This fic is for kisshuismylife and is inspired by her fic What Have I Done? I claim no rights to TMM, the plot, the song whose title I'm using, or anything save for the prose itself (except for a few sentences in the middle).
As she did most weekends, Ichigo found herself fighting Kisshu, but this time he was acting differently. He seemed much more serious, more focused and intense, his usual quips and trademark smirk gone.
Ichigo lithely back-flipped to gain more ground, puzzled. "You're gonna have to do better than that!" she called, sticking her tongue out at him.
Kisshu didn't respond, but lunged suddenly forward to attack her. Ichigo flinched as they clashed. He was fighting with more power than usual, too…
"Kisshu, is something wrong?" she asked, parrying one of his sais. "You're acting weird."
"What do you care?" Kisshu asked coldly.
Startled by his hostility, Ichigo answered frankly, "Because it's worrying me."
"Oh, wonderful – the enemy of my people is worried about me. I'm touched," Kisshu said sarcastically.
"Kisshu! What's gotten into you?" Ichigo cried. She shuffled backwards quickly, dancing out of reach of his blades.
"Nothing. I just figured I'd stop pretending." Kisshu smiled coldly, his eyes alight with anger. Ichigo shivered, chilled by his gaze, and leapt out of range as he swiped at her throat. "See, the thing is, Ko-ne-ko-chan," Kisshu said, emphasizing each syllable sardonically, "I hate you. I've always hated you."
Ichigo froze. She reacted a moment too slowly, Kisshu's blade slicing open her arm as she tried to circle around. Not paying attention, she nearly tripped over her own feet, her cat ears and tail drooping as she lowered her head. "So… all that stuff about loving me was a lie?" she asked.
Kisshu tossed back his head and laughed. "A lie? Of course it was a lie! Not that you ever cared – you were too wrapped up in your precious Aoyama-kun, remember? I was just trying to get the Earth, and you were in the way, so I tried to break down your defenses by telling you that I loved you. Although," he said, pausing to look at her. "It looks like it might have worked after all."
Before Ichigo could do more than blink, he had teleported in front of her. "Good-bye, Ichigo," he whispered as he stabbed her through the heart.
"Ichigo, no!" The other Mews burst into the clearing, weapons at the ready.
Kisshu ripped the blade out of her chest, casually looking over his shoulder at the stunned Mews as he teleported off, leaving Ichigo's body to fall with a thud.
"We need to get her back to the Café – NOW!" Zakuro said, lifting Ichigo in her arms.
"Oh Ichigo," Lettuce whispered, hands clasped together as the others raced off. "Please be okay."
"What HAPPENED!?" Ryou asked when the Mews came in.
"Kisshu stabbed Ichigo-onee-chan and now she's gonna die!" Pudding wailed.
"She's not going to die, Pudding, it's all right," Keiichiro said soothingly. "Zakuro." He tossed her some rags. "Press these on Ichigo's wounds while I see if we have enough Mew Aqua in reserve to help."
They waited in silence. Ryou sunk into a nearby chair, head in his hands, shocked.
"What happened?" Zakuro demanded, glaring at Ryou.
"W-what?" asked Mint, taking a step towards her idol. "Zakuro, how would Ryou know anything? Whatever do you mean?"
"This isn't right. Kisshu loves Ichigo – he's never done anything to seriously hurt her before. What changed? This isn't normal behavior for him."
"I-" Ryou started, but he was cut off by Keiichiro re-entering, a tiny glowing bottle in his hand.
"I've got the Mew Aqua, everyone!" The tension in the room lessened considerably. Walking swiftly over to Ichigo, Keiichiro motioned for Zakuro to remove her hands, then carefully poured a few drops of the shining liquid onto the wound. "There, that should do it. It may take her a few minutes before she wakes up, though. That was some wound she's recovering from."
"T-thank you, Keiichiro," Lettuce stuttered, tears pooling in her eyes.
"Keiichiro-onii-chan's a hero, na no da!" Pudding shouted, hugging him fiercely around the middle.
"Ryou," Zakuro said coldly, refocusing everyone's attention on him, still slumped in his chair. "What were you about to say?"
"I made a device," Ryou said, his voice a hoarse whisper. "A device that could change a person's personality. I wanted to make it so we could get rid of the Cyniclons for good! I never intended-!"
SLAP!
It was not Zakuro who hit him, but Lettuce.
"Oh, Ryou," Keiichiro said softly, staring sadly at the crumpled boy genius.
"I only wanted to make him a little more aggressive so you all could see what a threat they are!" Ryou said, torn between sounding plaintive and defiant.
"Oh yeah, 'cause that's a great idea," Mint said sarcastically, crossing her arms.
"Ryou hurt Ichigo-onee-chan! Ryou, why?" wailed Pudding.
Zakuro cracked her knuckles, looking murderous. "You poor, pathetic fool. You better hope that Ichigo does wake up soon, or else you'll be in even bigger trouble. And know that you have us to answer to now, right?"
Ryou said nothing, his head hanging in resignation of the retribution sure to come.
Meanwhile, Kisshu had teleported back to the ship to find Pai waiting for him, looking grim. "What?" snapped Kisshu.
"Kisshu, did something happen to your mind?" Pai asked.
"Yeah, like I'm the one with a few screws loose," Kisshu snorted. He crossed his arms behind his head as he strolled down the corridor. "Why, what's it to you?"
Pai slammed his hand into the wall in front of Kisshu, blocking his path. "You killed Mew Ichigo, that's why," Pai said, glaring into the younger Cyniclon's eyes. Kisshu stared back, his gaze level.
Sighing, Pai placed a hand on Kisshu's forehead, whose eyes widened. Before Kisshu could protest, Pai had put him to sleep.
Pai took Kisshu to his room and set him down on the bed. Then he focused on reversing whatever had changed Kisshu's personality.
Several hours later, Pai rose, stretching, finally done. He concentrated, then tapped Kisshu's forehead. Kisshu slowly opened his eyes, looking puzzled. "Pai?" he asked. "What happened?"
"Something changed your personality," Pai said. "I'm not exactly sure who or how, but I reversed it."
"Thanks," Kisshu said, rubbing the back of his head. "Man, the past couple days are all blank… What happened?" Kisshu noticed Pai was looking uncomfortable, and said, more firmly this time, "Pai, what did I do?"
Pai sighed and said, "You killed Ichigo."
Kisshu looked horrified. "I… I killed her?" he whispered.
"Yes," Pai said. "I watched on my monitoring system."
"And you didn't stop me?" Kisshu demanded, dazed, staring at his hands with repulsion, as if he could see her blood on them.
"I barely had time to finish reviewing the tapes before you showed up. Oh, and you also told her you never loved her and that you had just been trying to get her defenses down so we could take over Earth." Pai paused, his expression softening. "The Mews took Ichigo to their headquarters at the Café. There's a possibility that they managed to heal her there."
Kisshu stood mutely, hardly able to stand properly. Pai took his shoulder, and together they teleported to the Café.
"Ohh!" Lettuce exclaimed, dropping the plate she had been drying. "Pai! Kisshu! What are you doing here?"
"Is Ichigo alright?" Kisshu asked, not appearing to have heard her. "Where is she?"
"Sorry to have frightened you, but we're not here to attack," said Pai, frowning gently at the green Mew. "Kisshu… Well, strange as it might seem, Kisshu's personality had been tampered with. He never meant to hurt Mew Ichigo at all."
"Oh no!" Lettuce blushed. "I mean, no, no, I was just startled, that's all. We know about what happened to Kisshu. That is to say, we know that he didn't mean to – it wasn't his fault that-"
"Where is she?" demanded Kisshu, interrupting her.
"In here, you pointy-eared freak," Mint snapped from the other room.
Lettuce winced. "S-sorry. Everyone's a bit stressed. She doesn't mean that."
Pai placed a hand on her shoulder, causing her blush to deepen. "That's quite alright. We understand." He gave her a grateful look, then followed Kisshu into the adjoining room.
"Ichigo!" Kisshu breathed, running over to her side.
Mint sat nearby, looking cross. "She still hasn't woken up yet, you know."
"Where's everyone else?" asked Pai, still half-expecting an ambush.
"They're in the basement, having a little chat with our resident genius. I'm here babysitting Ichigo – we healed her, you know – and waiting for you two to show up. Lettuce figured you would."
Pai turned to see Lettuce standing in the doorway. "Many thanks," he said gratefully. "We appreciate your kindness."
"N-no problem," stuttered Lettuce, pushing a stray strand of hair behind her ear.
"Hmph!" And with that, Mint was gone, the basement door closing behind her with a snap.
Kisshu took Mint's vacated seat and held one of Ichigo's hands in his own. "Why's she not waking up? Pai, what's wrong with her?"
Pai came over and put a hand on her chest, then said, "She's fine." Concentrating, he tapped Ichigo's forehead, and waited.
Ichigo slowly opened her eyes, and looked up at Pai and Lettuce. "What happened?" she asked.
"Ryou did something to Kisshu, and he killed you," Pai said. "I believe the other Mews are, well, sorting him out, you might say."
Ichigo sat up, slowly, looking around. "Kisshu's behind you," Lettuce said, smiling.
Ichigo twisted so she could look behind her.
Kisshu sat there, his face crumpled as tears flowed down his face. "Ichigo, can you ever forgive me?" he wailed.
Hugging him fiercely, Ichigo said nothing. Eventually, Kisshu's tears stopped until he sat hiccupping to himself sadly. "Do you still hate me?" Ichigo asked softly.
"Wha—no! Of course not!"
"Then, I guess I can forgive you then," said Ichigo, smiling shakily. "Only promise me to never change like that again!"
"I promise," Kisshu swore, wrapping her in his arms. "I will never, ever hurt you again."
Pai looked at Lettuce, then jerked his head towards the kitchen, signaling that they should leave the two of them alone. Lettuce nodded and exited quietly with him.
"I suppose we should form a truce once this is all over," Pai said musingly. Lettuce stared at him, stunned. Chuckling, Pai said, "Well, the invasion's clearly not a viable option at this point. And it'd just be cruel to ask Kisshu to keep attacking you all at this point."
"Yes, I suppose you're right," she said, nodding slowly. "Since the others are busy, perhaps we should write a draft together? I mean, not together-together, but since we both are very smart—I mean, you're very smart, and I'm an earthling, so—I mean-!"
Pai cut her off, smiling gently. "I would like that very much."
Lettuce beamed at him.
"Koneko-chan?" Kisshu asked, pulling away to gaze puzzledly at the red-head.
"Mm?"
"But, I thought—Aoyama, what about-?"
Ichigo cut off his protests, placing a finger on his lips to shush him. "Masa—Aoyama and I broke up ages ago. He said that his parents thought I was holding him back and he didn't want to go against their wishes."
"He WHAT?!"
"It was a while ago, calm down," Ichigo laughed, smiling gratefully all the same. "And it was right around that time when you kept hounding me with how much you loved me. And so I thought… what if you were telling the truth?"
"Of course I was telling the truth, I-"
Ichigo cut him off again. "I was saying, that was right around the time that I got to thinking about how annoying you were and all that, and then I realized…" She trailed off, blushing.
Kisshu sat stock-still, afraid to move, waiting for her next words.
Taking a deep breath, Ichigo blurted out, "And then I realized you weren't so annoying after all!"
There was a heart-beat of silence, then Kisshu laughed. "Just not-annoying, Koneko-chan? Is that all I am to you? I'm wounded!" he teased, grinning.
Ichigo beat lightly on his chest, her face almost as red as her hair. "Yeah, that's it, now let me gooooo!"
"Aw, Ichigo! C'mon – I'm traumatized by having just murdered you. Can't you have a little bit of sympathy for me?"
"M-maybe. No!"
Chuckling, Kisshu saw that her cat-ears had popped out. He stroked one gently. "Koneko-chan," he whispered tenderly, "are you purring?"
"It's a cat thing," she whispered back, her eyes closed as she enjoyed the moment.
"Does that mean that I can have a kiss?" Kisshu breathed into her ear. Ichigo shivered happily, her ear tickled slightly. Biting her lip for a moment's hesitation, she grinned and kissed him.
This was a quick fic that I did extremely quickly, so if you notice something that's incorrect, please let me know. Thanks, and I hope you enjoyed!