(A/N: Ok, things have been going a little too well for Kish lately. Well we can't have that. It's time to complicate things for him a bit.)

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 4: Earth II

The people of Earth II were all happy and eager to see their heroes return. They had left so suddenly, saying that they had some unfinished business on Earth I. They didn't know what to expect, but it certainly wasn't Kish carrying a kicking and screaming girl over his shoulder.

"Let me go, you big pointy eared freak!" Ichigo yelled.

"Your ears are just like mine, kitten." Kish replied. "Now be a good kitty."

"Stop treating me like a pet!"

"Would you prefer me to treat you like my mate?"

"NO!!!"

Whispers broke out among the crowd, everyone wondering who the strange girl was. She was definitely a stranger, but she was also of their race. But what was up with that tail? Was it a tail? That was weird, their race didn't have tails.

Kish stopped in front of his people, grinning at them happily. "We're back!"

A rather old alien stepped forward, nodding in greeting. "It is good to have you back, Kish the Brave."

'Kish the Brave?' Ichigo thought, cutting her eyes.

The green-haired alien smirked. "Hello, elder, it's good to be home."

"You're the one that dragged us back to Earth." Pie muttered.

Tart nodded in agreement. "Yeah, but it was worth it."

The elder nodded to the two of them. '"Pie the Wise, Tart the Swift, welcome back." He glanced at Ichigo. "And I see you have a young girl with you. Who is she?"

Kish finally set Ichigo down, pulling her to his chest and wrapping his arms around her to prevent her from getting away. "This is Ichigo. My mate to be!"

Several of the girls' mouths dropped open. "Aw, Kish, no!" they wailed. "Why her?"

The elder raised an eyebrow. "Is she the reason you returned to Earth?"

Kish nodded. "Yup, she was being imprisoned by the humans. I didn't get to rescue her last time."

"That's not true!" Ichigo shouted. "You kidnapped me!"

Kish patted her head. "The poor thing's been brainwashed. The humans wanted to learn about our race from her."

"You lying son of a-"

Kish covered her mouth and whispered in her ear. "You better keep your human heritage a secret. Lots of my kind still feel that humans stole our planet. You wouldn't want them to take their anger out on you."

Ichigo stopped struggling. She realized that he was right. How would these people react if they found out that she was formerly, no, is, a human.

"Especially since you were one of the 'evil' Mew Mews." Kish added.

"We weren't evil!" she whispered back.

"Tell that to the people whose planet you stole."

Ichigo growled, but remained silent. The sneaky devil had made it so she had no choice but to pretend to be an alien. Oh, she was going to kill him. Slowly.

One of the younger aliens moved closer to Ichigo and grabbed her tail. "Why does she have a tail?"

Ichigo pulled away from the child. "Don't touch my tail."

"Shh, kitten." Kish shushed her. "Don't put your misplaced anger on others." He smiled at the child. "While on Earth, she was forced to go through terrible experiments. One was splicing her DNA with a cat's. That's why she has a tail."

"That's not true!" Ichigo shouted.

Kish raised an eyebrow. "You mean a certain human didn't mess with your DNA without your consent?"

Ichigo opened her mouth to reply, then closed it again. Ok, so what he said was true. But the way he put it…

"The monsters." An alien mumbled. "Treating one of our kind like that."

"It's not like that!" Ichigo yelled angrily. "Humans are really nice and compassionate! They treated me well! They loved me!"

"See what I mean." Said Kish. "Completely brainwashed."

Desperately, Ichigo turned to Pie and Tart. "Guys, back me up!"

"Technically," said Pie, "he's telling the truth."

Tart looked close to laughter. "Yeah, you were a slave to those two boys. They dressed you up in those uniforms and forced you to work for them."

Ichigo glared daggers at them. 'Those jerks! They're twisting the truth.'

"So we rescued her." said Kish, nuzzling her. "And brought her here, to her real home. I'll be taking care of her."

A rather tall spiky haired alien stepped forward from the crowd. Kish's smile instantly became a frown as the two stared each other down.

"Quite a heroic thing you did, saving her from the humans." Said the alien. "But I can't but help wonder how one of our race ended up on Earth to begin with. Tell me, little girl, how did you manage to get to Earth?"

Ichigo gulped. Something about this alien was making her nervous. Perhaps it was the cold look in his eyes. "I was… born there."

The alien raised an eyebrow. "Really? And where are your parents?"

Before she could reply, Kish covered for her. "She was raised by humans. She doesn't have any parents of our race. Right, kitten?"

"Uh, right." Technically, it wasn't a lie. She was raised by humans, and she didn't have any alien parents. "I was living with humans for as long as I remember."

"And she's been through a lot." Kish finished. "So please stop bothering her."

The elder rested a hand on the other alien's shoulder. "Leave her be, Marmalade. We don't want her to feel nervous. She's welcome here."

The alien, Marmalade, backed away. "If you say so, elder."

Ichigo glanced at Kish. "His name's Marmalade? What's with you people and being named after food?"

Kish cut his eyes at her. "You're one to talk my little strawberry."

Ichigo blinked, getting his point. "Touché." She muttered.

Kish smiled, having outwitted her again. He turned back to the crowd. "Ichigo here is my intended. We're to be mated immediately."

"No!" cried Ichigo, along with all the single girls. She began struggling again. "I'm not going to be your mate! Now let me go!"

Kish tightened his hold on her. "We've been through this." he told her, nibbling affectionately on her ear. "You have no choice."

Ichigo shivered. Great, it seemed as if the sensitivity around her ears from when she was a cat had transferred over to her alien form. Or maybe aliens were just sensitive around their ears as well.

Kish smirked. "You like that, don't you, kitten."

Her eyes snapped open and she began thrashing around. "Stop it! I wanna go home!"

"You are home, kitten."

"Am not!"

The elder raised an eyebrow. "It appears the young lady is quite reluctant to be your mate."

"Of course I am!" She glared at Kish. "And just where do you think you're touching, pervert!"

Kish snickered. "It's ok, elder. She has no parents, no potential mate, and she's not of age. I lay claim to her."

Ichigo managed to free an arm, and began pushing Kish's face away from hers. "It's not fair! I was born and raised on Earth! Your customs have nothing to do with me!"

Kish got a grip on her again, holding her securely in his arms, resting his chin on her head. "Don't question your people's ways, kitten."

Ichigo was about to retort, but the elder spoke up first. "Now wait a minute, Kish. I believe the lady has a point."

Ichigo froze, looking at the elder hopefully. Kish, on the other hand, frowned. "Elder, what are you saying?"

"This girl, although one of us, is unfamiliar with our ways. She was raised in a completely different culture. It would not be fair to force her to change her ways."

"Yes!" Ichigo cried happily. "Yes, what he said!"

Kish's eyes narrowed. "We can't change our ways for just one person, elder. If we make an exception for one, we'll have to make an exception for others. And what else will she be excused for. Things like theft were common on Earth. Shall we excuse her from such behavior here as well."

"This and that are completely different things!" Ichigo shouted. Now that Kish's plan had taken a wrong turn, she was planning on keeping things that way.

"Our ways are sacred." Kish continued. "She may have been raised differently, but she's still one of us and must obey our laws."

The elder scratched his chin, thinking about what Kish said. "You do make a point."

"Don't listen to him!" Ichigo begged. "He's just trying to get his way."

"Elder, I risked my life to save our planet and asked for nothing in return. All I want is Ichigo. Will you really deny this one request to the savior of our planet?"

"Hey, I let you have the Mew Aqua that you used to save your planet!"

"Enough!" the elder cried. "This fighting is pointless. You both provided your case, now I will make the decision." He looked at Kish. "Kish, what you say is true about not making exceptions. Stranger or not, this girl will be expected to follow our laws." Kish grinned. "However," he turned to Ichigo, "the girl is also right in saying how she was brought up differently. We can't expect her to change her ways over night simply to suit our benefits."

Both Ichigo and Kish glanced at each other. "So, what are you saying?" they asked together.

The elder killed his throat. "Kish, you may take Ichigo as your mate, but not yet. First she must become familiar with our planet and our ways. You are to wait at least two months before taking her as your mate."

Kish growled irritable, but Ichigo beamed. True, she wasn't out of the woods yet, but she now had two months to escape before Kish had his way with her.

The green haired alien muttered under his breath. So he had reached a snag in his plan. But he couldn't go against his elder's orders. He would just have to wait before making Ichigo his.

"Very well, elder. Two months." He grinned as he whispered in Ichigo's ear. "I'll have you begging for it by then."

He blew lightly in her ear, making Ichigo's hair stand on end. "Don't do that!"

Kish chuckled. "What if she agrees to become my mate before then?"

The elder nodded. "Then I will allow it."

Kish beamed. "Great! Alright, kitten, ready to go home?"

"You mean Earth?" she asked hopefully.

He picked her up and threw her over his shoulder again. "Only if you're referring to this Earth."

(A/N: Ichigo has managed to buy herself some time. But Kish is determined to keep her. They both have two months. And within that time, Ichigo is planning to escape, and Kish is planning to seduce her. Hee, hee, things are going to get real interesting.)