Who Are You? Chapter 9:

Kisshu's Memories

"Kisshu, are you coming out?" Pai asked.

Kisshu sighed and crawled out from under the bed. He sat back down on the other side of the bed from Sakura, and looked at her hesitantly. Ichigo noticed and said, "You don't have to be scared of my mom, Kisshu. She's not at all scary. My dad, on the other hand, should technically be in an insane asylum."

"Ichigo, that's not very nice," Sakura said.

"But it's true," Ichigo said. "The only reason he isn't is because we love him. Or at least, YOU love him. I like him, but I wish he was more understanding."

"Your dad sounds scary," Kisshu said. "Do I have to meet him?"

"At some point, yes," Ichigo said. "Mom and I will protect you, though- right Mom?"

"Yep," Sakura said. "Shintaro can sleep in the garage until he gets used to Kisshu."

Ichigo giggled, then yawned. Pai noticed, and said, "Ichigo, you should go back to sleep; you've been up for longer than is really good for you. I can take your mom home, and Kisshu can stay with you."

"I can't stay?" Sakura asked.

"Didn't you leave your husband tied to a chair?" Pai asked.

"That's easy, Pai," Kisshu said. "Go back to their house, untie him, use the freezing technique, and come back here. That technique wears off in about two hours anyways."

"Good idea," Pai said. He looked at Sakura and asked, "Can you cook?"

"Yeah," Sakura said. "You two can't?"

"Kisshu's better than Keiichiro, but I think he's better off staying with Ichigo," Pai said "And I've been banned from the kitchen since I set bacon on fire and nearly gave Ichigo asthma."

"Pai's a kitchen disaster," Kisshu said. "It's a good thing he can heal, since Ichigo would have gotten lung damage otherwise."

"Not to mention bled to death," Pai said.

"Ichigo, why did you go in the kitchen when there was a fire?" Sakura asked.

"I was trying to get Pai out, since he was just going to destroy more things if he stayed," Ichigo said. "Kisshu's latest idea is whenever Pai goes and sets off the smoke alarm, we scream at him telepathically from wherever we are."

"Mmph," Pai said. "Go to sleep."

Ichigo sighed and settled down against the pillows. Kisshu tucked her in, and started stroking her hair. She fell asleep almost immediately, and leaned into his hand, purring softly. Sakura moved to the sofa as Pai teleported out.

A few minutes later, they heard scratching on the door, and Sakura got up and opened the door. Shunju came in, and hopped onto the bed. "Hi Shunju," Kisshu said softly.

"Hi," Shunju said. "Why is Ichigo sleeping?"

"She lost a lot of blood trying to kill herself, and she needs to rest to get her strength back," Kisshu said.

"Is that her mom?" Shunju asked, looking at Sakura.

"Yeah," Kisshu said. "Did you have a nice time raiding the kitchen?"

"Pai chased me out," Shunju said disgruntledly. "What's oatmeal?"

"Beats me," Kisshu said. "But if he tries to cook-" the smoke alarm went off, cutting him off.

Ichigo woke up and asked wearily, "Is Pai in the kitchen?"

"Shunju says he wanted oatmeal," Kisshu said. "Let's scream at him together."

Ichigo smiled, and she and Kisshu screamed telepathically, GET OUT OF THE KITCHEN, PAI!

Okay! Okay! I'll never do it again! Just quit screaming! Pai yelled back.

I don't believe you, but whatever, Kisshu said. Are you out of the kitchen yet?

No, I'm cleaning, Pai said grouchily.

Cook anything else and I'll lock you up till the next time someone needs to be healed, Kisshu said.

I GET IT! Pai shouted.

Did you untie Ichigo's dad yet? Kisshu asked.

Yes, and I froze him so he wouldn't try to come with me, Pai said.

Good, Kisshu said. What time is it?

After midnight; get some rest, Pai said.

Kisshu sighed and cut the connection, then said, "Ichigo, it's after midnight, can I climb in too?"

"Sure, but what about Mom?" Ichigo asked.

"Uh…." Kisshu said.

"I'll sleep on the sofa," Sakura said. "Do you have any spare blankets?"

"In the closet," Kisshu said.

Sakura went to the closet and got a blanket as Kisshu slid under the covers with Ichigo, who was half asleep. Shunju curled up at the head of the bed, next to Kisshu, and went to sleep. Soon after, Ichigo and Kisshu were asleep as well.

The next morning, Kisshu woke up to find Ichigo sitting up, playing with his hair. She blushed when she saw he was awake, and said, "Sorry…"

"It's fine, that feels nice," Kisshu said.

"You've got really soft hair," Ichigo said. "Shunju thinks so too."

Kisshu blushed and said, "Are you feeling better?"

"Yeah, but I don't think I can walk," Ichigo said.

"It'll probably be a while longer, you lost a lot of blood," Kisshu said. "Try not to push yourself."

Ichigo sighed. "I hope Mom gets back soon, I'm hungry," she said.

"Me too," Kisshu said. "Where's Shunju?"

"I asked her to keep an eye on Pai; and bite him if he tries to go in the kitchen without supervision," Ichigo said. "She likes the idea of biting him, so she agreed."

"Great idea, Koneko-chan!" Kisshu said.

Ichigo looked startled, then said, "You called me Koneko-chan."

Kisshu looked startled too, and said, "Yeah…. but why?"

"Before you lost your memory, that was your nickname for me," Ichigo said.

To her surprise, Kisshu looked sad, and said, "I don't want to start getting my memory back…"

"Why?" Ichigo asked softly.

"I don't want to make you sad!" Kisshu wailed, and hugged her, burying his face in her shoulder. Ichigo hugged back, feeling his shoulders shaking. She tightened her grip as she felt Kisshu's tears soaking into her shirt.

Pai and Sakura came in a minute later, and looked worried. "What happened?" Sakura asked.

"Kisshu called me Koneko-chan, and I told him that's what he called me before he lost his memory," Ichigo said. "He really doesn't want his memories back."

Pai sighed. "Kisshu, why don't you want to go back to normal?" he asked.

"I don't want to make Ichigo sad…." Kisshu said sadly. "If I get my memories back, I might make her sad again. I don't want to!"

"Kisshu, you can't stay like this forever," Pai said.

"Whyyyyyyyyyyy!?" Kisshu wailed.

Pai sighed, then knocked Kisshu out, causing Ichigo and Sakura to flinch. Ichigo gently helped Kisshu lie down, and glared at Pai. "Seriously, did you have to?" she asked.

"I'm hoping hitting him over the head will get his memories back, since I know he'll never go near my lab again," Pai said. "Not to mention going in there will remind him of what happened; I can't get the blood off my floor."

"Sorry…." Ichigo said.

"It's my fault for rearranging his mind, and he isn't normally allowed in there anyways," Pai said. "Don't worry about it."

Ichigo sighed and asked, "So now we wait for him to wake up?"

"Yup," Pai said. "Do you have any idea why Shunju appears to be stalking me?"

"Yeah, I told her if she sees you go into the kitchen without supervision, she gets to bite you," Ichigo said. "She liked that idea, and I explained that the loud noise is connected with you going in the kitchen, so she'll be stalking you from now on."

"You are SO doomed," Pai said.

Sakura whacked him and said, "No dooming people."

Pai looked at Ichigo, and said, "You two are very much alike."

"Yup," Ichigo said.

They heard a soft groan, and turned to see Kisshu stirring. "I've got the worst headache…." he moaned as he opened his eyes. Then he looked shocked, and asked, "Koneko-chan?"

"I'm here," Ichigo said.

Kisshu sat up, and looked around, looking puzzled. "Why am I in my room?" he asked.

"Kisshu, what's the last thing you remember?" Pai asked.

"You knocking me out, saying Deep Blue had had it with me," Kisshu said. "So did you finally figure out I was right?"

"Yes," Pai sighed. "I guess you don't remember the last two weeks?"

"The last two weeks?" Kisshu asked.

"I overdid it knocking you out, and you got amnesia," Pai said. "You didn't remember the last six months for some reason. Ichigo found you unconscious while she was in cat form, and since you didn't know it was her, you brought her back here, and she suggested to me that we should form a truce. That idea is on hiatus, because Ryou found out about your allergy by kidnapping me and injecting me with truth potion while I was unconscious. You got pretty sick, and Ichigo killed Ryou, then came back here with me to take care of you."

"I feel fine now," Kisshu said.

"You recovered about three days ago, but the next day I thought I had figured out a way to reverse your amnesia, and whatever I did backfired," Pai said. "Whatever the machine did caused you to think you hated Ichigo, and you told me that you hated her and how awful she was while she was in the room. When you noticed her, you tried to kill her, and I knocked you out and reversed whatever it was I did. Unfortunately, I wasn't paying attention to what Ichigo was doing, and she tried to kill herself. I stopped the bleeding from the injury she gave herself, but she still can't walk. And since then you've been refusing to get your memories back, so today I decided to try hitting you over the head again, and I guess it worked."

Kisshu had pretty much stopped paying attention at the, "Ichigo tried to kill herself' part of Pai's explanation, and was looking at her in horror. "Why would you kill yourself?" he whispered.

"I was too depressed thinking you hated me to think straight," Ichigo said sadly. "I guess I can't really blame you if you still hate me, but I just got really depressed."

Kisshu grabbed her, hugging her tightly. She hugged back as Kisshu said shakily, "I could never hate you."

"I'm glad…" Ichigo said. "I love you, Kisshu."

"I thought you hated me…." Kisshu said.

"I just hated being called a toy," Ichigo said. "And I was blinded by my previous crush, who told me I'm a freak. Which reminds me, I hope Moe and Miwa are okay…."

"THAT'S why Aoyama disappeared!?" Sakura shrieked. "No one could figure it out; his parents found a pile of ash on his bed, and no one knows what happened."

"Please don't tell," Ichigo said. "They're the only thing keeping me alive at school."

"I know that," Sakura said. "And I won't tell. But does this explain why your father can't find his flamethrower anywhere?"

"I'll have a word with them; they must have forgotten to give it back," Ichigo said.

"I didn't get to kill him OR Blondie!?" Kisshu asked. "Aww…"

Ichigo giggled. "You'll survive," she said.

Kisshu just pouted.

Well, Kisshu has most of his memories back, and Ichigo should be better soon. I'll try to post again soon, and I'm sorry this didn't happen yesterday. Review plz!