Do You Want to Live with Me? Chapter 4:
Settling In
After Pai left, Sakura said, "Ichigo, we got a call from the school saying you hadn't been in on Thursday or Friday, what happened?"
"Kisshu was sick, and I wasn't comfortable leaving him alone," Ichigo said. "And I kind of forgot anyways, because I was worrying about Kisshu."
"Kisshu, are you okay?" Sakura asked.
"I'm fine," Kisshu said. "It'll be good to have Pai here; he's a healer. Ichigo, did I mention I'm severely allergic to bananas?"
"No, I'll go get rid of the ones in the kitchen," Ichigo said. "Mom and I don't like bananas, it's fine."
"Good, because the one time I ate one, I nearly died," Kisshu said.
"Pai couldn't heal you?" Ichigo asked.
"He managed to heal the stomach problems; but for some reason he couldn't heal the fever I had, and I spent two days barely conscious," Kisshu said. "And then another two in bed, because the fever had wiped out my energy. And now I can't even smell bananas without getting sick."
"That's pretty serious," Ichigo said. "Go back to my room, I'll let you know when they're gone."
Kisshu nodded and teleported upstairs as Ichigo went to the kitchen, gathered up the bananas, and took them to the outside garbage. Then she looked in the cabinets, and took out two loaves of banana bread, and took them to the outside garbage as well. Looking around, she didn't see any more bananas, so she washed her hands and went to get Kisshu.
To her surprise, her door was closed, and she was about to knock, when she got an idea. I bet he's going through my drawers… she thought. She opened the door, and sure enough, Kisshu was absorbed in going through her underwear drawer. His head snapped up when she said, "Seriously, did you have to?"
"Uh…. maybe?" Kisshu said.
Ichigo sighed, and said, "Please don't do that."
Kisshu sighed, and closed the drawer. "I was just curious…" he said. "There were lots of colors."
"I got rid of all the bananas, and the two loaves of banana bread," Ichigo said.
"Thanks," Kisshu said. "Your dad didn't look too happy."
"He's obsessed with banana bread, but my mom and I hate it," Ichigo said. "Now Mom has a good reason to stop making it."
"Why did you let your parents stay?" Kisshu asked.
I probably would have let them stay anyways, but I figured that if I told them I'd had it and was going to kick them out, they'd listen for once, Ichigo said telepathically. I'm still not really happy with them, but all I really wanted was for them to be there for me, and if this doesn't work, I don't think anything will.
Kisshu smoothed a hand over her hair and said telepathically, I hope it works. I don't like it when you're sad.
I'm happy now, Ichigo said, hugging him.
Kisshu hugged back tightly as he said aloud, "I'm glad, Koneko-chan."
They didn't break apart for a while, and they only did so then because there was a knock on the door. "Come in," Ichigo called.
Sakura opened the door, and said, "I just came to tell you that I have to sign Kisshu up for school. I'm not sure about Pai, though."
"He's eighteen, and he'll most likely spend half his time in his lab anyways," Kisshu said. "Do I need human clothing?"
"Yes, and since it's Saturday, I think we should go shopping tomorrow," Sakura said. "You can borrow some clothes from Shintaro, okay?"
"Okay," Kisshu said.
"If some of the stores aren't open, you and I can go back Monday, since I don't think you can start till Tuesday," Sakura said.
"Are we going in one of those things with four wheels?" Kisshu asked. "They look small…."
"You mean a car?" Ichigo asked.
"I don't know what they're called," Kisshu said. "Maybe."
"They're not bad," Ichigo said. "I'll sit with you, k?"
"I don't like small…." Kisshu said.
"Are you claustrophobic?" Ichigo asked.
"Kind of," Kisshu said.
"It's not too small in the car, and I'll sit with you," Ichigo said.
"K," Kisshu said. "Hey, Pai's not back yet."
"You did tell him he could go play with Lettuce," Ichigo said.
"It's almost dinnertime, can you call him?" Sakura asked.
Kisshu concentrated, then said, "Great, I have to drag him back. I'll be back, have fun cooking." He teleported out.
"I wish I could teleport," Ichigo said wistfully.
"Some wishes come true," Sakura said.
"Well, I guess I should count myself lucky that at least one of my wishes came true," Ichigo said.
"What wish came true?" Sakura asked.
"I wished that you would stop leaving me alone 24/7," Ichigo said. "At least, I HOPE that wish came true. Did your parents do that to you?"
Sakura sighed. "No, and I realize that I was really wrong to keep leaving you," she said.
"What gave Dad the idea that I wanted 'time alone'?" Ichigo asked. "I never said that. And as I recall, I've always been pretty attached to having people around."
"I think your dad thought because you had a boyfriend, you would want time without us around," Sakura said. "It definitely looks like he was wrong, though."
"You have no idea," Ichigo said. "You realize that after the fifth time you left a note saying you were gone for three weeks, I spent the first week crying myself to sleep, right?"
Sakura looked sad, and said, "Sweetie, we really didn't mean to hurt you."
"You could have at least had the decency to say goodbye," Ichigo said. "I really hope you keep your promises, because I can't take anymore. That's why I went to find Kisshu and asked him to live with me after the last note. If he hadn't said yes, I would probably be dead right now. And that's not the first time I considered that option, either. I often wondered if since you and Dad didn't really care, would I be better off dead? Except for Moe and Miwa, school's a nightmare, Ryou was an evil bastard who enjoyed making me miserable, and I couldn't tell Kisshu my feelings for him because he was busy calling me a toy and gloating about how awful Aoyama was. Not to mention Ryou would just kill me if he found out I had feelings for Kisshu. We had to kill him, since he was planning on brainwashing me, Lettuce, and Pudding."
Sakura was looking more and more horrified, and it probably didn't help when Ichigo asked, "Is it wrong to get my hopes up? My life is already pretty much a nightmare, it wouldn't surprise me if you decided you'd rather go back to taking trips with Dad. But I guess at least now I'll have Kisshu and Pai for company."
Ichigo was startled when Sakura hugged her tightly, but didn't hug back. "Please don't kill yourself," Sakura said softly. "I'll do anything. I'll force your dad to quit the traveling job, I'll never leave home again, except to get food. I'll do anything, if it will keep you from killing yourself."
Ichigo still didn't hug back, but she said softly, "I like the second idea. Dad doesn't need to quit his job, but I need you to stay."
"I will, I promise," Sakura said. "I'll never leave you again, sweetie."
This time Ichigo hesitantly hugged back. "Thanks," she said softly.
I KNOW it's waaaay too short, but I got another one-shot request, and I want to get that out. So, plz review, and I'll try to have more out soon.