Snow?
Ichigo woke up to silence. This was very strange; normally there was the sound of birds twittering in the trees. People walking in the street,chatting.
What was wrong?
Ichigo got out of bed and noticed that it was brighter in her room than usual. Drawing her pink curtains, the cause of the strange silence was revealed.
SNOW!
A heavy blanket of white was laid across the ground, like a cover on a bed.
Barely able to contain her excitement, Ichigo switched on her computer to check the school website.
Hopefully it's closed...
Her wishes came true. The school was shut, due to "extreme weather conditions".
Dressing quickly in some warm clothes, Ichigo hurried downstairs and quickly ate breakfast.
This is going to be so fun!
She thought, whilst munching on a piece of warm, buttered toast.
Something wet landed on Kisshu's nose. He opened his eyes (he'd fell asleep on a bench in the park) and stared up at the blank sky.
Soft, cold flakes were falling down on him; his clothes were quickly mottled with the odd things.
What is this? He wondered. It's too soft to be rain...
Suddenly a white flake landed in his eye. Kish blinked rapidly to get rid of it, shocked. It was wet, and the flakes on his body were also melting. He'd be soaked through soon.
I don't like this...
The green haired alien wasn't enjoying it one bit; wet and cold was NOT a good combination for him.
He was just about to teleport out of this annoying weather when he heard a laugh.
Konneko? The alien thought excitedly.
It was Ichigo. Kish hid quickly in a tree; he wanted to see what humans did in this stuff.
Laughing musically, Ichigo sped after Pudding, snow clenched in her fist. The monkey girl was so going to get it!
She threw the snowball she was holding at Pudding, but the agile girl easily dodged it.
"You'll have to do better than that, na no da!" the monkey girl called, changing her direction.
After a few more metres of running, Ichigo gave up. This was no use. She would never manage to catch Pudding.
"Giving up, na no da?" Said girl appeared magically behind her, grinning from ear to ear.
How? She was in front a second ago...
Ichigo just stood there, panting, her hands on her knees. She was exhausted; running was not her forte.
A catchy jingle broke the sound of the cat-girls ragged breaths. Pudding answered her mobile.
"Moshi, moshi," (hello on the phone in Japanese) "What? OK." She hung up with a sigh.
"I need to go home" Pudding explained, "Lettuce can't control my siblings!"
"Do you mind if I stay here? I want to play a little longer..."
" 'course not, na no da!" the younger girl replied cheerily. "Bye!"
"Bye!" Ichigo called to Puddings retreating back.
Man, am I glad I don't have brothers and sisters!
Bending down, the cat girl scoped up some snow and rolled it into a ball. She attempted to make it into a snowman, but it crumbled.
She knelt to try and put it back together, when a familiar voice echoed in her ear. Ichigo was not at all surprised. They were always around; hidden or not.
"What's that?" They asked, pointing at the snow the girl had clenched tightly in her fists.
Ichigo shut her eyes and took a deep breath before turning to face her "favourite" alien.
"It's snow, idiot." She spoke to Kish as if he was stupid.
"Huh? Snow?" he cocked his head quizzically and raised one eyebrow.
Ignoring this, Ichigo spoke with an irritated tone:
"Why are you here anyway?" Not that she cared, but Kish was ruining her chance to play in the snow. "Haven't you got some place better to be?" Stupid question. He would now follow with some smart-ass comment...
"Nope!" Kish simply said. He swooped in and kissed her on the check. Dodging a foot that would've made contact seconds before, he sprung back to sit cross-legged, suspended, in mid-air. He grinned down at Ichigo, with an air of satisfaction.
"Next time, it won't be your check that I kiss." The smirking alien promised.
"Kiss...SNOW!" The cat girl chucked a snowball and it hit Kish full in the face. He scraped it off quickly with an arm.
"No thanks. How 'bout...YOU!" He dove in again, only to be greeted with another face full of snow.
While the green-haired alien was otherwise "occupied", Ichigo sped off, racing across the field of white with long strides. Once the second "helping" of snow had gone, Kish flew after her. Ever present. Like always.
But Ichigo was having too much fun to care.
"Hey! That's cheating!" Ichigo slid to a stop and span round.
Kisshu's flying had no breaks ,however. He crashed into her, unable to stop.
The soft snow broke Ichigo's fall. She groaned and attempted to push Kish of her. For his size, the alien was surprisingly light.
But Kish wouldn't budge. He merely sat up, looking dazed, straddling her stomach. Kish glanced down and Ichigo was lost in the caramel of his eyes. They looked good enough to eat.
The alien leant in and spoke, his lips so close to hers that she could feel their movement.
"I think I like this snow..."
His silky voice sent shivers electrocuting down Ichigo's spine. This was wrong. She shouldn't feel this because of Kish.
But she did. There was nothing she could do about it.
Still under the spell of his golden eyes, Ichigo didn't struggle when he kissed her. In fact, she kissed back.
It was different from before. Slow, and unhurried. Wrapping fingers in his emerald hair, she pulled his head closer. She surprised herself with the action.
Kish was just as surprised. He trailed fingers lightly down her check, and Ichigo gasped, tingling from his touch.
But they were interrupted when a snowball exploded onto Kish's back.
"Hey, love-birds! Break it up! Get a room!" A mocking voice called. Tart.
That statement brought Ichigo crashing back to reality. How far would she of gone if they hadn't been interrupted?
Further than she'd gone with Masaya...
They'd broken up three months ago; a mutual agreement. Kish was always there, but she didn't see him in that light. He was more like an annoying fly, constantly buzzing in her ear.
Her body had betrayed her.
Don't want to give him any ideas...
Grasping Kish's shoulders, she pushed him roughly off her and sat up.
Snow hit her neck in a blaze of white and slid down her top. Eyes widened at the freezing cold.
Kish and Ichigo were both still in a daze. The cold trickling down her front snapped her back to the present.
"You'll pay for that, brat!" She yelled, standing up and shook vigorously to get rid of the snow.
"As-" A sudden mouthful of snow blocked the little alien's sentence.
"As if?" Ichigo cocked an eyebrow, proud of her victory. That was a nice shot!
The cat girl didn't have long to celebrate. A volley of snow arced towards them, each one just narrowly missing. Mint, Pudding and Lettuce were here, closely followed by Ryou and Zakuro.
Pai appeared beside Tart, hovering in the air.
"Need some help?"
Great! Thought Ichigo. The Calvary has arrived!
An all out snowball war ensued. On one side, Ichigo and Kish.
On the other, Pai and Tart.
The last team was made up of Lettuce, Pudding, Mint, Zakuro and Ryou. Despite their greater numbers, blond Ryou was the only decent shot, and this evened the odds. They were packed closely together. More of a target. Kish scored many a shot, earning a scream from the girls.
Snowballs rained on them from both directions. Kish and Ichigo were wedged between two teams, hemmed in.
Spotting something sticking up from the ground, the green haired alien seized it.
"Stay behind me!" Kish told Ichigo with a smirk. He lifted the broken umbrella he'd found and blocked a snowball that was destined to hit Ichigo.
The cat girl was amazed. An umbrella? She looked on as Kish effortlessly stopped the onslaught of snowballs. She couldn't help but giggle when one hit the alien in the side of the face.
"Hey! Who threw that?!" Kish's annoyance made his voice a high-pitched squeak.
He was rather sensitive about his face.
Everyone just laughed, momentarily abandoning the fight. Even Zakuro was chuckling, glee in her eyes. Kish was not very scary.
Then they remembered, and snowballs flew through the air once more.
Backing slowly up a small hill, Ichigo was struck by a snowball in the shoulder. With a scream, she fell over and slid back down the slope. Kish was too busy defending his face from further attack to worry about her.
"Hey! Defend me, not yourself!" she cried, trying to sound annoyed. But it was all too funny; she'd never considered Kish as "vain" before!
The battle wore on and the sun was beginning to set before a truce was declared. It was a unanimous decision to call it a day.
"But we'll win next time!" Tart declared before disappearing.
One by one they all left. Lettuce and Pudding in one direction, the others in another. Pie and Tart teleported.
Kish and Ichigo were left alone.
"Want me to walk you home?" he asked, golden eyes shimmering.
Gulping, Ichigo considered her options. She opened her mouth to say "no", but paused. Even if she did refuse, Kish would follow her anyway. Like the annoyance he was.
Even though, a voice in her head told her, he did a pretty good job of defending you today.
"Yeah; when he wasn't looking after his face!" Another voice scoffed.
But still...the first voice argued back. Maybe Kish isn't so bad after all...
"Why not?" Ichigo answered. Kish blinked in surprise; he'd anticipated a "no".
Oh no! He was really going to get the wrong idea now...
"We're just friends!" The words tumbled out of her mouth; an echo of her thoughts. She blushed, remembering their kiss.
"Whatever you say, Konneko." he put his arm round her shoulders and looked at Ichigo through his lashes. "But there is no denying the chemistry." He whispered seductively in her ear.
His warm breath and arm wrapped round her put the cat girl into a trance. Shaking her head, Ichigo reluctantly broke the spell. What was wrong with her?
"Let's go!" she said with a forced cheerfulness, attempting to distract the alien.
"'kay!" he replied, towing her towards the parks gate. His arm was still wound firmly round her. To an outsider, they looked like a couple; without knowing it, Ichigo had unconsciously twisted her hand in his shirt.
Boys are so easy to distract... she thought, unaware of her hands current position.
She was still oblivious by the time they'd reached her house. Ichigo had been lost in her own thoughts.
"Um, Konneko? You can let go of me now..." Kish suggested, glancing down at the hand wrapped in his shirt.
"Oh! Gosh..." Ichigo finally realized. But her hand wouldn't move.
"If you want me that much, you could've just said!"
"No! It's not what it looks..." The end of her sentence was cut of as he kissed her again. And, once again, Ichigo kissed back.
Kish broke of the kiss suddenly. The cat girl just stood there in a haze as the alien said his goodbyes and left.
He is so annoying!
But this time for all the wrong reasons.
Hours later, both parties lay awake in their beds, reminiscing on their day. They groaned and rolled over.
What should I do? Kish and Ichigo thought. Neither of them knew.
Kish is just a friend...
Ichigo will never like me in that way...
Sighing, both closed their eyes.
Sweet dreams...
I hope that German test tomorrow isn't too hard... Ichigo fretted, before her thoughts soon turned back to Kish.
Since when was Kish a "friend" ?
Since when does Ichigo kiss back?
Mentally exhausted, they both fell asleep.
Ichigo opened her eyes to see two perfect circles of gold staring at her.
Not recognising Kish's caramel eyes, the cat girl mumbled something that vaguely sounded like "not going to school..." and rolled over.
His voice shattered all her hopes of getting back to sleep.
"But there is no school today, kitten. Your mum left a note."
Huh? Ichigo remembered that voice. It sent an unbidden shiver down her spine. How long has Kish been here?
She didn't want to consider it.
"Come on! Get dressed already!" Kish pulled Ichigo out of bed. He was like an excited child. "I want to learn more about this "snow"!"
Ichigo sighed.
She had given him the wrong idea after all.