Ichigo made her way toward the café, she didn't feel like working today but still she woke up. She been sad, sense she hasn't seen Kitty in weeks. Sometimes she walked a couple of times by the playground but she never saw the little girl, eventually she gave up.
She yawned as she entered her work, another busy day at the café for her, sense she was the one that did all the work sometimes it was as if Ryou didn't have other employees. Ichigo froze as she took in the people in front of her, the café was empty and Lettuce was crying, plus everyone else had worried faces.
Ichigo frowned as she made her way closer to them "what is going on?" she gasped, as Lettuce wrapped her in a tight hug, crying even harder in her shoulder. She looked at everyone else, who were now looking at her
"There was a reading of an alien ship landing on earth" Ryou sighed.
Ichigo blinked at Ryou not understanding why everyone was acting this way, it wasn't like they haven't dealt with it before and it didn't explain why Lettuce was crying "do we know its location"
Keiichiro nodded "Ryou and the girls already went to the location"
Ichigo stared at everyone, still not understanding why everyone was so worried "was it Kisshu and the others?"
"That's the thing" Zakuro sighed "It wasn't them"
"Then who…" Ichigo trailed off, she could feel Lettuce stepping away from her.
Lettuce sniffed "it was Kitty"
Ichigo eyes widen "Kitty?" she felt as if all the air was sucked out of her "Kitty as in…"
Lettuce nodded, she didn't need Ichigo to finish what she was going to say because she already knew what it was "she's in one of the rooms"
Ichigo ran, already knowing were the little girl was. She could feel everyone looking at her but she didn't care, Kitty was more important. Ichigo brought a hand to her mouth, taking in the sight of the little girl on the bed, the girl was hooked to some fluids and was covered in bruises. She grabbed the girl's hand, feeling the tears falling down her cheeks.
"Kitty" she whispered, running a hand on the little girls hair, while her other hand held the 4 year old hand "what happened to you" she sobbed.
"She gave us a letter before she fainted"
Ichigo looked behind her to see Mint, standing behind her "What did it say?" she asked, turning her gaze back to the little girl.
"Well it wasn't written in our language but Ryou and Keiichiro managed to translate" Mint paused "It said 'keep her safe'"
The words 'keep her safe' reaped themselves in Ichigo head. She didn't understand, was Kitty in danger? She wanted to ask but this wasn't the time for that "is she going to be ok?"
"She was dehydrated and other then the bruises, she is fine. Keiichiro said she will be fine after some rest" Mint stared at Ichigo as she only nodded. Mint sighed; there was nothing else she could do. She made her way out of the room, leaving Ichigo with the girl.
*Hours later*
Ichigo was pacing around the room, as she listen to everyone talk about what the letter could mean. They didn't know what the child was in danger for. She was feeling like life wasn't being fair to her or Kitty, to bring them back together in such circumstances.
"We first have to figure out what alien race she is" said Ryou standing in a corner with his arms crossed.
Ichigo stopped pacing and saw as the room fell in to complete silence, why hadn't she thought of that? Kitty didn't look like an alien at all, if anything she could pass as a normal human. Did that mean that there is a race that looks exactly like them? Or was it just Kitty? She just wanted the girl to be safe, it didn't matter what she was.
Ichigo saw as Kitty open her eyes, immediately Ichigo was by the girl side "Hey Kitty" Ichigo said softly. She felt everyone else walking closer to them.
The little girl blinked taking in the sight of everyone surrounding her but she didn't talk, her face had no emotion, except for the tears that started forming in her eyes
Ichigo brought the girl in to her arms, giving her a tight hug "it's ok" she said trying to calm the girl down. All that could be heard in the room was sobbing, from Lettuce and Kitty. After the crying had stopped, everything became silent.
"Tell us what happened and what are we supposed to protect you from?" asked Ryou breaking the silence.
The 4 year old didn't answer; she didn't even acknowledge the fact that Ryou had asked her a question and this bothered Ichigo. What the child had gone true had to have been awful if it had this much effect on her, the usual sparkle in her eyes was gone.
Kitty laid on her side, her back toward Ichigo and the rest of the group. She wanted her dad and her uncles to be here with her.
Ichigo stood up, giving Kitty a kiss on the cheek before walking out of the room; everyone was already outside listening to Ryou.
"For now it would be best to just keep an eye on her, sense she is not willing to talk" Ryou sighed.
"I wondered why she didn't talk to us" Lettuce sniffed.
"Whatever happened to her, really affected her" said Keiichiro.
"How long will it take for her to talk again?" asked Ichigo.
Keiichiro though about it for a second "it could be days, weeks, even years" he sighed, looking down "who knows when she could be back to normal"
Ichigo stared at the close door, thinking about the girl in that room. Whatever had happened to her had to be devastating to cause such reaction, at that moment she made up her mind. She wouldn't let Kitty be in any danger, she would protect her, even if the 4 year old wasn't even, she was still important to Ichigo.