Current mood:	apathetic
Current music:	Forget-me-Not ~ Boogiepop Phantom
Entry tags:	30kisses #10: #10, fanfiction, rubedo jr. x momo, xenosaga

[Archive] #10: Number Ten- (Miss Kukai Foundation! by 100_series)
Title of the work: Miss Kukai Foundation!
Author: 100_series
Pairing: Jr. x MOMO
Fandom: Xenosaga
Theme: #10 Number Ten
Disclaimer: The characters and likenesses presented in this fanfiction are not my property, and I will not use them for profit in any way shape or form. They are property of the creators of Xenosaga.



Song Disclaimers: "Hutari no Xenopittan!" is the theme song from Xenosaga Freaks. The lyrics here were translated and transliterated by ClumsyHaikuPoet at animelyrics.com, full credit is given to them for the lyrics translation! "Pain" and "Kokoro" from Xenosaga contain lyrics written by Tetsuya Takahashi. "Sweet Song" from Xenosaga 2 was written by Yuki Kajiura (Unless I am mistaken, it could be that she only did the music).


"Miss Kukai Foundation!"
30kisses Challenge #10 - Number 10
(The characters and Xenosaga belong to their creators and not me)


It was a bright, sun-shiny day on the Kukai Foundation as always. The hustle and bustle was even greater than usual that afternoon in Sector 1, where a large stage was being set up out in the street complete with lights, backdrops, and several cameras. Newscasters from every corner of the star cluster had shown up to cover what was sure to be the next biggest thing.

A blonde-haired woman with a big cheesy grin displaying too-perfect teeth stood in front of one camera. "This is Augusta Hanson reporting live for the Area 40 Publishing Agencies! We're here live at the Kukai Foundation, where the First Annual Miss Kukai Foundation Competition is about to begin!"

The shot on the UMN channel was switched to a panned view of the contestants backstage getting ready for the contest. There were 30 women who had qualified. Among their ranks were the Durandal's top-ranking officers, Mary and Shelley Godwin, who planned on giving a duo performance. Their fan clubs were bursting at the seams in anticipation. Chief Shion Uzuki and the android KOS-MOS were given special permission to compete along with the 100-series realian MOMO thanks to their help saving the Foundation from the Gnosis. Nobody was going to split hairs and mention that they weren't actual Kukai Foundation citizens.

The shot switched back to the reporter, who was now sitting at a table roped off from the bustling crowd. "While the contestants are preparing, why don't we get to know the judges?" She addressed the first person sitting at the table. "And who might you be, ma'am?"

"My name is chaos," replied the silver-haired individual. The woman started at the surprisingly deep voice coming out of the person. He smiled as if to say It's okay, happens all the time, and continued without a hitch. "I am one of the director's co-workers, and they all said that I would be an expert on female beauty for some reason..."

"I can see why," the reporter laughed nervously, and then moved on to the next judge, who was obviously a male.

Before she even asked him, he leaned over and gave her a grin, trying to ooze the charm. "Hey there baby," he said. "Name's Tony. Why aren't you competing?"

"Aha..." she muttered. "Well, I'm from Second Miltia. Anyway, so what qualifies you for this position?"

"Why, I'm an expert on ladies," Tony said, standing triumphantly from his chair. Suddenly the next Judge grabbed him and pulled him back down by the collar of his shirt with a thunk.

"Siddown, ya moron!" the burly baseball cap-wearing man grumbled.

The reporter grinned and skipped the rest of Tony's interview. "And how about you, sir?"

"Wha?" the captain looked up from the third can of beer he managed to get from one of the bars nearby. "Name's Matthews. I have no friggin' idea why I'm here."

"Okay..." She turned to the fourth and final judge who looked very disgruntled sitting in a low chair behind a tall table. He was the legendary child director, Gaignun Kukai Jr. "And you don't need any introduction at all, do you Little Master?" she asked the short red-head.

Quickly his expression turned to a cocky grin, and he waved his hand lazily in the air as if the event wasn't any big deal at all. "Well you know, I'm very experienced with this sort of thing."

Tony, Matthews, and chaos all began to cough into their hands at once. "*cough* Sure. *cough* Right. *cough*" Jr. shot them a glare and opened his mouth to protest, but the reporter cut him off.

"Well, I think the contest is about to kick off!" she said. "Why don't you tell us about the judging categories?"

"Ah," Jr. replied, jumping right back into the center of attention. "Right! Well, there are three categories. The first is talent, that means how the girls preform and reflects their inner nature and not just their beauty." He nodded sagely as he continued. "Then there's cuteness, which represents innocent charm. The third category is sex appeal, which I think is pretty self-explanatory."

She seemed put off at how effortlessly the seemingly 12-year-old boy went about the subject and decided to move on. "Well, thanks so much for that!" She turned back to the camera. "And the events the girls will be judged on are a talent show, a song and dance number, and a bathing suit modeling competition! Okay everybody, let's start the excitement!"

The first contestant in the talent show was Shion Uzuki, who entered the stage wearing a pink lace-trimmed apron and pushing a mini-stove oven. Everyone clapped even if they didn't recognize her. Allen had bought her a new pair of glasses to replace the ones he and Jr. accidentally broke, saying that this would increase her cute points, and it worked very well.

"Hello everyone!" she said with a big smile. "I may be chief of Vector's First R&D division, but today I am going to show you the secrets to cooking curry!"

Everyone began to drool as she explained the ingredients, some at the smell that started to waft out of her pots and others at the visual part of the show. Once it was done she dressed it on four fancy plates. "Now I don't have enough for everyone, but if you visit Moby Dicks Cafe in Second Miltia's City Sector, you can order this recipe all the time!" The crowd cheered, though they were all disappointed that they wouldn't be able to get any (in more ways than one). Instead, the plates were passed out to the judges.

Jr. began scarfing down his like a starved man, as did Tony and Matthews. "You don't have to tell us this stuff is good!" Jr. said excitedly. "Shion's curry is the best in the universe!"

"It ain't that great," Matthews denied, as he shoved more into his mouth. "She's over-rated!"

Chaos ate his portion politely. "It's excellent as always," he said calmly.

The reporter watched as the judges scribbled their scores on poster-sized papers with markers. It was a strange but charmingly simple way of displaying the numbers. "And here's the score!" the reporter chimed. "10! 10! 3.5... and 10! My oh my... Captain Matthews is a hard sell isn't he?"

The next to come out were Mary and Shelley, who were competing together. They were both dressed in their standard respectively blue and purple outfits. "Hey Shelley?" Mary asked. "What do you call Little Master when he's running late?"

"I don't know," Shelley replied in a calm but annoyed voice. "What do you call him?"

"You call him a little faster!" A drum and cymbal beat came from somewhere.

Jr. groaned and smacked his palm into his face as the hilariously bad jokes continued, mostly at his own expense. The crowd was laughing, if not at the joke itself then at the fact that they all understood where it came from. That kind of humor was sometimes better than others.

The reporter beamed. "And here's the score!" The judges held up their scores. "9.5, 9.0, 8.7, and... 2.0??" She laughed. "I guess Little master doesn't like being picked on!"

Several more contestants came and went. With all the oddballs on the Foundation, Jr. was not surprised to see a Happy Bread Bakery employee demonstrating superior rock-paper-scissors ability, or another displaying her speedy window-washing skills. The judges all quickly became bored, though chaos was too nice to give anyone a bad score. Finally, one of their friends took the stage again. It was the youngest contestant, MOMO.

She stepped out onto the stage wearing a pink leotard and a dark violet magician's dress coat with a black top-hat and white stockings. Immediately all the judges were grinning like idiots except for chaos, and even he had to admit she was cute.

"I am going to perform some magic for you!" MOMO said, and twirled around on her heels. A black wand with a white tip appeared in her hand. She winked and waved the wand around. "I'll pull an U-kun out of my hat!" However, when she removed the hat from her head, there was not a bunny inside of it, but rather bunny ears appeared on her head. She blushed and covered her mouth. "Oh no!" she squeaked. "That wasn't supposed to happen!"

The crowd laughed and made "aww" sounds as she attempted to correct her mistake. MOMO was unable to get rid of the rabbit's ears, but quickly recovered, and reached into the hat, sticking her tongue out in deep concentration. When her arm had disappeared up to the shoulder, she smiled and began to pull. "Ah! there you are!" A pair of bunny ears emerged from the hat, but it seemed to be stuck. She strained to fit U-kun's large head through the brim of it, and eventually he came free with a [i]pop![/i]

"There's U-Kun!" MOMO said, holding the happy side of the UMN rabbit towards the audience. The angry side took over and it wiggled out of her arms, hopping down on the ground and running off. "Oh! U-Kun, come back! I need to do my next trick!" When he bunny didn't return, she looked off to the side of the stage. She spotted Ziggy watching her closely as always, and got a great idea. "Come here, Ziggy!"

Ziggy hesitantly obeyed. The crowd watched as she pulled him onto the stage and smiled back at the audience. "I'm going to turn my wonderful assistant into... a cat!"

"This I gotta see," Jr. muttered. The other judges were just as amused by the idea.

MOMO began to twirl the wand. "Magic magic 1-2-3! MOMO makes you a kittee!"

Ziggy's expression didn't change at all as he was consumed in pink smoke with an elaborate and sparkly [i]poof![/i] MOMO watched in anticipation along with the rest of the crowd as the smoke cleared. Ziggy's silhouette emerged, and then his form became visible. He hadn't turned into a cat per-say, but he was sporting some fluffy orange tabby-striped ears and a matching tail. MOMO jumped at the site and blushed pink again. "Oh! Ziggy! I am so sorry!"

The crowd was silent for a few seconds and then rumbled into a roar of laughter. Ziggy's ears and tail seemed to flick without his consent. Still, he remained completely stoic. "Am I done now?" he asked.

"Uh, yes!" MOMO said, and turned to the onlookers again. "That's the show, I hope you enjoyed it!"

Jr., Tony, Matthews, and even chaos were fighting fits of laughter. "Ten points!" Jr. yelled. "Across the board, ten points!"

"Looks like MOMO made a perfect ten!" the announcer said. The crowd agreed, giving their approval with a round of applause. "Is that it for the talent show? Is there one more round? ...Oh yes! This says that Battle Android KOS-MOS is last but not least!"

KOS-MOS appeared on the stage in front of a life-sized 3-dimensional model of a Gnosis. "Greetings, Kukai Foundation residents," she said. "Today I will be displaying the proper way to approach a Gnosis. This information is quite relevant to your everyday lives. The first thing to remember is that you should never approach a Gnosis that appears translucent. Only attempt to confront a Gnosis when the Hilbert Effect has been activated."

The crowd was beginning to lose interest as she droned on about the weak spots and different attacks. They wanted to forget about the Gnosis, not learn how to kill more of them.

"Now, allow me to demonstrate an effective attack." KOS-MOS proceeded to whip out her F-SCYTHE weapon. Everybody returned to attention and reeled back in fear. Some of them began to run and scream as she leapt into the air and sliced the model Gnosis in half, a long with a good part of the stage.

"And now," she said, ignoring the response. "If it is still present, we resort to a more rapidly available attack." The scythe disappeared and two triple chain-guns appeared in her hands. She began firing at the remains of the model, the bullets blaring through the peaceful afternoon air and flashes of gunfire visible from miles away. Once the model was a smoking pile of unrecognizable rubble, she stopped and bowed. The audience had decreased by a good portion. "Thank you, and have a pleasant afternoon."

"Well," chaos said. "That is what she does best, isn't it?"

"Are you kidding me?" Jr. said loudly, eyes lit up childishly. "That was freakin' awesome! Ten points!"

The reporter was trying very hard to keep her audience together. "Looks like we've got a score of 10, 7.5, 6.5, and 10!"

After the clean up from KOS-MOS's demonstration was complete, the stage was rearranged for the next event, a song show. Shion came out first, dressed in a shimmery red low-cut gown. She had her hair up and her glasses were gone for the time being. "Aw man, Shion's a real looker!" Tony shouted, and began to whistle. That is when Matthews clunked him in the head with his fist and he shut up quickly.

The stage lights dimmed and rolled sparkling effects over her as she opened her eyes. A haunting melody began to play as Shion took a deep breath and started singing.

"I've been watching you a while, since you waled into my life," she said sadly. "Monday morning, when first I heard you speak to me..."

Jr. raised an eyebrow and watched her intently. "Wow," he said. "I didn't know Shion could sing... I didn't know she was so sad... and I didn't know she looked that good in a dress! Where have I been?" Chaos shook his head in dismay as their friend continued to sing.

"Though your picture fades each day, in my heart, the memory stays! Though we rant, you're always smiling, and I... will hold you close."

Some people in the crowd were nearly in tears as Shion said, "Thank you," and exited. Allen himself was wailing and holding onto the nearest person who, unfortunately for him, happened to be Canaan.

"9.5, 9.5, 9.5, 10!" the reporter read. "It looks like all the judges were pleased with Miss Uzuki's performance! Now let's turn back to the stage, where I understand the Kukai Foundation's famous Godwin sisters are about to sing!"

The sisters came out greeted by a round of applause from their fanclubs. The violet-haired older sister wore a long midnight purple gown with a slit that parted nearly to her hip. Mary herself was in a short sky-blue dress with a large bow in her hair.

A lively beat began to play. Shelley looked less than amused while Mary bounced up and down happily with the music. "Sora," Mary sang, "kesera sera urara! Chotto... mojimoji to deeto."

In a deeper tone, Shelley continued the song, then Mary skipped forward, glaring at her sister and trying to encourage her to sing a bit more energetically. "Yume mita mirai, mina mitai!"

Shelley closed her eyes and released a frustrated breath before singing her part. "Tokimeki dogimagi berirakkii." The crowd roared with delight, shouting confessions of love and whistling.

Mary was not satisfied, pouted furiously, and ran up to grab her sister's arm in a huff, singing an angry cord. She began to drag her to the front of the stage as her sister stuggled to catch up, they were supposed to sing this line together. "Hitori hutari pitari!"

The song picked up even more, which was amazing considering how insanely chipper it was to begin with. Mary was totally into it, but Shelley was so mismatched that it looked painful. However, that seemed to work to their advantage. All the Shelley fans in the audience were melting.

"Pit-tan tan-ta xenopittan!"
"Lin-lan lan-la xenopittan!"
"Pit-ta-tan!"

By the end of the song, Shelley had gotten into the swing of things and was dancing around with her sister, hopping and clapping at the right parts. Jr. was nearly suffocating from the lack of oxygen, he was laughing so hard. When the song ended, he was quick to write a "10" on his card.

"Something seems to have struck Little Master funny about that last one!" the reporter laughed. "Perhaps the Godwin sisters are comic geniuses after all? The scores are 9.5, 8.0, 7.5, 10!"

The women of the Kukai Foundation turned out a number of decent singers who preformed songs from popular pop artists like the Seraphim Sisters, or original pieces they wrote themselves. The judges were thoroughly entertained, but Tony was almost thrown out of the panel for shouting lude comments at the woman who called herself his girlfriend. She continued to accuse him of having questionable relationships with everyone at the table including Little Master, and was promptly escorted away.

Just when Jr. was getting bored, he heard the announcement that MOMO was next, and perked up at once. Tony and Matthews both snickered, but not loud enough to be noticed out of fear of his wrath.

MOMO walked out onto the stage in dress of red and yellow satin with white trim. The skirt flared out and had layers of fluffy fabric underneath so that it bounced as she walked, and a long golden ribbon trailed behind her from a huge bow attacked at the small of her back.

She looked at the audience sheepishly as the song began, violin and flute notes picking up. "I remember the days of summer, we were so close together. You were humming the songs of silence, sweetly plucking the harp of wind."

Jr. stared in awe, mouth hanging open just a little. He had no idea that MOMO could sing that way. "Watch it Little Master," Matthews chuckled. "You're gonna draw flies."

Jr. flinched, drawn out of a daze, and then as a delayed reaction he began to chew the captain out. "I suggest you remember who pays your check every month and shut up, old man!"

"To the lost horizon... I'm calling your name! Again and again!"

The song came to a close, and the crowd erupted into a cheer. "Give her ten points dammit," Jr. growled at the others. After seeing the murderous icy glare in his eyes, none of them had any objections.

"10, 10, 10, 10!" The reporter listed in amazement. "Again, a perfect score! That's quite a set of windpipes for such a tiny realian."

Some clanking and loud mechanical noises were heard from backstage. "You listen to me, KOS-MOS!" came the voice of what sounded like Shion Uzuki. "You get out there, you wear this, and you sing that song right now! That's an order!"

"I do not see any logical purpose behind this activity," she replied, before she was forcefully pushed out onto the stage wearing a black evening gown with spaghetti straps. The back of it cut very far down, and the slits on either sides were laced together, exposing a fair amount of her legs. Her hair was completely down, and ironed into curls at the ends. "I apologize for inconveniences caused by my earlier performance," she said to the crowd. Most everyone had returned, but they were still wary. "I will now sing a song."

Everyone watched in awe as KOS-MOS managed to loosen up and the music played. Some subroutine programmed by Shion was running inside of her they guessed, because this couldn't be KOS-MOS's work. "First we touch," she sang in her rich commanding voice, "and we hurt each other, then we tear our hearts apart. We are too close, and I can feel the pain... fill my empty heart..."

Jr., Matthews, and Tony all stared at KOS-MOS with wide eyes and confused grimaces, though chaos looked incredibly happy. "What the..." all three of them muttered at once.

"Kindness is something I don't want or need! The sunshine would just dissolve me into light.... Give me a pain as pleasing as your sigh, so I can feel you all the day and night."

Her eyes grazed over the crowd as she extended her hand passionately singing the lyrics. The red orbs passed over each judge, blowing them all away. "And keep me from fading away."

"Wow!" Jr. shouted as she finished her song. The crowd clapped and cheered and he stood up from his seat (though he didn't gain much notice, being so short). Chaos followed his lead, and soon KOS-MOS was staring blankly at a standing ovation. "Ten points for her too, that was amazing!"

"Thank you very much," KOS-MOS said, becoming rigid and stiff again. She walked off of the stage, met with a tackle-style hug from Shion as soon as she was out of sight.

The reporter looked over at the judges and read the scores. "10, 10, 10. and 10! And we're finally to the final contest! The swimsuit challenge is about to begin. But first, let's have a short break!"

Backstage, Shion finally got over her immense joy, and led KOS-MOS to visit MOMO. She found the girl in a corner wiping her eyes as if she was resisting tears. Ziggy was standing beside her, at a total loss. His cat attachments were all gone. "What's wrong MOMO?" she asked sympathetically.

The small realian looked up at her. "Shion!" she said, and the older girl leaned down to comfort her with a small hug. "I'm so embarassed... I messed up on my magic tricks... then I sang so horribly... Jr. was looking at me with this shocked expression on his face. I can't go out there again!"

Shion was confused, and looked to Ziggy. "I tried to convince her that it was simply admiration, but she does not listen."

The young Vector scientist laughed. "That's silly, MOMO. Hey KOS-MOS," she turned to the android. "What's the score so far?"

"Currently, MOMO is in the lead with a perfect 10."

MOMO gasped and looked up. "Really? How can that be?"

"Well," Shion said with a grin. "Everybody must have thought you were the cutest ever! Even Captain Matthews likes your performance." MOMO looked down and blushed, but she seemed more confident.

"We should change," KOS-MOS interjected. "The final round is about to begin."

All 30 of the ladies walked out onto the stage wearing swim suits of varying colors and shapes. Some were frumpy, while others showed a little too much for the body type of the woman wearing them. Shion led the line in a bright red two-piece with her trade-mark leg-wrap and a pair of high heels. Mary was wearing a blue bikini, while Shelly wore a violet one-piece that somehow managed to show more of her skin than Mary's did. MOMO came out in a black two-piece with bottoms that wore like shorts and a halter-style top. She had flip flops with pink flowers on them, and walked out shyly, keeping her chin turned down and eyes glancing up with a blush on her cheeks. KOS-MOS was wearing her standard white suit with gloves and heels, which was a shocking vision to everyone who had never seen it before.

"What lovely ladies!" the reporter commented. "I wonder how all of them keep in such great shape! Now, I heard that we have a special judge for this round of the contest... Director Gaignun Kukai!"

Jr.'s head bobbed up as his brother walked out on stage wearing a black dress suit as always. "Huh?" he shouted. 'What's he doing? I'm supposed to be running this thing!"

All the ladies turned to Gaignun and smiled, even KOS-MOS gave him her attention. Some of them giggled and waved sheepishly. Gaignun smiled and nodded in return, smooth as silk. "Now, the voting for this round will be handled a bit differently," he explained to the crowd. "Everyone here today will help to determine the winner. The way it works is this. All of the ladies will face the crowd, then I will point out one silently, and everyone will clap to show how much they like each young lady. A sound monitor under each lady will give us an accurate score. Now let's begin, shall we?" When he finished, all of the swimsuit-clad women were still looking at him contrary to instruction. "Look that way," he prompted gently. 30 heads turned to the audience.

"This is bull crap!" Jr. exclaimed, though nobody was paying attention to him with the bathing suit beauties and attractive young director on the stage. "We're supposed to judge all three rounds!"

"Calm down Jr.," chaos said, but the short red-head was already stomping towards the stage.

Shion received an energetic round of applause. Allen made such a commotion trying to make as much noise as he could that he was nearly caught by security and thrown out. The score said "9.0" Next, the Godwin sisters had their fan clubs to cause a ruckus for them. They received a 8.7. The other girls seemed to range in the 7 and lower range, then Gaignun moved to KOS-MOS. The crowd clapped for her hesitantly, not sure whether their applause might cause her to attack. "3.0"

"Wait!" Jr. said, running onto the stage. "This isn't how this contest is supposed to work!"

"Oh, hello Jr." Gaignun said, playing dumb. "You're just in time, I was just about to finish the round."

"Hm?" MOMO looked up, but dared not to turn around since that would break the rules. "Jr.?"

"We had a judging process set up," Jr. grumbled. "You're just trying to set yourself up for a date with half these girls later!"

Gaignun shrugged, maintaining his claim to innocence. "Now that's simply not true. But since you're here, would you like to give your input on the three categories for the final contestant?"

Jr. stuck his nose up, not buying the evasion one bit. "You know that she's a perfect ten."

"Really?" Gaignun said, smirking. "I can see talent and cuteness... but you'd give her a ten in the sexual appeal category as well?"

"No!" Jr. shouted angrily. "I mean... of course not! But she's still a ten!"

"Little Master," Shelley teased. "What would you rate her for that category?"

"Yeah!" Shion joined in with a laugh. "Since you've got plenty of experience and everything."

"That isn't the point," Jr. said, maintaining his ground. "The point is she was winning and-"

Gaignun raised his hand over MOMO. The entire crowd roared with approval. The small realian blushed, and clapped her hands over her mouth. "Me?" she said, and turned around. "Really... they like me best?" The sound score meter displayed a solid "10.0!" Both MOMO and Jr. looked stunned as the music began to play and flower petals and balloons began to fall everywhere.

"Congratulations!" Gaignun said with more enthusiasm than he usually would afford for such a silly thing. "MOMO, you are the new Misses Kukai!" Two ladies walked to throw a sash over MOMO's shoulders, put a tiara on her head, and hand her a bouquet of red roses. She stared into the crowd speechlessly as all of this was going on.

Jr. returned to being angry quickly. "That's Miss Kukai Foundation, you ass!"

"Well," Shion said in a patronizing tone. "You know, the rules do state that the winner will get a kiss from Gaignun Kukai."

"What?" Jr. stammered. "No they do not!"

Mary and Shelley nodded. "Why do you think we entered?" Mary said. "You think Shelley would do that for nothing?"

Gaignun shrugged nonchalantly once again as Jr. burned holes into his head with a fiery glare. "I could let things pass and say that it was Gaignun Kukai Jr. to whom it referred..."

"I didn't know," MOMO said innocently. "Really!" but Jr. wasn't blaming her at all to begin with.

"Well I don't think-" Jr. said. "That's wrong, and you know it! Shouldn't kiss people just for winning events, that's... not-"

MOMO looked somewhat disappointed, as did Shion and the rest, excluding KOS-MOS of course. The crowd began to grow unsettled, expecting the end of the show to commence. Sensing the disturbance, Gaignun kneeled beside her in a gentlemanly fashion, showing off for the crowd. "I'm sorry MOMO, but we have to do this for the show," he said apologetically, and then gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. Everyone clapped, Shion and the others laughed in amusement.

MOMO turned beet red in bashfulness as the crowd began to cheer. Jr. did the same, but for an entirely different reason. His face was turning red with anger. "Gaignun!" he shouted, and gave his brother a punch in the shoulder.

Gaignun defended against his older sibling's attack and laughed, even though the smack hurt. He was reminded once again that despite his brother's size, Jr. was quite capable of beating him to a pulp. "It's only for show, for show!" He rubbed his bruise and stood up again.

"So protective," Mary said, shaking her head. "You should have done it yourself!"

Jr. just turned the other direction and crossed his arms. "I don't know what you guys are making a big deal about anyway," he said. The girls exchanged glances and shook their heads.

The crowd began to get lively again. "Encore, encore!" they shouted. "Sing a song!" "Cook some more!" "Turn Little Master into a cat!"

"Ay!" Jr. shouted back angrily at that last person.

MOMO began to recover from her embarrassment and gave Jr. a smile. He suddenly forgot about everything and relaxed. "Why don't you sing another song?" he asked her. "I really liked that one you sang."

MOMO beamed with joy. "Really?" she gasped.

"Let's all sing a song togethah!" Mary said loudly. "Come 'ere, Kosy!" She draped her arm over KOS-MOS's shoulder and began blurting out lyrics much to her sister's dismay. Shelley hung towards the back with Gaignun who simply observed.

"I am not familiar with this musical selection," KOS-MOS replied.

Shion grabbed MOMO's hands happily and began to dance around. "Come on MOMO, let's sing one!"

"Okay!" she said excitedly, and started singing. "Xenopittan tan, Xenopittan!"

Jr. scratched his head and smiled. "Heh, well... I guess this was all pretty fun after all."