GC: Hoots and Hollers

The battle was a long and hard one, involving two powerful teams: the Mew Mews—seven young heroines with animalistic abilities—and a mysterious group of elf-like aliens.

Earth was in danger of being destroyed by the aliens, but the Mew Mews were doing everything they could to stop them. Led by Mew Ichigo, the Mew Mews threw every attack they could at their opponents. However, the aliens fought back with the same amount of intensity and used whatever weapons or powers they had.

Luckily, the Mew Mews were able to thwart the aliens' plans but were forced to retreat. They had used too much energy and had to recharge. The aliens retreated for the time being, for they were in the same situation.

For now, Earth was safe from the aliens' evil plan.

Once the battle was over, one of the Mew Mews retreated into the forest. Her name was Tsukiyomi Mika-Zuki, or "Mika" as she was normally called. Inside the forest was a dirt path that led to her grandmother's estate, the one she would soon inherit along with her twin sister, Kotomi.

Just then, Mika heard a rustling in the bushes and jumped. Immediately, she braced herself for the worst but was thrown off when one of the aliens popped out. Mika's frown deepened when she recognized him.

"Kisshu..." she growled. "What are you doing out here? What do you want?"

"Aw, don't be like that, Mika-chan~" the alien mused as he floated into the air. "And I just came to see you. That's all. What's the harm in that, huh?"

In truth, this alien, Kisshu, was somewhat of an acquaintance of Mika's. The two of them knew each other even before the aliens and Mew Mews became enemies. That didn't stop Mika in treating him like an enemy, while Kisshu saw her as a toy he liked to play with. ^{Though she couldn't completely see him as an enemy.}

"Go away, Kisshu. I don't have time to deal with you." Mika scoffed and turned her back on him. "Go back to your friends and don't bother me."

Kisshu simply chuckled, "Fine. I'll go for now, but I'll play with you later~" He disappeared into thin air—he actually made himself invisible—and quietly followed after her. He also made sure to lowered his energy levels to keep her from sensing his presence.

Mika continued her walk to her house, using the secret passage to get in. She wasn't all that interested in being greeted by the servants; she just wanted to be alone and rest.

The door to the passage opened, lighting the hallway that had a flight of stairs. Mika walked down until she reached the room at the bottom. She called it the "hangout," and it had everything she needed to entertain herself. It was a place that she usually spent her time whenever she wanted time alone.

Jumping onto one of the beanbags, Mika sighed to herself. "Finally," she said to herself, "I can finally relax—"

"Hello~"

The girl screamed and fell off her beanbag when Kisshu appeared right in her face. She could hear the alien burst into a fit of giggles at her awkward position on the floor, which only enraged her.

"Hey! How'd you get in here?!" she yelled. "I thought you left! I told you to go away!"

Kisshu laughed. "I lied! You didn't really expect me to leave, did you?" He continued to fly around, dodging the pillows and other items that Mika was throwing at him. "This room is really drab, y'know? Did you ever think of sprucing it up a bit?"

Mika lowered the pillow she had in her hand. "I never had much time 'cause of all the Mew Mew business, and... Wait, why do you care anyway? Get out!"

"I could help you," Kisshu offered. "I heard that humans use something call 'paint' to decorate places. Have any of that stuff?"

She sighed. "Fine, you can help. But don't tell anyone about this. We're supposed to be enemies—"

"Great!" Kisshu said with a wide grin. "How do we start?"

Mika managed to find some buckets of paint in the storehouses and garages around the estate. It took a lot just to sneak past the servants so they wouldn't see or hear her. She brought them back to her secret room, just as Kisshu was moving her furniture out of the way.

"So what are we gonna paint?" Kisshu asked as he watched Mika open the buckets of paint.

"I don't know yet," Mika answered. "I'll think about it as I go."

They immediately got to work as soon as the buckets of paint were opened. Painting the first coat took a lot of time, mostly because Kisshu had no idea how to paint, and he would constantly play around instead of helping Mika like he had originally offered.

Next, they moved onto the next coat, and Mika stopped in the middle of painting. She stared at the now blue walls with a blank expression. Kisshu looked at her with a confused face.

"Hey, why'd you stop?" he asked. "I thought we were supposed to be painting."

"I..." Mika sighed. "I don't know what to paint. Kotomi is usually good with drawing and stuff like that."

Kisshu blinked. "Why not just draw what you like?" he asked. "Wouldn't that make you happy?"

His words piqued her interest, and she got to thinking. Something I like, huh? The first thing that came to mind was Kisshu himself, and it made her cheeks burn. She shook her head to dismiss the thought. No! I can't draw something like him! She didn't have much luck in getting rid of the thought, though.

"All right," Mika said, her energy soon returning. She turned and smiled at the alien for the first time that day. "I know this is my room, but I'd like for you to paint what you like, too. Whatever comes to mind, m'kay?"

The alien boy was surprised, at first, but he grinned back. "What's this? I didn't expect to hear that from you, Mika-chan~ Maybe you're starting to fall for me?"

Mika blushed brightly. "Tch. No way! I wouldn't like someone like you!" she blurted. "Remember, you're still my enemy, idiot!"

"Sure, sure. Whatever you say, Mika-chan~"

By the time the sun had set, Mika and Kisshu had finished their project. All four walls were full of bright colors and were now drying. Mika smiled proudly as she stepped back to admire the completed work.

"I think we did pretty good," she said with a manhoody grin.

"I agree," Kisshu chirped, folding his arms behind his head. "Unfortunately, I have to head back to my base. I'm sure the others looking for me right about now."

Mika felt her heart sink a bit, but she didn't look in his direction. "Maybe..." she mumbled as her face started turning red, "we could hang out again...like we did today."

Kisshu was surprised at what he heard but grinned nonetheless. "Heh. I'd be more than happy to spend time with my Mika-chan." He chuckled and winked at her. "In secret, of course~"

"Make sure not to tell anyone!" Mika told him, still embarrassed. "I don't want anyone to know about—"

Kisshu’s lips on hers immediately shut her up. He smirked when he saw her entire face stained crimson. "About the picture you drew of the two of us? I'll be sure to keep that all to myself." With another teasing wink, he floated off into the sky and disappeared.

The girl watched him leave before she walked back into her secret room. Her fingers were on her lips the whole time, the blush not leaving her face. She looked over to see the tiny picture of her and Kisshu holding hands, located in the smallest corner of the room.

Despite that, in her heart...she couldn't have been happier that he saw it.