taking Taruto on a playdate tomorrow, both as a reward for doing as you asked." He said, referring to the lot of them using doors and walking around like humans while they were in the apartment. "So I was wondering, what's my reward? That's how it works, right?"

Beth really wanted to tell him to shove it, but he seemed so excited that maybe, perhaps she would also do something he wanted to do. Still, giving Kisshu his way would be tempting fate worse than she had ever imagined. She leaned on the arm rest, looking him straight in the eye. "Well, what would you like as a reward?"

"How about a kiss?" he asked with a big grin. "I joke, I joke, calm down." He cried out when she threatened to chuck a pillow at him. When she put away her weapon he continued. "I don't know, how about a date?"

"A date?" she repeated, incredulous. "Do you know what a date entails?" For all she knew dates were something like a wedding proposal on his planet, or a consent to feature on the next menu.

He nodded, smiling again. "Of course I do. I've seen plenty of them on your television, and they look very interesting." He took a small bite of his apple, a twinkle in his eyes. "So, now that we've established me knowing about dates, what do you say? It's not a kiss. Only you and me spending some time together." He waggled his dark eyebrows suggestively. "Unless, of course, you're scared."

"Scared?" she let out a snort at that. "Scared about what, exactly?"

His grin turned mischievous as he ran his tongue across the apple. "You might discover you like spending time with me. Wouldn't that be horrifying?"

Beth felt taken aback with the comment, for a moment doubting how smart being alone with Kisshu was. So far she had been able to out-bluff him, but they had never been truly alone together. Like, so alone that he could very well take a kiss or whatever he wanted from her. Not that she thought it might actually be the case, but still…

"You can keep Ichigo on speed-dial during the entire evening." He told her, spotting where her problem could lie. "I cross the boundaries, you call the girl squad to kick my ass." He opened his free hand as if to emphasize how good he could be. "I won't do anything you wouldn't want me to."

Beth took a deep breath through her nose, weighing her options. Saying no now would probably send the green-haired alien in another fit, and his next request might not be so innocent. She grabbed his hand, sticky with apple juice. "Fine. One date. We go to the movies, maybe a walk afterwards. Any objections?"

He pulled her closer until his breath tickled just over her face. "None. I promise I'll be a very good boy." He kept up the closeness for a few more seconds, then released her as if nothing had happened. "Until you want me to be something different, that is."

Steam practically fumed out of Beth's ears when he said that. What had happened to him just running after her and Ichigo without actually doing something like this? Thankful he walked away after that comment she hid her face with her hands, taking deep breaths. She wasn't used to guys making these kinds of moves, and here Kisshu was just blatantly blurting out everything she could have wanted to hear.

She was saved further embarrassment when a call from the office Zakuro had referred her to came. Slightly out of breath she flipped open her cell phone. "Hello?"

"Miss Ashford, we have a slight problem at the moment in scheduling. Would you be so kind to come in in half an hour or so for your audition?" the secretary on the other side of the phone informed her.

"Yes." Dear gods yes, anything to get her away from Kisshu who was pulling out all the stops. "Certainly. Where would you like me to come to?"

"Just the main office would do fine. Try to dress up a little bit, dear. We're going to ask you to sing a duet with another hopeful." The secretary informed her, voice already trailing off as she thought about the next phone call she would have to make.

|Half An Hour Later|

Beth arrived precisely on time, after having waited outside for five minutes to make sure she wouldn't seem overly eager. She was sent up by the secretary – or one of the many secretaries, who could know – to a small reception room. Sitting there was a young man with long blond hair, and eyes of such a clear green they almost appeared to be see-through.

He stood up, advancing towards her with a smile. She stretched out a hand to greet him, only to have him lift it up and bring it to his lips. "You must be miss Bethany, non?" he asked her, the vague French accent only haunting on the sides, making her doubt she had actually heard it. "My name is Vincent, and I shall be your duet partner for the day."

"Hello…" she replied, not sure what you were supposed to do after someone gave a kiss on the hand. What was the protocol for this kind of thing? "It's nice to meet you." she finally brought out, suddenly very aware of how her ripped jeans probably wasn't 'dressed up' in the way it people would have been expecting her to.

Vincent followed her glance down, smiling once more to put her at ease. "The pleasure is all mine, I am sure. Please do not fret, that green color is a wonderful complement to your hair." This coming from the guy with almost too white teeth. Beth found her sharp tongue lost all function at being confronted with someone who's behavior was somewhat like Kisshu, but with the main difference that Vincent had never heard of Ichigo before.

After that they were both suddenly rushed into the recording studio by a tall man who seemed like he always had three hours too little on a day. Having a microphone in her hands Beth felt a lot more secure about everything. This was what she had been born to do. The soul and passion of her parents that had flowed down into her own veins, making her love music with all her heart.

The song they had to sing was slow and not too overly sugar sweet. It spoke of loss and sorrow, and of hope. She found herself liking it, despite it being nothing like the songs her parents performed. She had to start somewhere after all, and perhaps someday she would find a genre where she felt completely comfortable.

Half an hour later the manager was finally satisfied, both of them being invited back to his office. He looked at them with a smile, not noticing how sweaty they were after being locked up in that booth for so long. "Wonderful, just wonderful. Oh, how right they were when they recommended the both of you to me. Vincent, I had no idea a man could have such a sweet, tender voice."

Vincent shrugged, not too sure about what he should say to that.

"And miss Bethany, such a slow, sultry voice you have. Why, any man listening to that would melt right on the spot." The manager continued, nodding and smiling. Before Beth could do anything to recognize the compliment he continued. "Well, I have an offer for the two of you. We were thinking about having a pair of singers, something different from all the boy bands and girl groups. How would the two of you like to kick off your singing career together?"

Both of them looked at each other, neither too certain about just how the other would react. Sure, Beth wanted to make a name for herself. But if she had to sing with Vincent, there was no way she could be sure she would evolve in the way she wanted to.

"I like the idea." Vincent said, his accent once again only skimming the edges of the words he spoke. "Miss Bethany is a wonderful artiste, and our voices are a wonderful match. If later on we were to decide we are not suited for each other, I am certain arrangements can be made."

The manager nodded, assuring the both of them that that was certainly the case. Beth looked back and forth, left to wonder just how the men could seem so sure about the current state of affairs. Still, she had to admit that this had been the best shot she had gotten at an actual career. If only she had been not so proud, then she could have just used the contacts her parents had.  
"I suppose a deal with mister Vincent wouldn't be so bad, at least for a little while. But if I were to get tired of it, I can always get out of it."

The managed pulled out some contracts. "Well, we would need at least half a year time to finish up any other contracts we were to make for the two of you together, but our top priority is keeping the artists happy. A happy artist makes for excellent performances, so it would be a shame if two such promising talents were to perform any less than the best of your abilities."

He slid both of them a pen with a smile, encouraging them to read over everything to their hearts content. "Miss Bethany, I am fully aware miss Zakuro was the one to reference you to us. Which is why I want to make sure you will never have anything to complain about. Please make sure miss Zakuro knows this too." The strained smile on his face showed that he indeed had met Zakuro's legendary temper.

"As for Vincent, I'm sure you will be able to inform your custodians that everything has been arranged according to liking." He accepted the forms, signing them himself. "I'll make sure the both of you get a copy of this. And I would like to begin recording in about three days, my secretary has the details. We'll need to get started with marketing, so drink lots and get a good amount of sleep to make things easier on the make-up team. Taking pictures can take a lot out of people so we should start with a full battery. Smile, my stars, smile."

Ten minutes later the two of them found themselves outside, blinking into the harsh sunlight. Beth felt elated at one level, but also oddly the same at yet another level. Vincent was smiling as well, obviously feeling less conflicted about this.  
"What a good fortune I have to be able to sing together with someone as talented as you, miss Bethany." He grabbed her hands, squeezing them together. "Let's both work our hardest, shall we?"

Beth nodded her agreement, unaware of the spy watching them from above.

Kisshu ground his teeth together, not happy with what he was seeing. Red had only agreed with him to a date this morning, and now she was holding hands with some other guy? And she had the nerve to tell him he couldn't chase two girls at the same time?

He watched as she detached her hands from the blond, laughing nervously like she usually did when something was making her uncomfortable. Now that was interesting. Maybe she wasn't that much into mister blond?

She nodded to something the guy said, stepping back when he moved towards her, all the while smiling. Kisshu wondered if this had something to do with that 'job interview' she had just had in that building. It could be, which would make this guy something of a co-worker of her. He had seen enough movies on the television in this place that that was possibly worse.  
Those movies always started with one of the two being annoyed with the other, only to have them both fall madly in love by the end of the movie. Which. Was. Not. Okay.

He floated down into an alley when she said goodbye the guy, pulling her in when she passed by. At once she started to flail about, attempting to escape his grasp. "Red, relax! It's only me!"

She stopped momentarily, though Kisshu could have sworn he saw several violent options pass in her mind on how to deal with him. When she didn't attack him immediately he took a deep breath, happy he wouldn't have to sport another black eye for a while. Pai had been getting annoyed with him for that. "Look, I just wanted to check on you. You didn't seem too happy with that one guy just now."

She relaxed, pulling her hand away from him but not, he noted with a sense of satisfaction, stepping away from him as she had done with the other guy. "Oh, him. His name is Vincent, I'm supposed to be working with him from now on. Not exactly the amazing start of my career as I had envisioned it, but it's not like I had much of a choice."

"You do know you're going to fall in love with him, right?" when she looked surprised at this statement Kisshu carefully explained to her everything the romance movies had thought him. He was surprised when she pressed her hand against her mouth, keeping in the laughter.

"I'm sorry, Kisshu. I shouldn't be laughing at this. It's just that those movies aren't documentaries or something. Someone made them up, because people like watching movies that go like that. It's not because you work with someone that you're going to fall in love with them." her eyes twinkled a little bit when she spoke.

"Well, then how does it work?" Kisshu asked, not happy now that his info had turned out to be completely wrong. How was he supposed to know how romance worked around here anyway?

She stopped her sniggering, rubbing the back of her head instead. "Well, it's not like I am an expert. But let's just assume for the moment that it's not because you work together. It's more… the more time you spend with another person, the better you get to know them. And then there might be a spark, something that makes you think the other person is cool to hang around with." She blushed, thinking about the subject. "And then… well, maybe you'll end up discovering that the other person is very likeable, and you might want to kiss them… and stuff."

Ah, now this was interesting information. It wasn't so much the work setting as the spending time together that made humans more romantically inclined to one another. Well, this made things a whole lot of easier for him.

"So, this mean we still going on a date?" he informed, creating a portal next to him.

She rolled her eyes, not quite as annoyed as she could have been. "We're still going on a date. Tomorrow evening work for you?"

He grinned. Pai might have had plans for him, but he could cancel those in the name of 'research'. "Tomorrow is great. Can I choose the movie?"

"Knock yourself out. That means, go ahead." She clarified when she saw his confused gaze.

Kisshu let out a sigh of relief. At least he would have a lot more chances than that Vincent guy. After all, who of them actually lived together with Beth?

* * *

I'm sooo tired... I hope this chapter made sense, because right now my eyes are drooping like nobody's business. Also because someone decided to report me for mentioning breasts in one of my fics, please don't be alarmed if my account one day has been deleted. It wasn't me, I promise. And if it does happen, I'll just post this story on Archive of Our Own. I'm already moving my bigger stories there, once I caught those up I'll start adding the ones that are still below the 50 000 word mark.

Love all of ya, have a nice day!


	8. The Date

"Red, you're taking ages in there!" Kisshu shouted, knocking on the door for the third time in less than fifteen minutes. The alien had been switching moods between annoyed, elated and just down right frustrated when she had needed a shower after the play date she had had with Taruto that afternoon.

"That's because as a girl I can't just brush my hair and be presentable for a date, ya big dummy!" Beth yelled back at him through the closed door, wiping off the eyeliner from her right eye. Kisshu yelling from the other side of the door had made her slip and she didn't intend to look like a work from Picasso on a date.

She could hear Kisshu make sounds befitting any pirate on the other side of the door. "Woman, you look fine the way you are! Could we just please go and see a movie?"

Beth grabbed the mascara, the tip of her tongue between her lips as she started to apply it. "Way to set the mood for romance the way it's going now, Kisshu! For future reference, girls don't like to be yelled at when they're getting prettied up for a date."

If he even managed to find someone else dumb enough to say yes to a date with him that was. Who knew, stranger things had probably happened. She had said 'yes' as well after all, though perhaps not with the romantic intentions that people considered desirable.

"Go put on your hat!"

She heard a muffled 'pheh' coming from the other side of the door before she could hear him stomping off. Once he had found out he could express dissatisfaction that way it had become one of his favorite ways of walking.

With an overeager date out of the way Beth could finally finish her small ritual of getting ready. She brushed out her hair until it shone before getting dressed into a decent pair of shorts and dark red top. As long as she had her blazer with her she wouldn't be getting too cold in the night.

When she walked into the living room Kisshu was nowhere to be spotted. "Where'd he go?"

Taruto looked up from his coloring book with a grin. "He's downstairs, waiting for you. The movies he's been watching all told him that he should pick up his date by the front door."

She rolled her eyes at that. She thought she had made clear that movies were not a good way of finding out how a date should go. "Thanks for the heads up. Be good while I'm gone!"

"We will! Also, Kisshu watched High School Musical this afternoon. I thought you might appreciate the warning." Pai told her, looking up from his work he had spread out on the salon table.

She could feel the blood drain from her face at once. With a quick prayer to every deity she had ever heard of she got in the elevator, hoping that her evening wouldn't have a medley part in it somewhere. Although, she didn't actually know if Kisshu could sing or not. What if he was good at it?

So of course the first thing she blurted out when she was outside was, "are you any good at singing?"

Kisshu blinked, not following her question. "Eh… a bit? Maybe? Why?"

Beth coughed, trying to hide her sudden realization at how stupid that question had been. She focused on her date, more specifically on the hat he had pulled over his ears. It was a perfect disguise. "You look nice." She said, hoping to divert him.

His grin was immediate, easy in the way it seemed to just wash over his face. "I do? Thanks, Red. You look pretty good yourself. I take back everything I said about taking time in the bathroom. Next time you can take as long as you want."

"Next time?" she asked him, his smile making her feel strangely happy about the situation as well. "Who said there was going to be a next time?"

"Well, that's my plan, isn't it? Tonight is going to be so awesome you'll want another date." Kisshu told her, pointing right in order to get them both moving.

"That is hardly very villainous of you, stating out your plans out loud. You know that makes it easier for me to find some way to thwart your plot, right?" Beth pointed out as she matched her steps to his.

He grinned again. "Tonight isn't about heroes and villains and other stuff like that. Tonight is just the two of us having fun."

At the movie theater Kisshu decided on a horror movie. Beth thought that by now he should have an inkling of what various genres were popular among humans so she didn't really think there would be a huge problem. And there wasn't, until in the second half of the movie a creepy tentacle monster popped out of the sewers, starting to eat everybody and their grandma. Which was the name of the movie 'Everybody and Their Grandma'.

"Hyaaah!" he screeched, grabbing her by the arm and pulling her towards him.

She sputtered, trying to wring herself loose to no avail. How was he this strong? "Kisshu, let go of me! I need air, humans need oxygen to stay alive."

He kept her close to him, body tensed up as if he was prepared to fly away with her at any moment. "Hell no! How can you people be so calm in this kind of situation?"

Several people started to hush them from their seats, trying to stay focused on body parts that were now tossed around the screen. With a gasp Beth was released from her temporary containment, looking around her to see if anyone was paying more attention to them that they should.  
"Because… because it's a movie. It's not real. I told you yesterday didn't I? It's just make believe, not a documentary."

Their whispering earned them some more vicious glances from others in the audience, but the monster started to screech, making their conversation a lot more private.

"Humans are really weird, okay?" Kisshu said, glancing back and forth to gauge the reaction of other people in the dark room. Nobody seemed to be in the least fazed at the strange beast that was currently gobbling up a handful of soldiers. "One minute they're all screaming about one of our Chimaera and the next the lot of them see no problem in going in a dark room to watch one on a screen."

"The key part of your sentence is 'on a screen'. Nobody without a death wish is going to hang around a Chimaera to see what they do." Beth whispered back at him. In the moment before she pulled away from him she looked up. Kisshu was staring at her as if he could see nothing else but her. Oh dear.

He blinked slowly, not moving closer or farther away. "I still think it's weird. But it's nice being able to do something with you. I'll put up with the monster just for that."

And during the movie he did manage to keep quiet save for the odd sound or two that he tried to keep in when things got particularly nasty. When she whispered to him that he could go ahead and close his eyes Kisshu tried to scoff it off at first, only to nod a few seconds later when the screams started once again. For Beth the movie was nothing too new; her father was fond of the genre and had spent many evenings watching horror with his little girl.

Once they were outside again Kisshu took a big breath in the crisp night air. "Wow, this is much better. What do you want to do next?"

Beth thought about it for a moment. "Well, I think a walk was next on our schedule, no?"

Kissu let out a groan, looking up at the stars. "Well, I know that was the original plan but… there's more exciting stuff to do."

Beth shook her head as she started to walk away from the movie theater. "Maybe, but I would like to walk around town a bit more. I like exploring the neighborhood."

Kisshu ran after her with in a hurry, not willing to get separated from his date. He stopped in front of her, a big smile on his face once more. "Well, we can still explore the neighborhood. Just not on our feet."

"Oh?" Beth crossed her arms over one another, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Gah, not like that. Although I wouldn't mind if you… I mean, what I was saying…" he cleared his throat for a moment before he pointed up at the sky.

"I could give you the best view in town ever. You'll still get to see the neighborhood and we don't have to do all of the walking."

Beth hesitated. Not that Kisshu was very likely to drop her - or actually, he would if he considered he would get a few laughs out of it - but because she just really liked keeping her feet firmly on the ground. "I don't know…"

"Scared?" he informed, leaning slightly closer to her.

She rolled her eyes as exaggerated as she could at the question. "No. I'm just very… not…"

He chuckled. "You're scared. Don't glare at me like that, Red. I don't think I've seen you scared before."

Beth kept her glare steady to drive the point home the alien was in no position to tell her what to do. Sadly her action only served in him chuckling more, up to the point where he was laughing out loud.

"Oh Red. And here I was thinking I couldn't like you more than I already did." He wiped a tear away from his eye, holding out a hand towards her.

"C'mon. I promise I won't let you fall."

She threw him the side eye she usually reserved for other great plans like 'you will never regret eating that whole cake'. If Kisshu really thought she was silly enough to fall for something like that…

"I'll do the dishes for a week." he promised.

Now this was interesting. "Including the weekend?"

"Including the weekend. Just give me the benefit of the doubt here. I'm not stupid enough to drop my date." He said, trying to seem fairly innocent. Somehow the twinkle in his eyes ruined his attempt as he stepped back in a deserted alley.

Beth stepped closer to him, reaching out her hand in kind. She paused for a second, looking at him with warily. "If I don't like it, you'll put me back on the ground?"

Kisshu took a step closer to her before she could blink, his fingers entwining with hers as his other hand was placed around her waist. He was just the tiniest bit taller than her, his lips brushing past her earlobe as he spoke. "Nothing is going to happen to you. Trust me."

Any thought she had about telling Kisshu to watch where his hands were going was immediately vanquished by the sudden disappearance of the ground beneath her feet. Instead she threw her arms around his neck, hoping that he was as strong as she suspected he was. Her career would come to an unfortunate end if she fell to the pavement in a few seconds.

"Red, I'd think you were trying to choke me the way you're keeping a hold of me right now." Kisshu told her, his chest moving in an attempt to not laugh.

"Just because you're used to defying gravity doesn't mean I have to be." She mumbled back, her eyes firmly squeezed shut. Yes, this had been a horrible idea. Dear gods in every pantheon, why had she even considered this?

Kisshu's feet moved against hers. "It'll probably be easier if you stand on my feet for a little while."

His breath tickled her ear, strands of fine hair brushing against her cheek. She did as he asked, finding that having something beneath her own feet indeed helped her calm down a little bit. She moved, her cheek brushing against his for a moment. His skin was cool which felt good against her own cheeks who were flushed at the moment.

She was fairly sure they were moving up but in between nearly strangling Kisshu and trying to ignore how she was up in the air she couldn't say how fast they were moving. "Red, you're going to miss a really great view if you keep your eyes closed like that."

"I dunnow… maybe we should just go back to the ground." She spoke, wrapping her arms around his neck tighter.

"You came up all this way up here. Sure you don't want to have one little peek?" His strong hands now both around her waist he indicated he would make sure nothing would happen to her. Beth took a deep breath. It was just opening her eyes, nothing scary about that.

And it was totally worth it. Tokyo by night was spread out below her, lights flickering in the cool darkness granting the entire place an almost alien feeling.

"This is… just woah. Amazing." She said, feeling brave enough to remove one of her hands from Kisshu's neck, trying to see as far as she could see.

When she almost lost her balance he quickly adjusted his hands. "Not so fast, Red. For your first time we should take this slow."

She looked back at her date, amazed at just how beautiful the city could be. Right now she couldn't feel the cold on her legs or the wind that was tugging at her hair. "Why do you even stay inside when you can this all the time?"

Kisshu shook his head. "Because I get to see something else when I'm inside."

He looked up at the sky for a moment. Above their heads stars twinkled in the distance. "This city is pretty, but you wouldn't believe the other things I've seen out there. Space is gorgeous."

He looked back at her, his amber eyes unrelenting in their gaze. "I could show you, you know. When all this is over, we could go have an adventure."

Beth shook her head, not believing he was trying to sell this again. "Kisshu, we don't even really like each other. At least, not in that way. You're a pretty cool guy, and we could get along fine but-"

"You're saying you don't think you could ever like me?" Kisshu asked, a sudden quiver in his voice. His hands trembled for just a second.

"I'm not saying that!" she said immediately, cursing herself instantly after that. That had been way too implicating that she could. But how was she supposed to know if she could ever like him?

"It's just that, you're trying to destroy everybody here. And the others already explained to me the reasons but you can't blame the Mews for trying to stop you either."

Kisshu groaned, leaning back in the air. Beth had to choice but go along in the movement and in a few seconds he was floating on his back while she sat on his thighs. His good mood had dissipated. "I'm not angry at the Mews. If anything I think they're fun."

He looked at her, almost with a pout. "And no matter how this turns out, I'll make sure nothing happens to you."

Beth was still trying to keep her balance in this new position without actually lying on top of Kisshu. "That's nice of you. Especially since you didn't seem to like me that much at first."

"You did hit me the first time we met." He clarified for her.

"Did I ever apologize for that?" she asked, not remembering.

He shrugged, though the hint of a new smile started to creep in on his face. He sat up, resting his chin on his hand as he looked at her. "So, while there is nobody around who could possibly hear you… how do you really feel about me?"

Just like that she could feel her cheeks heating up again. "I… well you're… I mean…"

He raised his eyebrow. "Red, I have no problem shouting out for this entire planet I want you to be my girl."

Not that that make her situation any worse or something like that. "You're not completely the idiot flirt I thought you were."

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked, looking extremely amused by her embarrassment.

She made a point of it to look not at him, instead looking around the town. She tried crossing her arms for a second but found that didn't bode well for the general balance of their current position. "Maybe, just maybe, I might say yes to a second date with you."

Kisshu moved towards her, which was not a good move. Beth lost her balance, nearly dropping before he grabbed her arms. "Are you serious, Red?" his voice was about as gleeful as it could get.

"Yes. Could we please put me down on the ground now?"

The trip to the ground was shorter than expected since Kisshu piloted them to the roof of Beth's apartment building. She took a deep breath, happy to have solid ground under her feet once more. Kisshu leaned in for a kiss, stopped by her hand.

"Red, seriously?" he muttered against the palm of her hand.

"No kissing on the first date." She made clear. When he started to protest she pulled down his hat over his eyes. Before he had a chance to pull it back up she pressed a kiss on his cheek.

He removed the hat as fast as he could, pressing a hand to his cheek. "What was that one for?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. An apology for hitting you, a thanks for a nice evening… take your pick."

"What do I have to do to get another one?" he asked, walking after her as she made her way to the stairs. "Red, talk to me babe. Red!"

* * *

You guys have no idea how much I'm struggling with this story. I mean, I used to have this major crush on Kisshu a few years back but then you get older and you realize he's really not all that. Take it from me, guys stalking you and proclaiming undying love while all you can think is 'thou art cordially invited to fuck the hell off' isn't really swoon inducing.

Which is why I'm happy I made them a few years older, meaning I can imply some changes into them like teaching Kisshu more about boundaries than in the anime.

But my biggest crushes ever are still Envy from FMA and Spike from Buffy/Angel, so we all can see I make poor choices in the romance department.

That's being said, I hope the chapter was enjoyable! I probably won't update this one before new year, so I'm taking the chance now to wish you a wonderful year!


	9. Too Close

|Beth's Apartment|

It had been two weeks since their date, and there still hadn't been any progress with Beth. Not even a smooch, or a teeny peck on his cheek. Of course Kisshu was far too mature to work out his ill temper on others. If he were to be asked, there was no correlation between his mood and the way he was squishing one of the Parasites.

He was interrupted in his stress relief by Pai, who deftly swiped the abused critter out of his hands. Kisshu said nothing, just growling lowly in his throat. Okay, maybe he was a little ill-tempered. Just a tad.

"You've been taking things quite well, considering it's you we're talking about," Pai noted, depositing the Parasite back in the tank with the rest of the bunch. Kisshu didn't reply, merely glaring at Pai from his sitting position. Beth wasn't in the room just now, which meant they could float around to the fullest of their desire. Pai wasn't quite finished with him. "Though at this rate you're a disaster waiting to happen. Why don't you be a tad more… pro-active?"

Now this was an interesting turn. Kisshu raised his dark eyebrows, smirking at the thought. "Who'da thunk you'd be the one to tell me I should be more aggressive. You feeling okay, Pai? Did one of the Mews hit you in the head?"

"Pro-active is not the same thing as aggressive. But you are in an increasing foul mood, and one of these moments you're going to explode and it won't be pretty for any of us," Pai at once explained, fanning some cool air to himself. Today was the hottest they'd experienced so far, despite fall being right around the corner.

Kisshu waved a hand in the air, looking the other way. "Puh-lease, I'm as levelheaded as you are."

"No, you're not."

"Yes, I am."

Pai visibly resisted the urge to smack his adoptive brother on the head. "Just mark the damned girl and get it over with. Any moment now, you're going to get urges and we both know the best way to deal with those."

Ah, right… Kisshu had forgotten about that little detail, not being on his home planet. "You think we'd experience that, on this planet? It never bothered me back home."

"Back home you weren't living under the same roof as a female you've designated as eligible," Pai made clear, in such a dry, clinical tone that suggested he didn't understand why Kisshu insisted on liking Bethany. "And you can either mark her as yours, while being aware of what you're doing, or wait until instinct takes over. I don't need to tell you that would severely damage your relationship with her."

Kisshu huffed, resting his head on his hand. He didn't need the talk, he had it all figured out by now. True, he'd been a bit testy lately, but he didn't think it was because of hormones. On the contrary, he was completely in control of his own thoughts, thank you ve-

Beth walked in, completely breaking off his train of thought. Both he and Pai dropped their feet to the ground as one, but that was all Kisshu consciously registered. Beth was wearing a dress. An honest, real dress. He hummed approvingly as he saw the low-cut back, the way her calves were accentuated by the cut of the knee-length cloth. And, for once, there was no sign of any skull or inferno print on her clothes, only red roses scattered on a white background.

Pai jabbed him in the side, breaking Kisshu's intent focus on the person he'd been pursuing for weeks now. He hissed, annoyed at the movement. Pai raised his eyebrows in the universal language of 'I told you so'. Kisshu glared back, not willing to admit that maybe, just maybe, his hormones were acting up a tad.

"There you two are. I need a second opinion. How do I look?" Beth asked, swaying her hips from side to side, making the dress swish a bit.

"No different than usual," Pai promptly replied, probably thinking he was of help. Judging from the way Beth stared it was clear it hadn't.

"Well, maybe a third opinion then." Her clear, gray eyes met Kisshu's for a moment, forcing him to swallow. He hadn't actually thought she would ask for his opinion outright. Okay brain, time to step it up. We can do this. This is our chance to show her what we're worth.

"You… that is… I mean… obviously…" Ah yes, sweet eloquence, bitch was indeed thy name.

Beth paled, looking down. "It's that horrible? Even you can't say something nice about it? Oh, I knew it, I'll go change."

Seeing her disappointment something in Kisshu's brain clicked. "I think you look sublime!"  
Sublime? All the words he knew and he picked sublime? Didn't he have anything better? "I mean, most of the time you're really cute. But this time, you're actually really pretty."

Something inside him stirred when she turned a pastel pink, contrasting her fiery red hair. Okay, maybe he had it really bad. She looked away from him, scratching the back of her head. White and gold ribbons moved along with the gesture, and Kisshu wished he could have the same privilege of just touching her. Of her touching him. When he noted Pai observing the both of them, he quickly looked away.  
"Anyway, I have plans. I'll be off, goodbye!"

He wasn't out of the door quite quick enough, because he clearly heard Pai suggest to Beth they 'just get the mating over and done with, for Kisshu's sake'. The sound that followed was a nice, reverberating slap, delivered by his favorite redhead.

* * *

Of course he didn't really have plans, but he'd decided he preferred getting out of there before he made an even bigger fool of himself. Talking to Beth was only fun if he didn't stumble over his own words. At least he didn't have to wait long before she came out of the apartment building. Today was her shopping trip with Ichigo, and though he was kind of looking forward to seeing the kitten again, he was also looking forward to picking on Beth some more. Pai thought he had to be more aggressive, huh? Or pro-active, but that was just an excuse.

Kisshu scratched the back of his neck, following Beth from the air. Honestly, he would have preferred taking things slower. But if his hormones were really acting up, it would be best to relieve some stress before he caused his toy irreparable damage. He had an inkling that if she would just kiss him, that would solve a lot of his problems.

He huffed, the sun beating down on him as much as it was on the people below. Usually his body temperature was quite cool, but now he felt as hot as the average human. Man, this sucked. Below him the two girls had met up, with their usual flurry of screeching and hugging. Why could he never receive that kind of welcome? He took a deep breath, realizing the heat was making him cranky.

Closing his eyes for a second, he created a portal, willing it to open in the mall the girls had entered. In there he was hit by a breeze from the airconditioners hanging from the ceiling. Ah yes, now they were talking. Wiping the sweat from his brow he hid behind some pillars, even though none of the humans were looking up. He spotted his two girls quickly enough, the white dress screaming out to him even from this distance.

When he saw which shop they'd entered, he opened another portal. This one was located in the store, though he gulped fiercely when he saw where he had ended up. Lingerie? They were buying this sort of stuff together? He didn't know if this was his worst nightmare or most anticipated dream coming true. None of the shop attendants had seen him. He could see Ichigo talking to one of them now, pointing to a pale pink bra and gesturing with her hands. Now if only he could see where Beth was…

"Ahum."

Found her. Or rather, she'd found him. Darn it, she didn't exactly look ecstatic to see him. Looking around her she grabbed him by the ear, pulling him lower so they were hidden beneath the racks of flimsy underwear. "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to see what you were doing," he replied truthfully. He was met with a glare and another yank on his ear. He sputtered, nearly tumbling into the rack with underwear.

"What if Ichigo sees you? How were you going to explain this?"

He smirked at the question. "I could tell her we're dating?"

She started to make strangling movements in the air, letting go of his ear. "Are you completely out of your sorry mind? She'd kill you! After she's done with me, sleeping with the enemy."

Before Kisshu could reply to that, they heard Ichigo calling for Beth. She paled and before Kisshu could react, or even form a comprehensible thought, she yanked him to the side. He was knocked into the wall, quickly followed by Beth who drew a curtain closed. Looking around him he realized they were in a sort of cubicle, barely big enough for him to stretch his elbows. Talk about a tight enclosure.  
"What's this?"

Beth shushed him, before she whispered. "It's a fitting room. Now keep quiet or she'll know you're in here."

Kisshu looked around and decided at once that 'room' was the wrong term. And what was up with the harsh lighting? Wait a minute, fitting room? At once he glanced back at Beth, who had stuck her head outside of the curtain, chatting with Ichigo on the other side.

"I think this one is really great. And this is really your color. Well, go on, try them on. You said you needed new underwear."

"Maybe I should wait until another time. I don't really feel like doing this right now after all. Sorry for dragging you all the way out here."

"Nonsense, get in there and try them on."

Beth was shoved back in the booth and turned to face Kisshu. He couldn't decide which was cuter, her annoyed glare of the red glow around her ears. His eyes fell on the lacy bras she'd hidden behind her back and couldn't believe his luck. He was in a Fitting Room.

"Wipe that grin of your face and get out of here," she whispered, trying very hard not to start shouting at him. "Go on, shoo!"

Kisshu looked around him. "How do you suggest I do that?"

"Make a portal and skedaddle!" She replied, waved her hands in front of her. Kisshu hummed once more when he got a closer look at the possible new garments. Red lace, and the other one black and white? Nice going Ichigo. He would have gone out and thanked the Mew if it wouldn't have meant certain death and destruction.  
For now he would have to make do with the delicious spectacle that was a flabbergasted Red.

He lifted his hands, careful not to bump his elbows to the sides of the flimsy box they were standing in. "I don't have the space to make one here. I need to be able to take a few steps, y'know. The only way I'd be able to make one is directly above the fitting room, and I'm pretty sure Ichigo would see."

Beth turned around, clearly with a new plan as she stuck her head outside. "Ichigo, could you get this for me in another color? I think dark green would be really nice."

"And while I turned my back, you're going to run away? You asked me to go shopping with you, and now you're going to do it. It's not that bad, Beth. But since you're asking, I'll ask one of the shopkeepers to get one. Don't worry, I'll be waiting here until you show me how they look."

Kisshu felt like kissing Ichigo, and not in a romantic way for once. Instead he felt he ought to cut her some slack, considering the position she was, unknowingly, putting her best friend in. The redhead turned to him, opening and closing her mouth.

"Well, you're the one that shoved me in here," Kisshu mentioned as a possible point in his favor.

"Beth, are you changing? Want me to come in there and help you?"

"No!" Beth shouted, before coughing as she took a step away from the curtain. Which was half a step too far, because she bumped into Kisshu who caught her in his arms before she could walk away again. "I'll be fine. Just give me a few seconds."

"What a conundrum," he whispered to her, not believing his good fortunes. Though being this close was hard on his nerves as well. For a moment he feared she'd be able to feel his heartbeat just by standing this close. To hide his own nervousness he let his lips glide across her cheek. Her skin was moist, she'd been sweating in the heat. He didn't mind, because his keen sense of smell relished in being able to smell her, more accurately than any human ever could have. He licked his lips, casually running the tip of his tongue across her skin.

When she shivered, he did too. He tasted the salt of her skin, he could smell her. Kisshu had to close his eyes, blocking out at least the visual. Pai had been right, and Kisshu felt a powerful urge crawl across his spine. With his eyes closed all he had to go on was how close she was to him, hot skin radiating towards him. He'd started to cool down once inside, but that wasn't an advantage at all right now. And her scent… she smelt of fabric softener, remnants of perfume, shampoo and other scents that were hiding the real her. He was grateful for that. He wouldn't have been able to deal with her raw pheromones just then.

"Kisshu… you okay?" Her breath whisked over his cheek, betraying how close she was. "You look a bit flushed yourself."

He nodded, his nose rubbing past her cheek. He peered in between his eye lids, gauging the distance between them. All he had to do was lean forward, just a tad, and their lips would meet. But in his current state it would be a bad idea. Already his blood was boiling in his veins, every breath an assault on his senses. He had to swallow before he spoke. "I'm fine. You should change, before Ichigo comes in."

"You're sure?" She asked. Oh, what he wouldn't have given to get her to move even closer in different circumstances. As it was he had to restrain herself because he wasn't sure he'd be able to stop with a kiss at this moment.

Instead he nodded, squeezing his eyes shut. "I'll keep my eyes shut. So just go already."

She turned around, and the cloth of her dress swirled past his legs. Even with his eyes closed he knew what she was doing. The small cubicle was steadily turning into the scene of a match to check how long he could keep his composure. He heard clothes dropping to the ground, near his feet. He squeezed his eyes closed even harder. He just had to focus on the scent of fabric softener and perfume. Not on the salty tang of her skin, wafting through the air. He bit his bottom lip, willing himself to keep his hands where they belonged.

"This is the first one," Beth announced, leaning outside of the cubicle to give Ichigo a quick peek.

With a relieved sigh Kisshu opened his eyes, immediately regretting his decision. In front of him the dress lay on the ground, and slightly further, bending forward while whispering with Ichigo was Beth. Beth in modest, white underwear that perfectly spanned her behind. If his blood had been boiling before, now he had a volcano underneath his skin. To have something to do he bent forward, retrieving the dress and hanging it on a hook next to him. When Beth stepped backwards he gingerly held his hands in front of him, eyes shut once more. He'd rather she thought he was copping a feel, than discover his own little problem. Things were going fine so far, but if she found out why he was looking 'a bit flushed', he didn't know what would happen.

"I'm fine," he mumbled before she could ask a question. She huffed, but judging from the sounds she was busy changing. To have something to keep busy with he grabbed the dress, feeling the soft fabric between his fingers. He was willing to bet anything she would feel even softer to his touch. He nearly gasped out loud when she moved to the front again, shortly discussing the newest bra with Ichigo. With the way his blood pounded in his ears, he couldn't make out a single word. Instead the image of Beth, bending forward in those innocent panties, was enough to make him lightheaded.

Round three began, and this being the final one gave him some courage. All he had to do was last this one, and then he was free to retreat somewhere and deal with his problem. It would have been, well, not easy, but at least not that much harder on his system than the first two. Until Beth hit a snag.

"Brimstone," she muttered, one of her elbows hitting the side of the cubicle in annoyance. He listened to a few more curses, wetting his lips before he spoke.

"What's wrong?"

"I think I got one of the hooks snagged on the lace. Urgh, I'm stuck." She said the last part a tad too loud, drawing attention from Ichigo.

"Beth, are you stuck?" she asked from outside.

"No, no… I said, outta luck. This one is too small. But I didn't like the color that much either way, so I'll just get dressed again!" Beth answered in a hurry, bumping back into Kisshu. On reflex he spread his hands, catching her just before their bodies could make contact. Just his hands, grasping her upper arms. He exhaled, relieved he'd managed to keep his awkward problem to himself.

They stood so for a moment, gathering themselves. During the interlude his eyes had snapped open, and now wandered across the pale expanse of her back. Kisshu counted three freckles on her left shoulder, and a two more on her spine. He swallowed heavily, telling himself he could handle this. He had to handle this. No problem here whatsoever.

Beth sighed, the movement making her lean further towards him. "That was close."  
She reached behind her, the tips of her fingers stroking past his bare stomach. It felt as if her fingers sparked electricity between them. In response he lowered his head, just a bit. For him to mark her, all he had to do was give a little nip. Not even enough to draw blood. A love bite, humans referred to it as such. He could do it now, probably. The action would certainly help him calm down.  
He watched as she fumbled, seeing the little plastic hook that refused to untangle from the lace.

"I… could do that for you," he finally suggested.

She paused, clearly weighing her options. Then she removed her hands from her back, once again stroking past his stomach as she moved. "I'm trusting you."

"Yeah… I know," he replied. And precisely because she trusted him he couldn't act on instinct. Couldn't give her that little bite in her neck to mark her as taken. He lifted his hands, fingers trailing past her slick skin 'on accident'. Her back arched slightly in response, and he thought he heard a small gasp. Biting his lip again, he frowned. That was naughty, and taxing his poor nerves to the limit.

Unhooking the tiny culprit was easy enough, but he had to touch her back to do it. The contact had him shivering, praying she wouldn't notice. If this had been a private room… the ideas his overactive brain suggested made him feel his control slip between his fingers. Quicker, he had to be quicker. "There, all done."

"Thanks." The reply was simple and short. She grabbed the dress, not turning around to look at him. When she stooped forward her behind very narrowly missed brushing past him. Getting dressed took mercifully less time than getting undressed for some reason. When she turned around, she looked a tad worried.  
"You should ask Pai to take a look at you when you're home. You look a bit feverish."

Kisshu nodded, trying to seem collected and in control. Never mind how all of his senses were telling him to just pounce already. "Yeah, I will."

Beth smiled at him. The act made him so happy, but he had to keep a firm grip on his emotions. Then she leaned forward and pressed her lips against his cheek, the contact nearly his undoing. "Thanks for being a gentleman. I'll see you back home."

With a smile she pulled back. He nodded, showing a shaky smile. "No problem. Bye Red. Do me a favor, buy the red one?"

She scowled, but not quite as harshly as he had hoped. He'd thought an angry look would help cool his blood. Instead she shook her head and stepped outside, chattering happily with Ichigo. Kisshu took a few deep breaths, calming down before he went outside of the cubicle. He teleported home with one thing on his mind; the coldest shower he'd ever taken.

* * *

Aaaaah, writing Kisshu like this was fun. I literally had this idea half an hour before I started writing it, so tell me what you think? The story will get finished, eventually... Actually, once I finish my Jak story, this will be my most frequently updated story ^^" So bear with me for just a while longer, okay?

BlackMoonWhiteSky : Oh, I know what you mean. I first saw the anime, and only read the manga a few years after that and the aliens could have gotten so much more development. But that's one of the joys of fanfiction, getting to add this sort of things for your faves. And I'm happy you like the story, I know OC's are quite an iffy subject most of the time. Though Beth has the advantage of very deliberately not being a Mew, which is what happens to most Oc's in this fandom.

Wuli : Well, most of the time someone else their story is more interesting because it's new to your brain? I mean, my brain just treats this as old news, because I'm the one that thought it up ^^ I'm glad to hear you're enjoying it though, and I hope you like the new chapter!

Guest : Thank you very much ^^

The Rebel : Well, you are true to your name, staying up late like that ^^ At least that means I've got the comedy part nailed down =D

Kitty1098 : Hmmm, I never go for the goodies for some reason. I actually was really annoyed with Aoyama in this series. Must have to do with possible character depth and all the other things you can have with the bad guys. But I finally got over my Kisshu writer's block so yay! ^^


	10. Love Bite

|Cafe Mew|

"The cafe is going to go out of business if this goes on much longer," Beth said, not to anyone in particular. Next to her Keiichiro leaned on the handle of his broom, observing how the Mews were fighting off what looked like a humongous hamster. When it got too close to Zakuro, the slim model roundhouse kicked the creature in the side of the head.

"It's not that bad," Keiichiro muttered. "Though this week has been particularly eventful. I had hoped we would be able to lure in some people with our pumpkin pie, but it seems alien attacks keep out the costumers."

"I wonder why that would be," Beth muttered dryly, giving the patio a half-hearted sweep. The broom made a dry, scratchy noise as the first of fall leaves were gently pushed aside. Something had Kisshu in a bad mood, though he'd refused to elaborate on the cause of it. The past few weeks he'd spent as little time as possible around her, which was a relief and cause of concern at the same time. Something just didn't feel right without the alien peeking over her shoulder these days.

Ryou was less calm than his two companions. He clapped a hand against his thigh, with a face that predicted future calamity. "They've never been this active before. Whatever they have plotted, it's something big. I bet he's just a distraction while the other two are up to nefarious schemes."

Beth knew for a fact that only Pai was engaged in anything that resembled a scheme. Taruto was too busy reading a stash of her old comic books. Half the time she found the youngest of the siblings plastered against the ceiling, too engrossed in an adventure to remember gravity existed. As for Kisshu… every time she walked into a room he'd suddenly remember he had very urgent business elsewhere.

"Miss Bethany, are you alright? You look a tad… out of sorts," Keiichiro said, politely avoiding the words 'pissed off'.

She straightened her back at once and sweeped the patio more vigorously. "Why would I be annoyed at that? I don't care what he does!"

"Not another one with romantic issues. I thought our cat in heat was bad enough," Ryou complained with his usual tact.

"Talk like that about Ichigo one more time and I'll-"

"Did you see? We finished! And look!" Ichigo ran up to them, her hands forming a small cradle. When she was close enough she opened her hands in Beth's, revealing the hamster that had been possessed by the Parasite. The rodent squeaked in shrill tones, squirming around. "Can we keep it?"

"Not in the restaurant!" Ryou at once yelled.

Beth shut her eyes in response to the harsh noise, not able to clog her ears with her fingers thanks to the little fuzzball. Keiichiro gently guided her to a quieter spot, followed by most of the girls except for Ichigo and Lettuce. The latter was doing her best to diffuse the situation, stumbling over her words.

"What're we going to do with it though?" Bu-Ling asked, looking at the hamster. The creature was now nibbling on the inside of Beth's palm, tiny teeth scratching but luckily not biting into her flesh.

Zakuro leaned over Beth's shoulder, her long hair tickling the other girl's arm. The way she observed the rodent was a tad less friendly than preferred. "I'm not taking care of it. I don't have time for pets."

The others all voiced their own problems at possibly housing a pet, even one as small as the hamster. Beth knew who had gotten the hamster, and she was pretty sure said people would be able to return it to wherever they'd gotten it from. "I'll take it home. Don't worry, I can keep it alive."

"I don't know, have you ever had a pet before? It's not like keeping a plant alive. They need food, exercises and companionship. If you don't keep an eye on them, they'll run rampant." Mint didn't look at the others while she delivered her statement, instead disdainfully sweeping a crumb from a nearby table.

Food, exercise, companionship and a constant watchful eye? That sounded a lot like a certain group of people she knew. "I have some experience in that department. I think I can handle a rodent."

* * *

"It's not for experiments. I repeat, not. Bring it back to wherever you got it from," Beth ordered Pai, showing him the hamster in a small, improvised cage. The tall man glanced between her and the rodent, not really sure what she wanted from him. She repeated her instructions, giving some clarification on what had happened earlier that day.

"I see. Taruto, put those comic books away for a second. They'll still be here when you get back. Just bring the animal to a pet store, and make sure nobody sees you," Pai commanded, gesturing with what looked like a thermometer, only it had three small orbs circling it in a lazy fashion. The younger boy obeyed, after several minutes of sulking, glaring and mutinous muttering. After he'd left Beth took a look at the living room table, not happy with what she saw.

"Tell me you're not building some kind of alien bomb on the table. Because this place is pretty expensive and I won't be able to explain this to my parents." She eyed several vials, containing colorful liquids and sandy substances.

Pai said a few words that she couldn't quite grasp before deigning to explain. "It's some medicine for that guy over there. He has it pretty badly."

Beth followed the aim of Pai's finger, which landed on Kisshu. She hadn't even noticed he was in the room, he usually was never this stationary. Now he was sitting in the sofa, head rolled back on the headrest. Even from this distance she could see he was breathing heavily, hands outstretched across the headrest as well. "He's sick?"

Pai shook his head in a way that wasn't entirely no. "What do humans do when they find someone attractive?"

Wow, way to change the subject much? "We go out on dates, I guess. Talk a lot, text, go to movies together. Tell the other person we 'like like' them. Why?"

"I meant physically."

Beth shrugged. "I dunnow, clammy hands, your heart starts beating faster, there's a lot of blushing and stammering involved. Sometimes people start tripping over their own feet. In Ichigo's case, she turns in a rambling puddle of lovesick goo every time you say 'Masaya'."

Pai mumbled 'interesting', before he flicked his hand to Kisshu. "It kind of corresponds to our bodies' way of letting us know a potential mate is near. But, as you can gather from Kisshu's condition, in our case it tends to be a bit more severe. Honestly, I never thought we'd have this problem on another planet, but I guess he's finally at that age. He is a bit of a late bloomer."

"Woah, back up here, Pai. You're saying he's like this because he likes someone?" Beth lowered her voice to an alarmed whisper. Kisshu hadn't stirred once during their conversation, so it was safe to assume he was too much out of it to even notice them. But was Pai talking about her or about Ichigo?

"I did suggest you two ought to mate sooner rather than later-"

"I swear, if you start about that again-" So Pai thought it was her fault.

"But that's because it's very bad for our bodies to be like this. Usually a prospective mate replies in kind, by staying in close proximity at all times. Even if they don't reciprocate, we can 'mark' the other one. Though usually marks are reserved for established couples, in extreme cases an unwilling mate allows the mark to reduce the tension on another. We often don't have that much choice in the matter. At this moment Kisshu can't even create a portal, because his body wants to remain near you."

Beth glanced at Kisshu. He swallowed, his dark hair hanging limp and sweaty across his brow. She raised an eyebrow at Pai. "So… I just let him mark me?"

"Actually, it would be more effective if you m-"

"Say 'mate' and I'll punch you into last month," Beth growled from between her teeth.

"-mark him," Pai finished his sentence. "Being marked gives more reassurance, because we're being claimed by the other one."

That didn't sound too bad. At least she wouldn't have to run around with Kisshu's sigil branded on her body for all the world to see. And though she'd usually put up a fight about how they weren't dating, she didn't exactly dislike him. Kisshu could be fun, if he wasn't begging for a kiss. They'd built a tentative friendship, and Beth had entertained the idea of maybe asking him out on a second date. "What do I have to do?"

This time Pai used his own body to demonstrate something, instead of probing her with strange implements. He hooked a finger around his lip, showing her his teeth. After a few seconds he let go. "Did you notice? Our canines are slightly more developed than yours. Though marking isn't the only function, it does help. So what you have to do is bite Kisshu."

Beth blinked. "I have to bite him? Won't that hurt?"

"Well, when caught in the throes of passion it's actually somewhat common for both males and females to-"

"I think I preferred 'mating'. I'll do it. Just… give me some time to mentally prepare."

Five minutes later Beth was sitting on one of the chairs near the table, next to Pai who was patiently preparing his mixture. He'd mentioned it would only be of real help if she did part of the work. But every time she thought about getting up and walking towards Kisshu her legs turned to rubber. Hell, biting didn't even enter the picture yet and she couldn't do it. Her heart pounded in her ears and her hands felt clammy.

"You're exhibiting signs of being in love," Pai commented in between his brewing.

"Shaddup! Being in love and being nervous feel alike a lot, y'know." Beth couldn't believe how much in fact, all the way up to the butterflies in her stomach. Kisshu groaned in the sofa, not paying attention to anyone else. He seemed to be having a hard time, eyes closed as he breathed in shallow puffs. She swallowed, convincing herself that it wasn't so bad. It was just a bite. That was like pinching someone, only with your teeth, right?

Beth stood up, the chair slightly scraping across the floor. Pai didn't even look up, as if she wasn't having the fiercest internal battle ever. Taking a deep breath, she made the first step towards Kisshu. After that it was easier to walk towards him, slowly moving along the sofa until she was standing in front of him, separated by about two steps between them.

Kisshu opened one eye halfway, his golden iris glinting feverishly. "Hey Red, what's with the serious look?"

Standing this close, she saw the way his skin seemed just a tad moist, and how his hands gripped the soft pillows, the knuckles turned white with the force of his grip. He wasn't wearing his shoes or the tails in his hair, the dark green brushing at his shoulders as he kept a watchful eye on her. The gleam in his eyes was almost… hungry. "I thought maybe we could talk? You've been avoiding me these past few weeks."

"Could you pick me up something from the store? We don't have the good ice cream anymore, the triple-chocolate thing? I'd like some of that." Of course he knew the store she got that from was two hours away. He was trying to send her away, probably because he couldn't do it himself anymore.

Beth took a tentative step towards him. Kisshu's reaction was immediate, a sharp inhale through his nose as he jerked a pillow closer to him. His eyes roved her body, inspecting every curve as if he had never seen her before. She wet her lips, acutely aware of how he followed that movement as well. "I get that you're trying to actually do a good thing here, by staying away from me. But this is just hurting yourself, Kisshu."

She took the final step towards him, standing between his legs, looking down on him. His pupils were dilated, his breathing reverted to shallow, hard puffs. He closed his eyes, frowning as he spoke. "I don't want to hurt you… Beth."

Her eyes locked onto his neck, at the place where it connected to his shoulder. She supposed that biting him there might not hurt to much. But she'd have to get awfully close to reach that spot. Tentative she stretched out a hand, leaning over him.

Kisshu opened his eyes then, and she froze. Then he practically growled his words, alien but desperate in their desire.  
His hand closed around her wrist in a steel grip, and suddenly she fell forward, her knees landing against the sofa, her free hand against Kisshu's chest. As soon as they made contact she realized he was burning up, heat radiating from him as if he was a furnace. The moment for reflection faded because then his lips touched hers, clumsy and hot.

The shock left her unable to respond, while he placed his hands firmly in her hair, moaning. He smelled of musk, instead of his usual cool scent. The kiss broke, a superficial second, before he kissed her again. Beth wriggled her one hand free from between their bodies, but instead of breaking free she placed it gently at the side of his face. The touch alerted him enough to let go of her. Beth panted, heart racing in her chest. "You're sick."

"You're the cure," he whispered back, a fevered prayer rolling from his lips. He kissed her cheek, her chin, her other cheek. His hands tangled in her sleek hair, keeping her close to him. "And you taste so sweet."

Another kiss, light and quick, before he caught her bottom lip between his teeth and gently nipped at it. Beth panicked, but remembered what she was supposed to do. Just bite him, Pai had said, and he should snap out of it quickly. She tried to pull her head to the side, but Kisshu refused to let go. "No, don't leave me. Never leave."

He rained kisses on her mouth, some soft and some insistent, but never breaking loose from her for more than a few seconds. In between he'd mumble incoherent things about how he felt about her, how he needed to be near her, and though Beth was rather panicky, she was also flattered. But he refused to let go off her, which meant she couldn't do what she was supposed to do.  
Then his mouth suddenly kissed across her jaw, to her ear and from that delicious warm spot tenderly down her neck. Beth remembered what Pai had said about marking, and with a rush she realized what Kisshu was doing. Determined she twined her fingers together in his hair, distracting him from his target. "Kiss me again."

And he obeyed her, but this time she responded in full, resting her body against him. His hands moved down, making sure she wouldn't slide from the couch. Her breasts were pressed against his hard chest, but for now Beth focused on the kiss. His body wanted to be near her, so perhaps, if she sated that craving for a few seconds, she'd be able to place her mark. She ran one of her hands slightly down in his hair, running her fingers to his shoulder. When she kneaded it, Kisshu moaned approvingly.  
Tentatively she tasted his mouth, her tongue running briefly against his teeth before pulling back. To this he responded quickly, eagerly. The heat between their bodies increased and Beth was aware of something hard pressed against her abdomen. She ignored the feeling, and her own reaction on it, deepening the kiss, pouring all of her pent-up frustration of the past few weeks in it. Eventually she couldn't say if it was weeks or mere seconds they'd been like this. But his lips were so hot, so soft and eager to please her, to be pleased by her. She explored and he was only happy to let her. At a certain point she realized Kisshu wasn't the only one moaning in the kiss.

They broke free, panting and locking gazes. Kisshu smiled wearily, looking pleased with himself. "Wow, that was- oooh!"

Beth had taken the opportunity to bring her teeth to his shoulder muscle, biting down hard but mindful not to be too rough with him. Kisshu's taste mingled with sweat in her mouth and she found it not wholly unpleasant. His reaction was instantaneous, relaxing with his arms still around her. He cried out, not as if he were in pain but instead as if she was doing something incredibly pleasurable to him. Carefully she increased the pressure. He responded by whimpering softly, pulling her closer. The tension in his body faded, but he still didn't let go. "Harder, Red. Please."

She obeyed, trusting his instincts on this. He encouraged her, until finally her teeth broke the skin. A few drops of blood pearled at the edge of the bite, but he didn't seem to notice any pain. Eventually he really slacked, and her knees skidded against the sofa, sending her tumbling down. Her chin bounced against his stomach, but he didn't seem to mind.

"Thanks…" he mumbled wearily, opening his eyes lightly. He seemed to be almost dazed, struggling to sit up straight.

Beth swallowed, feeling as hot as Kisshu had felt a few seconds ago. She didn't think she'd ever be able to look him straight in the face again. Her bite stood out in red on his skin, a few teeth marks where she'd pierced the skin. At least he wasn't bleeding heavily. And then Kisshu sat up, and leaned towards her. She tried to scramble up, but he stopped her and this time the kiss was soft and sweet. "How about that second date?"

* * *

I'd love to comment on everyone's review, but I'm a bit overworked at the moment, so forgive me T.T I tried giving more info about the marking, but if you still have questions, be sure to let me know ^^


	11. Only You

|Beth's Home|

"Good morning darli-"

Beth cut off Kisshu's attempt at a good morning kiss by shoving a pancake in his mouth. The following choking and sputtering gave her the opportunity to walk to the kitchen. Once there she grabbed a new pancake, spreading butter and jam on it while Kisshu sulked behind her.

"Why don't you want to kiss me? Beth?" He asked, standing behind her. He was so close his breath brushed against her ear, tickling strands of hair. Quickly she took a big bite out of her own pancake, trying to walk away from the alien. Only this time he anticipated her flight, and placed his hands on opposite sides of her.

"Kisshu, let me go. I have work to do," she mumbled, holding the pancake between them as an improvised shield.

In response he moved closer, until their legs brushed together. He looked in her eyes as he brushed a loose strand of hair behind her ear, a lazy smile playing around on his lips. "You always have work to do these days. Would a bit of relaxing be so horrible?"

"I know exactly what kind of relaxing you have in mind," she shot back, before taking a nervous bite of her breakfast. She realized her mistake when his eyes followed to movement, and stopped before licking some stray jam of her lips.

He practically purred when he saw her stopping like that. "Mmm, if you knew exactly what it was, maybe you wouldn't be resisting me so much. It can be very, very nice, Beth. Don't you feel a little bit like me?" he bent towards her and ran his tongue across her lower lip, licking of strawberry jam and butter.

When she gasped he growled in appreciation. And the feeling of his tongue against her lips was nice but… "I still don't think we should do this."

"You think too much," He objected slowly, kissing her jaw. One of his hands slowly rubbed up and down her back, pulling her closer to him. The sensation was warm and tingly, threatening to make her knees go completely weak. As it was she had to hold on to the counter firmly, lest she just jump in his arms for the heck of it.

"Maybe you're not thinking enough," she objected, half her sentence lost in his mouth when he kissed her again. She ought to stop him, because a serious 'no' was enough to get him to give up. But somehow it was so hard to deny him. Maybe it was because he smelled so nice, standing close to her. She opened her mouth, to threaten to bite him. Instead his hand cupped her cheek and his tongue ran past her lip again, threatening to make her knees buckle.

"You were saying?" he asked, sounding so innocent he might as well have been informing about the weather. But his hands were roaming with each passing second, his breathing more ragged with each touch. "There's nobody home except you and me, Beth. We could do all sorts of things, and nobody would know."  
He lowered his head to the pancake and took a slow bite, making sure to keep looking at her while he did so. The grin on his face was absolutely wicked, and infectious to boot.

Beth groaned, flipping his nose in an attempt to make him back off. "Kisshu, we're not even dating."

When she turned around he pressed his mouth against her neck, sending shivers up and down her spine. "But we kissed… and you bit me… and if you're honest, then you don't even mind it when I do… this."

His hand rose to her breast and gave a light squeeze, making her jump up in surprise. "Kisshu!"

He pressed against her, his body hard and unyielding. His teeth slightly scraped past the skin on her neck.

"Bite me and you'll be sorry."

He chuckled, hot breath drawing across her skin. He pulled her closer to himself, and pressed a lingering kiss against her earlobe. "How about you bite me again? I promise I'll like it." His voice rumbled against her, promising a kind of heat she could not even imagine.

His bite mark hadn't even faded yet, after a week. Perhaps the edges were starting to heal, but that in combination with the medicine Pai had brewed up for him should have made sure Kisshu didn't need her to bite him again. Normally it should have been fine. But this was Kisshu they were talking about, and he enjoyed making life hard for her. Especially now he had reacted to her in a way that was supposed to be reserved for eligible women on his own planet. And in a way he was very, very tempting.

She leant back against him, turning her head towards him. "Why do you have to make this so hard on me?"

He reached for her hand and guided it down. "Don't you want to feel what you are doing to me?"

"We're home!" Taruto called out from the living room. Kisshu cursed something in his native tongue as Beth shook her hand loose, just in time as Pai entered the kitchen. The tall alien considered the both of them for a moment, but ignored them quickly enough. Then he started to sort out several little metal objects on the table.

Beth jabbed Kisshu in the stomach with her elbow, before finishing the rest of her pancake. "That's it for today, lover. I have to get to work, so you guys just behave while I'm gone, okay?"

Kisshu whined loudly, while Pai ignored her statement. Taruto on the other hand wrapped his arms around her for a second, before claiming it had been an accident. Beth laughed, petting him on the head quickly before running towards the door. No matter how someone looked at it, Kisshu was having an effect on her. If this kept up, she wasn't sure if she would be able to resist him. Or even if she wanted to for that matter.

Kisshu stared after the fleeing redhead wistfully, not at all happy with this turn of events. He had been hoping for a chance alone with his girl for a long time now, and of course his brothers had to get home and ruin things. He reached for one of the cooling pancakes, staring after Beth with a longing feeling. He'd much rather share these with her, a hot cup of chocolate and a romantic movie. And if things should get more physical, he wouldn't be one to complain.

"Have you forgotten why we came to this planet, Kisshu?" Pai asked him, gathering some stray bolts from the table.

Kisshu turned around, away from the door through which Beth had left. "I haven't forgotten a thing. But I did miss the part where we were told we couldn't have some fun while we are here."

"I think the whole point of this is that we don't have fun," Taruto supplied in what was supposed to be a helpful tone.

Kisshu rolled his eyes at that. "Well, then I guess we can see what exactly my problem is. Because in case the two of you haven't noticed, things between me and Beth are going-"

"Dreadful."  
"Abysmal."

"-just fine, and if the two of you could just butt out for one evening, maybe I could actually get her to say yes."

Pai glared at him for a second, balancing two screwdrivers and a jar of peanut butter. "Say yes to what, exactly? Because even though I am all for the two of you getting things out of your system, you can't possibly be thinking about taking her home with us."

Kisshu folded his arms over one another, finishing his pancake in three bites. "Actually, that's exactly what I'm thinking. Lovers should stay together after all. So no matter what happens to this planet, Beth is staying with me. And if Deep Blue thinks otherwise, he's welcome to take up the issue with me in person." He said the last bit from in between clenched teeth, the corners of his mouth pulled up in a dangerous smile.

"That's treason," Pai said slowly, not even blinking at the statement.

"If it is, I find it very hard to care. We don't even know where the sucker is right now. And he's supposed to be giving us orders? You're having a laugh, right? There's no way he can tell us how to handle the Mews, he's never even seen one of them up close."

Pai slammed his hand down on the table. "Just because I have been giving the human advice, doesn't mean I actually approve of the situation. All I knew is that you were in pain, and as your family it was my duty to attempt and help you in whatever capacity available to me. You can do with her what you please, but in the end, your duty is to our own people."

Kisshu looked away from his adopted brothers. Before his parents had died, they had been extremely close, he could remember that much. And if he was honest, he wanted the exact same thing they had had. Beth might seem fiery and rash on the outside, but he was certain that, given the time, she could grow to love him. And he wanted that. He needed the heat, the passion and the way she smiled thinly before threatening him, while at the same time giving him the bedroom eyes. "And if I don't do what is expected of me?"

The silence in the room was almost tangible, hovering between them. Kisshu could taste the danger on the air, the way Pai had tensed and how Taruto had subtly left the room. All of these things screamed danger, screamed that he would be better off reconsidering this. When he finally met Pai's eyes, the older man slackened his shoulders. "You're doing something stupid. And in the end, she won't be able to help you. I strongly suggest you reconsider this."

Kisshu shrugged, not bothering to keep back his grin. "I don't know Pai, have you ever seen her wield a tennis racket? I'm betting she could give even Deep Blue a run for his money."

|Cafe Mew|

"Beth, what are you doing here? Isn't today your day off?" Ichigo asked as she balanced the plates of cake on one arm. Beth recognized the impending disaster and took over two of the plates, before the sugary goodness would fall on the ground.

"It is, and it isn't. I had to stop by the studio again today. Recording is going great, and they're trying to arrange a performance for me and my partner," Beth explained, following after Ichigo. After the cake had been safely delivered, Ichigo hugged Beth with a happy squeal.

"I am so proud of you, you're doing amazing and your parents are going to be so proud and do you even realize how huge this is? If you're going to be a superstar, you have to give me your first autograph, I'll take such good care of it, you don't even know." The litany of heartfelt happiness continued, rending the redhead nearly deaf in one ear before Zakuro swiped in and tugged Ichigo away to do her job.

Beth dropped down in a vacant seat on the terrace, giving her order to a blushing Lettuce. Odds were these would be the final days with good weather, until fall really kicked in and everything would be getting wetter and drearier until they arrived in the heart of winter. So of course the perfect way was to celebrate with a cup of hot chocolate.

"This is really good," a purring voice commented next to her.

"It should be, it's my favorite," Beth replied, studying to menu card to see what the new cakes for the season were. Spotting the pumpkin cake immediately lifted her spirits.

"B-b-b-beth?"

"What is it, Lettuce?" Beth asked, reaching for her cup of hot chocolate absent-mindedly. Someone handed it to her, their fingers slightly colder than hers. "Thanks."

"You're welcome darling," the voice told her.

Now that made her perk her ears for a few seconds. Darling? There was only one person on the planet who called her that. With a start she turned to the side, intending on giving Kisshu an earful when a dark chocolate cake zoomed past her face, hitting the alien perfectly on the nose. "What are you doing here?"

Kisshu fell backwards, but floated up before he fell on the ground. Grumbling he wiped the cake of his face. "What is it with women and shoving pastries in my face?"

Of course him crying out like this was the moment for paying costumers to notice there was actually an alien in their midst. The result was a pandemonium of screams, hot tea and whipped cream, and a flurry of Mews who appeared to protect Beth. But she wasn't planning on playing damsel in distress just so easily.

"Oh, brimstone, Kisshu! Just get out of here already, what are you even doing?"

"I'm visiting my cute girlfriend, of course! Isn't that obvious?" He replied, floating to a safer distance. Only Mint could follow him there, making it more easy for him to not get his ass kicked too thoroughly. "I wanted to ask you if you're available the day after tomorrow."

What was up with him asking a question like that in public? Did he want the Mews to be come suspicious of them? As if her own feelings weren't contradicted enough as it was in this situation. "Even if I was free, I might have plans by then."

"Not if the date were to happen at say… eight in the evening, when we're totally alone?"

"What makes you think she would be alone with you, Kisshu!" Ichigo shouted, throwing a cup of tea at the floating alien.

Kisshu stuck out his tongue, comfortably dodging the projectile sent his way. "Well, who knows, kitten? Some people might actually be more appreciative of my wonderful company than you are. Has that thought ever crossed your mind?"

"Never!" Every member of the Mews shouted in unison, making Beth face-palm. When the girls made a group effort in throwing as many things at the invader as possible, Kisshu shrugged and created a new portal. After he had fled the scene, everyone calmed down, though Ichigo thought it prudent to grab Beth by the neck again, crushing her in a hug.

"Don't worry about a thing Beth! No matter what he's planning on doing to you, we'll protect you. Just say the word, and you'll have an honor guard every second of the day."

"Well, not counting work, school and other obligations," Mint pointed out with a thin smile. She looked miffed at Kisshu having interrupted her tea break.

Beth hoped that she wasn't as red as she thought she was. Lying to her friends was of course very, very wrong. But what could she tell them? That she and Kisshu had been, if not dating, at least involved in some very serious other things? Things that the alien was very keen on elevating to a higher level? And if she was honest, she wasn't even that averse to the notion. Clearing her throat she finally spoke, "Well, I might just stay at home in the evening the day after tomorrow. I mean, if he's out looking for me on the streets, the safest place I could be is at home, right?"

What that actually meant was that at least Kisshu would be remaining near her the entire evening. That might actually end up helping the Mews, since the aliens were at their most threatening when they bothered to participate in teamwork. What it meant for Beth's safety however…

"Are you certain you will be safe, Bethany? I mean, if you should need company that evening, I'm sure at least one of use would be able to clear their schedule a little bit," Lettuce said meekly, fidgeting as she made the offer.

Beth shook her head, certain she wouldn't need the protection. "Please, what's the worst that could possibly happen?"

"So you guys are going to be busy all night, right?" Kisshu reconfirmed with his brothers, rolling his shoulders. It was still an hour before the appointed date time, which meant that Beth didn't suspect a thing so far. And he planned on keeping it that way, even if it meant sneaking around behind her back for a few hours.

Pai rolled his eyes at the question, keeping Taruto close to him, in case the younger boy got the idea that running away to cause mischief might be a good idea. "We have been over the scenario countless of times by now, Kisshu. Yes, we will be away all night. Not that it will aid you any, need I remind you that the human is far more willful than you are at any given time of day?"

No he did not need reminding, and especially not from Pai. The past forty-something hours the older alien had swamped him with information he hadn't really wanted, including several scientific articles. "Everything will be fine. Now just go already, you're ruining a perfectly good romantic atmosphere."

"Any atmosphere with you in it is ruined anyway," Taruto muttered from behind Pai's back, clearly unhappy he was being sent away as well.

"Shoo!" Kisshu finally hissed, before closing the door on his brothers. When he opened it again after a few seconds, a portal just closed behind them. With a sigh and a nod Kisshu slumped back, relieved that at least that obstacle was out of the way. Now all he had to deal with was his intended lover and her resistance to his charms. With a relieved sigh he let the door fall shut, perhaps a bit too loud.

Beth looked up sharply at the sound, putting down pencil for a second. "Guys, what are you doing there? The door is not for playing around with, you know that!"  
The aliens didn't actually make for very bad house mates, but sometimes they just really didn't know when to quit. More than once she'd walked in on any of the threesome doing things that were questionable at best. Kisshu walked in, doing his utmost best to seem inconspicuous. That usually meant he was up to no good. "What are you guys doing?"

"Pai and Taruto had sudden, very urgent business to attend to. So they left. They left us. Here. Alone," he started to stutter the last few parts of the sentence, plucking at a pillow he grabbed from the couch.

"Hmmm… okay then," Beth replied, picking up her pencil again. It was very important that she finish writing at least these few verses before their next song pitch. A quiet evening alone might be just the thing she needed to finally finish this project. She placed the pencil down on paper again, ready to resume her work.  
A cold breath of air blew past her neck. When she startled, Kisshu pressed his lips against the side of her neck, warm and slightly moist.

"Now that we're alone…" he suggested, reaching for her notepad and pencil.

"I can finally start working on all my work. Maybe you should consider doing the same," She suggested sweetly, grabbing her notepad tighter. Kisshu pouted in response, but didn't let up on his attempt to get closer to her.

His fingers grazed the inside of her wrist, stroking slowly back and forth until her breath hitched in her throat. "But you're staying home tonight, just for me."

She turned her face toward him, determined not to be intimidated by his closeness, or the way his eyes had the color of molten gold. "I stayed home because otherwise the girls would have kept guarding me. Somebody did something that caused them to feel as if guarding me is necessary for my personal wellbeing."

"I'll send him my thanks," Kisshu whispered, leaning in for a kiss.

Beth stopped him by placing the notepad in between them. "Thanking yourself is such an ego-trip, and I hope you know that. How about you just let me get some work done for once?"

"That kind of defeats the point of a romantic evening, you know?" he replied, his lips pressed against the notepad. He withdrew for the moment, floating up until he hung upside down in front of her. He smirked as soon as he spotted her glare.  
"C'mon darling, sweet Red. What is the harm in having some fun with just the two of us?"

She knew this was a game she shouldn't be pulled into. But then again, he could be so very charming when he wanted something. She put the notepad in her lap, leaning forward until their foreheads almost touched. "What's there to say I won't end up regretting 'some fun'?"

This time his grin was more sincere, and he spread his hands out as if he was only too eager to please. "If you don't try, you'll never know. But I know you'll like it. That's kind of the point of this, isn't it?"

"Is it now?" she asked, placing a foot on the ground, turning away from him. He floated down on the couch, in between her spread legs. When he placed a hand on her knee, she raised her eyebrows at him.

"Red, you sound as if you don't trust me. Haven't I proven every single time that I'm the most trustworthy alien you could ever meet?" his fingers gently brushed her knee, never making decisive contact. The sensation sent her stomach in a tingle.

She grabbed her notepad once more, bringing it up to her nose so she wouldn't be able to look Kisshu in the eye. If she did that, she might just be lost forever. "Like I said, I have important work to do. I don't have time to play around."

"Well, maybe I'm through with playing. Maybe I want things to be serious between us." Kisshu said in a low whisper. Every single word was crystal clear, and seemed just as fragile.

Beth almost dropped the notepad, looking at the alien who knelt between her legs. He seemed so… honest. No, so sincere. This time no witty smile graced his features, no joke or lecherous remark hid behind his eyes. The moment sent a chill down her spine. "Kisshu… we're too different."

"We're not!" He half-shouted, grasping her hands. His skin was hot once more, but not that alarming temperature. Now it was a pleasant warmth, engulfing her hands and making her wish he would grant that heat to the rest of her body. He spoke the words as soon as he found them. "We're… we're not the same, but we're alike enough. Otherwise I wouldn't react to you the way I do. I wouldn't want you this badly."  
He looked at her notepad, lost and forgotten in her lap. Then he looked back at her, with a look that was so dangerously close to being lost. "Red… Beth… do you know what's been happening to me? I thought, after you marked me, I would be able to think clearer. And I can, but all I think about is you. All I imagine is how I can make you laugh, what would make you happy, which thing would please you? When I try to sleep, I can't, and if I do then I just dream of you, of us. Always, everything is you."  
He took a deep breath, hands shaking. "Beth… if all I can ever be to you is a friend, tell me now. Don't keep me dangling like this. I feel like I'm straddling a chasm, and every day it opens a bit wider. I might lose myself in there. Just tell me… is there hope? For me, there is only You"

Beth had gone slack-jawed halfway his speech. At the end she felt a sudden surge of relief. Somewhere in the back of her mind, resisting him had been easy. After all, he was chasing after two girls at once. Denying him was easy when she thought about that. But now…  
His hands didn't seem like they would stop shaking if she didn't reply, but she couldn't find an answer. Yet, she no longer regarded him as an alien first. No, these days he was a hopeless flirt, a close if annoying friend, and an attractive man first. Anything else came later. When her reply kept lagging, Kisshu dropped his gaze to the ground. When his grip on her hands started to slack she only managed to repeat after him.

"Only me?"

He looked up at her, the first splash of hope streaking over his face. "You. Always you."

She tightened her grip on his hands, as if he were the only thing keep her grounded. "Then… you too. More than a friend. You."

He rose from his seated position, closer to her. "Then… you'll… we'll… we'll date, right? Just you and me. We'll be us, together?"

She nodded. It was probably insane and certainly ill advised. But trying couldn't hurt, and oh, he looked so happy. And somehow seeing him happy made her happier as well. "Yes!"

Kisshu's reply was a kiss, his arms wrapped around her tightly. His fervor was contagious, and she couldn't hold back either. Not if he was this pleased. The heat of his body spread towards hers, and she feared she might lose her mind in the moment.

"I forgot some- oh… well, it seems like that is settled. Do you still need us gone?" Pai asked, having freshly materialized. He looked down with a kind of resignation.

"Pai, I swear-" Kisshu started, before Beth pressed a finger against his lips.

"Pai, go. I'll keep him busy," she promised. After those words, neither of them could find the will to pay attention to anything that was not the other.

* * *

Well, this is a slightly longer chapter than what I usually do, but you've all been waiting for it a long time too. My most sincere apologies for that, but... well, life happened. Do you feel better when I say there's a 90% chance of at least some lime/lemon happening?


	12. It's the Thought that Counts

|Work|

Beth tried to discreetly unscrew the smile from her face. The photo shoot had been going on for at least two hours. She felt hot, sticky and hungry. But she had to make sure to keep smiling, to keep looking happy and above all, she had to look like an idol. When the camera moved back to her she flipped her hair back, flashing a coquette smile. Next to her Vincent looked remarkably debonair, his blond hair artfully arranged as if he had just woken up.

"Bethany, please look a bit more- yeah, like that! Perfect! Closer to Vincent, please!"

She obeyed keeping her facial expression exactly like they wanted it. When she came closer to Vincent, she heard his stomach grumbling. So she wasn't the only one who felt like they were starving. Well, they'd have to finish the shoot no matter what. She bumped into his shoulder, giving some quiet encouragement. His smile grew a bit looser, and he sighed.

Fifteen minutes later they were released from duty. Both of them immediately let their shoulders slump down, relaxing for a few blessed moments. "I could eat… I dunnow, I could probably eat all the tonkatsu in a fifteen kilometer radius."

Vincent chuckled. "Not if I beat you to it." His accent was more pronounced when he was exhausted. "Care to join me for some lunch?"

"Is there anything close?"

"I saw a food stand across the street. Let's get something there and eat on a bench. I need fresh air."

Beth could not agree more with that statement. The air in the room was stuffy to say the least. She grabbed her coat, smiling to several of the makeup artists before running down the stairs. Outside she took a deep breath through her nose. The sun was watery and didn't do much to warm up the air, but at least it was there. And ever since she'd finally admitted she kinda liked Kisshu, she'd felt even better. Then again, her boyfriend was very dedicated to making sure she felt happy about… well anything.

They ordered food and sat down on a bench, shoveling in the hot ramen at a tempo only ravenous people were capable of. The convenience store next to them played some jingles, followed by a weather report and news. Vincent let out a slow whistle after some of it.

"What?" Beth asked. She hadn't really been paying attention to the news, instead focusing on the last pieces of teriyaki chicken. In her defense, they were really good.

"Oh, the Mews saved the town again! Those girls are really amazing. Did you know they appeared on television once? They played it off as a stunt for a cafe near the park, but some of my friends at the television station said nothing like that had been planned beforehand. Those girls are like, real heroes!" Vincent beamed when he talked about the Mews.

"Well, they are pretty amazing," Beth agreed, though she did wonder how Vincent would react if he ever met his idols up close. Zakuro was probably the only one who wouldn't burst his bubbles in the first few seconds. The shock would probably be that much harder if she was in a bad mood though. "So, you're a big fan of them?"

"Of course! Just look at the wonderful things they do!" Vincent seemed to be really fired up about it. "Aren't you a fan of them, Beth?"

Beth considered the question. Ichigo was one of her best friends, and she had a lot of fun with the other girls as well. But truth be told, she felt a bit useless next to them. Whenever a Chimera attacked, she couldn't do a thing except stand aside and let them handle it. "They're really strong, and wonderful. And I'm just a bit jealous of them."

"Huh?"

Beth leaned back, placing her hands to the sides. "Well, yeah. I mean, they fight monsters and save Tokyo. Even if we were to get involved in a fight like that, the only thing we can do is run away, right? We'd only get in the way if things were to get serious."

What would happen if the Mews ended up fighting the aliens directly? What would happen if she got caught in a fight like that? She would hardly be able to stand by if Ichigo or any of the others were in danger. But at the same time, she didn't think she'd be able to just let the aliens get hurt either. Not at this point at least. She knew too much about them, had grown to care too much about them. Taruto was just a kid, no matter what kind of trouble he was up to. Pai, in the end, meant well for his own people. And Kisshu… if Kisshu were in trouble, would she be able to stand aside? She shook her head with a sigh.

"Well, it would be nice if we were ever able to help out if there were a problem. But sadly, the both of us are mere singers, and all we can do is bring joy to the people. So, miss Bethany, shall we resume our job?"

Beth stood up and dusted off the back of her coat. "Yeah, let's."

Neither of them had noticed someone had been listening to their conversation. That certain someone had been hoping to pick Beth up from her job. As it was, they'd received something to think about.

|The Apartment|

"You want me to do what?" Pai asked slowly, looking up from the sudoku he was trying to solve. Somehow he'd managed to get stuck, and he didn't know where he'd gone wrong.

"Make a Chimera that only Beth can defeat. C'mon Pai, you can do it! You've been working so hard at making one that can beat the Mews, and failed every time. Now you have to make a weak one on purpose." Okay, so maybe that wasn't the best way to actually get Pai to cooperate with his plans. Maybe he should have gone with careful flattery instead of blunt honesty. But if Beth loved him the way he was, why should he change?

Pai frowned, before going back to his puzzle. "Did your mate hit you on the head a time too many? This is the biggest nonsense I've heard you spout so far, and I've known you for a long time."

Kisshu sighed, clearly frustrated that Pai didn't jump on his idea like a dog on a juicy bone. "C'mon brother, you can do this! Beth's obviously feeling a bit frustrated that she can't help the Mews, and it would really make her happy if she can be useful."

"Our mission is not to make your lover feel useful. In fact, if she wishes to feel useful, why doesn't she just help us? Perhaps with her aid we could defeat the Mews." Pai pointed out daftly, before he scratched out an errant 1 in his puzzle.

Kisshu rolled his eyes. "Well, if we lived in a perfect world, of course Beth would help us. She'd also immediately volunteer to not only marry me, but also come back to our planet to meet the parents. And she would want the exact same amount of kids as me. Which, for your information, would be four."

"How many does she want?"

"Haven't asked her yet. To be honest, I think discussing babies is more something for a second week of dating. I think I pushed my luck just by bringing up marriage after she kissed me. But that's not the point here! Could you just consider helping me?" Kisshu flailed his arms, not believe Pai had gotten him sidetracked for a moment.

"… I just considered. And I'm not doing it. You can handle this situation on your own." Pai closed the conversation deftly.

"I'll help. Not for you, but I do want to make Beth happy," Taruto offered, putting his comic book to the side.

"Oh? And what sparks this great moment of generosity?" Kisshu inquired.

"Beth is, unlike you, very happy to make me happy. So yeah, I'll help her. Because if you do it on your own, you'll screw up. And if she dumps you, I doubt you'll find someone else. Let's face it, you're hopeless."

"Listen, short stuff-"

Taruto held up a hand. "Do you want help or not?"

Kisshu sighed. "Yes, yes I want help. What did you have in mind?"

|The Next Day|

Had Kisshu not been his lovestruck self, he might have considered that Taruto was more of a plant guy instead of an animal guy. The idea that sending a giant Chimera snake to his girlfriend would never make it to the top ten romantic gestures was probably another one. But Kisshu only thought about making his girlfriend happy. If she wanted to be able to save the day, then the day she would save. And all he had needed to do was carefully maneuver a thousand pound reptile to the park, with some help from Taruto.

"You think she'll be happy when she sees your present?" Taruto asked, watching as the snake slithered towards the ostentatious palace that was Cafe Mew.

Kisshu nodded, stroking his chin in an effort to seem wiser. "She'll love it, of course. When she comes home, I'll bet she won't stop talking about how great this day was for her. She gets to be the hero for once! Hey… what's that stupid snake doing now?"

As expected, once people had seen the snake, they all took off running. Kisshu had expected it to at least make a few snaps at people passing by. Heck, even a few people getting eaten wouldn't have surprised him. And bragging about beating a ferocious, man-eating snake was just the thing that would have perked Beth right up. Instead the animal slithered around, ignoring all the screaming humans and instead circling around the fountain, before gliding up the stairs. The tip of its tail knocked over a few statues, but all in all this was the tamest Chimera he'd ever seen.

"Say, aren't these animals supposed to be carnivores?" Kisshu asked, moving to lie on his stomach as he floated in the air. He supported his hand with one hand while Taruto crossed his arms.

"Well… to be honest I thought getting a hungry snake here might have been too much work, so I picked one that had just been fed. I guess that rat they gave it hasn't digested yet," Taruto clarified, seemingly not too impressed with the creature either.

"What do they usually do after they've eaten?"

Taruto thought about it for a few seconds. "Well… I dunnow."

Kisshu at once glared at his younger brother. "What do you mean, you don't know? You told me you had the perfect animal ready for Beth. At least tell me it reacts to sound?"

"According to that one Simpsons episode I saw, yeah," Taruto defended himself.

Movement on the ground attracted his attention once more. The snake seemed to be making itself comfortable on the terrace, moving back and forth, swinging tables and chairs to the side. At the very least it would take the Mews a day to get everything back in order. Then the animal yawned and curled in on itself. Dark green scales patterned with dark ivory bands reflected the sunlight.

"What is it doing now? Is it… don't tell me that thing is napping?!" Kisshu shouted, outraged at the Chimera's behaviour. Of all the Chimera's he'd seen, this one had the most guts of the bunch. Sleeping on the job!

Some people came out of the door. It looked like Ichigo and Mint, together with Bethany. Though the Mews were fully transformed, they hesitated when they weren't immediately attacked. The snake opened one big eye, tongue whisking in and out. Then it wriggled and made itself more comfortable.  
The Mews were about as impressed with the snake as Kisshu himself was. He would have been insulted if someone picked the snake as an opponent for him!

There went his carefully co-ordinated plan, including the eventual big clue when he would - subtly, mind you - drop a microphone in Beth's lap. Once his girl had that, she would have worked out that only her voice could stop the serpent. Now he was stuck watching a snake sleep while the girls discussed how they were going to handle the situation.

"No matter how you look at it, we failed," Taruto mumbled, pulling a comic book from his back pocket. He started to leaf through it, occasionally glancing down to check if maybe there wasn't some sudden action.

Kisshu threw his head in his neck, groaning in frustration. Why did his wonderful plan have to be bombarded like this? He should have harassed Pai longer, that guy had a knack for choosing animals with a bloodthirsty streak. Beth would never be in any real danger anyway. If the Mews didn't rescue her, he would only be too happy to serve as her knight in shining armor.

Below them Ichigo used her final attack on the snake. As the Parasite was swallowed and the snake shrunk back to a normal size, he let out a small whine. There went his plan to make Beth the hero of the day. Oh well, he'd just have to make her a nice dinner to make her feel better. Sure, it wasn't as impressive as a huge snake, but it was something, right?

|That Evening|

Beth opened the door and stepped in, carefully handling the cage that held the snake. The animal had spent most of the day napping, occasionally poking its head around the cage to explore. All in all, it had to be the least impressive Mew fight she had seen so far. "Hey guys, I need to ask you something."

"I didn't do anything! You can't prove it!" Kisshu yelled from the kitchen.

Aaaaaaand that was how she found the culprit for the snake. Who needed evidence when Kisshu was so quick to betray himself so easily? She found Taruto and asked him to bring the snake to a pet store, where it could be properly taken care of. Pai sat in the sofa, scribbling some things in a notebook. She leaned on the sofa, starting some small talk before she confronted the real culprit. "So… you had nothing to do with the snake?"

"Of course not. How Kisshu goes about courting you is his business. I have no wish to get involved in that sort of lunacy," There was a smirk on his face as he mentioned this. Obviously Kisshu had told Pai enough about the day's adventure to give the eldest alien an idea of how horribly everything had failed.

"Kisshu, can I talk to you?" Beth asked, her tone sugary sweet.

He appeared from the kitchen, wearing an apron that read 'kiss the cook'. It was a rare day when Kisshu cooked, but it was usually good. He cooked very chaotic though, making her decide she wasn't entering the kitchen any time soon. "Yes, my sweet?" he asked with a grin on his face.

Beth gently pressed a kiss on his cheek. Kisshu smelled like food and hot sauce. She reached a hand to his cheek, gently stroking it. "You know Kisshu, there's something about dating on Earth that we haven't really covered yet. So I thought I would inform you about it. You know, so things don't get awkward."

"Oh, sure. That sounds good."

"Okay, just listen very carefully to me," Beth said, smiling.

She grabbed his ear, forcing him to lean forward to her. He cried out, more out of surprise than pain. With her other hand she grabbed the front of his shirt, pulling him closer. "On what kind of planet is a giant-ass snake considered a courting present?"

His face turned white, followed by a vibrant red glow. If taking over the planet didn't work out for him, he would have a future as a traffic light. "Wh-who told you I did it?"

"You practically confessed the moment I stepped through the door, and Pai was nice enough to give me a hint! Don't you go picking a fight with your brother now, what other kind of insane gifts are you planning on getting me? On Earth you get a girl flowers or chocolates!"

"It wasn't a courting gift!" Kisshu protested, trying to pry her fingers away from his ear. She let go, instead doubling her grip on his shirt. He seemed more comfortable in that position anyway. "I heard you talking to that weird guy from your job, about how you would like to be the hero for once. I had Taruto help me make a Chimera and we ended up with that lazy-ass snake."

Beth couldn't believe her ears. "I could have gotten hurt! Or eaten!"

Kisshu held out his hands in front of him. "You were never in any real danger. I mean, the Mews were there, and I would have stepped in if they weren't up to the challenge. I just wanted to make you happy."

His last sentence took the wind from her sails. "Sheesh… I just had to date an idiot, didn't I? What are you cooking back there?"

Kisshu looked back to the kitchen, checking if anything was burning or not. "I found this recipe that has eggs and hot sauce. You like spicy stuff, so I thought I would make you something nice. You know, to make up for not being able to make you the hero for once." The tips of his ears turned red while he spoke. He glanced back at her. "Sorry for disappointing you, Red."

Beth shook her head. "I'll forgive you for the giant snake, this time. You don't really have to apologize for trying to make me happy though. Just, next time if you want to cheer me up… you could consider just making me dinner right away? Let's skip the steps with potentially murderous animals?"

A smile lit up his face as he pressed a kiss on her nose. "I can do that. I have to get back before I burn the eggs. After dinner-"

"I'll kiss the cook. Oh, and Kisshu?"

He walked into the kitchen backwards, nearly bumping into the salt shaker. "Yeah?"

"Thanks for trying."

* * *

To be honest, Kisshu is definitely the type that tries to be romantic, only to fail horribly. Which makes him that more charming to write ^^"

Wuli : Well, Kisshu can be smart, but common sense has never really been one of his traits. I like to blame his one-track mind.

Micky-Moo : Your username is really cute actually. And Beth and Kisshu actually get together the soonest of all my pairings. Then again, this fic will be shorter than most of my stories as well, so there is that.


	13. Phone Call

There's some Limey stuff after the line break in the story, for those opposed to that sort of thing. Don't worry, you won't miss any of the plot, so there's no harm in skipping it. I'm also not that happy with the sexy scene here, but that's because of FF restrictions and stuff. If I ever get around to re-uploading it to AO3 I'll probably improve on it. Anyway, enjoy! Things you want to see more or less of? Let me know, because I'll be starting to round up the story after this.

* * *

When Beth came home that afternoon it was with a peculiar sense of knowing that something was about to happen. Part of this was mere statistics. Weeks had gone by without any development that tipped the scales of intergalactic war in the favor of the Mews or the aliens. But the main part was that she knew Kisshu, and she knew his tendency to somehow, inexplicably, find a way to make life a tad more complicated. Navigating Kisshu's good intentions was like warding off an avalanche with only a snow shovel. You'd only get caught in the crossfire and quite likely end up at least a bit battered.

The trick to living with this sensation was knowing what would happen, and somehow managing to set up a defense of sorts against the worst fallout. Right now Beth had emergency plans for every possible event involving Kisshu getting in a fight with his brothers - quite likely - or in another scuffle with the Mews, which was most likely. She even had a back-up plan in case Kisshu would ever decide to show up at her work to have a look around. It involved hitting him with a heavy object and stuffing him in the nearest closet until all her colleagues had gone home. Okay, that was actually the entire plan, but it was short and simple. Easy to remember in case of panic.

"I'm home," she called out, stepping out of her sneakers before moving to the kitchen. She was starving and there had been leftovers in the fridge when she left for work this morning.

On her way she walked past Kisshu who was lounging on the couch with the phone pressed to his ear. He winked at her, not interrupting his conversation. "Of course she'll be happy to see you. Can't imagine why she didn't tell you herself already. I know, I know, but at least I told you right away. I'm sure we'll get along just great, yes."

Interesting, she hadn't thought Kisshu knew anyone who would call him at her apartment. The thought bounced around in her head, looking for a follow-up as she selected a cold plate of pasta. When it connected to the rest of the thought, the start of a shiver ran down her back. In the pit of her stomach the seed of panic was planted. After all, the only people who even knew the phone number of the apartment were the label she worked for and her parents.  
In her subconscious the thought continued to work itself out as she shoveled pasta in her mouth. It couldn't possibly be anyone at her job Kisshu was on the phone with. After all, she'd been at work all day and it looked as if Kisshu had been on the phone for quite a while now.

The thought ripened and Beth let the fork clang in her plate. He wouldn't! Would he?

"Kisshu?" she growled menacingly as she walked towards the living room again.

"Ah, honey, you got a little something on the corner of your mouth there," he tried to interrupt her while casually angling the phone away from him.

"Who's that on the phone?" she asked.

Kisshu saw trouble coming and tried to jump for safety. He only got halfway the couch before Beth grabbed his ankles. In seconds she was on top of him, grabbing at the phone. "Tell me that's not my dad!"

"It's not your dad!" Kisshu shouted, wiggling underneath her. When she stopped for a deep breath, he continued, signing the proverbial death sentence. "Though I think he's sobbing in the background. It's your mom I'm talking to, she's-"

Beth grabbed the phone from his hand, pressing it to her ear while placing her free hand on her boyfriends face. "Mom?"

"-real nice," Kisshu managed to say in a muffled voice from underneath her hand.

"There you are honey." Somewhere in the background there was muffled crying, sounding like her father.

"Is daddy crying?"

"Oh, he's just not taking the news very well. Our little girl is finally growing up! You never mentioned to us you had a boyfriend. Such a charming young man too, he really seems very fond of you."

Beth cast Kisshu a withering glare. He tried to apologize by raising his eyebrows, the only part of his face that could currently move freely. "He has his moments. Is there a special reason you called?"

"We were thinking about visiting around Christmas. In fact, dear Kisshu has offered to pick us up from the airport, isn't that nice?"

Another glare at her boyfriend. If looks could have killed… "Has he now?"

"Yes, yes," her mothers smoky voice sounded positively pleased with the situation. "I"m so happy to hear about it. I'm sure your father will turn around in the future. You know he still sees you like his little girl."

"Yeah… thanks mom. So I'll see you guys around Christmas then?"

"Yes honey. Now say goodbye to Kisshu for me, keep working hard and I'll see you soon. I love you."

"Love you too, mom," Beth answered with a smile. When the phone clicked she removed her hand from Kisshu's mouth, who drew deep breaths. "Why'd you pick up the damn phone?"

"Well, the display said it was your mother calling and I've been dying to meet the inlaws. I mean, you already met my brothers, so I only thought it would be fair. And your mother likes me!"

"That's because she doesn't know you're an alien!" Beth explained in one sentence. "And unless you can change that, we are going to have a huge problem in the next month. I don't suppose you can like… hide the ears or something?"

Kisshu ran his fingers over the tips of his ears. "Ugh… no? I"m kind of attached to them, and I'd really prefer it if they don't go anywhere. Like, ever. I like the ears, don't you?"

"This isn't about me liking your ears, Kisshu. This is about me not ending on the cover of some hick magazine that says 'I married an alien'. It's about the Mews not kicking both our asses for sleeping with the enemy." Beth could already imagine the eardrum-shattering screech Ichigo would emit when she finally fessed up. As for Kisshu, he would be lucky if his ears would be all he lost in the aftermath.

The alien looked thoroughly disgruntled at the idea. "S' not like they can decide who we date anyway. I mean, I got Deep Blue to worry about, even if we don't know where he is. And if he thinks about making a fuss about you, I have no problems royally kicking his ass all the way back to his hidey-hole. We're adults. We can decide for ourselves who we're going to date. And I decided I want to date you. And I want to meet your family and get along with them as well. I'd even try to get along with the Mews if they didn't try to kick my ass all the time."

Beth sighed, sliding off Kisshu and sitting back in the sofa. The phone was placed on the table as she disconsolately looked up at the ceiling. "Yeah, well, we don't really have much of a choice. I just wish… that you didn't have to fight anyone. That you could just get that Mew Aqua and we could all just live in peace."

Kisshu looked at her with a wry smile on his face. "Well, I'm all for peace negotiations. Anything that would mean I don't have to sneak around when I want to see you at work. But…" he sighed mournfully. "Pai's really invested in following Deep Blue's orders. I mean, the guy is a hero for our people. He came out here all on his own to try and save my planet. Taruto is just running along with it because he wants to make his brother happy. And I got sent here because siblings should stick together. And because of my obvious strategic talents of course."

Beth snorted, but not all that derisively. Kisshu could handle his own in a fight. She suspected the biggest reason he got his ass handed to him so often was because he liked to play around so much. If there was any real malice in him it was buried beneath tons of tomfoolery and basic idiocy. And, well, a soft streak for her. "I'm happy you haven't gotten around to being serious."

He placed his hand on hers. The gentle heat surprised her. He smiled at her, the kind of smile that tried to say 'everything will be fine. You'll see. I'll make sure of it'.  
"I am pretty serious about you, you know. Scratch that, I'm dead serious about you. You're the best thing I've found on this entire planet."

"Kisshu… you're such a sap," Beth told him. When she saw how crestfallen he looked about that comment she caved. "I'm serious about you too. I wouldn't have been able to get along with you for so long if I didn't."

* * *

She leaned over to him and pressed her lips against his. He responded eager as always, with an urgency as if he feared she might disappear if he didn't hurry. The kiss was so typically him it made her smile. He was always so full of fire, her Kisshu. Loveable, kind of a dork and always willing to make her happy. His hand slid up her arm, sending little sparks through her body.

Her free hand traveled up his arm, past his biceps and into his hair. It tangled there with a kind of familiarity that resulted from multiple dates and stolen intimate moments in the most inopportune places. They had far too little time together, and the time they did have was often spoiled by worrying about being discovered by her friends. This or being used as some sort of observational experiment weren't exactly things that worked positively for the mood.

It was almost as if he'd been reading her thoughts. "It'll be a while before my brothers are back…" he whispered to her, kissing his way from her mouth to her earlobe. "And we're not expecting any visitors until we get to the Christmas most humans get so excited about…"

The suggestion, the invitation in his words was impossible to ignore. And it was becoming increasingly harder to say no to Kisshu. In the time that had passed she'd had to renew her 'mark' on him, something which had been a surprising turn-on, considering what it consisted off. She still held out firmly on being marked however. That kind of thing was hard to conceal with make-up and she didn't exactly feel like explaining a set of teethmarks in her neck.

His fingers trailed past her cheekbones and fluttered subtly to her neck. They were alone, she considered. About as alone as they'd ever be. Her fingers twined more firmly in his hair as she pressed a kiss in his neck. The groan that followed vibrated all the way to the pit of her stomach. Kisshu's deft hand began to gently tug at the buttons of her blouse, with the kind of careful insistence that suggested he knew a 'no' was a probable answer, and that he would respect that. When instead she nuzzled his neck encouragingly, he picked up on the hint and undid the top button.

It was as if somehow that button had been the one thing restraining the both of them. Wordlessly they fumbled with clothing, seams protesting loudly if they were handled in a way that clearly wasn't part of the manual. But then his hands replaced the clothing and a little rip didn't seem so important anymore. When she'd first met him, Kisshu's body temperature had been cool, as if he had spent a lot of time in a brisk fall wind. Now he put her in mind of a blazing sun, emitting heat towards her body, sending her own temperature skyrocketing. If there was an explanation for it, right now she wasn't in the mood to hear it.  
He kissed her breasts with a serious intent, suggesting he would be content doing this for the rest of the day. The nipples peaked up underneath his ministrations, dark pink and proudly stating her arousal. Kisshu's slick tongue glided over them, not focusing his attention on them but rather skimming past them teasingly. She made soft little sounds that were wordless encouragement and Kisshu obeyed without a halt. With a smirk he gently rolled her left nipple back and forth between his fingers, his other hand dipping scandalously underneath her skirt. The grin grew wider when he felt around there.

"My, Red. Someone's feeling decidedly damp around here." He practically purred the words, rubbing her cautiously through her underwear.

She rolled her eyes towards his erection, standing proudly and clearly visible through his own pants. "Who's talking, hmmm?"

"Talking, yes. But complaining… never…" he lowered his mouth to her breasts again, this time clamping white teeth around a pert nipple. When she cried out softly again he chuckled softly. "Oh, I will never complain about that sound."

She moved to punch his shoulder, but instead ended up holding on to him as he gently continued rubbing her through her underwear. He kissed his way up her shoulder, across her collarbone. When his lips slid back up to her ear she shivered against his hand. His breath was hot in her ear, at the verge of becoming breathless. "Beth, don't you want to try touching me?" The suggestion caused her to look down at his erection and then back at him. He raised his eyebrows, part dare and part invitation. Beth swallowed once, before Kisshu smiled shyly, looking up at the ceiling. "Well, you don't have to. We have time, even if I don't act like it sometimes. I can- hey!"

Beth closed her hand around his rigid member, causing him to yelp in surprise. To her surprise it really was hard. She hadn't expected that flesh could feel like this. At his yelp she loosened her grip. "Too strong?"

Kisshu shook his head, and Beth noted the tips of his ears had turned a bright pink. "No, it's just… don't go grabbing a man's private things like that. Scared the hell out of me for a second."

She pouted and renewed her grip. His eyelids drooped closed as she did so. Fluttering her eyelashes, even if he didn't see it, she continued talking, experimentally opening and closing her hand. "You're the one that suggested I touch you, right?"

He nodded, sending his finger in slow circles around her sex. Touching him had made her much slicker, because she heard the soft noises his finger made when rubbing cloth against flesh. He buried his head in her shoulder, his free hand closing around hers, closing around his erection. "Beth, this is really… really nice. Try pulling like this, and putting more pressure."

She obeyed and immediately he sighed against her shoulder. His finger jolted against her, sending a tingle of pleasure through her stomach. With a soft groan against his neck she wiggled around until his finger touched the edge of her underwear. She kissed his hot skin, panting as he draw the soaked cloth to the side. "More."

"More… what?" he asked, skimming a knuckle past the exposed wetness. She shivered in response, raising a leg. He turned to the side, so that they faced each other instead of sitting side by side. But his fingers refused to go further!

She struggled with her own pride, instead daringly dipping a hand past his trousers. She was rewarded with the feeling of silky skin against her fingers. Curiously she ran the tip of her index finger across the top of his exposed dick, and found little droplets of moisture sticking to her finger.  
"More like that," she replied with a grin as he twitched in her hand.

He growled against her neck, the vibrations traveling down her throat. "Minx," his tone of voice made it clear he was enjoying himself. "Let's see how you like it."  
He very gently pressed his finger against her. The first knuckle glided with ease between her folds. She knew the sensation enough from when she masturbated, but this was different. Having someone else do it felt more tense and erotic at the same time. She held her breath, but since she didn't stop stroking him, Kisshu concluded it was okay to go further. His finger slid in slowly, taking the time to feel her. His pants grew deeper at the motion. "Care for some more of that?"

She nodded wordlessly against him, her fingers digging in his shoulder while her hand stopped rubbing his erection. Two fingers felt like a lot more, and Kisshu's hands were bigger than hers. It felt more like being stretched, but in a good way. She cried out against his shoulder. He pressed his lips against her throat, kissing her there gently. His fingers kept up a slow, steady rhythm. "Just tell me when it hurts, okay babe? I'll stop."

She shook her head and wiggled against his moving fingers. With his thumb he gently rubbed above her entrance, slowly looking for a more sensitive spot to stimulate. He didn't seem to be in a hurry, alternating between speed and leisurely exploration. It gave Beth time to adjust and time to learn if she liked it or not. So far she liked pretty much everything. When his thumb finally hit the sweet spot she cried out, almost clenching her legs together.  
Kisshu held her thighs open with ease, now moving to use both hands. His thumb continuously rubbed around her clitoris, while with his other hand he pumped two fingers in and out at increasing speed and pressure. Beth fell back, constant moans and little cries escaping her. An orgasm started to build in her stomach. She grabbed at a pillow behind her, aware Kisshu was observing her every move.

When he saw her helpless look towards his erection he grinned. "I'll take care of that later. This is more important."

The pressure continued to build. She was reduced to biting a finger while digging her free hand in a pillow, helplessly shaking against Kisshu's hands. Every circle of his thumb got closer to the critical spot, the tension building in her body with every turn. Her knees started to shake when the first climactic wave surged her. Kisshu followed her motions, gently guiding her up, encouraging her. She cried out his name with fervor, as if it was a prayer. Wave after wave went through her, not overpowering but rather empowering her. It still left her drained. Her legs fell open limply.

Kisshu grinned broadly, licking his fingers clean. "That's my girl." He cast a sorrowful look to the clock, before patting his erection. "We'll have to wait 'till a next time to go further."

She nodded, taking deep breaths. She felt fuzzy and a tad disappointed.

Kisshu noted and leant forward, kissing her. "I told you. We have time. And for the first time, I plan on taking a lot of time."


End file.

Tokyo Mew Mew, Humor, Romance