Description: After Ichigo gets through an assault by Kish, she gets picked up by Tart. On the verge of falling ill from being out in the snow, Pai gets stuck with taking care of her on the ship away from Kish. Ichigo is grateful and starts to confide in the alien, her life is much more complicated than meets the eye. It gets far worse when Kish tries to make up for his mistake.

Rating: T

Couples: Ichigo x Kish, Ichigo x Pai, Zakuro x Keiichiro, Purin x Tart, maybe some Lettuce x Ryou.

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The air around her was dark, snow fell lightly through the orange beams of the street lamps. Her steps crunched quickly on the snowy concrete, red hair bouncing around her head. Her hands pressed tightly into her pocket, clenching her cellphone.

It was a little after midnight, and she was alone. How stupid could she be?

Ichigo shook her head and huffed as she rushed down the sidewalk, this was the last time she walked to Lettuce's house. Next time, she would surely drive.

A sound behind her made her flinch and glance around her, she was so skittish at night. The girl kept walking briskly, her eyes darting around her. She had been visiting Lettuce for the last month fairly regularly since her breakup with Masaya.

Ichigo's parents told her that it wasn't reasonable for her to go to college in England. It was far to expensive, and she already got a scholarship to the largest University in Tokyo.

A small crackle made a shock run up her spine, she whirled around to see who was behind her. There was no one. Ichigo stood still for a few moments, looking around. Her apartment was two blocks away, she was so close. The trees on her right rustled in the gentle breeze, small snowflakes daintily falling around her. There was a sound to her right, her brown eyes shot in the direction of the noise.

A hand clapped over her mouth and someone grabbed her from behind. The girl writhed around and yelped underneath the fingers. Ichigo struggled against the strong person holding her. A familiar scent wafted around her, the person nuzzled her cheek. She knew who this was.

Ichigo struggled against him, lips brushed her cheek.

"Been a while Koneko-chan! You look good."

His voice lingered on the last word, it reeked of lust. The alien's hot breath tickled her neck, but not in a pleasing way. His hand slid off her mouth and down around her neck, sharp nails barely digging into the soft flesh. Deep green hair gently slid against her cheek as he planted a firm kiss on her jawline.

"Kish get off! You scared the shit out of me!"

The alien chuckled and eyed her menacingly,

"But I missed you so much… It's been almost three weeks since I last saw you at the cafe. Where have you been?"

"I've been busy! My life doesn't revolve around you! Now let go!"

Kish roughly pulled her off the sidewalk, dragging her feet behind her and into the forested area beside them. Ichigo struggled as he turned her around and pressed her back into a tree, snow falling from the branches around them.

"Why are you so hostile? You should know better than to be mean to your captor."

Brown eyes glared in his direction, she shook her head and pulled at her now pinned wrists.

"What do you want? I just want to go home, so let me go!"

Kish tilted his head and gave her a phony pout,

"I just wanted to keep you warm on such a snowy night."

"I don't want you to keep me warm. Now get off."

Her demand was bitter and was followed by a glare, the alien wasn't amused. He leaned in close to her face, she was pressed against the tree as hard as she could. Her hair snagged slightly on the rough bark, eyes locked on his lusty amber irises.

The alien angered the girl further by trailing kisses across her cheek, then finally planting a firm kiss on her lips. The girl twisted her head away from him, the alien then made her cry out by biting her upper lip. The girl recoiled as he released her, her hands flew to her now bloody lip. Kish now was glaring at her,

"Even after you lose that pathetic meat sack of a boyfriend you can't just accept me?"

Ichigo shook her head and looked up at him angrily,

"Not when you do shit like this! What's your problem!"

Kish seethed and grabbed her by her white coat, throttling both of them to the ground. The alien held her down on the ground, staring down at her.

"You're a horrible girl Ichigo."

The girl seemed thoroughly shocked by his words, she slowly released her bleeding lip to stare at him. The alien nodded at her,

"You're so cruel to me, the one who loves you more than that piece of shit that you broke up with. I'm an alien so I must not deserve a chance. You're a bad girl, and I should treat you like one."

The girl struggled against him as he leaned in close to her face, cruel eyes staring into the girls. His tone was bitter and full of animosity,

"You afraid yet?"

The girl was at a loss of words, she began struggling harder when his right hand slid up her thigh and across the waist hem of her tight black sweatpants. Ichigo kicked her legs around and pushed at him with her free hand.

"You're a monster! I thought you were different after the final battle! I guess not!"

Kish nodded, a rather evil grin appearing on his face,

"Funny what a broken heart will do to a man."

The girl head-butted him as he leaned in to kiss her once again, earning her a growl from the alien.

"You're not a man, you're a-"

A hand grabbed her mouth and a death glare made her quiet once again. Kish shook his head,

"Don't say it."

A young alien flew through low through the snowy sky, he was just above the treetops. A small smile played his face, he had two cups of hot chocolate for he and Purin. The young girl had let him stay with her on Earth after the final fight, and he admitted he enjoyed every minute of it.

Tart wanted to surprise her tonight, since he had been on the ship last night with Pai to do a report. A small shriek caught his attention, his sensitive ears immediately picking up on the direction it came from. The young alien slowed his flight down, looking in the direction it came from, he bit his lip. Should he go look?

Tart groaned and flew over towards the road, and landed on the sidewalk beside it. Big brown eyes glanced around, a struggle behind him caught his attention again. The alien turned and stepped around a bush to see Kish and Ichigo fighting somehow.

Kish was in the process of yanking off her shirt, while her jacket was beside her. Tart stood for a second, and then yelled at the other alien,

"K-Kish what the hell are you doing?"

The green haired alien's head whipped around, bright eyes wide with surprise. Ichigo let out a cry and struggled,

"Tart! Help me! Please!"

The young alien could hear the desperation in her voice, his eyes fell on Kish. The older alien shook his head and pointed up,

"Get out of here Tart. Ichigo needs an attitude adjustment. You weren't here to hear what she said to me."

Tart rolled his eyes and walked forward, the other alien locking eyes with him. The brown haired alien threw one of the cups of hot chocolate into Kish's face, earning a howl from him as he doubled over. Pale hands wiped furiously at his face, trying to get the hot liquid out of his eyes.

Ichigo scurried away and leaned against a tree, panting and shivering. Tart walked over and knelt beside her,

"Are you okay?"

He asked, being cautious, the girl looked like she was on the verge of tears. Ichigo slowly nodded, her whole body shaking. Tart glanced over as Kish moved to get up, looking through one eye.

"Tart- you little shit…"

Kish grumbled, moving to stand up. The small alien turned and put a hand on Ichigo's shoulder,

"Come on-"

The two appeared in a dim corridor of some sort, the tall steel walls around them undecorated and gray. The young alien immediately began walking towards a set of large double doors at the end,

"Come here Ichigo. I gotta' tell Pai I brought you here."

Tart still held the one cup of hot chocolate, clenching the fragile cup. He knew Kish was still unstable about Ichigo breaking up with Masaya. Tart didn't know the details, but he could have cared less. Ichigo fought the tears rolling down her cheeks silently, she made no sound. Small fists clenched her own long sleeve pink shirt, her whole body still trembling.

They reached the huge doors, and Tart opened them, a dark room on the other side. The faint glow of computer screens surrounded them as they walked into the small room. A huge office looking chair was in front of them, the girl hesitantly followed Tart.

The chair didn't turn around, but a voice spoke to them,

"What are you doing here Tart? I thought you were going to be with that mew tonight."

The tone was cold and steely, just like this place. Ichigo swallowed hard, the knot in her throat getting tighter as she fought the tears.

"Kish attacked Ichigo, so I'm bringing her here to leave her with you."

It was quiet for a few moments, the chair turned around slowly. Ichigo stared quietly at the oldest alien, his narrow eyes dark in this room.

"He attacked her?"

Tart nodded and shifted his weight, motioning towards her,

"I think I should leave her here tonight so Kish doesn't try anything else. He knows where she lives and all…"

The alien trailed off, his last statement making Ichigo look over at him in surprise. Her mouth fell open slightly, but she couldn't make words with how much her throat ached from fighting the oncoming sobs. Pai's eyes were locked on Ichigo, no real expression on his face. A deep breath filled his lungs, he knew this was the best option for the girl.

Kish had tried letting go, but his heart broke slowly and painfully, driving him crazier each day. Pai knew his cousin meant her no harm, but he let his emotions get the best of him.

"All right."

Ichigo's eyes had fallen to the steel floor, she couldn't fight the tears anymore. Tart looked back at her casually, and then frowned seeing her so upset. Ichigo clenched her shirt sleeves tighter and she forced a smile,

"Th-Thank you Tart… I…I r-really appreciate it."

The end of her statement seemed rushed as she took a sharp breath in, her hand flying to her mouth to stop herself from sobbing aloud. Tart's eyes flew to the older alien now standing beside him, a slight raise of Pai's eyebrows showed he did understand the gravity of the situation.

It was stark still for a moment, the younger alien sighed and patted Ichigo on the back.

"Don't worry hag, Pai will take care of you and all that good crap."

His snarky comment made her feel slightly relieved as he teleported out of sight. The tall alien walked up to her, the girl breathed in shaky gasps, her eyes locked on his shirt. She didn't want him to see her like this, she was such a mess now. Her mascara ran under her eyes and she was trembling horribly still.

A hand reached out and touched her neck, the girl's eyes shot up into his darker ones. Pai shook his head, his tone calming,

"Be at ease, I'm just seeing if you have a fever. You may fall ill if you don't get warm. Come with me."

The tall alien led her down corridors, and into a smaller set of double steel doors. The girl walked in, one wall was all glass, showing the space surrounding the ship and all the thousands of stars around them. While she was gawking out the window to space, the alien opened a small closet and pulled out two microfiber blankets.

Ichigo then realized that there was a rather large bed to her left, and on the right there was a door to a bathroom, and a smaller door to the closet Pai was digging in. The alien walked over to her with the blankets,

"They are not heated, but this will have to do."

When Ichigo opened her hands to grab the blanket, her knuckles ached. The frigid snow she had fallen in made her hands terribly cold. Pai noticed her discomfort and glanced over at the bed,

"Go sit down."

The red head complied and walked over and sat down on the bed, the alien draped the two blankets around the girls shoulders. Ichigo clasped her hands together tightly, they were numb. Pai stood for a moment, thinking to himself. Her hands potentially could suffer minor nerve damage being exposed to the snow like that. He had to fix this, and he should heat up some warm water.

The tall alien walked over into the bathroom and began running water into a small pan like container. Ichigo moved her hands against each other, and looked out into the starry scene behind her. It was beautiful, but so cold on the ship. But she wasn't sure if it was her being in the snow, or the ship. The soft glow of light from the bathroom lit the room gently, Pai's shadow dancing on the steel floor in front of the bed.

Ichigo spoke softly to him,

"Th-thank you Pai."

The girl wasn't sure if he had heard her small thank you, her big brown eyes rested on his back as he turned off the water and then turned towards her. Ichigo swallowed hard, her lip hurt as well. Pai placed the pan on the ground beside the bed, and Ichigo immediately took off her boots and socks and put her feet in the steamy water. She smiled, her cheeks tight from the dried tears. Pai leaned down in front of her and tilted up her face, looking at her bitten lip. Ichigo stared into his eyes, looking for a reaction. There was nothing but solid stone, she couldn't tell what he was thinking at all.

She then felt silly, having Pai of all people taking care of her. Ichigo shifted her weight and gently moved her head away from his hand, causing him to stand upright again.

"It's fine… It doesn't hurt that much. You've done enough for me. Thank you…"

Ichigo trailed off and looked down, she just wanted to curl up and cry. Kish was so aggressive now, she wasn't sure why he had gotten like this. Ichigo felt guilty, she needed to talk to him. Pai sat down on the edge of the bed, she slowly looked over at him, a weak smile on her face. The violet haired alien motioned towards her hands that were quivering in her lap.

"Your hands- do they hurt?"

Ichigo shook her head and tilted it, looking down at her pale hands,

"N-not really, only if I open them. They're pretty numb…"

A tinge of shock ran up her spine when the alien held his hands out to her, she turned and looked at him, confused. Pai nodded at her, a casually serious expression on his face. Her face grew hot as she turned towards him slightly, allowing him to hold her hands. Her hands were glassed together, and his were around hers like a shell. Ichigo felt a blush on her cheeks, she looked down away from him, hoping he didn't notice. Pai's hands were long and thin, and wrapped around her dainty ones easily.

Ichigo hesitantly looked back up, at their entwined hands first, then his face. Pai's expression seemed unemotional, nothing seemed to be strange to him. His skin was warm against hers, it felt good on her sore knuckles. Ichigo found herself starting to smile dumbly,

"Y-you're really warm."

As soon as she said it, she mentally kicked herself. What was she doing? Was this her pathetic attempt at small talk with the alien?

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MewMid: I can't stay away from Pai x Ichigo/Kish x Ichigo angst. Omg shoot me. Ha! Don't tell me how weird it is, I'm already aware. Thank you anyway dears. :]

R and R! Hate it? Love it? Got a suggestion?

Just tell me what you think. :]