Sparks of Love Chapter 1:

The Beginning

Kisshu was wandering around Tokyo at night after another fight with Pai. Why can't we just form a truce already? he wondered. Deep Blue is just using us, but Pai doesn't get it. And to think he got called a genius on our planet…

Kisshu was snapped out of thought a while later, by a small whimpering sound. It seemed to be coming from an alley, and Kisshu decided to check it out. He cautiously walked into the alley, seeing a form lying on the ground. He went over- and his jaw dropped.

The form was Ichigo, and she looked pretty beat up. Kisshu knelt next to her, and gently turned her over. She was covered in blood, but most of it seemed to be from numerous cuts on her arms and legs. She didn't seem to have any serious injuries, but she was unconscious, and she had lost a lot of blood from all her cuts.

Worried, Kisshu gently picked her up, and teleported to his room on the ship. He set her down on his bed, and went to the bathroom, gathering up some warm water and washcloths. He took all this back to Ichigo, and looked at her injuries. She didn't seem to have any injuries above her stomach, so Kisshu started cleaning out the injuries on her arms and legs. Remembering something, he teleported to the medical ward, grabbed some bandages, and teleported back to his room.

Finished cleaning out her injuries, Kisshu started bandaging them. He was getting really worried; Ichigo hadn't woken up once. He put a hand on her forehead, but she didn't have a fever. She was shivering a bit, and Kisshu pulled the blankets over her. Then he went over and got another blanket for himself, and curled up on the couch for the night.

Early the next morning: Ichigo was woken up by banging on the door and a semi-familiar voice shouting nearby, "Go away! It's not even three AM!"

Just as Ichigo was getting really confused, another voice called, "I've got news that might make you happy. Can I come in?"

"At three AM? Hell no," the first voice said. "Save it till I'm actually awake."

There was a sigh from outside, and then Ichigo heard something that worried her- the sound of teleportation. She finally opened her eyes as she heard one of the voices say, "You're lucky, Kisshu."

Kisshu!? Ichigo thought.

The other voice- which Ichigo now realized was Kisshu's- said, "Why? Did you finally figure out that I was right and you were wrong?"

The other person sighed, and Ichigo decided it was probably Pai. Pai said, "Yes, you were right, Deep Blue was using us and decided we're no good, and went off to bring in his human host. If we don't form a truce like you want, it's going to be a disaster."

"Glad you finally realized that," Kisshu said a bit acidly.

"Mmph," Pai said. "I'm going away, but later you'll be explaining why you brought Mew Ichigo here of all places."

"I found her in an alley on Earth, and brought her back here because she was injured," Kisshu said.

Ichigo was pretty shocked by that. She heard a sigh, and then teleportation, which she assumed was Pai going away. She turned her head, and saw Kisshu looking rather disgruntled. She also saw a clock, which read 3:45 AM. That explains why Kisshu didn't want to wake up… Ichigo thought. But why did he help me? I thought I was just a toy…

Kisshu seemed to sense that she was looking at him, because he looked over and saw that she was awake. "Koneko-chan?" he asked softly.

"Yeah?" Ichigo asked. Her throat felt dry, and she started coughing, causing Kisshu to look worried. He took a glass of water off a table, and asked, "Can you sit up?"

Ichigo tried, but didn't get very far. She fell back, and winced when she hit the mattress. Kisshu noticed, and came over, then helped her sit up, and gave her the water. She drank some, and said, "Thanks. What happened?"

"I don't know, I found you lying in an alley, and you were pretty beat up," Kisshu said. "You don't remember what happened?"

Ichigo thought, and her eyes widened. "What's wrong?" Kisshu asked, worried.

"I told Masaya yesterday that I was a Mew Mew, and he told me I didn't deserve to live," Ichigo said sadly. "Then he started beating me. He knocked me out, and I don't remember what happened after that, until I woke up because Pai was banging on your door."

Kisshu was horrified. "That jerk is going down," he snarled.

A tear ran down Ichigo's face, alerting Kisshu. He gently pulled her into his arms, hugging her. He felt her bury her face in his shoulder, her tears soaking into his shirt. Forgetting the injuries on her arms, Kisshu hugged her a little tighter, but let go when she whimpered. "I'm sorry, I forgot you had all those cuts on your arms," Kisshu said.

Ichigo sighed sadly. She still hadn't taken her face out of Kisshu's shoulder, and he was worried. "Do you want to go back to sleep?" he asked.

Ichigo mumbled something that sounded like, "Do you think I'm a freak?"

"I think you're special," Kisshu said. "Don't listen to stupid people. Do you think going back to sleep would help?"

"Can you stay?" Ichigo asked, so softly Kisshu almost didn't hear her.

"You want me to stay?" Kisshu asked, startled.

"If you don't mind…" Ichigo said sadly.

"I don't mind at all," Kisshu told her reassuringly. He helped her lie back down, and said, "I'll be right here, k?"

"K…" Ichigo said as she fell back to sleep. Kisshu settled down next to her on the edge of the bed, and started stroking her hair. He was a bit startled when she started purring, but kept stroking her hair.

A few hours later, Ichigo's purring was putting Kisshu to sleep. He had switched from the edge of the bed to on the bed, and soon after, he too was asleep.

Ichigo started to wake up a few hours later, and found Kisshu curled up next to her. He looked peaceful, and she decided not to yell at him for sleeping with her. She realized she was still feeling pretty weak, she assumed from losing too much blood, and decided against trying to sit up again. Instead she watched Kisshu sleeping. She had never seen him look so peaceful and cute- wait, did she just think 'cute'!? Since when do I think of Kisshu as 'cute'? she wondered. She thought about it, and realized that she actually often found his actions cute, but she had never seen him sleeping before. He looks really cute sleeping… she thought. She suddenly noticed he didn't have his hairbands in, and cautiously reached out, smoothing his hair back. Wow, his hair is really soft… she thought, stroking it.

Kisshu was starting to wake up a little while later, and noticed that Ichigo was playing with his hair. It felt nice, so he decided to pretend to be asleep for a while longer. A thought occurred to him, and he decided to find out what she was thinking about. You can imagine his surprise when he heard, Kisshu looks really cute sleeping….

She thinks I'm cute? he wondered. I wonder if that's why she's playing with my hair…

He kept listening to her thoughts, and heard, His hair is really soft…

That would explain it, Kisshu thought. She must like the feeling. I like the feeling of her playing with my hair too.

Ichigo noticed Kisshu wasn't really asleep anymore, and asked, "Are you awake?"

Kisshu opened his eyes, and said, "Yeah, I just like that feeling. Are you feeling any stronger?"

"Not really, I still don't think I can sit up," Ichigo said. "And my arms and legs hurt."

"You had a lot of cuts, I'm not surprised," Kisshu said. "Do you want me to see if we've got any painkillers around?"

"No, I want you to stay here…" Ichigo said. "I don't want to be alone."

"Okay," Kisshu said. "I'll stay."

Suddenly there was a banging on the door, and Pai called, "Kisshu, open up! I know you're awake now."

Kisshu sighed and snapped his fingers, unlocking his door. Pai came in and said, "I got a call from that blonde guy asking what we did with Ichigo."

To Kisshu and Pai's surprise, Ichigo said, "Tell him Ichigo says he can go to hell."

"Uh…" Pai said. "Isn't he your leader?"

"What's your point?" Ichigo asked. "Whether he's my leader or not doesn't really matter. He hates me. He could care less if one of you decided to kill me. I bet Keiichiro made him call you. Blondie is evil."

"He sounded worried," Pai commented.

"He was probably faking it," Ichigo said. "I know he hates me. He's constantly yelling at me, and he's never said one nice thing the entire time I've known him. The only person he's nice to at all is Lettuce, and that's only sometimes. Maybe he has a thing for her."

"Does Lettuce return that feeling?" Pai asked. He sounded a bit jealous, and Ichigo smirked.

"No, Lettuce fell head over heels for you a while ago," Ichigo said. "And Pudding is head over heels for Taru-Taru. The only person who has a thing for Ryou is Mint, and personally, I think she's insane."

"Lettuce is in love with me?" Pai asked.

"Like I said, head over heels, but please don't tell her I told you," Ichigo said.

"And you?" Pai asked.

"What about me?" Ichigo asked.

"Do you love Kisshu?" Pai asked.

"Um…." Ichigo said uncomfortably. "Do I have to answer that question?"

"Let me guess, you don't want Kisshu to hear what you have to say," Pai sighed. "Fine. Kisshu, out."

"It's my room!" Kisshu said indignantly.

"Taruto said this morning that you're turning into a hag," Pai commented. "And you might want to get to him before he tells Pudding."

Kisshu growled and teleported out. Pai sighed. "That works every time," he said. "So, what's the answer?"

Ichigo sighed in defeat, and said, "I do like Kisshu, but I don't tell him because he thinks I'm a toy."

"I warned him calling you a toy was going to come back to bite him," Pai sighed. "He does love you, actually. He likes the look on your face when he calls you a toy, and that's the only reason he does that. But he loves you more than anything."

"Really?" Ichigo asked softly.

"Really," Pai said.

"So I can tell him how I feel?" Ichigo asked.

"If you want to," Pai said. "It's up to you."

Will Ichigo confess? Find out- tomorrow! Review plz!