AN: Being the avid drabble-writer that I am, I just had to do this little one-shot before doing chapter 14 of Healing. It's just a random little K/I ficlet, but read and, hopefully, enjoy and review.
Oh, and keep in mind I'm doing this at 2 in the morning. Don't yell at me :P.
Disclaimer: If I owned TMM, ep 45 would not exist.
The day was the embodiment of tranquil perfection. The scent of newly-opened spring blossoms wafted through the air, joined by the crisp, clear notes of cheerful birdsong. The sun gave a soft light and enough warmth to make a stroll without a jacket pleasant. This was exactly the sort of walk Ichigo had hoped to take advantage of, all logic predicting an enjoyable walk around her block after the frigid months of winter.
Logic, however, had not taken into account a certain long-eared alien who, regardless of Ichigo's incessant refusals, had decided that today was the perfect day to see his favorite koneko-chan.
This was why the melodious harmony of birdsong was shattered by a piercing shriek of "Leave me alone, you pervert!"
Ichigo ran down the street (deserted, lucky for her), hair a tangled mess, clothes slightly disheveled, all because Kisshu had been happily chasing her about the neighborhood for a good half hour. He has appeared with his usual desire for a kiss, but this time, had just refused to leave.
Thus, the cat-girl found herself bounding down the sidewalk, teeth gritted in annoyance as she heard Kisshu's voice, a near-whine, behind her, "Hey, come on, honey!" She growled and picked up speed, only to jerk to a stop when the alien appeared before her, debonair smirk firmly in place as a hand gently cupped her chin.
"You know you can't run forever."
Ichigo responded with a disgusted yelp, twisting out of his grasp and making a sharp turn into an alleyway.
"Don't you dare touch me!" she screeched as she ran, barely looking where she was going as he laughed an inspired a fresh wave of frustrated rage.
Suddenly, she smirked. A crowd! She saw a crowd at the fast-approaching mouth of the alleyway, and she knew that if she reached that throng of people, she could lose him; he wouldn't dare fly about in the midst of other humans.
Safe! she thought, smirk widening into a grin as she ran out onto the sidewalk, twisting between bodies as she whipped around to give him a triumphant "Ha!"
The laugh died on her lips when she saw the look of horror on his face.
His eyes were wide, golden irises bold against the whites, staring at her with an expression of terror she had never seen in him before. His entire stance, even in the air, had turned from coy and playful to utterly rigid and mortified.
As her foot hit the pavement one last time before she stopped, staring back at him, she realized why.
She had run straight into the road…
…without taking the slightest notice of the gargantuan truck barreling down the asphalt.
Now she adopted his expression as a total paralysis overtook her. She knew she should have been running; there was a truck coming at her! She knew she needed to move. She knew, she knew. Yet no matter what her terrified mind screamed at her, her limbs refused to so much as twitch. All she was left with was the hopeless inevitability of soon meeting rushing metal and glass.
As her eyes fluttered shut, as she awaited that agonizing crash, she thought, could have sworn, that she heard her name, a faint, frantic "Ichigo!"
Then… blackness.
The girl knew she wasn't dead when a wave of intense dizziness hit her, followed by a stream of tears that she could not control.
The next sign was the she was leaning heavily against something warm, something that trembled slightly.
It took her a few moments of shivering and sobbing to realize that this something was Kisshu.
She did not know that he had flew in with all his speed and grabbed her, much to the surprise of the surrounding crowd that would later have to have a memory erasure performed by the alien's computer. She did not know that the dizziness came from him teleporting her out of harms way into another alley.
All she knew what that he was soft, he was warm, and he was holding her, arms wrapped tightly around her shoulders, as she sobbed against his shirt, relief too powerful a force to keep inside.
Only after a few minutes of recovery did she regain her senses and her ability to speak.
She realized that the alien had pressed his cheek against the top of her head, and that his arms were so tight, so firm around her, that they immobilized her. She also realized that he, too, was trembling.
Struggling to catch her breath between gasping sobs, she lay her head against his chest, suddenly quite aware of how rapid his pulse was.
The thought hit her with all the force that truck would have had.
He's… he was… afraid? For…?
"Kisshu…" she began, trying to pull away in order to meet his eyes, but failing in his steady grip, "I—"
"Don't do that again, Ichigo."
She jumped at the use of her name and not one of his pet names for her.
"Okay?"
She lay her head against his chest again, listening to that racing heartbeat, those quick, shallow breaths. The only answer she could give was a silent nod.
His grip held for another few minutes before he let go very suddenly, and she stepped back shakily, immediately looking up into his face.
It shocked her.
Never had she seen it drawn in such obvious fear, muscles tense, eyes wide; his ears even seeming to droop in his terror.
For a few seconds, they remained speechless, neither taking his or her eyes off the other.
Kisshu broke the spell. Suddenly, with such an absence of warning that Ichigo felt another shock, he broke into his trademark smirk, leaned forward, and gave her a quick peck on her lips.
"That's what you get for running, Ichigo!"
He snickered, his grin widening.
"I can't play with a toy when it's broken."
Within another second, he was gone.
Ichigo, however, made no move to complain about the sudden kiss. She hardly made a move at all as she stared at the space he had occupied only moments before, her hand slowly coming up to touch her parted lips.
Instead of her habitual rant, she fell into a thick silence as she slowly stepped out of the alley and began to make her way home.
He had been afraid.
It rang in her mind so clearly, it scared her anew.
He had feared for her life… he had saved her.
Then abruptly, the dissenting thoughts rushed forward from the crevices of her mind, quickly reminding her of reality.
She was his toy; she couldn't break, just as he said!
Besides, Aoyama was the only one who could truly rescue her. He was the only one who cared about her enough to risk his life like that.
Yes, Kisshu had been playing, or just protecting what he considered property.
Of course.
Yet…
Yet even as she nodded in acceptance of those supposed rules, a smile of relief tugging at her lips, she could forget neither his face nor the way he had shaken in his own fear.
Even as she quickened her pace, focusing on all of her memories of his as a possessive, perverted bother, she could not forget the fact that this kiss had had a new tenderness behind it. She could not forget that, even when his smirk had returned, his eyes had still held the dullness of worry.
Even as she put her key into the lock, the trembling in her hand almost gone, this new memory crept away to the back of her mind, silent, momentarily rejected, but never to be forgotten.
It would remain, even if she did not want to admit it, and one day… perhaps, one day…
She gave a final shake of her head before entering the house and closing the door behind her.
AN: Yay! 2:26 AM. I'm right in the tradition of my writing. Okay, read and review, please, and for those of you who read Healing, don't worry, I'm not dropping it, I just had this idea for a drabble and it had to be done before my head exploded :P.