Authors Note:
Here it is; the sequel to 101 Days of Kish! Yeah, I'm seriously glad you guys liked it. All the reviews made me feel loved, as well as informing me what I should improve on. Thanks again and enjoy the first chapter of From a Near Miss Comes Love.
Disclaimer: I do not own TMM, nor any of the characters. I do, however, own Kish's made-up fangirls, although I'm sure there are plenty. Thanks
Prologue : Catching Butterflies
"Momoiya-san?"
Ichigo didn't quite like the sound of the Momoiya suffix. For some reason, it didn't sound like it fitted. She had half expected the name Tomodoa to be added to the end of hers. Kish, however, had remained characteristically stubborn about this. Sighing, Ichigo threw herself back into the pillows. Soft material folded itself around her slender form, and she rolled once, twice, and then buried her face into the light material. Sunlight crept hesitantly around the edges of her curtains, and lit up the room in a brilliant display of golden light. That didn't stir Ichigo from her position, either. A slight creak came from outside; the girl's ears, if they could've, would've perked. She glanced up, out of the corner of one eye.
"Ichigo, you can't hide out here forever."
Kish's voice was softened with worry. Ichigo glanced up at him for a moment, and her body tensed. She locked her jaw stubbornly, and rolled off the bed Kish had bought for her. For a moment, she stared up at the room. It had once been a study; there was a thick, oak table inches from her groping fingers, a black matte laptop set upon it, where Kish had presumably done his homework. Apart from that ,the room was very feminine. Kish had ordered his servants to paint the walls a pretty pink, so Ichigo felt that she was in the lightest, most delightful shade of strawberry there was. Pictures from her childhood – pictures of her and Kish, posing together and smiling with delight -lined the walls, their chubby faces beaming out at them, unaware of the rift that would soon grow between them. A small dresser stood to one side, overflowing with clothes where Ichigo had thrown them. Overall, the room looked nice – and smelt nice, too; the gentle auroma of vanilla was pleasing.
"Ichigo, are you going to lie there all day?" Kish asked.
Once again, Ichigo said nothing. She didn't know what to say. Instead, she turned towards him, a hesitant smile flickering about her lips.
"Good morning." she said.
Her Kish looked as handsome as ever; his dark green hair hung loose on his back, as for once he had left it untied. His face was damp and pink with healthy exertion, from his early morning sprint. Even the rugged looking sports clothes he wore couldn't befit his nole features. Without thinking, Ichigo crossed the room and laid one hand against his skin. It was cool, oddly enough. She could feel Kish's breath on her own face. Her eyelids flickered closed. Without warning, Kish pulled away. Ichigo's eyes remained closed.
"I'll hold fort over breakfast until you come down." he said, as he left the room.
Ichigo watched him go numbly. It had been only two weeks since she had pledged to stay at his side – only fourteen days. It seemed so little a time now. She wouldn't stay at the Tomodoa Mansion for 101 days – she planned tos tay here for life. But Kish had gone reticent on her. Even his sweet face seemed to be unwilling to look at her. All of a sudden, only just a few days ago, he had clammed up.He had been unwilling to go on dates with her, to talk to her, to even spend more than an hour alone with her company. The silence was stifling. Ichigo's eyes burnt, and she stumbled back blindly to the dresser.
She didn't quite know what to do anymore.
Breakfast, as Ichigo had predicted, was a subdued affair.
Kish barely said anything. He sat facing her across the table, his face closed up. He held a newspaper, black ink stamped boldly on greying paper, as if to shut her off. Ichigo's spoon fell with a dull clatter against the china of her bowl, her food untouched. She glanced up at Kish for a moment, touching the back of his hand lightly with her's. He reacted at lightning speed, whipping away. His hand glanced off his bowl of miso soup. Kish jumped away moments before the china container shattered on the ground. Liquid seeped everywhere; nothing was able to escape. Ichigo watched the stain spread dully, the rough china edges scattered.
"I-I'm sorry." Kish stammered numbly, and once again, there was that faint trace of sweet hesitation that she so relished, "I'll go get a cloth."
He left Ichigo standing there, her heart hammering at a million miles per hour. For just one moment, she thought she had seen a trace of the old Kish, the reckless one, the wild one, the one that would have thrown himself in front of a bullet for her. This Kish, this subdued one, would just stand aside and catch her body as it crumpled. Not even thinking properly, Ichigo knelt. The soup seeped into her skirt, but she didn't seem to notice. Instead, she reached for a piece of shattered bowl. The china jabbed hard into her flesh, drawing blood.
"Ouch!"
"Ichigo!" came an urgent shout, and suddenly, Kish was by her side, eyes flashing fire, "What did you do, you ditz!? Do you want to die!?"
Once again, Ichigo's heart raced, and blood pumped freely from the wound. He sounded normal. Cursing, Kish lifted his finger to face level. Ichigo realized moments later what he was going to do. She flushed bright red and protested loudly, but that made no difference. The cool, soft flesh of his lips pressed themselves against her wound, and the dizzying pain died away. Seconds later, Kish withdrew his grip on her hand. Ichigo wished he hadn't. She lowered her own hand tentatively.
"I'll get a bandage." Kish said, about to stand.
"Wait!" Ichigo cried wildly, her lips curled back in desperation.
Kish turned, surprise evident in his face. Ichigo watched him for a moment, watched his features shift as he tensed, uncertain of what she wanted. And then she lowered her head, red hair forming a convenient curtain for her tears. She couldn't understand why Kish was treating her so ... differently. And that was what hurt the most; that he wasn't bothering to explain anything. It was like a relapse of primary school days all over again. Something grabbed at her upper arm, and Ichigo's head was forced up.
"Kish..." she said, eyes huge and disbelieving.
"Don't talk. Don't talk right now." Kish said, face contorted with some form of inner agony.
The kiss was long, sweet, and salty. Ichigo immediately locked onto Kish. After a moment or two he resurfaced, gasping for air. Ichigo didn't mind; she could've stayed there all day. Kish hugged her soft form to him roughly. There was silence for a moment or two, while Ichigo attempted to reason with herself. Kish was back; she could hear it in the edge of his voice, the way he practically tried to push her into him.
Kish tilted her back, and smiled into her tear-stained face.
"Well, at least I have reason now to believe that when I try to make-out with you, you won't break me in half."
"Kish!" Ichigo protested feebly, pushing at him in mock-annoyance. She giggled weakly.
"Glad to see you missed me." Kish murmured into her hair, fingers twisting her red locks around, "I thought maybe you wouldn't listen to me."
Ichigo didn't say anything. She stayed there, in the warmth of Kish's arms. That was the only place she ever needed to be, the only place she ever wanted to be ... a sudden sharp jangle from the opposite end of the room alerted them to someone else's presence, and the two of them sprang apart immediately. After all, those hot-headed days of enmity still ran strong in their blood.
"Yo, dudes!" ALIEN, and Kish's older brother, announced cheerfully from the other end of the room, "Did you miss me?"
His dramatic entrance certainly left a lot to be desired. ALIEN blinked twice, and looked left and right. He then seemed to spy Ichigo and Kish, practically on opposite ends of the room, both flushed in the face. If you happened to consider the fact that Ichigo's skirt was also stained with something wet and fluid, and Kish was very out of breath from kissing Ichigo, as well as having his top buttons undone ... you would know how ALIEN felt.
"Ohoho!" ALIEN said dramatically, waggling his eyebrows for lack of something better to say, "Ohoho indeed!"
He sidled over to Kish, and draped an arm over his younger brother's shoulder. Kish immediately leaned away, not exactly oblivious to the rancid stench on his brother's breath. That didn't seem to bother ALIEN, either; instead, he wormed his way around Kish to seize Ichigo's shoulder, and pulled the girl bodily into Kish. Pleased with the disturbing scene he was getting, ALIEN clapped once or twice. Finally getting the vibe that he looked lame, he ceased clapping and cleared his throat three times. Then he eyeballed Kish for a quarter of a minute.
"When you feel like saying something," Ichigo said irritably; she didn't like being interrupted, "feel free to go ahead."
"Little brother!" ALIEN said again, and then slumped onto Ichigo's chest, "I'm pleased! You've finally ascended to adulthood, with this scrumptious young lady here!"
"Get awaaay from me, you pervert!" shrieked Ichigo, bright red in the face.
"Get your filthy hands off her!" Kish roared, tearing his brother away with an expression of furious possesiveness on his face, "Those parts of her are mine!"
"GET AWAY FROM ME, YOU PERVERTED PEOPLE!"
At that, ALIEN and Kish immediately turned tail and fled, leaving long skid lines across the clean kitchen tiles. They were no match for Ichigo, though. Intensity burning in her eyes, she raced after them. It only took her a couple of minutes or two to pin the brothers down, she whackd each of them. Very hard. Kish immediately made a mental note never to mention again what parts of Ichigo were ... more important than the rest. Especially when anyone else – namely, other perverted people, were involved.
"W-we're sorry." ALIEN panted weakly, moments later, spead-eagled on the ground.
"Don't apologize for me, nii-sama! I know what's right, and Ichigo know's what's right-"
Kish quailed under the furious glare Ichigo gave him. Reaching up, he tugged her down for a moment, long enough to peck her quickly on the cheek. At this, Ichigo slapped his face away teasingly, and then both of them glanced guiltily at ALIEN. He blinked up at them under their sudden scrutiny, and waggled his eyebrows.
"Hi there. Continue on without me; Kish needs to show he's got guts."
"Nii-sama!"
'ALIEN-sama!"
Two brothers reacted as one immediately.
"See, she calls me 'sama'. That means she has the hots for me, over you-"
"Sama!?" Kish repeated dully, whacking his brother away, "you called him sama?"
"He was my idol!" Ichigo protested weakly, bright red in the face, as Kish grappled with her. His expression was suddenly more intense than she'd expected, "What did you expect me to call him? ALIEN-chan?"
"I'm his creator, remember?" Kish said, and before she knew what was going on, he had pressed his mouth to hers roughly, "So call me 'sama'!"
Their mouths molded as one for a moment, and then there came a low whistle from the opposite end of the room. The two of them broke apart to see ALIEN, a smug grin on his face as he applauded slowly. Ichigo flushed briefly, and attempted to break free, shoving against Kish's chest. Kish, on the other hand, clamped his arms around her in a pale-skinned deadlock, sticking his tongue out at his older brother childishly.
"This here's mine. And although I've got plenty of other fangirls to choose from, I love this one."
"Er, Kish..."
"What is it, sweetie?" Kish purred; he was clearly hamming up the 'I love this one' line.
"I'm not gonna call you -sama. You're far too overconceited for that."
The evening found Ichigo and Kish in each other's company, in the quiet park. Everyone had left already, only leaving the imprint of their shoes in the swirling dust behind. Kish had wrapped his arms snugly around Ichigo, trying to prevent her from the chill of the evening. Ichigo dimly wondered why he even needed to do that – in his arms, she felt anything but cold. The girl settled further into Kish's chest, resting her head against the hollow at the base of his throat. Kish didn't seem settled though; a relapse of the new Kish was breaking through, the uneasy one. Ichigo glanced up worriedly.
"Hey there." Kish smiled down, his familiar roguish grin.
"Your brother hasn't implanted anything strange in your head, has he?" Ichigo asked sharply.
"Hmm."
Kish seemed to consider it, and while he did, Ichigo admired his nobly sculpted face, shimmering in the twilight as he thought. After a moment or two, he purposefully looked down, and Ichigo squealed, rocking backwards as his eyes met hers. Kish grinned, and tickled her along the side ofher face.
"Hmm. He might've suggested stuff ... but I've already thought of it before." Kish grinned coyly, and kissed the top of her head.
"You pervert! Leggo of me! Leggo of me!"
Kish's arms snapped open, and Ichigo, who hadn't been expecting that, tumbled out of his grip, onto the cold and hard floor. Picking leaves, sticks, and rocks out of her rear end, she stood, complaining. Kish's face was a picture of shock and fear; tears even glistened at the corners of his eyes, eyebrows pulled downwards to prevent himself from crying, his face flushed. His shoulders quivered, but what frightened Ichigo the most was the thin line for his mouth, pulled taut across his features as if he was afraid that when he opened it, he would cry. She tried to leap back into his arms, but he remained cold and unwilling, and she was forced to pull away again.
"You really don't like me? ... I thought ... I thought ... "
Ichigo's own eyes filled with tears, and she threw her arms around Kish's neck on impulse. His quivering arms didn't bother to wrap themselves around her, and furious with herself for hurting an emotionally unstable Kish right then and there, she forced her mouth upon his. His lips were cold, unmoving; he didn't even bother to kiss back. And then Kish tore away from her. Ichigo blinked, and moved back tentatively. Kish's shoulders were still heaving. And then he threw back his head, roaring with laughter.
"You bastard! You are a bastard!" Ichigo squealed, whacking him.
"Tha... that was the first time you've actually been so desperate to kiss me," Kish roared, heaving with laughter, "that was a pleasant change."
"Hmph." Ichigo pouted, flouncing down beside him, "You are a good actor, but you faked those tears to get my attention?"
"Why not?"
Kish was suddenly serious again, and by her side. His golden eyes blazed with intensity, and he grabbed her chin, tilting his mouth to hers. Their lips met for a final time in another kiss, and then Ichigo laughed, pulling away. These kisses were so much better than the light, fleeting ones Kish had stolen. She now knew why she felt so annoyed after he had stolen a kiss – she ... had wanted more ...
"What are you thinking now?" Kish breathed.
His eyes were alarming; they seemed to bore a hole in her, to look to the very depths of her soul.
"I was thinking ... a ... about school..." she managed to stammer out.
"Oh really?" Kish breathed. His fingers travelled to her neck, where their iciness made her gasp out loud and shiver, "And what are you thinking about now?"
"The sunset..." Ichigo gasped, face bright red, "how pretty it is ... a nice golden color ..."
"Not as red as your hair, though. If it isn't like that, it can't be beautiful." Kish murmured. He picked up a lock of Ichigo's hair, and pressed it to his lips. Ichigo immediately felt her heart calm just the slightest bit; when he was like this, she felt the world was at peace.
"What are you thinking about?"
Kish met her eyes for a moment, before hugging her firmly to him so he couldn't see the trouble in his golden eyes. Nonetheless, Ichigo could still hear worry and concern mingling into one, and she made a valiant guess at what. The holidays were almost over. School was returning. School, the place where the names of Momoiya and Tomodoa never crossed, unless it was in hate lines. And for them to be accepted as girlfriend and boyfriend was even worse.
"School." Kish said lightly, betraying none of his emotions, "And some stuff nii-sama told me..."
Forgive ALIEN's inner pervert, just like Kish. Yeah, this story's a little more angsty than the first book, but then again, that's 'cause it's ... all relationships that have had trauma in them are like that. In any case, I hope you enjoyed! R&R please!