Lunch time was a tense affair. Kisshu and Pai wouldn't even look at each other, and Ichigo felt like everyone were watching her. She kept her head down as she ate, trying to remain as inconspicuous as possible, although this was proving hard. Taruto finished first, but did not go off to play as he had yesterday; instead he sat at the table, waiting as if he expected something to happen.
When the others had finished, Ichigo cleared the table and cleaned the dishes with just a click of her fingers- then she realised what she had done and turned bright red, despite this being the normal power of a Cyniclon rather than something only she could do.
"I want to test your ability Ichigo. If you really are the ancestor of our most famous prophet, we need to know." Pai addressed her more formally than usual, and Ichigo merely nodded in return.
"I want Kisshu to be there though." She added as an afterthought, looking hopefully at Kisshu who smiled encouragingly.
Pai's POV: I won't deny I was worried- I was. Extremely. We could all be exiled if the chief suspected I had made Ichigo artificially. It is illegal amongst our kind to practise any kind of genetic modifying, and so it was of the utmost importance we convinced him that we had found Ichigo on our travels.
To complicate matters, it seemed likely that she was Haomiya-kiir's heir, and this could mean the chief would refuse us permission to use Mew Aqua to heal our planet. If he thought for a second he had the chance to fulfil the prediction, we wouldn't even get a look in. The ancient scripture was legend among our kind and there was serious fame on the cards for the anyone involved with the heir. With a heavy heart, I began testing Ichigo's strength.
"Ichigo, please summon that book over there." I instructed her. She did as I told her with the ease of a mature Cyniclon, at this stage it should have taken at least a few minutes for her to build up enough power to move an object as heavy as a book! I tried to remain calm.
Kisshu's POV: I watched as Ichigo summoned, commanded and manipulated objects that Pai told her to. Even after hours of controlling objects that got gradually heavier, she was not tired. Then came the part I had been dreading. Up until now, any Cyniclon advanced enough could have completed what Pai had told Ichigo to do. This was the real test.
"Ichigo. Please make Kisshu walk over to you." Pai said.
I felt the blissful fog cloud my mind and I happily let Ichigo control me- after all, I wanted to be near her…
A few seconds later I found myself pressed up against Ichigo, my hands on her hips, my eyes closed and my lips dangerously close to hers. Pai coughed to show he was still there and, humiliated, I jumped away and retreated to my earlier stance in the corner of the room.
"Okay, we know you are a telepathist, but I want to know how far we can push you. It is easy to make an object do something it wants to do; for example: if I wanted a plate to clean itself, it would follow my wishes happily. If however, I wanted a cloth to polish my shoes, it would take more effort, because effectively the cloth would not want that. I want to test if this is the same for people." Pai explained.
"So will you now make Kisshu lie on the floor and roll around like a dog?"
I blanched. There was no way I was going to let Ichigo embarrass me like that. No way. So when the familiar fuzzy feeling started to creep around the edges of my mind, I resisted it. For a while, my attempts worked, but then, as usual, my brain fogged over and all I wanted to do was act like a canine. When it cleared I realised what I was doing and stood up, angry and frustrated.
"Very good." The surprise in Pai's voice cleared my aggression a little, though not by much.
"Finally, I want you to try to control someone who is not willing to let you practise on them."
I caught on immediately- Taruto.
Taruto's POV: I had just teleported back to the ship and was feeling smug. Very smug. That was the second time I had disappeared without anyone noticing and returned unscathed. I guess I'm not the weak one anymore, not the child who doesn't know what they're doing. It's been a long time since I was a child. Ever since I came on this mission I haven't so much as touched one of my old toys and now I have a new way to entertain myself. I won't be sticking round much longer.
It was as these thoughts were bouncing around my mind that I began to feel warm inside- like I didn't have to worry anymore. Like there was one thing I could do that would solve all of my troubles, but that thing wasn't clear; not yet anyway. Slowly, like a snail creeping up a post, the action revealed itself to me. Once it had become clear, I knew exactly what to do, and there was no doubt in my mind.
To get rid of all the bad things in the world I just had to… teleport into the control room.
Pai's POV: Taruto appeared before us and as soon as he had, he snapped out of the hypnosis and was very confused.
"Why am I here?" he asked. No-one spoke, we needed him to think for himself if this was going to work.
"It was you wasn't it?" he had caught on, "I never wanted to be a part of this and you know I didn't Pai! It's not fair! Kisshu might be happy to play guinea-pig but I'm not! I won't be controlled like a doll…" I ignored my little brother's rant and nodded to Ichigo.
"And what's more you should have asked before you decided to-" He suddenly shut up. The experiment had worked.
"You can let him go now Ichigo." I told her.
As I had predicted, Taruto was not happy about being controlled for a second time, but I did not have time to listen to his pathetic whining.
"Stop complaining Taruto and go play or something. You're not helping us by being a nuisance."
As soon as the words left my mouth I regretted them, but I did not have time to apologize- Taruto had already teleported out, but not before giving me one last hurt look.
Ichigo's POV: I felt bad using Taruto in that way, but we had to know what I was capable of. Pai thought that if we knew the true extent of my powers I could learn to control them, to keep myself from manipulating people without meaning to and maybe even use them to do something good! Kisshu seemed a little uneasy about doing my bidding, but I knew he didn't mind really. Just like Pai, he wanted to be sure I could harness my telepathy and not let it take over me. I wasn't sure what Pai had planned for me next, but whatever it was, I wanted to try it- I quite enjoyed the feeling of taking over someone else's mind; the feeling of power running through my veins was euphoria to my brain and I didn't want this drug-free high to end!
Taruto sat on his bed cursing the three Cyniclons in the room next to him. He would show them! Soon they would be sorry. Soon he would leave and not return. Not that they would notice anyway. He had disappeared twice and both times Kisshu, Pai and Ichigo all though he was in his bedroom playing innocently with his toys. Ha! They didn't need him and they certainly didn't want him. Ever since they had left Earth Taruto felt that he had been replaced by Ichigo.
He didn't deny that he had grown to love her like a sister, he had. But at the same time, he grew tired of her always being the centre of his brothers' attention. The small Cyniclon reached below his bed and pulled out a framed picture of him and Pudding.
The hand that held the small photo began to shake, and Taruto's lip quivered. Then a fat, round tear escaped his eye and rolled slowly down his pale cheek before splashing onto his arm. He would do it now. Even if she wasn't ready for him to move in. There was no way he could stay here any longer. No way.
Taruto's POV: I quickly packed my bag- there wasn't much I wanted to take with me anyway, and I certainly wasn't going to take any keepsakes. I was finished in a matter of seconds, pausing only to take one last look at my bedroom before teleporting out of the ship altogether.
As I landed, a wave of nausea overwhelmed me and I almost fainted. It was getting harder and harder to make the journey the further away we travelled. I looked around me. Grass, trees, bushes, fountain. I was in the park in Tokyo. This place held so many memories for me, most of them involving Chimera animals and mew mews.
I never wanted to remember those times again, but being on Earth reminded me of what things used to be like. Pai, Kisshu and I- the unstoppable Cyniclons…
I shook my head to clear my thoughts. There was only one thing I was here to do and I was going to do it right now. Not daring to teleport, I walked through the city centre; it was strange that I knew my way around Tokyo after less than a year of knowing the place.
My mind wandered freely as my legs took me to the place I wanted most to be: Pudding's house.
Ichigo's POV: I was getting tired. Three hours I had been at this. Three whole hours of mind control! The room was spinning before me; I felt light-headed and knew what was going to happen.
"Bucket." Was all I could manage.
Catching on instantly, Kisshu teleported out and back again in a millisecond, bringing with him a plastic bucket which he held in front of me.
I threw up and straight away felt much better for it. Pai looked a little disgusted, but Kisshu merely took the bucket away and returned not long after with a glass of water. I thanked him, grateful for his support.
"I think we should stop for now." Pai said, stating the obvious as usual. Kisshu and I nodded our agreement, although a little sarcastically.
"I have enough data to be getting on with, but I am fairly certain that you are indeed Haomiya-kiir's ancestor Ichigo. What we need to work out now is what it will mean for us."
We all departed the control room; Pai into his room, and Kisshu and I into his. It was only late afternoon, not even time for tea yet, but I was exhausted! Kisshu seemed to read my mind and together we curled up on his bed.
He found a comb in his drawers and began brushing my long hair. The feeling soothed me, and I began to purr appreciatively. He smirked, but continued. My eyelids started drooping and I smiled contentedly. If I could have frozen time, I would have. In no time at all, I had slipped into a peaceful, worry-free sleep and nothing could bother me there.
Kisshu's POV: I opened my eyes- unaware that I had even gone to sleep the night before; I did not remember even feeling tired. As I looked across at the beautiful Cyniclon beside me, I realised just how lucky I was to have found her. I guess everything does happen for a reason- if my parents had not died, I would not have been taken in my Pai's parents, and would probably not have been sent on the mission. Then I would have never met Ichigo and my life would have been worse for it.
I gently shook the sleeping beauty beside me and slowly she drifted into consciousness.
"Morning sleepy," I teased; she giggled and rolled over to face me. I leant down and kissed her forehead then clambered out of bed and headed to the bathroom.
When I returned, Ichigo was already dressed and ready. I quickly slung some clothes on and followed her to the kitchen.
Pai was already eating breakfast when Ichigo and Kisshu walked in. He smiled warmly at the two of them then continued reading his book and eating his food. They exchanged a glance of surprise; Pai never usually showed any emotion, let alone any signs of affection! Still a little surprised, Ichigo set about making breakfast for the two of them. She settled for an easy option- toast.
After a while of happy munching, Pai looked up from the book in which he had been engrossed for the last ten minutes.
"Ichigo, I must apologize for the way I treated you last night. I pushed you too hard and it wasn't fair," he paused, "If it's okay with you both, I'd like to start training you today, not only in your mind powers, but the normal Cyniclon ones as well. You need some ability if our chief is to believe that you are truly one of us."
"Of course, I had a lot of sleep since last night, so I feel ready to start today. And you mustn't blame yourself for my illness last night Pai; I should have told you I was getting tired. Anyway, I wanted to see how far could go myself!" Ichigo said.
Kisshu grinned at the two of them; it was good to see them getting on so well, and strange to think mere days ago the pair had hated each other! Despite the pleasant atmosphere in the room, there seemed to be something not quite right, but Kisshu did not know what it was. Then suddenly he had the answer.
"Has anyone seen Taruto this morning?" he asked.
Both shook their heads, and seemed to realise for the first time that he wasn't present.
"He's probably just sulking in his room," said Pai, "I was pretty harsh to him last night, but I didn't want to interrupt one of his moods to apologize. I should go and speak to him now." With that, the oldest Cyniclon left the room to go and find Taruto.
Ichigo clicked and the dishes cleaned and tidied themselves. She smiled smugly.
"At this rate you'll be the one training us!" Kisshu remarked proudly. Ichigo laughed,
"I doubt that very much, you're all very powerful!"
Kisshu smirked and pulled Ichigo close to him. Then he cupped her face and kissed her lovingly.
Ichigo's POV: I melted under Kisshu's sweet kiss. His arms held me securely as his lips continued their loving embrace and I knew in that instant what true love really was. Not that false emotion I had felt for Aoyama. His name tainted the moment and I wished I had never thought of it.
"Ichigo! Kisshu! Quickly!" Pai shouted urgently; would we ever get a moment's peace in which to enjoy each other's company? It seemed not. We pulled begrudgingly apart and ran together from the room.
"What now Pai?" Kisshu asked rather irritably.
"It's Taruto!" Pai exclaimed, "He's gone!"
I gasped; how could he have gone? And more importantly, how could we not have noticed?!
Taruto's POV: Pudding had welcomed me back with open arms, but warned me to keep a low profile,
"The others aren't happy with you for taking Ichigo," she informed me.
I scoffed; of course it would be our fault, what they aren't admitting to themselves is that they are the ones who abandoned Ichigo! Never mind, I thought, it wouldn't do to argue with Pudding, not after we had been apart for so long! Already I could tell she had matured. She no longer bounced around and shouted 24/7, albeit she was still the same energetic Pudding, but just not as extreme as she used to be. I guess only having four mew mews was harder work?
I greeted Pudding's little brothers and sister like old friends; they too had grown since I had last seen them. That's odd, I thought, I've only been away a few days, that's not long enough for people to change this much is it?
Nevertheless, I pushed the thought to the back of my mind and smiled when Pudding flung herself into my arms. The young ones giggled at the show of affection, but I didn't care, not anymore; being away from Pudding for even a few days had taught me that you have to appreciate the time you've got.
I wondered whether the others had noticed my disappearance yet. Probably not; they were most likely too busy playing around with Ichigo's new power to even realise…
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