Chapter Seven: Visiting Hours
"So this is the famous Éclair we've heard so much about," Mint said, smiling at Éclair, who hopped up onto the bench between Ichigo and Tart. "Aren't you a little cutie."
Éclair just grinned.
"Éclair gets told that a lot," She said with a laugh.
"I bet you do," Zakuro said with a small grin.
"So what have you done all day?" Tart asked Éclair as she dunked her bread in a bowl of stew.
"Éclair went to see Kishy-Chan, then she and Ichigo Koneko-Chan played all afternoon," Éclair said happily before putting the bread in her mouth.
As the conversation continued, Ichigo learned that the other girls had spent the day training with different people. Zakuro learned how to fight with a spear from Curry, Pudding used sai swords similar to Kish's (apparently, Tart was just as good with swords as he was with his click-clack toy weapon), Mint with actual arrows, and Pie taught Lettuce how to fight hand-to-hand, though they had been discussing the possibility of her learning to use a katana sword.
"Ichigo Onee-Chan should come with us tomorrow, na no da," Pudding said. "It's very fun, na no da."
"Sounds like it," Ichigo said. "I just wish I knew what kind of weapon I would be good at fighting with."
"Well, let's see, you have cat like reflexes," Rin said. "And you're an amazing acrobat, I saw plenty of that last night. Can you multitask?"
"Yes," Ichigo said. Rin grinned.
"Then I think I know what you can do," She said. "Meet me tomorrow morning after breakfast in the training hall."
Ichigo nodded and promised to do so.
After Ichigo finished eating, Éclair tugged on her sleeve.
"Does Ichigo Koneko-Chan want to come with Éclair to see Onii-Chan?" Éclair asked. Ichigo was about to say no, she wanted to talk with the other girls some more, but she once again felt the pull of Éclair's innocent eyes.
"Sure, I'll come," Ichigo said. Éclair grinned and grabbed a handful of cookie-like deserts with a red fruit and a glaze the color and texture of chocolate on top from a platter on the table and wrapped in a napkin.
"These are Kishy's favorites, because he loves the strawberries on top," Éclair explained cheerfully as the Mew watched. Ichigo blinked.
Strawberries?
Once the treats for her brother were securely wrapped, Éclair stood up and waited patiently for Ichigo to follow. Once she was on her feet, Éclair took her hand and waved at the others, calling good-byes as she pulled Ichigo out of the hall.
Éclair didn't let go of Ichigo's hand until they were at the Healer's ward again, and she knocked on the door. Unlike that morning, the door was opened by a pretty girl around Rin and Pie's age with long cotton-candy pink hair.
"Can I help you?" The girl asked in an overly sweet tone. Ichigo had the eerie feeling that the girl didn't want them there.
"We're here to see Kishu Onii-Chan!" Éclair said cheerfully, not noticing the older girl's tone.
"Well, I'm sorry but-" The girl said, preparing to close the door.
"Let them in, Cake. Not like I'm doing anything else."
Éclair pushed past an annoyed Cake and ran to see her brother, and Ichigo followed.
Kish was sitting up in bed, a tray of food in front of him. He still looked tired, though, and it appeared that he had eaten very little of his dinner. However, despite it, he had on a large grin as soon as he saw his baby sister.
"Kishy, look what Ichigo Koneko-Chan let Éclair wear!" Éclair said as she modeled the jewelry for her brother. Kish smiled and pulled her into a hug.
"You, Clair-Bear, look exquisite," He said, tapping her nose lightly with his finger.
"Exquisite!" Éclair repeated, beaming. Kish chuckled.
"So, did you have a good day?" He asked her as she came to sit beside him.
"Yes," Éclair said cheerfully. "Éclair played with Ichigo Koneko-Chan all day!"
"You did now?" Kish said, his eyes widening with surprise. That was when he saw Ichigo. Ichigo smiled shyly.
"She's too cute to say no to," Ichigo admitted. "And she's a cool little kid."
"That she is," Kish said with a grin, stroking Éclair's curls.
Ichigo looked over at Kish's dinner. She saw that there had been something on a plate that was gone (the crumbs made her believe it was bread), and most of his drink as well, but there was a bowl full of still-warm noodles with vegetables and meat mixed-in lying beside unused chopsticks.
"You didn't eat much," Ichigo noted.
"I wasn't very hungry," Kish said with a shrug. Suddenly, his stomach rumbled loudly and Ichigo narrowed her eyes as Kish turned scarlet while Éclair giggled.
"Not hungry, huh?" Ichigo said dryly. Then she looked at his wrapped wrist. The way it was bandaged meant that he…
Ichigo grabbed the bowl and chopsticks, sitting down on the bed beside Kish so that she was facing him. She got a bunch of noodles between the chopsticks and lifted it from the bowl.
"Open," She ordered.
"Wha-" Kish started to say, but Ichigo had taken the opportunity and pushed noodles into Kish's open mouth. He looked surprised, but chewed and swallowed. Éclair sat between them, her eyebrow raised in confusion.
"The problem isn't that you're not hungry," Ichigo said, getting another bunch of food between the chopsticks. "It's that you can't hold the chopsticks while your wrist is broken."
She moved the chopsticks to Kish's lips again, but he pulled away, his cheeks turning red again.
"I'm not a baby," He said indignantly. "I can feed myself."
Ichigo put the food back in the bowl and held out the chopsticks.
"Then show me," Ichigo said challengingly. Kish gave her a hard look that told her he accepted the challenge.
Kish took the chopsticks and somehow managed to shape his hand properly around them. However, moving them seemed to be the difficulty, and he lost a lot of food when he attempted to pick some up, most going back into the bowl and the rest landing on Kish's lap. Kish sighed and handed the chopsticks back to Ichigo before turning his head away, unable to look at her.
"Asking for help is not something to be ashamed of," Ichigo said, picking up some food with the chopsticks. "It's actually pretty brave."
"It's not that I'm afraid to ask for help," Kish said bitterly. "But you shouldn't be doing this for me. It's Aoyama-Kun you should be hand-feeding, not me."
"Well, Aoyama isn't here," Ichigo said. "And he isn't the one who needs to get better at the moment. You are. Besides," Ichigo turned red slightly. "I never did thank you. For last night. I know doing this doesn't even begin to repay you for that, but it's a start. Now, would you like some more food?"
Kish turned back to Ichigo, his eyes soft again, and he opened his mouth like a baby bird. Ichigo smiled and placed the food in his mouth.
"Eat it all, Kishy, or you can't have the cookies Éclair brought you," Éclair said. Kish nodded.
"I'll be good and eat all my dinner," He promised. Éclair smiled, satisfied.
Éclair chattered away to Kish as Ichigo fed him, Kish occasionally pausing to comment or ask a question. In less than ten minutes, the bowl had been scraped clean and the trio were munching on the cookies Éclair had brought.
"So, Risa Oba-San thinks I can probably go back to my own room tomorrow," Kish said.
"That's good," Ichigo said.
"Yeah, she thinks I'll be less grumpy if I'm in my own room," Kish said. "I think it's a nice way of saying 'get out of my infirmary', and more importantly get the members of the War Council to stop lingering around the door."
"Éclair is not surprised to hear that," Éclair said with a small snort as she snuggled into Kish. "Éclair will stay with Kish all day, every day until he's better."
"Thanks, Clair-bear," Kish said, smiling down at her.
"And Ichigo Koneko-Chan will visit whenever she can," Éclair added.
Kish scowled.
"Éclair, you can't make decisions for other people," Kish chided.
"But she will," Éclair said. "Ichigo Koneko-Chan is Kish Onii-Chan's favorite friend, and Kishy is Ichigo Koneko-Chan's favorite friend."
Both Kish and Ichigo turned red and started fishing for words.
"You two can't deny it," Éclair said, smiling. "Éclair knows you are best friends."
Before Kish and Ichigo had a chance to respond, Cake had appeared next to them.
"I'm sorry, but visiting hours are over," She said, a pleasant smile on her face.
Éclair and Ichigo nodded and Éclair kissed her brother's cheek.
"Éclair will come visit Kishy after breakfast tomorrow," Éclair said. "Good-night, Kishy."
"Good night, Éclair," Kish said, giving Éclair a final hug. "Love you."
"Love you too," Éclair said. She kissed his nose then hopped off the bed.
Ichigo and Éclair started to leave. As Éclair opened the door, Ichigo looked behind her shoulder. She met Kish's gaze, though Cake seemed to be purposefully trying to block their views of each other as she got Kish to lay down.
But what Ichigo did see in Kish's eyes was sadness, hurt and loss as he looked at her. Ichigo felt her breath catch in her throat and she turned away.
And not for the first time since that final battle on Earth, Ichigo was wondering if she should have given Kish a chance.
