The Neko's Tears

Ichigo looked at her Mew Pendant. She was standing on the shore of a small pond in Inohara Park. I can transform without this dumb thing; it's really for the best, she thought, and with that thought, threw her pendant into the pond. Then she headed for the sakura tree.

When she reached it, she gasped. Kisshu was lying under the tree, and from the way he was lying, it looked like he had collapsed. Ichigo ran over, and dropped to her knees next to him. Putting a hand on his forehead, her eyes widened as she yanked her now-stinging hand away. That's beyond 'burning up', she thought. I guess I'll use that number Lettuce gave me.

She took out her cell phone, quickly scrolled through her contacts list, and hit Send when she reached a certain number.

After two rings, she heard, "How the HELL did you get this number?"

"Lettuce gave it to me," Ichigo said. "I found Kisshu under the sakura tree in Inohara Park, and he's got a really high fever. Can you come get us? It's too far away from my house to carry him."

She heard a sigh. "Kisshu got kicked out by our leader," he said. "I can teleport the two of you to your house, and give you fever medication, but I can't heal him."

Ichigo heard the seriousness in Pai's voice, sighed, and said, "Do that, then, and hurry."

"I'm on my way," Pai said.

Ichigo hung up, and waited. Five minutes later, Pai appeared with a bottle in his hand, and said, "Grab on." He picked up Kisshu, and Ichigo grabbed his shoulder. Pai teleported to her room, and put Kisshu on the bed. Then he handed her the bottle. "That's our strongest fever medicine," he said. "There are instructions on the bottle. Two more things you need to know is that human medicine is poisonous to us, and you should also know that Kisshu's severely allergic to bananas. You should get rid of any you have; even the smell will make him sick."

"I'll go do that," Ichigo said. "I suppose you have to leave?"

"Hai," Pai said. "I'm sorry I can't help more, but our leader has captured my parents. Please take care of Kisshu, you're his only hope."

"I will, I swear," Ichigo said. Pai nodded and teleported out. Ichigo set the medicine down on her desk, and ran downstairs. She went to the kitchen, took every banana she could find to the outside garbage, and threw them in. Then she ran back to her room, and saw that Kisshu was still unconscious. She took his boots off and covered him with the blankets. Then she shook his shoulder gently. "Kisshu? Kisshu, can you hear me?" she asked.

Kisshu stirred a bit, but didn't wake up. "Kisshu, come on, you need to wake up," Ichigo said.

Kisshu slowly opened his eyes, and looked at her. "Koneko-chan? What happened?" he whispered.

"Pai said you got kicked out," Ichigo said softly. "And you're very sick. Pai gave me fever medicine, you should take some."

Kisshu sighed, and Ichigo got the medicine and a spoon she had brought upstairs, then read the instructions. "It says one spoonful unless the fever is higher than 102°F," Ichigo said. "I'm getting the thermometer, I don't know how high your fever is, k?"

"K," Kisshu said. Ichigo ran to the bathroom, and opened the medicine cabinet. She looked around, then took out the thermometer, and ran back.

"You need to hold this under your tongue for a minute," Ichigo told Kisshu. He opened his mouth, and she stuck the thermometer in. A few seconds later, it beeped, and Ichigo looked at it. 106°F…. Oh jeez… she thought. Looking at the bottle, she said, "Okay, you need three spoonfuls, and you're going to need more tomorrow."

"K," Kisshu said weakly. Ichigo measured out three spoonfuls, feeding all three to Kisshu, then putting the cap on the bottle, and putting it back on her desk.

"I'm getting a cool cloth, that should help too," Ichigo said. Kisshu just nodded, so she went back to the bathroom, soaked a washcloth in ice water, and brought it back to Kisshu. She put it over his forehead, and said, "How's that feel?"

"It's cold," Kisshu said weakly.

"I'll get some more blankets," Ichigo said. She went to the hall closet, and grabbed a stack of blankets, then went to her room and spread them all over Kisshu. He was already half-asleep, and Ichigo smoothed his hair back, saying, "Kisshu, get some rest."

Kisshu fell asleep pretty quickly, and Ichigo sat down next to him.

She was still sitting there at around 11 that night, and getting tired. Finally she pulled out a sleeping bag and crawled into it, then fell asleep.

The next morning she woke up and checked on Kisshu, who was also stirring. She waited till he opened his eyes, then asked softly, "Kisshu, how are you feeling?"

To her worry, Kisshu said weakly, "I feel awful…"

Ichigo put a hand on his forehead, and said, "Looks like you need more medicine. I don't think your fever went down at all." She got the medicine bottle, and said, "I think I should give you three spoonfuls again."

"I don't like that stuff…." Kisshu said.

"Medicine is never good-tasting, but you need it," Ichigo said. Kisshu sighed, and let her feed him three more spoonfuls. "Go back to sleep," Ichigo said when he had swallowed the last dose.

Kisshu settled back down, and went to sleep again. He slept through the rest of the day and night, and by the next morning Ichigo was getting scared. His temperature hadn't dropped at all, signifying the medicine wasn't helping. Pai said that was the strongest fever medicine they had; why doesn't it seem to be helping? she wondered. She looked over at Kisshu, noticing his breathing was getting labored. Human medicine is poisonous, so what will work if the Cyniclon medicine doesn't? Ichigo wondered. She went over and felt Kisshu's forehead again. It was even hotter than before, and Ichigo was really scared.

She suddenly noticed Kisshu was stirring, and asked softly, "Kisshu?"

Kisshu opened his eyes. "Koneko-chan?" he whispered.

"I'm here," Ichigo said.

"I'm going to die, aren't I?" Kisshu whispered. "That's why you're scared…."

"I won't let you," Ichigo said. "I won't ever let you die, Kisshu."

Kisshu lifted a hand, putting it on her cheek. She started to put her hand over his, but stopped when he said, "Can I have a kiss?"

Ichigo looked at him, seeing the serious expression on his face, and replied simply, "Yes." She lifted him up a bit, and kissed him. She felt him kiss back, his hand caressing her cheek. Suddenly she felt his hand leave her cheek, and broke off the kiss, looking at him. "Ichigo- I love you," he whispered softly.

"I love you too," Ichigo said softly, her voice sincere.

"I'm glad….." Kisshu said, his eyes starting to close.

Ichigo's eyes widened, and she shook him slightly, with no response. Ichigo gently helped Kisshu lie back down. She looked at his still face, and buried her face in his chest, sobbing.

Some time later, Ichigo started to calm down, and came to a realization. I can't live without Kisshu, she thought. If I can't live without him, then I'll just join him. She went downstairs, grabbed a knife out of the kitchen, and went back to her room. She sat down on the bed next to Kisshu, and positioned the knife over her heart. Right before she could stab herself, though, she heard teleportation, and the knife was ripped out of her hand.

Ichigo looked up to see Pai staring down at her, the knife in his hand. "Ichigo, what are you DOING!?" he asked.

"I can't live without Kisshu," Ichigo wailed. "Why can't you just let me die?"

Pai put his hand on Kisshu's chest, and said, "Ichigo, Kisshu isn't dead. He's unconscious. Even if he was dead earlier, he's not anymore. And judging by the fact that his shirt is soaked, I'd say your tears are made of Mew Aqua."

"He's alive?" Ichigo whispered.

Pai nodded, and tapped Kisshu's forehead.

Kisshu stirred a bit, and opened his eyes. "What happened?" he asked. "I thought I died."

"Ichigo's tears are apparently made of Mew Aqua," Pai said. "She cried so much it brought you back to life."

Kisshu sat up, and looked startled. "Pai, why are you holding a kitchen knife?" he asked.

"I had to take it away from Ichigo, but I don't know where it goes, so I figured I'd hold onto it until she calmed down," Pai said.

Kisshu looked at Ichigo, who was sitting dejectedly on the edge of the bed, and asked, "Ichigo, why would you kill yourself?"

"I can't live without you….." Ichigo said sadly. "I decided to join you. Pai stopped me, though. I take it that's a good thing?"

"Yes, because I can't live without you either," Kisshu said.

"I think Pai sprained my wrist," Ichigo said.

Kisshu burst out laughing. Ichigo looked puzzled, and asked, "Why is me having a sprained wrist funny?"

"That's all you had to say to me saying 'I can't live without you'?" Kisshu asked, still laughing.

"Well, I already told you I can't live without YOU," Ichigo said.

Kisshu just snickered, and Pai sighed. "Ichigo, hold out your arm, the one with the sprained wrist," he said. "Kisshu, at least TRY to calm down."

Ichigo held out her right arm, and Pai gently took her wrist in his hand. His hand began to glow, and soon after, he asked, "Does that feel better?"

"Yeah, thanks," Ichigo said. "Uh… why are you here in the first place?"

"I got my parents back," Pai said. "Now Deep Blue has no leverage over me and Taruto, so I came to see how you two were doing. And apparently not a moment too soon."

"Luckily," Kisshu said. "I'm feeling a lot better, can I get up for a while?"

Pai put a hand on his chest and said, "Not too long, you're still not fully recovered. You shouldn't teleport or fly yet either."

Kisshu sighed. "Hey, why haven't we heard from Blondie?" he asked.

"I threw my pendant in a pond," Ichigo said. "And I turned my cell phone off. He can't spy on me, and he can't contact me."

"Let's form a truce," Kisshu said. "Then we won't need to worry about him."

"Yes we will, so let's kill him before forming a truce," Ichigo said. "He'd never agree to forming a truce. Lettuce has asked several times, and he always yells the place down."

"I'll go talk with Lettuce," Pai said. "You both stay here, and take care of each other. Don't push yourself, Kisshu."

"Fine," Kisshu said reluctantly. Pai nodded and teleported out.

Ichigo sighed slightly, and Kisshu asked, "What's wrong?"

"I need a hug…." Ichigo said.

Kisshu pulled her onto his lap and hugged her. She hugged back as he asked, "Better?"

"Yeah," Ichigo said. "I think I went through too many emotions today; I'm tired."

"Would you like to go to sleep for a while?" Kisshu asked.

"Will you be here?" Ichigo asked.

"Of course," Kisshu said. Ichigo sleepily curled up next to him and promptly fell asleep. Kisshu gently covered her up, and started stroking her hair. She started purring, and he smiled as he petted her.

Made myself cry again… I'm getting good at that. Plz Review!