Sparks of Love Chapter 2:
Ichigo's Confession
A few minutes later, Kisshu teleported back in, looking somewhat triumphant. "The runt wouldn't confess, but I beat him up anyways," he said happily.
"Was it fun?" Ichigo asked. "You look happy."
"Beating up Taruto is usually fun," Kisshu said. "So why did I get banished from my own room?"
"Because I wanted to find out how Ichigo really feels, and I knew that she wouldn't say a word if you were in here," Pai said.
"Since when do you care?" Kisshu asked.
"I've always cared that she's hurting you, I just don't show it," Pai said. "You claim me showing emotion is creepy, so I don't do it to avoid the zombie comments."
Ichigo giggled. "Kisshu, you call Pai a zombie?" she asked. "I guess that is pretty accurate…"
"You two will get along very well," Pai said dryly, and teleported out.
"He's weird," Kisshu commented. "So what were you talking about?"
To his surprise, Ichigo turned red and didn't reply at first. Kisshu sat down next to her and asked, "Are you okay?"
Ichigo sighed, and said, "Pai says you love me…."
Startled, Kisshu said, "I do. What made you think I don't?"
"Being called a toy hurts," Ichigo said sadly. "I don't like it."
Kisshu's eyes widened, then went sad. "I didn't mean to hurt you…" he said sadly. A tear ran down his face, and Ichigo noticed. She tried to sit up to comfort him, but ended up falling back again. She closed her eyes, knowing it would hurt again, but the pain never came. Opening her eyes, she saw that Kisshu had caught her, and was looking at her worriedly. "You still can't sit up?" he asked.
"I guess not," Ichigo said. "I don't feel that great, either."
Kisshu put a hand on her forehead, and said, "I'm not surprised, you've got a fever. I'm going to get some of our fever medicine, k? I'll be right back."
"Okay…" Ichigo said.
Kisshu helped her lie back down, and teleported out. He went to the medical ward, and looked at a shelf on the wall that had a lot of bottles on it. He found the one he was looking for, and teleported to the kitchen to get a spoon. Then he took the medicine and spoon back to his room.
Ichigo was still awake when he got back, but she was starting to look tired. "Koneko-chan, I got the medicine," he said.
"K," Ichigo said.
Kisshu measured some onto the spoon, and said, "K, open up." Ichigo obeyed, and he fed her the medicine.
"Can I go back to sleep?" Ichigo asked after she swallowed the medicine.
"Sure," Kisshu said.
"Will you stay?" Ichigo asked.
"Of course," Kisshu said. He sat down on the bed, causing Ichigo to look up at him. He reached out and gently started stroking her hair. She sighed and closed her eyes. She was asleep about a minute later, and she started purring in her sleep.
A few hours later, Kisshu was still stroking her hair, when he noticed she had stopped purring and looked unhappy. She made a small, sad sound in her sleep, which worried Kisshu. He got even more worried when a tear slid down her cheek, and she started crying in her sleep. Kisshu started trying to wipe her tears away, but stopped when she whimpered, "That hurts…. Please…. Stop!" Kisshu took his hand away, but then realized she was still asleep. Worried, he started trying to wake her up. After shaking her didn't work, he tried something Pai had shown him- tapping her forehead while focusing on her waking up.
That seemed to work; her eyes shot open, but she looked scared. She flinched when Kisshu said, "Did you have a nightmare?"
"He was beating me, and he had a knife…" Ichigo whispered.
"The treehugger?" Kisshu asked.
Ichigo nodded as she started crying again. Kisshu gently hugged her, and was surprised when she hugged back, burying her face in his chest. Kisshu started stroking her hair again, and eventually she stopped crying. She was still clinging to him, even though she was starting to fall asleep. Kisshu gently tried to put her down, but even in her sleep, she wouldn't let go. He gently laid down next to her, pulling the blankets over them both. He was startled when Ichigo snuggled into his chest in her sleep, but being Kisshu, he didn't mind. Eventually, Kisshu fell asleep watching Ichigo.
The next morning: Ichigo woke up before Kisshu, noticing he was sleeping next to her again. She turned pink when she realized her arms were around his waist, and figured he had slept with her because she didn't let go. She also realized she was feeling stronger, and decided to try sitting up. She gently untangled herself from Kisshu, and slowly pushed herself up into a sitting position, noticing that she didn't seem to have much trouble doing so. She also realized she was really hungry, but didn't want to disturb Kisshu.
As it happened, she didn't have to, because they both got startled by banging on the door and Pai shouting, "We've got company!"
Kisshu sighed and got up, then opened the door and asked, "Who's here?"
"The Mews," Pai said. "And the blonde guy, who apparently found some way of getting in here."
"And I suppose they want Ichigo?" Kisshu asked.
"Yes," Pai said. "And I'd suggest taking down that bulletin board while I go tell them they can come see Ichigo."
Kisshu sighed again and went over to the wall, then took down a bulletin board that Ichigo hadn't noticed. She didn't see what was on it, but didn't have time to ask, because Pai came back with her teammates and Ryou. They looked shocked when they saw her, and Mint whispered, "Ichigo, what happened to you?"
"Aoyama happened to me," Ichigo said bitterly. "I told him I was a Mew Mew, and he took out a knife and started beating me up. I don't remember what happened after he knocked me out."
The others looked horrified. "So what are you doing here?" Ryou asked, sounding disgruntled.
"I found her in an alley when I was on Earth a few nights ago, and I brought her here to care for her injuries," Kisshu said.
"Apparently I lost a lot of blood, and I still can't stand up," Ichigo said. "Sitting up's an improvement over yesterday, though."
"And he hasn't done anything to you?" Ryou asked, looking at Kisshu.
"Okay, first, 'he' has a name, and second, Kisshu wouldn't do anything to me," Ichigo said. "And even if he did, I don't think you would really care. You hate me, and I doubt you'd have cared that much if Aoyama had killed me. I know you don't care about my feelings, so I'd suggest getting a one-way ticket to hell, Blondie. You're completely evil, and I hate you just as much as you hate me."
The others, including Ryou, seemed stunned by this little speech. Ryou finally snapped out of shock, looking angry, and said, "You're coming back with us. They've obviously done something to your mind."
"I refuse," Ichigo said. "Kisshu and Pai did absolutely nothing to me, besides Kisshu caring for my injuries. So forget it, Blondie."
Ryou snarled and roughly grabbed her arm, causing her to cry out. Ryou ignored her pain and the fact that he was reopening some of the cuts, and tried to drag her out of Kisshu's bed. He didn't get that far. Zakuro slammed her fist into his shoulder before anyone could move, causing his arm to go numb and him to let go of Ichigo, who by this point was crying. Kisshu went over to her and gently took her arm, looking at it. "This needs more bandages; the cuts are reopened," he said. "Pai, go get some from the medical ward."
Pai teleported out as Zakuro said coldly, "Ryou, you've gone too far. None of us will let you hurt Ichigo. We're going back to Earth now, and if you don't like that, I'll tie you up and drag you back."
"I'm not leaving Ichigo with him!" Ryou said.
"Yes, you are," Zakuro said, and before Ryou could move, she knocked him out, and looked over at Kisshu and Ichigo. "Kisshu, take care of her, we'll deal with Ryou," she said.
"I will, I swear," Kisshu said.
Zakuro nodded and left with the others. Pai teleported in soon after with a roll of bandages and a bottle. "This is salve," he said. "It'll help the pain."
"Thanks…" Ichigo said.
Kisshu took the bottle and bandages from Pai, then unwrapped the bandages on the arm Ryou had grabbed. He gently spread the salve over the reopened cuts, then bandaged Ichigo's arm again. "Does that feel better?" he asked.
"Yeah, thanks," Ichigo said.
"Maybe you should get some more sleep," Kisshu said. "I don't think it's good for you to stay up for too long."
"I'm hungry," Ichigo said. "Is it okay for me to have something to eat first?"
"Sure," Kisshu said. "I guess I should have asked yesterday…"
"Do you have any cereal?" Ichigo asked.
"Yeah," Kisshu said. "We've got lots. What kind do you like?"
"I like Frosted Mini Wheats," Ichigo said.
"So do I," Kisshu said. "I'll get some for both of us. Do you want any fruit? We've got a lot of apples and peaches."
"Can I have a peach?" Ichigo asked.
"Sure," Kisshu replied. "You don't like bananas, do you?"
"They're okay, I don't usually eat them," Ichigo said. "Why?"
"I'm severely allergic to them," Kisshu said.
"I didn't know that," Ichigo said.
"I kind of figured, since you never used that idea against me in battle," Kisshu said. "I can't be near bananas; even the smell makes me throw up. Don't tell Blondie, k?"
"I'm never going to speak to him again, so don't worry about that," Ichigo said.
Kisshu smiled, but his smile faded as a loud alarm went off, causing Ichigo's cat features to pop out. Kisshu sighed. "I have to go stop Pai from destroying the kitchen, can you manage?" he asked over the noise.
Ichigo nodded, her hands over her ears. Kisshu teleported to the kitchen, where he found Pai trying to disable the smoke alarm. It finally went off, and Pai turned to see Kisshu glaring at him. "What did you burn this time?" Kisshu asked.
"Um… I tried to make some eggs…" Pai said.
"How do you manage this stuff?" Kisshu asked wearily. "Get out of the kitchen, and stay out of the kitchen!"
Pai grumbled something inaudible and teleported out. Kisshu sighed and got out the cereal, then got an apple and a peach. He poured two bowls of cereal, then sliced the apple into his, and the peach into Ichigo's. Then he got two spoons and teleported back to his room.
Ichigo was still sitting up, and she looked up as Kisshu teleported in. He came over and handed her the bowl with peaches and a spoon, then sat down next to her. "How'd you know I like it without milk?" Ichigo asked.
"How do you think?" Kisshu asked, smirking.
"Stalker," Ichigo muttered. She started eating, ignoring Kisshu's snickering. She did notice when he stopped, and looked up at him. To her surprise, he had a serious expression as he looked at her. "Is something wrong?" she asked.
"Ichigo, do you love me?" Kisshu asked.
Ichigo thought about it, remembering how kind Kisshu had been, and realizing that he had never really hurt her even when they were fighting. Making her decision, she said softly, "Yes."
YAY! Ichigo confessed! I think she'll be getting better next chapter, too. Review plz!