~ Chapter Four ~
She had experienced nightmares before, even the kinds that left one breathless and half-aware of reality. This was the first time Ichigo had woken in a cold sweat, however. Her skin felt clammy and flushed, and she kicked back the blankets, struggling to pull herself off the bed. She barely made it across the floor before she fell to her knees, retching. A potent, metallic taste slid over her tongue, and she coughed violently, shaking.
A dark, lusty crimson spotted her hands and the floor, and Ichigo stared at it numbly. She hadn't thrown up, and yet she still felt sick to her stomach at the sight.
Ichigo fumbled as she rose on unsteady legs. She crossed to the bathroom – another addition that had been created for her. Without stopping to look in the mirror, she grabbed a hand towel and returned to the mess on the floor. She smoothed the towel over it carefully, sponging up the scarlet until it was completely gone.
As far as she knew, she hadn't hurt herself in the last few months at all. If she had, it was odd that she would be only showing signs now.
So, why was she coughing blood?
Ichigo laid her head on the floor, pressing her cheek against the cool surface. Her breaths came out in even, steady puffs, and she allowed her eyes to fall closed.
The logical thing to do might be to mention it to Pai. However, she wasn't sure how he'd respond. He might want to run tests on her, or even worse, it would worry Kisshu. The last thing she wanted was to worry him – especially with all the things he already had going on. Then again, she already had a slim chance of him not knowing about it since he could see into her thoughts. Perhaps it was best just to wait it out altogether; maybe time would tell.
She moved from the floor back to the bed, crawling back under the covers hesitantly. Her throat ached, and her head felt light and fuzzy. If she was lucky, she'd be able to hide this from him at least long enough to see if it was serious. Until then, she reached out, pulling Kisshu's fluffy form close as she curled up against her pillow.
It was windy and miserable on the first day the aliens and Mews met together. Ichigo pressed her face into the interior of her jacket, where Kisshu was also snuggled up near her heart. Her hair whipped around her face, a chill biting into any exposed skin. She cupped her hands around her mouth, gently blowing warm air into them in hope of warding off the cold. At least in his condition, Kisshu didn't have to worry about it.
Pai had come this time to meet with Akasaka and Ryou. They spoke in a scientific dialect that Ichigo couldn't decipher, and Taruto appeared too bored to try. She watched as the young Cyniclon glowered at the trees, which were just as dead and absent as the rest of the plant life in Tokyo. She wondered if they had seen the seasons change before.
Mint and Lettuce approached her – both dressed equally warm against the weather. Lettuce swept her bangs away from her eyes, which had wandered over to the oldest alien. She watched him with a distant curiosity, and Ichigo repressed the urge to say anything about it. Instead she turned her attention to Mint, who looked distinctly displeased.
"What are they intending on us doing?" She frowned.
Ichigo shrugged, "I don't know. I think that is what they are discussing right now."
[ If I may, ] Kisshu interjected, peeking over the exterior of her jacket, [ I can understand them well enough to tell you what the basis of our objective will be. ]
"Go ahead." Ichigo said.
The girls both offered her perplexed expressions, and she responded by pointing at the fuzzy pink thing in her jacket. They both smiled.
[ Ryou is saying that we should start by walking around and hoping I'll detect something – like I'm some sort of tracking dog, which is obviously ridiculous. Thankfully both your scientific friend and Pai shot him down, saying that would be ineffective and would take too much time. Now they're talking about… ]
Ichigo glanced down at him, taken by surprise at his abrupt silence.
~ What is it? ~
Kisshu stirred, obviously still listening intently. He wasn't responding, either. So, she attempted at hearing the answer from his mind. Ichigo hadn't had much practice on purposefully intruding on Kisshu's thoughts – though he had gained way too much by doing it to her.
"…inducing sleep. I think that would be the most logical thing to do. If he saw it through a dream, which implies that he can access Masha's database during that time, inducing sleep might be the best thing we can do."
Ichigo started, her eyes widening as she pulled away from his mind. Inducing sleep? They were planning on taking the information from his mind? Concern pushed through her. What if while they were trying to enter Masha's system, they somehow hurt whatever was keeping Kisshu preserved? Without really thinking it through, Ichigo found herself covering the distance separating her from the men.
"You're not really thinking of doing that to Kisshu, are you?" She blurted.
All three heads swiveled toward her. Ryou frowned.
"You were eavesdropping?"
"No!" She blushed, "I was just… well, I don't want you to put Kisshu under something like that. You could hurt him if you tried to enter Masha's system. And I–"
"You don't know what you're talking about." Ryou interrupted.
Akasaka offered a gentle smile, "We weren't intending on entering Masha's system for that very reason, Ichigo. We were speaking of inducing sleep and then recording his dreams. Perhaps that way we'd have an insight on the location of the Mew Aqua if he experienced another vision."
Ichigo flushed, embarrassment replacing the concern. Pai looked irritated, though it wasn't unexpected since she had interrupted whatever he'd been speaking about with them. She swallowed, offering an apologetic bow before taking a step back.
"Please excuse that and continue."
She watched in silence as they turned back to whatever they had been saying before. Perhaps it was a good thing she didn't listen to Kisshu's thoughts often.
[ If it means anything, Kitten, I appreciate your worry. It's nice to know you enjoy my presence, even if it's inside of your furball companion. ]
~ Don't be stupid. All lives are precious – even yours. ~
He fell quiet at that, and she was glad.
The only reason she was staying with the aliens and watching over him was because she felt that she owed him a debt. Kisshu had taken care of her and sacrificed too much for her sake. He had even been willing to die for her. She couldn't turn her back on him. The fact that she was being searched for by the Tokyo police was just another check on the list.
There was no way she wanted to stay by Kisshu's side for sentimental reasons.
No way at all.
"Ichigo?"
She blinked, her eyes flitting to Akasaka's face.
"Yes?"
"Would you tell us if Kisshu will give us the permission for this?"
The aforementioned boy responded immediately.
[ If it'll help, then certainly. ]
She delivered the reply, losing interest the moment they dove into discussing details.
~ I'm right here; I won't leave. ~ Ichigo said, absently running her fingers through Kisshu's fur.
The basement of the café was quiet, aside from distant hum of the computers. Pai looked mildly fascinated with the technology. It was highly likely that they were already further ahead than humans, and this was all old to him.
Several wires had been inserted into Masha's exterior entrances, and Akasaka was already nearly finished setting it up on his computer. A camera wire had also been attached to Masha's retinas, that way once he begun to 'dream', they would see whatever he did. Ichigo stood beside the table he was on, her hands laced through the pink fur, her eyes following Akasaka's swift tapping on the keyboard.
[ It doesn't hurt, Ichigo. I can't feel pain in this body. ] He assured her softly.
Somehow it wasn't comforting, even though he said it.
"Perhaps you should stand in the hall with the others, Ichigo-san." Akasaka said, his eyes reflecting worry.
She shook her head firmly.
"I promised I wouldn't leave his side."
If the tables were turned, and she was the one trapped in a foreign body, she knew for a fact Kisshu would refuse to leave her. It was only right that she do the same.
[ If you see anything that isn't the Mew Aqua, don't judge me. ]
Warmth seeped into her face, despite the situation. She half wished he had been there in his real body, just so she could smack his arm.
"What do we do if he doesn't have a vision?" She asked quietly.
Ryou looked over, catching her eyes with a leveled gaze.
"We go back to the drawing board."
Akasaka let out a low sigh, turning his attention to Ichigo and Kisshu.
"I'm ready to put him to sleep."
This entire thing left unease as a thick film on her insides, and Ichigo couldn't find the words to answer with. Kisshu gently urged her, his wide, pink eyes peering up through her fingers.
[ Don't be scared. I'll be fine, honey. ]
She pushed down the anxiety in her gut, nodding to Akasaka.
It was a lifetime in that breath. Kisshu went slack under her touch, his eyes sliding closed. In that moment he felt more like a doll cut from the strings than a boy she had grown attached to. The life seemed to drain right out of him, and for a single spans, panic seized Ichigo. She nearly forgot what was going on, and all that went through her mind was that she was losing him – again. A flashback from that day on the tower wracked her mind, and she choked back the lump that was forming in her throat.
"It's okay," Akasaka said in a hushed tone, "He's okay."
They all hung in that silence, waiting in strain for an image to materialize on the screen. It was a long time before anything did. Ichigo didn't let go of Kisshu, her fingers hitched in his fur as she watched the screen, unblinking. Something would happen. Something had to happen.
Like an explosion, an abrupt assault of images appeared on the screen and began to race through – a slide show on fast-forward. Image after image flitted by, nearly too fast to catch. Her heart stuttered as she recognized faces, and several moments that she herself had been there to witness. Many were places and people that she had never seen, memories that she had never known.
Her eyes dragged away from the screen for a split second, finding Pai's face. His expression was passive, though something in his eyes bit into her with a sorrow she hadn't seen before. She turned back to the screen, realizing with stunned certainty that they were memories from his planet – people, loved ones that he had shared precious years with back home. The majority were horrifying as the images escalated, showing scenes of carnage and death, both from persons and the planet alike. She watched as their own planet began to betray them, to crumble into waste and awful sights that she wished she didn't see. But she couldn't tear her attention away from it. This was Kisshu's life.
Finally more familiar ones began to appear, merging within the terrible visions of Kisshu's home. She saw herself, fighting, arguing, laughing, crying, blushing, grinning – everything was her. And in every one, no matter how she remembered it, through Kisshu's eyes she was beautiful and precious. They continued for a long stretch of time, and Ichigo couldn't quite pinpoint how long it went on for. The quiet in the room was unbreakable, every pair of eyes trained on the computer screen. And just as abruptly as the images had started, they froze.
A single one hovered, the same cerulean glow that she had seen many times before.
"Mew Aqua." Every voice breathed as one.
Akasaka reached forward, tapping something in a hurry, and Ichigo realized that he was trying to record it.
"Can you tell where it is?" Ryou said in a desperate voice.
"I'm trying."
Ichigo couldn't pull her eyes away from the halo of azure light. It illuminated their faces in the dark lab, and something inside of her ached the longer she watched it. They had found it, but something still didn't rest right. There was something wrong here, but she wasn't sure what.
