Neko Chapter 4:

Kisshu's New Home

Kisshu teleported back to the ship, and went to Pai's lab, then started banging on the door, until he heard, "WHAT THE HELL IS SO IMPORTANT!?"

"Can I come in?" Kisshu asked.

"Yeah, fine," Pai said.

Kisshu walked in and said, "Can you give me some of those pills that make my ears look human?"

"Why?" Pai asked suspiciously.

"Ichigo's parents decided to adopt me," Kisshu said. "Sakura said that she knows Ichigo is going to be miserable if I leave, so she'll adopt me, and keep Ichigo's dad under control until he gets used to me."

Pai's jaw had now reached the floor. "You're going to go live with humans?" he asked.

"That's why I asked for the pills," Kisshu said patiently. "So can I have some?"

Pai sighed. "Fine… I imagine we'll be exiled soon anyways…" he said, getting up and going to a cabinet. He pulled out a bottle of small white pills, and said, "Here. Let me know if you need more."

"Thanks Pai," Kisshu said. "Will you tell Taruto?"

"Fine," Pai said. "Are you bringing anything else?"

"That picture of my parents, and some clothes," Kisshu said. "I'll go get that together."

"Good luck," Pai said.

"Thanks," Kisshu said, and teleported to his room. He found a bag, and put his clothes in it. Then he took a framed picture off his bedside table, and looked at it. It showed him as a baby, being held by his mother, a Cyniclon woman with green hair and black eyes. His father sat next to them. He was a tall Cyniclon with black hair and gold eyes. They were both smiling happily, their eyes turned toward Kisshu rather than the camera.

After a minute, Kisshu shook himself out of memories, and looked around, trying to think if there was anything else he needed. Deciding there wasn't, he teleported back to Ichigo's room. She wasn't there anymore, so he decided to look downstairs. He put the picture in his bag, and went down the stairs hesitantly. As he came down, he heard footsteps, and Ichigo came around the corner. "You're back!" she said happily.

"Yep, I just had to get a few things," Kisshu said. "Is there somewhere I should put my stuff?"

"Yeah, I'll show you," Ichigo said. "Mom finished cleaning the guest room for you, and that's going to be your room. Personally, I wouldn't mind sharing, but my dad put his foot down on sharing."

"Oh well, at least he's letting me stay," Kisshu said.

"Yep," Ichigo said happily. "Come on, I'll show you the guest room."

Kisshu followed her to a very green room, and smiled. "This is kind of like my room," he said. "Everything's green."

"You like green?" Ichigo said.

"Green and black," Kisshu said. "They've always been my favorite colors."

"I'm sure you already know what my favorite color is," Ichigo said.

Kisshu smiled. "It's hard not to notice," he said. He looked around, and put his bag gently on the bed.

"Mom wants to sign you up for school," Ichigo said. "There's only two weeks left till summer vacation, and I'm trying to convince her you should have some time to get used to being around humans before going to school."

"It seems kind of pointless to sign me up if there's only two weeks left," Kisshu commented.

"Maybe she'll be convinced if we both tell her," Ichigo suggested.

"Let's go then," Kisshu said.

Ichigo took his hand happily and pulled him downstairs. Sakura was in the kitchen, and looked up as they walked in. "Oh, you're back," she said. "Did Ichigo tell you about school?"

"Mom, there's two weeks left, it's completely pointless," Ichigo said. "Sign Kish up for next year, okay?"

Sakura sighed. "I suppose you're right," she said. "Kish, do you have any allergies that I should know about?"

"Bananas," Kisshu said. "I can't even stand the smell."

"Ichigo, go get rid of that bunch in the living room," Sakura said. "And tell your father no more banana bread. Also tell him that I'm sick of making it anyways."

Ichigo grinned. "Okay," she said, and skipped off. Sakura sighed and turned to Kisshu. "Ichigo's been pretty miserable lately, it's nice to see her this happy," she said. "Shintaro said he found her crying the day you came; do you know why?"

"She thought I hated her," Kisshu said. "And I thought she hated me. I guess we were both wrong."

"Why would you think Ichigo hated you? It's pretty obvious she's head over heels," Sakura said.

"While we were fighting, she always rejected me," Kisshu said. "I didn't realize she was only doing it for show, so the other Mews wouldn't get suspicious. And I didn't realize calling her my toy was hurting her. I was shocked when she said she still wants me around. I don't deserve her…"

Sakura took Kisshu's chin in her hand, and made him look at her. "If Ichigo thinks you deserve her love, than you do, Kish. If you truly love her, you'll trust her on that, not get depressed over the past."

"Okay," Kisshu said. "I knew from the moment I met her that I'd never find anyone else."

"Good," Sakura said. She let him go, just as they heard from the living room, "I can't have ANY banana bread?"

"No," Ichigo replied. "And Mom's sick of making it anyways. You should switch to chocolate. And while you sulk, I'll go throw these bananas in the outside garbage."

"I'm NOT sulking," Shintaro said. "I'm simmering."

"Um… Dad, you're not a pot of soup, so you can't be simmering," Ichigo said. "Say goodbye to the bananas."

Sakura giggled. "They're so funny," she said, as they heard a groan, then a door opening and shutting.

A while later, Ichigo came back to the kitchen, and said, "Dad's sulking."

"He'll live," Sakura said. "Maybe my chocolate mousse will cheer him up."

"You made some?" Ichigo asked eagerly.

"Yep, we can have it after dinner," Sakura said. "Kish, do you like chocolate?"

"I love chocolate, but I don't know what chocolate mousse is," Kisshu said. "I thought a moose was a type of animal."

Sakura giggled. "It is, but this type of mousse is spelled differently, and it's melted chocolate mixed with heavy cream and whipped up," she said.

"Kish, you're drooling," Ichigo giggled.

Kisshu turned red and wiped his mouth. "Sorry," he said.

"It's fine, even the description of chocolate mousse is good," Ichigo said. "Mom, what are we having for dinner?"

"Chicken katsu, salad, and cold noodles," Sakura said. "And YES, you have to have salad."

"Koneko-chan, you don't like salad?" Kisshu asked.

"I don't like vegetables, period," Ichigo said. "I love fruit, though."

"Strawberries, right?" Kisshu asked with a smirk.

"Yup," Ichigo said happily. "But I like other fruits as well."

"Do you like apples?" Kisshu asked.

"I like apples in desserts, I'm not too big on them fresh," Ichigo said. "Do you like apples?"

"Pai claims I'm obsessed with them," Kisshu said. "I love apples. I didn't know you could make things with them though."

"Wow… you can make lots of things with apples," Ichigo said. "Apple juice, apple sauce, apple pie, apple cake, apple crisp… The list goes on forever."

Kisshu was looking happier by the minute. "I'd love to try some of those," he said.

"Mom's good at baking, I'm sure she could make some apple desserts," Ichigo said.

"I'd love to," Sakura said. "It'll be a nice change from chocolate chip banana bread."

"You put chocolate chips with bananas?" Kisshu asked.

"I'm not too keen on it either," Ichigo sighed. "But Dad likes it." She perked up suddenly, and said, "Now that you're living here, I'll never have to see it again!"

"And I'll never have to make it again!" Sakura said happily. "I'm so glad I adopted you, Kish."

Kisshu lifted an eyebrow. "Because I'm allergic to bananas?" he asked.

"That, and you're really sweet," Sakura said.

"Th-thanks," Kisshu said. Ichigo hugged him happily.

Suddenly they heard a noise upstairs, and Sakura said, "I hope no one broke in."

"I'll go check," Kisshu said. He teleported to the sound, and found Taruto in Ichigo's room, looking nervously at what appeared to be a broken lamp. Taruto jumped when he heard Kisshu.

"Taruto," Kisshu said in monotone, which succeeded in scaring the living daylights out of Taruto.

"Y-yeah?" Taruto asked.

"Fix that, or I will strangle you," Kisshu said, still in monotone.

"Right!" Taruto said, and carefully put the pieces of the lamp back together, then snapped his fingers. The lamp had been completely repaired, and Taruto put it back in place, then looked nervously at Kisshu.

"Would you care to explain what you're doing in Ichigo's room?" Kisshu asked, taking out one of his swords and twirling it around.

"Um… Pai said you decided to live with the-" Kisshu growled, and Taruto quickly rephrased that to, "Pai said you decided to live with Ichigo, so I came to say that I'll miss you."

Kisshu sighed. "I'll miss you too, but as long as you don't break things, I suppose you can visit," he said. "Now you're going to go apologize to Sakura for making her think you were a thief."

"Uh… okay," Taruto said, and followed Kisshu nervously downstairs.

Sakura and Ichigo were still in the kitchen, and they looked up as Kisshu and Taruto came in. "The noise was Taruto breaking a lamp, and I made him fix it," Kisshu said. "And now Taruto has something to say."

"I'm sorry for coming and breaking Ichigo's lamp," Taruto said. "I just wanted to say goodbye to Kisshu." He looked at Kisshu, who said, "Very good, runt. Now you can go."

Taruto sighed and teleported out. "Jeez, Kish, what'd you do, hypnotize him?" Ichigo asked.

"No, but talking to him in monotone scares him to death, so if I want him to do something, I act like Pai, and he does whatever it is without complaint," Kisshu said. "Sometimes I also take out my swords to make a point."

"Taruto called you Kisshu," Sakura commented.

"That's my name, Kish is just a nickname Koneko-chan came up with," Kisshu explained. "I like it, though. Either one is fine."

"Okay," Sakura said. Something beeped, causing Kisshu to jump. "Oh, good, the chicken's done," Sakura said. "Ichigo, will you tell your father it's dinnertime?"

"Sure," Ichigo said, and left as Sakura said, "Kisshu, can you set the table?"

"Sure, can you show me where things are?" Kisshu asked.

"The silverware is in the drawer next to you," Sakura said. Kisshu opened the drawer, and Sakura said, "I think we really only need chopsticks for this, so four pairs of chopsticks, and then I'll show you where the plates are."

Kisshu picked out four pairs of chopsticks, and Sakura showed him where the plates were. "Take that out, and then come back, I'll show you where the glasses are," Sakura said. Kisshu obeyed, setting out the plates and chopsticks, and going back into the kitchen. "Okay, the glasses are over the sink," Sakura said. "You can take those, I'll bring out the food."

"K," Kisshu said, and got four glasses, taking two at a time. Sakura came in with the food a minute later, and said, "Shintaro and Ichigo aren't here yet?"

"No," Kisshu said.

Sakura sighed. "Can you go get them?" she asked. "I think they're in the living room."

"Sure," Kisshu said. He went into the living room, and saw Ichigo and Shintaro arguing quietly about something. "I came to tell you two it's dinnertime," Kisshu said.

"Okay," Ichigo said. Then she turned back to Shintaro and said, "You can't fight the inevitable, Dad."

Shintaro sighed as Ichigo took Kisshu's hand and walked to the dining room. "What took you so long?" Sakura asked.

"Dad's sulking about bananas and me growing up," Ichigo said. "I really wish he'd get it through his head that I'm not two years old anymore, nor am I as fragile as I used to be."

"Fragile?" Kisshu asked.

Shintaro came in as Sakura explained, "Ichigo was born nearly a month early, and the doctors thought she wouldn't make it. She proved them wrong, obviously, but for the first few years of her life, we had to be extremely careful with her. That's the reason Shintaro is so overprotective; he and I both had to make sure she didn't get sick or hurt. We unfortunately told Moe and Miwa the same thing, and they took the idea a little too far. They don't only beat up people who hurt or would hurt Ichigo physically, they beat up anyone who insults her in any way. The principal of theirs and Ichigo's school eventually got tired of suspending them every other day, and gave it up. Now the school is basically living in fear of Moe and Miwa. The students will occasionally try to get around their watchfulness, but it never works. Ichigo, tell Kish what happened when the captain of the martial arts team called you ugly."

Ichigo smiled ruefully, and said, "Moe and Miwa were barely within earshot of him, but when they heard him tell me I was ugly, they literally leaped on him, and started beating him to a pulp. They didn't stop until he promised he would never say another nasty thing to me again- by which point the guy was actually crying. Then they got off him, and Miwa said, "If there is a next time, you'll be in a lot more pain than you are right now. And tell your team, too. If we hear one more person on the martial arts team say something nasty to Ichigo, not only will we beat whoever it was up, we'll beat you up again, because we'll know that you didn't warn them." The guy promised, and ran out crying."

"Remember that girl in first grade?" Sakura asked.

"The one who got a broken arm and a concussion, or the one who punched me, and Moe and Miwa jumped on her leg until it broke?" Ichigo asked.

"I had forgotten the girl who got the broken leg," Sakura said. "I've completely lost track of how many people they've beaten up over the years."

"Same here," Ichigo said.

"That's scary," Kisshu said. "What if they don't like me?"

"As long as you don't hurt me in any way, they're harmless," Ichigo said. "And they'll get used to you. It'll just take a while, but I'll make sure you don't get beaten up."

"Okay," Kisshu said. "Thanks, Koneko-chan."

Ichigo smiled. "Sure Kish."

Okay, I'll try to post more tomorrow, but I want to try to get another chapter of Namida out. Review plz!