Chocolate Pudding-chan: Came to me in fifth period last week. Voila.

Disclaimer: I don't own TMM. And that's that.

"I told you, this was the worst idea you'd EVER HAD."

The tall, purple-headed alien groaned while inspecting his younger comrade.

"Now look at you!"

"Oh…" The small brunette groaned in pain, "Just get them out, I think I feel one giving me a belly-button peircing..."

"Ew..."

Kisshu sat casually in the corner, remembering the whole ordeal…..

...

The day had started out normal, mostly. Pai was still a grump, and Taruto had come back from yet another psycho-analogy the day before. He had been acting EXTREMELY strange lately, stranger then he had acted normally.

He would mumble incoherently to himself, stare at random things for hours, and he ate like a starving alpaca, yet didn't gain any weight.

"Probably tapeworms or something, he'll pass them eventually." was Pai's diagnosis.

"Okay, NO-ONE could pass a tapeworm that big."

"Yeah. I don't care."

But Kisshu, a bit skeptical, protested:

"But Pai, where would he get tapeworms from?"

"Have you seen the crud that kid sticks in his mouth? I wouldn't be surprised if he had a New York City worth of worms inside of him."

"Ew…" Kisshu winced. But he wouldn't give up yet.

"But worms don't explain the 3-craziness!"

Ah, the three craziness. Tart had taken to doing lots of things in threes. He'd eat three of everything, brush his teeth three times in a row, and so on.

"OCD." Pai said simply. "He was probably born with it, what with that high metabolism…."

Kisshu was actually worried now.

"BUT," he began to argue again. "Worms and Obsessive Compulsive-ness don't explain the freakin' HUGGING!"

And last, the hugging. Taruto had taken a serious obsession to hugging things. He hugged the sofa. The refrigerator. He even hugged rabbits, which he had previously been seriously afraid of.

And that scared Kisshu the most. Tart had NEVER acted like this before. He had always eaten a lot, but not this much. He'd never done things in three's before. And Tart HATED hugs. At least he had; now Kisshu got one EVERY MORNING.

So, that's when the therapy started. Every week, once a week. Virtually no progress was made.

"What does this ink blot look like?" the therapist would say.

"A POTATO." Tart reply excitedly.

Or:

"You there! QUIT HUGGING MY LAMP!"

"But it looks so lonely…"

OR:

"YOU SMEEL NICE, LADY!"

"Good. NOW GIVE ME BACK MY PANTS THIS INSTANT!"

"Yeah, there a little big on me. You, lady, have a fat a--"

Obviously, he wasn't exactly popular in the world of Freud.

The doc's conclusion was simple.

Taruto was a nut.

And when they tried to explain that to him, he would pause to think, cock his head, and then say cheerfully : "I like squirrels, Pai!"

Kisshu was beginning to believe that himself. At least the part about Tart being crazy.

...And now, they were all in the kitchen again, and Tart sat on the table, covered in porcupine needles.

"Kisshu." Pai began.

"Yeah?"

"Get me some tweezers, some calamine for that--my GAWD what did you sit it, boy?!"

"Stoof." Tart said simply.

"Stoof? Is that even a word?" Pai asked.

Tart frowned, thinking as hard as he possibly could, lost the thought and just said "Wow, there are a lot of little tiles on the floor..."

Pai just sighed, and continued,

"—some calamine for that rash. And Kisshu?"

"Yes?"

"While you're up, get The List."

Chocolate Pudding-chan: I'll continue, if the readers likey.

Little bibliography:

The word "Stoof" was invented my Mike A. (Otherwise known as my crazy boyfriend)

And another special thanks to my best friend Ari. He didn't really help at all, but I was talking to him while I suddenly came up with this idea, so he was my test subject.