The Song

Another day, Kisshu thought, getting out of bed. He really didn't want to; he'd pretty much given up hope on Ichigo. She hated him; there was no help for it. He'd tried time and again to show her that he loved her, but she just pushed him away. And she's the only one for me, he thought miserably. He sighed and went to get dressed.

Meanwhile, the object of Kisshu's thoughts was also getting dressed, but she was in a much better mood than he was; in fact, she was pretty much dancing. Her boyfriend, Aoyama Masaya, had told her to meet her at their favorite park bench. He said he had something important to discuss, and it was almost Valentine's Day. I wonder what he wants to discuss, Ichigo thought. We've kind of been on and off in dating; maybe he wants to go steady!

With that in mind, Ichigo tied the bell he had given her around her neck, grabbed her coat and purse, and ran out the door.

~XXXXX~

Kisshu was still in his room, since there hadn't been any attacks planned for that day. Pai was in his lab, and it was a bad idea to disturb him. Taruto, Kisshu was fairly certain, was on Earth. Despite his denial, the runt had it BAD for Mew Pudding. And she feels the same, Kisshu thought. I wish my love for Ichigo was returned in that way- except without the tackling. Though if Ichigo loved me, I might put up with even that. I just want her to return my feelings, but she only cares about that stupid treehugger. He sighed. I bet no one ever made her feel like this… he thought bitterly. Suddenly a thought occurred to him, and he thought, That reminds me of that song… what was it called again? The name finally came to him, and he thought, That's right- it's Welcome to My Life, by Simple Plan. I used to listen to that all the time- until Pai decided he'd had it, and destroyed the CD. It describes exactly how I feel about Ichigo. Maybe if I get her to listen to it, and listen closely to the lyrics, she'll get it. I guess I'd better start planning.

~XXXXX~

Ichigo had reached the bench, but what she saw there shocked her. Aoyuck was sitting there- kissing another girl. Ichigo didn't recognize her; but that didn't really matter. What mattered was that Masaya was KISSING her. Ichigo started crying as she shrieked, "So this is what you wanted to tell me!? That you've been cheating on me!?"

Aoyuck broke off the kiss with the other girl, and said, "Of course not, it's just that you've been so busy lately I didn't have a chance to tell you I found someone else."

Ichigo didn't respond, she turned and ran away, crying. She ran straight home, ignored her parents' worried demands for explanations, and ran to her room, slamming the door behind her and locking it. Then she threw herself face down on the bed, and started sobbing.

Meanwhile, Kisshu had decided to go with the direct approach, and just teleport into Ichigo's room. He had gone and stolen the same CD from some store, deactivated the little thing that made the doors beep when you stole something, and teleported to Ichigo's room. To his surprise, Ichigo was face down on her bed, crying. She didn't look up when she heard the teleportation; instead she said, "If you're here to kill me, then you can stay. If you're here to gloat, I'd appreciate it if you did it somewhere else."

Kisshu was pretty stunned by this, but when he snapped out of shock, he said, "I'm not here to do either. Do you have a CD player?"

Ichigo was too sad to question why Kisshu was asking if she had a CD player, and she just said, "On my desk."

Kisshu went over to her desk, and put the CD in the slot. Then he checked to see what track the song was, and saw it was Track 4. He pressed Skip till he reached the song he wanted, and then hit pause.

Ichigo was getting puzzled, since Kisshu hadn't spoken since he asked her if she had a CD player. And why does he need a CD player anyways? she thought. Then she heard Kisshu say, "Ichigo…"

Whatever he wants must be pretty serious; he used my real name, Ichigo thought. "Yeah?" she asked.

"I want you to listen closely to the lyrics of this song," Kisshu said.

"Why?" Ichigo asked.

"Because I've got a message for you," Kisshu said, his voice somewhat bitter.

"Okay," Ichigo said.

Kisshu hit Play, and Welcome to My Life came on. Ichigo listened closely to the sad song, and was surprised when she heard Kisshu start singing along. She didn't say anything, though, and kept listening. Suddenly one line caught her attention. "You might think I'm happy, but I'm not gonna be okay…"

Is that what he wanted me to hear? she wondered. He's always acting happy, even though I reject him a lot. Is he trying to tell me that I'm hurting him? I already know, but he's hurting me too. I wonder if he realizes that….

Kisshu turned off the CD player, and looked over at Ichigo, who was still lying face down on her bed. "Don't you get it?" he asked. "I love you, but you keep pushing me away, no matter how hard I try!"

"I have reasons," Ichigo said.

"What are they?" Kisshu asked, torn between curiosity and anger.

"One of the reasons dumped me, so I guess I really only have one reason," Ichigo said.

"And?" Kisshu asked.

Ichigo sat up and looked at him. "I take it I was right, and you didn't realize that it kills me when you call me a toy?" she asked.

Kisshu's eyes widened. "That's why you rejected me?" he whispered.

"I knew I was hurting you, but for one thing, we're supposed to be enemies, and for another, you were hurting me, so I figured you were joking about loving me, and that you were toying with my heart. I didn't like that, so I decided that you should know how it felt when you called me a toy. I probably went overboard, but I didn't know how to handle the fact that I sort of liked you, despite the toy comments, so I kept hurting you. And you did the same."

"You like me?" Kisshu asked.

"Yes, but I can only talk to Lettuce," Ichigo said. "Pudding doesn't really get it."

"I thought Lettuce liked Blondie," Kisshu commented.

"You can be so clueless," Ichigo said. "Although Pai's the same. He doesn't seem to notice that Lettuce is head over heels in love with him. Lettuce used to like Blondie, but she thinks we shouldn't fight, and Blondie thinks you and your whole race should go to hell. He's totally racist. Anyone who's not human is scum, in his opinion. He doesn't like me much either. Why Mint loves him is beyond me. But Lettuce doesn't really like him much, and I hate him."

"Lettuce loves PAI!?" Kisshu asked incredulously. "He's a zombie!"

Ichigo started laughing. Kisshu looked puzzled. "I'm serious!" he said. "He sleeps in a coffin, he has no emotions- the only thing different is that he likes sunlight!"

"Uh… Kisshu, that's not a zombie, that's a vampire," Ichigo said. "Zombies crawl out of their graves at midnight and wander around drooling with their arms stretched out in front of them. Does Pai do that?"

"No… SO HE'S A VAMPIRE!?" Kisshu shouted, then teleported, grabbing Ichigo on his way. When they landed, Ichigo sighed. "Kisshu, where did you take me?" she asked wearily.

"Shh! He's coming!" Kisshu said.

Sure enough, Pai came around the corner a minute later, and stopped dead. "Kisshu, why did you bring Mew Ichigo here?" he sighed.

Before Kisshu could respond, Ichigo said, "He's convinced that you're a vampire. I think he grabbed me by accident when he came to ask you."

"NO, I grabbed you because I figured you'd know how to kill vampires before they drink your blood," Kisshu said.

"Kisshu, WHERE did you get the idea that I'm a vampire?" Pai asked.

"I told Ichigo you're a zombie, and described all the things that make you one, and she told me I had described a vampire!" Kisshu said.

"I'm neither," Pai said. "Were you eating sugar again?"

"NO, I haven't had any sugar at all," Kisshu said.

"Kisshu, did I mention that vampires can be killed by sunlight?" Ichigo asked.

Kisshu teleported, grabbed Pai, and said, "I'll be back, Koneko-chan." Then he teleported again.

Ichigo sighed. Great, I'm stuck in the aliens' base, and Kisshu and Pai are probably going to kill each other, she thought. I wonder where Taruto is….

No sooner had she thought this, teleportation sounded, and she turned to see Taruto, who was gasping for air. "Did Pudding tackle you again?" Ichigo asked.

"YAAAH! What the hell are you doing here, old hag?" Taruto shrieked.

"My name is NOT 'old hag', and I'm here because Kisshu wanted me to verify whether or not Pai's a vampire," Ichigo said.

"Pai's a zombie, not a vampire," Taruto said.

"Kisshu described him as what sounded like a vampire," Ichigo said. "And currently he's trying to see whether he can kill Pai with sunlight. Has he always been insane?"

"I noticed he was sad this morning, so I put a bunch of sugar in his breakfast," Taruto admitted. "He's not insane, I think he's on sugar high."

Teleportation sounded again, and Pai appeared, dragging Kisshu, who was unconscious. "Jeez, what happened?" Ichigo asked.

"He tried to stake me!" Pai said. "So I knocked him out, and reversed the effects of the sugar high he was on. Why he ate that much is beyond me…"

"Taruto put a bunch of sugar in his breakfast," Ichigo said. "I don't think he realized how much he was eating."

"Did you have to tell him?" Taruto asked.

"I think it's good to be honest," Ichigo said. She stepped aside as Pai lunged for Taruto.

"YOU'RE the reason Kisshu tried to stake me!?" Pai shouted. "Taruto, you're going DOWN!"

Taruto squeaked and teleported, followed by Pai, who had unceremoniously dropped Kisshu on the floor. Ichigo went over and shook Kisshu, who didn't respond. Sighing, she put Kisshu's head on her lap, and waited for him to wake up.

It took about an hour, but Kisshu finally started to stir. "I have the worst headache…" he moaned as he opened his eyes. "How long have I been out?"

"About an hour," Ichigo said. "Pai said he knocked you out and reversed the effects of the large amount of sugar Taruto apparently put in your breakfast. And then he teleported out chasing Taruto after dropping you on the floor."

"I guess I'll let Pai beat Taruto up this time," Kisshu said. "My head really hurts…"

"Do you have headache medicine?" Ichigo asked.

"Yeah, but I usually fall asleep five minutes after taking it," Kisshu said. "And I can't teleport back to my room before I fall asleep."

"Why not take the medicine to your room, take it there, and just put it away after you wake up?" Ichigo suggested.

"I never thought of that," Kisshu said. "Will you stay?"

"Sure, but it's not like I've got a choice," Ichigo said. "I don't mind, though."

"Okay," Kisshu said. "Let's go to my room, and then I'll go get the medicine. I don't think Pai would be happy with you going in the medical ward."

"Okay," Ichigo said. Kisshu smiled and took her hand, then led her to a pretty large room. There was a bed against the wall, a sofa, a desk, and a nightstand. What caught Ichigo's attention was a large bulletin board covered in pictures of her. Before she could say anything about it, though, Kisshu teleported out to get the headache medicine.

By the time he came back, Ichigo had decided not to mention the bulletin board. Which was probably a good idea, since Kisshu didn't look too good. "Are you getting sick?" Ichigo asked.

"I hope not, but if I do, Taruto will die once I recover," Kisshu said. "Sometimes too much sugar can make me sick, since I'm not really used to it. And I have no idea how much I ate this time."

"Maybe you should take the medicine and go back to bed," Ichigo said. "You're not looking too good."

Kisshu sighed, but then clapped a hand over his mouth. He started feeling really sick as he put the medicine down and ran to the bathroom at the back of his room. He turned on the light quickly, then ran over and threw up into the toilet. He heard Ichigo come in, and felt her start rubbing his back gently as he threw up.

A while later, he felt his stomach settle down a bit, and soon after, he stopped throwing up. "I guess I did have too much sugar," Kisshu said weakly.

Ichigo put her hand on his forehead, then said, "You don't have a fever, but I think you need to go back to bed. You still don't look good."

Kisshu sighed and got up a little shakily, then flushed the toilet and went back out to his room. Ichigo followed, turning off the bathroom light. She watched as Kisshu took off his boots, and sleepily climbed onto the bed. "Koneko-chan, can you sleep with me?" Kisshu asked.

"Are you going to do anything weird?" Ichigo asked.

"No, I'm too tired anyways," Kisshu said. "Would you mind locking the door? It'll keep Pai out."

Ichigo went over to the door and locked it, then took off her shoes with a sigh. "I guess I'll sleep with you…" she said. She climbed onto the bed next to him, and pulled the blankets over them both. Kisshu was already almost asleep, but he snuggled up to her, and she sighed, then put her arm over him as she laid back. Soon they were both asleep.

Little did either of them know, this was only the beginning of a beautiful relationship.

Okay, this is a one-shot, because I can't handle any more stories. Originally it was going to be a sort-of songfic, but I went nuts again and added the rest anyways. I hope you all like it and Review!