Gia's Rambling's: Right, well, I should be studying but...its hard to focus on the human eye when you're being attacked by fluffy scenes of IchigoxKishu. Ha! Here is my attempt at cuteness, it does not become me... Oh, and does anyone else thing Masaya has a serious lack of personality?

Disclaimer: If I owned TMM, I would have changed the pairing...lots.

Lettered

Kishu hated winter. He hated it for many, many reasons.

For starters, winter was cold, and Kishu hated being cold because it reminded him of home…which reminded him of why he was on earth…which in turn reminded him of what he was doing, and that usually made him feel slightly nauseous. Another reason was that Pai seemed to like winter, and anything Pai liked, Kishu tended to avoid out of habit.

But the main reason for his dislike of winter, the absolute clincher for his hate for the season was due to its ability to remove the majority of his hiding spots. And by hiding spots he meant strategic vantage-points from which he could spy on a certain red headed Mew Mew. The trees outside Ichigo's window (the ones he had spent many nights just sitting in) were not suited to the colder climate, and thus lost their leaves and turned into lifeless sticks that were defiantly not able to hide an inquisitive and love sick alien.

Kishu, however, vowed not to be beaten by a bunch of hibernating twigs and persisted in his misadventures outside Ichigo's window. Eventually, after a series of bad flu's and a few bumps and bruises, Kishu resorted to merely sitting on the roof above Ichigo's window during winter. Finding that he could be content just being close enough to hear her as she moved around her room.

On one particular Thursday night, when the winter air was below freezing and the snow had piled up on the roof and gutter, Kishu could be found floating outside Ichigo's window nervously. It was past 6 and she wasn't home yet, he knew because he had been here since 3 that afternoon.

Kishu knew for a fact that Ichigo didn't have plans with the other Mew Mew's today. He made it his business to know her schedule from dawn to dusk. She might have gone out with that 'Masaya' boy somewhere, but it was a school night and from what Kishu understood, Ichigo's parents didn't approve of school night outings. Then there was a possibility that Pai or Taruto had released a chimera somewhere, but he highly doubted they would without alerting him first.

As the clock on Ichigo's wall ticked to 6:30 Kishu found himself increasingly worried. Where was she? Was she ok? Was she in trouble? Kishu had heard about some of the horrible things human men did to pretty girls who were caught alone on the streets, and the very thought of something like that happening to his precious Ichigo made him feel physically ill.

Maybe there was something in her room that would disclose her location. Maybe she had managed to hide something from him about tonight. Biting is lip and rubbing his icy hands together Kishu stared into the darkened room, pondering his choices. He was determined to stick around until Ichigo made her appearance, but if he stayed out here at winter's mercy he was bound to get sick again. Kishu hated being ill almost as much as he hated winter. He always felt stupid, weak and helpless when he was down with something. Tilting his head a little Kishu made his choice and teleported through the thick glass of the window into Ichigo's room.

The very first thing Kishu noted when he re-materialised in the pink room was how much warmer it was in here than it was out there. He also noted that the room smelt like Ichigo usually did when he got close to her. Faintly of roses and…something else that he could never really place.

Having visually assessed the room for any danger Kishu relaxed slightly and moved from his position in the middle of the room to the desk stacked with papers near the bed. Despite many peoples beliefs, Kishu had never been in Ichigo's room without her there to scream and hurl things at him, and he suddenly felt like he was being far to invasive into her privacy. Funny that…he could quite happily kiss her, sit outside her room and watch her at night while she slept, but could he enter her room and snoop around without her there? No, it appeared he couldn't without feeling incredibly guilty.

Biting down of his guilt Kishu began shifting through the heap of messy papers on Ichigo's desk, telling himself he was only doing this to make sure she was safe. He had figured that her desk was the best place to start looking for…whatever it was he was looking for. Maybe some sort of note or reminder would be hiding under the mass of school papers, waiting for him to find it.

Ten minutes later, Kishu was sitting slumped in Ichigo's desk chair feeling completely defeated. Whatever he had been hoping to pop up…hadn't popped in the slightest, and the desk now looked worse than ever. True, ten minutes probably didn't mean he had searched the desk well…but Kishu was impatient, worried, and a rather stressed little alien who had more on his mind than tackling the bomb site that was his loves desk.

Heaving a sigh, Kishu sat up straight and glared at the clock. It was close to seven. If she wasn't back in the next five minutes, he would start teleporting all over Japan. He wouldn't stop looking until he located her, kissed her, and gave her a piece of his mind for making him worry. With a slight nod Kishu slid back into the chair, surveying the desk again with annoyance. If she was a little neater maybe he would be able to find out were she was…

Two minutes later, Kishu had re-started his investigation of Ichigo's desk, both out of nervousness and lack of anything better to do. He was nearly finished rifling through the second draw when he came across the neatly folded letter, hidden within the folds of a pocket dictionary. Raising an eyebrow, Kishu held the little thing carefully in both hands, wondering if he should read it or not. The paper was scented, and a pale pink, which led Kishu to believe it was some form of love letter.

It was probably for Masaya, Kishu reasoned to himself, wincing at the thought. What the hell did Ichigo see in that guy anyway? He had no personality! Shrugging to himself, Kishu turned the letter over. He shouldn't read it…he really shouldn't, it was private…but when had he ever respected Ichigo's privacy before? And it might not even be a love letter, it could just be the reminder he had been searching for.

Steeling himself for the worst Kishu slowly opened the letter and scanned the first few lines…

then re-read them…

then re-read them again.

"What…is this?" He whispered to himself, slumping further into the desk chair as he read the rest of Ichigo's scrawled note. He sucked in a breath at the last line of the page and felt his heart rate fly, tears filming his eyes. This couldn't be true? Could it? Could it possibly…

Trying to steady his breathing, Kishu again re-read the letter, labouring over every single word dotted onto the page, muttering the sentences out loud as he went.

"This is all your fault. It really is. If you weren't so charming, so sweet in an odd way, and so very persistent, I wouldn't be thinking like I do now. I wouldn't be pretending not to feel anything for you.

I don't think there was any definitive point to when I started loving things about you. Maybe it was just a definitive point when I realised. Do you remember when you fist met me? You just jumped into my life with a grin and made it so obvious what you thought, what you felt. I've never met anyone who was as open about love as you are.

If it is love. I hope it is. I shouldn't hope, because it doesn't help either of us. But then, writing this doesn't help either of us. You'll never actually see this, how funny is that? I'm writing this like you would be reading it and you'll never actually see it.

Why am I drawn to you? Maybe the reason is because you think I'm special. Just special as Ichigo, not as a Mew Mew leader. Even thought you know I'm a bit of a airhead, that I'm not graceful or overly smart, you still think I'm special.

You'll never realise how hard you make it for me, you stupid prat. You can just kiss me without worrying, you can enjoy it, but I have to stay stiff and wide eyed. If I didn't, god knows what would happen. It would be kinda funny thought, don't you think? You kiss me like you always do, in front of everyone, and instead of pulling away and screaming, I kiss you back, run my finger through your hair. That would be nice.

Oh…and don't think I don't know you watch me at night. Because I do, I just don't say anything. I don't say anything because you make me feel safe when your sitting in the tree's, just watching over me. Kinda like a guardian angel you know? But then, how many girls have guardian angels who try to kill them on a regular basis?

Its getting harder to fight you thought. I keep wanting to just stop, to open my arms and hold you, let you hold me like you always say you want to. Maybe for just one night, you could come down from your tree and curl up with me. Maybe I should ask you to. But I can't really. I'll go with Masaya, even if he's not the one I think I want. (I did want him until you showed up you stupid alien, you made this so complicated)

Anyway, I'm going to bed now, and you're in your tree, no doubt watching me as I write.

Goodnight Kishu, sleep well, and don't get too cold out there.

Love Ichigo"

Kishu closed his eyes, curling himself around the letter clasped tightly in his hands. He felt hysterical. But at the same time, he felt completely calm, at ease and so very warm.

"Its…the letter…it's not a lie" Kishu jolted harshly, his golden eyes swivelling to the door. A cold looking Ichigo stood there, hands pressed nervously against the door frame as she stared at the carpet. Kishu blinked at her, slowly coming out of his daze. When he finally registered exactly who it was standing in the doorway, talking to him, Kishu reacted automatically. He yelped, flying up from the desk chair, the letter clasped tightly in his hands as he turned to face her fully.

Now usually, in this situation, Kishu would successfully make some form of quip that Ichigo would react to oh-so-violently too, then he would hastily make his exit with his usual smirk. But tonight, after the letter, Kishu was more a pent up ball of nervous energy than a cocky alien stalker. Ichigo finally looked up, eyeing him with a mix of curiosity and worry. "Are you going to leave?" She asked quietly, breaking the silence suffocating the room. Kishu frowned, feeling the letter crumpling under his fingertips. How did he answer that when he didn't know what he was going to do himself. The smart thing to do would be leave, but then, he had never really been into the smart options.

"I didn't hear you come in…" He muttered lamely, trying very hard to breath properly and at regular intervals. Ichigo smiled slightly and pushed a strand of hair out of her eyes.

"Cat, remember?" She said softly, a small smile tugging at the corner of her lips. Kishu responded to that more out of habit than anything else, a similar grin slipping over his features as he spoke.

"Course I do kitty cat" There was another brief pause before Ichigo again broke the silence.

"How long have you been here?" She asked, stepping fully into the room. Kishu frowned and glanced at the clock. Quarter past seven. He wondered if he should lie, tell her he hadn't been there all to long. But then…she had the decency to tell the truth about the letter.

"Since three…but I only came in here at six thirty" Ichigo nodded, seemingly unfazed by the fact that he had been at her house for over four hours. Kishu was suddenly struck with how odd this situation really was. Both of them were so out of character; he wasn't being all…Kishu-ish, and she wasn't acting like he was the biggest aggravation in her life.

The tension that had thickened over the past few minutes was suddenly broken by Ichigo's laughter. Not just 'I'm-a-little-uncomfortable-with-this-situation' laughing, but all out 'fuck-me-this-is-funny' laughing. Kishu stared at her blankly, his mouth slightly open as he watched her double over in hysterics, her ears and tail popping out to signify her radical change in emotion.

What…the…hell? He comes in here to find out if she's all right, discovers a declaration of her like/love/obsession with him (which, by the way, was yet to completely cement itself in Kishu's intelligence) and now she was bent over choking on her own laughter. Kishu couldn't think straight; for the first time in his life he was completely devoid of a scathing comment, an easy way out…anything that would somehow stop Ichigo's laughter so he could asses her for neural damage.

After a few minutes Ichigo's laughter died down enough for her to talk. Her face was slightly red and her pink eyes were watering far more than they should have been for a laughing fit. Somewhere in the back of Kishu's confused (and slightly miffed) mind, he pondered the possibility that Ichigo had gone mad. Lost it. Was insane to a point of incomprehensible hysterics over nothing.

"I'm sorry Kishu, its just that you found it! You actually found it on the very afternoon I was going to burn it! Its been there for so long and you found it on the night that I was going to get rid of it! It's just so funny!" Indeed, the situation appeared to be hilarious to the cat girl, who started laughing again, salty tears forcing themselves out from under her closed eyelids. Kishu winced; his hands still tightly fastened onto the letter clasped to his chest. He wasn't sure what to do. He had seen Ichigo in all different states – weak, in pain, angry, happy – but he had never seen her like this before; never seen her so…broken. He knew what he wanted to do, but he just couldn't seem to bring himself to move.

"Bad day huh?" He finally managed to croak. Ichigo looked up at him again, still giggling as tears tracked over her cheeks. Seeing her tears prompted Kishu into action and he floated forward, placing the letter carefully back on her desk before gently wiping the little droplets off her chin and out from under her eyes. Ichigo's laughter subsided, leaving her crying silently as Kishu placed a hand on her shoulder, the other cupping her cheek tenderly. Ok…so now he wanted to do a little happy dance. Scratch that…he wanted to jump off the walls screaming bloody murder to the world. Ichigo was letting him touch her, she wasn't trying to kill him! (Hurrah for Kishu!)

He wasn't actually acting out of his usually selfish need to be near his kitty cat as he stood close to her, careful not to touch her any more than was necessary to provide comfort. True, he wanted to wrap himself around her…and yes, he did want to hold her until her tears stopped. But he still wasn't sure that was what would help the situation.

She looked up at him after a moment of contemplating the carpet, eyes wide, innocent, glazed…like she didn't believe what was happening either. As he stared back at her, Kishu realised something. Something that was so obvious he wanted to hit himself.

Ichigo was what? 14? She was barley a teenager and she had been given the task of saving the world. She had been dumped with more responsibility than most adults had to cope with. She had to do this with people who usually over-worked her, keep the whole thing secret and try to establish some form of normal shell for everyone else to see. Kishu felt suddenly very, very guilty. Ichigo had to deal with being a hormonal teenager, save the world, and, to top it off…she had to be in love with the one guy she wasn't allowed. Kishu sighed, his thumb absently brushing Ichigo's soft cheek as he watched her. Personally, he didn't see anything stopping them from being together…but he figured that the fact she was his enemy might have something to do with it.

"I burnt my hand!" Ichigo finally offered after a moment silence, bringing her right bandaged appendage up between them so Kishu could see. Kishu smiled lightly and gently clasped her finger between his own larger hands. How typically Ichigo, bringing up something completely unrelated to anything else for no good reason at all.

"Did my Kitty-cat play with fire?" He asked quietly, placing feather kisses on the tip of each of Ichigo's fingers. She sniffled and rubbed her eye with her free hand, choosing not to answer. Kishu went back to staring at her when she didn't say anything more and was suddenly presented with a question he should probably ask.

"How long?" He muttered, gesturing to the letter laying innocently on the table. Ichigo hiccupped and shrugged, seeming to come back to reality as she stared at the pink paper. Removing her hand from Kishu's grasp Ichigo moved to her bed, slumping down on it with a defeated sigh. Kishu raised and eyebrow at her. Fine, if she didn't answer that one, he would try a different tactic. "Why didn't you just deny it? You could have you know…" He muttered finally, crossing his arms over his chest. Right, deny it…that would have made everything a lot easier. She could have come in denying it, he could tease her and leave feeling light headed and giddy (which he actually was) and it would all be ok…but no…

"I figured there wasn't much point denying it, I mean, you've read the letter, you would know. Why should I lie to cover it up to the person who should have known anyway…Besides, I was having a really really cruddy day, and this just made it…" She trailed off and looked over at him. Kishu was standing as stiff as a board, eyeing her critically. "Sorry, do you want me to scream at you or something?" she asked suddenly. Kishu snorted and couldn't stop the smirk from overtaking his features

"When have I ever wanted you to scream at me kitty cat?" Ichigo gave a small smile and went back to examining her bandaged hand.

"I just thought…well, it would be more normal wouldn't it? Me yelling at you, calling you a perv…that sort of thing would be far less…" She glanced at him "…awkward" Kishu nodded and tilted his head to the side.

"Well…I must confess I wasn't expecting you to break down…but…" He grinned, his canines slipping into view. "I got to touch you without being bruised so that was a plus…" Ichigo yelped and pitched a pillow at him, feeling infinitely better than she had when she had come in. Kishu, having caught the flying weapon, hugged it softly and floated over to the bed, plopping down next to Ichigo. He was poised to spring away again, but when Ichigo made no move to shift him physically, he relaxed.

He made sure not to sit to close to her, hoping that the distance between them would somehow support the more comforting felling encasing the room. He wasn't sure how that would work…but then he wasn't sure how Ichigo worked either and he had still managed to get this far.

"So…what are you going to do?" Ichigo asked suddenly, not looking up from her hands. Kishu frowned, twirling one green ponytail between his fingers.

"About what sweetest?" Ichigo smiled beneath her hair before flicking her head towards her desk.

"About the letter? What are you going to do?" Kishu shrugged absently. Frankly, after the initial shock of the written confession had worn of, Kishu had starting getting all squishy and lovey dovey inside. He glanced at Ichigo. What would she want him to do about it? Forget it? No, he couldn't do that.

"What do you want me to do?" He asked simply, trying not to sound scared of the answer. Ichigo bit her lip and turned to look at him.

"I…don't know really. I wasn't expecting you to find it." She pulled her legs up onto the bed and rested her chin on her knees. Kishu pulled a face and scooted closer to her, regaining some of his forgotten confidence.

"Well, I really want to kiss you…but old habits die hard so you'll probably still slap me" Ichigo giggled and smiled at him.

"Actually, this whole situation is so surreal, I'm not sure I would slap you. I keep thinking I'm dreaming and I'm not exactly reacting normally to anything" Kishu, who tended to read between the lines of peoples conversations, took this as a welcome with open arms to his previous suggestion. So Kishu kissed Ichigo. Right there in her bedroom.

…And he didn't die…

In fact, thought hesitant, Ichigo kissed him back. Now, this was not a common occurrence between the couple and while Ichigo had practically given permission this time, Kishu's first reaction was to pull back in shock. Which he did…like the idiot he often was. The g-force from the sudden and rather dramatic movement sent him flying backwards off the bed and onto the carpeted floor. For a moment he just lay there, stunned, and wondering faintly how he managed to end up on the carpet before Ichigo's head appeared over the edge of the bed.

"Are…you Ok?" She asked, slightly hurt at his comical exit from the bed. Was she that bad of a kisser that anyone she lip-locked with when hurtling away from her? Kishu, on seeing her face and suddenly realising just why he was on the floor, giggled insanely.

"You kissed me! You…Kissed…Me…Back!" Something about this seemed funny to the golden eyed alien, thought he didn't know exactly why it was funny. Ichigo raised an eyebrow, her ears twitching alertly.

"Wasn't that the point?" Kishu only giggled more, flipping onto his stomach and standing in one fluid movement. Then, turning to face Ichigo he did the only thing his love-high brain could successfully command. He pounced on the stunned Ichigo, gently pushing her back onto the bed. Resting his forehead against hers Kishu grinned, staring down at her flushed appearance. It took a moment, but Kishu's warm presence over her acted to calm the startled Ichigo and she smiled lightly, letting her tail slip around the aliens waist. Kishu, while still feeling like this whole thing was way to surreal, returned her smile in a dizzy haze.

"Kiss me Koneko-chan"

Right…well, I have realised that everyone is a little OOC, but I haven't seen Tokyo Mew Mew in a while, and this just kind of…came out…which explains why it's a little rushed and lameish. Oh well, when I finish my TEE's I might consider re-writing it. Sorry for any spelling and grammar screw ups.

Hope you enjoy it besides its faults.

- Gia

P.S Ichigo burnt her hand at school, probably in a cooking class or something. (I don't know what she studies). Anyway, the nurse wanted a doctor to take a look at it, which was why Ichigo was home so late. Hence her comment "I burnt my hand". I also ignored her parents completely because I honestly wasn't considering detail when I wrote this. Ha!