It's Your Birthday?

Ichigo was walking home in a bad mood. Aoyuck had broken up with her for stupid Mint of all people, and Ryou decided to dock her paycheck again. I think he enjoys making me miserable, she thought bitterly. I should just quit already. Sighing, she kept walking.

Meanwhile, in Inohara Park's giant sakura tree: This must be my worst birthday ever, Kisshu thought bitterly. Not only did Pai and Taruto completely forget, Pai spent the entire morning yelling at me for not getting more peaches. Honestly, why can't he do it himself? Hard to believe someone that smart has no common sense. Or emotions, for that matter. I bet he doesn't care that it's my birthday. Taruto's too busy crushing on that monkey girl to remember anything. Oh well, I guess I'll just stay here. It's not like anyone will care.

Ichigo, meanwhile, had realized that she had been in such a bad mood she had walked to Inohara Park instead of going home. It's not like my parents are home anyways, she thought miserably. I really wish they would stop going on all those cruises and vacations and stay with me. I hate being alone. She sighed. I guess I'll be alone a lot more now that Aoyama broke up with me, she thought.

Back with Kisshu: If no one cares about me, would I be better off dead? he wondered. I'll probably get killed for my opinions on Deep Blue soon anyways. Maybe it's better to end it now. Sad way to spend my birthday; killing myself. Maybe I'll wait and see if it gets any better, and if it doesn't, I'll kill myself tomorrow. But is that just an excuse? He took out one of his swords, and started fiddling with it.

Back with Ichigo: I'll just go to the sakura tree for a while; it's nice there, she thought.

When she reached it, however, she saw someone sitting on one of the lower branches. She couldn't tell who it was from where she was, and being the curious kitten that she was, she decided to go see who it was.

To her shock, it was Kisshu, and he was fiddling with one of his swords, looking gloomy. He looks really sad…. I wonder what happened? she thought. He hadn't even noticed she was standing under him, so she called out, "Kisshu?"

She watched as he looked down at her. "I'm not in the mood for the usual, Ichigo," he said.

"Neither am I," Ichigo said. She sat down under the tree, looking up at the sky gloomily.

Kisshu was startled by this; was she having a bad day too? He made the sword disappear and jumped down, sitting down next to her. She didn't move away, and Kisshu asked, "Are you having a bad day too?"

"Yeah…." Ichigo said. "So you're having a bad day too?"

"'Bad' is an understatement," Kisshu said.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Ichigo asked. "I'll listen."

"You will?" Kisshu asked.

"Yeah," Ichigo said.

Kisshu sighed. "Pai spent the morning yelling at me for not getting more peaches, and then went into another rant about how I should kill you," he said. "And Taruto only cares about the monkey girl. And they BOTH forgot my birthday. I honestly don't understand what I did in life to deserve all this. So what happened to you?"

"Aoyama broke up with me for Mint, and I think Ryou is taking pleasure in making me as miserable as possible," Ichigo said gloomily. "I'm seriously considering just quitting. The battle's going nowhere, and Ryou's way more evil than anyone I've ever met. I bet even your leader isn't that evil."

"Maybe they'd get along well," Kisshu suggested. Then he sighed again. "This is the worst birthday I've ever had," he said bitterly.

"It's your birthday?" Ichigo asked. "How old are you?"

"Fifteen," Kisshu said gloomily. "Not that anyone cares."

"I'd say 'Happy Birthday', but it doesn't seem like a very happy day for you," Ichigo said.

"You're right there," Kisshu said. "Thanks for the thought though."

Ichigo looked like she had an idea, and to Kisshu's surprise, she said, "You're coming home with me."

"I am?" Kisshu asked.

"Yup!" Ichigo said. She got up, pulled him up, and started tugging him in the direction of her house.

"Um…. can't we just teleport?" Kisshu asked.

"Oh…. I didn't think of that," Ichigo said. "Do you want to?"

"Yes," Kisshu said, and took her hand. Then he teleported to her room.

They landed, and Ichigo said, "That was kind of cool."

"It's easier than walking," Kisshu said. "So why am I at your house? Aren't your parents going to have a fit?"

"They left again," Ichigo said sadly. "They go on lots of trips and vacations, and leave me with a bunch of chores and a note that says, 'No boys.'"

"I'm sorry," Kisshu said.

Ichigo sighed, then said, "I should be saying that to you. Despite the fact you call me a toy, I really like you, but I didn't know how to handle it, because the toy comments hurt. So I guess I started hurting you back, and since we're enemies, I think I went overboard."

"You like me?" Kisshu asked, shocked.

"Yes," Ichigo said softly. "Can I have a second chance?"

Kisshu was stunned, and said, "You want to be my girlfriend?"

"Yes, if you're not mad at me," Ichigo said.

Kisshu smiled. "I've always wanted you to love me," he said. "You just made my day, Koneko-chan."

"So it is a happy birthday?" Ichigo asked.

"It's a very happy birthday," Kisshu said. He pulled her into his arms, and kissed her. She kissed back, and they both put all their passion and love for each other behind the kiss.

Neither of them noticed the small gray kitten in Ichigo's tree until it turned into Ryou, and he said, "Ichigo, would you care to explain yourself?"

Ichigo and Kisshu broke off their kiss and glared at Ryou. "You want explanations? Fine," Ichigo said. "I refuse to work for someone who's ten times more evil than Kisshu's leader, so I've decided to quit both the Café and the Mews. You wrecked my life and make me miserable on a daily basis. I know you could care less whether Kisshu killed me or not, so I'd suggest going to get a one-way ticket to hell, Blondie. I hate your guts, and if you ever come near me or Kisshu again, I will personally kill you. So if you want to save your worthless life, I'd suggest getting out of my tree, and going back to the Café to tell the others that your treatment of me made me quit. The Mews can fend for themselves now. I will never work for you again."

Ryou seemed stunned by this little speech. Then he looked angry, and asked, "What brought this on?"

"You docking my paycheck for the third time this week," Ichigo said. "I've had it, Blondie. And since you're evil, I'd suggest leaving before I send you to hell. There's no way you'll go to heaven after what you've done. Get out, before I kill you."

"He did something to your mind, and you're coming with me so I can undo it," Ryou said.

Ichigo grabbed her pendant, transformed, and said, "You asked for it." Then she took out her Strawberry Bell, and hit Ryou with so much power he disintegrated. Then she detransformed, and looked at Kisshu.

"My birthday just got better," Kisshu said.

Ichigo smiled. "I'm glad," she said. "What should we do now?"

"Run away to paradise?" Kisshu suggested.

Ichigo smiled and said, "Sounds good to me."

And that's exactly what they did.

Another little one-shot. And I managed to kill Ryou in less than four pages! YAHOO! Please review!