Mew Amai

Episode 5 Part 1

Mint was working. She was actually working. Smiling, waiting tables, helping out. This was not the way anyone was expecting her to act after getting her heart broken by their final member.

"Mint's acting weird!" Ichigo commented, getting freaked out. "No, she's not! See, she's having fun!" Ichigo protested against Pudding's claim. "But usually she's all like; "bring me my afternoon tea!" and all that!"

"Well, she's got to still be upset after what happened with Zakuro. Maybe this is just her way of trying to hide it." Amai was most likely right, lots of people hide their real feelings behind smiles, after all. Ryou came up behind them. "We need Zakuro Fujiwara's power to fight the alien threat."

"And we'll need to revitalize our dear Mint before we can reattempt to recruit Zakuro-san." Keiichiro added. Everyone looked at Mint sadly.

After classes the next day, Amai went home and talked to her mother for advice. "Mom, can I ask you something?" Hana nodded. "Of course, dear." "What do I do to help make Mint feel better? She's acting all happy, but we all know she's hurting inside. I just don't know how to approach the situation."

Hana and Keita both knew what had happened with Zakuro, and they felt very sorry for the Mews. Hana put down the sheet she was folding and crossed her arms. "Well, the first thing you should do is go visit her at home. What you say to her is up to you, but I know it'll be something to lift her spirits and her hope. That's the kind of person you are, Amai. You always know how to connect with others."

Amai thought about it, then grinned. "That's a great idea! Thanks, Mom!" Giving Hana a hug, she changed her clothes and left to go to Mint's house. She was a little surprised to see the others already standing outside the gate.

"Guys?" "Oh, hey Amai-chan!" Ichigo greeted her. "What are you all doing here?" Retasu smiled. "I wanted to cheer up Mint-san." "I'm gonna cheer her up with some cool tricks!" Pudding announced. "I was going to help out, too." Said Ichigo. Masha came floating up. "Everyone had the same idea!"

Retasu looked up at Mint's house. "I didn't know Mint's house was, uh..." When she trailed off, everyone turned to the house, and was struck by amazement when they saw the size of it.

"It's like a palace!" Amai said, eyes wide.

"I knew she was high-class, but not THIS high-class!"

"No wonder she's so much fancier than we are."

"I wanna live in a house like this!"

"Whatever are you all doing here?" Everyone was startled by Mint's voice. "M-Mint!" The girl gazed at them with dull, bored eyes, increasing their nerves. Amai stuttered. "W-well, we... we thought we'd hang out together! It'll be fun!"

Mint's eyebrow raised. "Hang out? And do what?"

The girls threw in suggestions, but Mint tossed them all away. She turned to her dog. "Mickey, I know you're thirsty. Come now, let's get inside."

Just as she opened the gate, Pudding moved and slipped past her, jumping high into the air while doing tricks. The girls ran to catch her, but they were too late as Pudding foot landed on a small thing of grass that rose up and activated a set of sprinklers. Soon, everyone was covered in water.

Thankfully, somebody shut it off. Groans filled the air. "I'm totally soaked..." Ichigo complained. Amai shook water off her hands. "That was... something." "Stop playing around!" Mint shouted.

"What's going on?" A new voice entered, a boy older than the girls behind them. Mint was startled. "B-brother!" The girls jumped. "Th-that's your brother?!" They bowed hastily. "H-hello!"