Ch. 11: Alien and Ka Ka

"Okay, thank you." After that, Ryou hangs up the phone and lets out a sigh.

Ichigo stands up and asks, "Did they find her?!"

Ryou turns to her sadly and answers, "The police say that there is still no sigh of her, like she disappeared."

It's been almost a week now and Midori is still missing. Well, she's still a swan but the others don't know that. They looked everywhere for her. Any place that they are sure she would go to for comfort or any places that most runaways would run to, she wasn't there. They filed a missing person's report to the police when they couldn't find her and now it sounds like that they can't find her either. Everyone is at the café when they waited for report from the police of Midori's location.

Kashoka gets a bit worried as he asks, "You don't think that maybe Midori was capture, was she?"

Instantly, Kiiro says, "Midori onee-chan is a strong girl, ra ro da! She would fight to the death before she gets captured by them, ra ro da!"

"But did you not see her expression when she left?" Ichigo asks, mumbling. Everyone looks at her as she looks like she's ready to cry. "For all we know, she could have gone with them and we'll probably never see her again. This is my fault. Why did I say those things to her? Why…?" Then she cracks down crying.

Immediately, her friends go to her side and try to comfort her. Lettuce rubs her back as she tells her, "No matter what she told you, Midori loves you. She would never leave you behind." Ichigo leans against her shoulder and Lettuce holds her like a child.

Ryou lets out a sigh and confesses, "I went too far so I take most of the blame for what happened. I guess you can say that I deserved that hit. But instead of wasting my time regretting my words, I spend my time looking for her. I will find her, Ichigo. I promise you that." Ichigo looks up at him from his words and nods.

"But," Morizaki mumbles, "there have been a few fights since she disappeared and she hasn't come to help." That made everyone worried again. What if Midori did go to the aliens and joined their side because she's confused about who she can trust and which side she should really be on? That thought causes Aoi to grip his hands into tight balls again.

"I'm going to look for her again," he announces, before jumping out of his seat and running to the door.

"Aoi-kun!" Morizaki calls, getting up as well.

"Wait a minute, ra ro da!" Kiiro calls. Then both her and Kashoka fallow them. The parents didn't stop them as all four of them go running out to try and find Midori again.

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"You're here to destroy the humans?" Midori asks, in slight bit of surprise.

Midori is still at the lake. She hasn't left since Kuro took her there. She found out that she can sleep on the water since she is after all a swan. She finds it very relaxing as Kuro has been coming to see her and the other animals every day with food. He comes mostly to apply the medicine on her beak before feeding all of them. Midori was surprised by how effective the medicine he makes has on her beak. In the middle of the week, her beak didn't ach anymore. It felt as good as new, but yet again how was she supposed to know since she jus recently entered the life of a swan. After feeding them, Kuro has to go to work with trying to attack the humans and the Ka Kas. What Midori thought was weird was that some of the animals ask if they can be turned into kirema animas. Most of the time, Kuro says no because he doesn't want his friends to get hurt but when they have a perfectly good reason, like 'I want revenge for what they did to my family' or what they did to their homes, then Kuro takes them and leaves with them. In hours, he would come back with a very tired animal and apologizes. The animals that he took never hold anything against him. During her stay, Midori discovers many fascinating things. She sees that Kuro really cares for these animals, he tries to take care of them as best as he can during his busy schedule, and he's actually really kind unlike the Kuro that Midori thought she knew. The more he comes, the more comfortable she becomes with his company and the more she enjoys it. For the past few days, Kuro's been staying longer to either play with the animals or to just talk with Midori. He didn't hold anything back, like now. He's telling her about his reasons for being here while the animals are playing ball that Kuro brought for them to play with.

Kuro nods at her question. "Yep! Call it punishment for their cruelty to the animals. The humans cut down their homes, shorten their food, use them as test subjects for their wacky science experiments, and leave the young ones all alone after killing their parents. There's that and because of my father. Haiiro is here as another form of fun and Aka just wants to tick his father off. For all I know, it's probably working and soon his dad will be coming here at light speed and then try to kill him. His father, I say, has a bad temper."

Midori asks, "What about yours? What's wrong with your father?"

Kuro didn't answer right away. That look in his face that Midori remembers from before comes back; lonely and sad. It went away when Kuro answers, "Let's just say that my father is not the same as how my uncles described him to be before my mother died."

"Your mother…is dead?" Midori asks, her voice shock and full of pity.

Kuro nods. "Yeah," he answers.

Midori's face looks even more pitied as she tells him, "Kuro, I'm sorry."

He tries to smile as he tells her, "Don't be. I don't really remember her since she died giving birth to me. However, I was told that she was a good, kind, gentle woman" His smile looks just like the one Midori remembers seeing at their last battle.

She couldn't help but think, 'We really are similar. He never really knew his mom and I never really knew my father. We only have a small fact about them.'

Kuro looks back at the animals as he explains, "My mother was someone who understood my father and his feelings. They went way back and were really close before they got married so she knew him like the back of her hand. She loved him no matter what. Sometimes I think that if they were of different species, it wouldn't have stopped her from loving him and I think." He pauses for a bit and that catches Midori's attention. She waits for his answer as Kuro begins to bring back his true happy smile at the thought. "And I think that's how I feel towards Midori." She turned beet red right after he said that. He turns to look at her and confesses, "Midori is the most interesting and fascinating person I know. Not to forget that she's really cute. I actually really care for her. I don't know why but every time I see her, I feel like my duties and orders don't matter anymore and I just want to spend as much time as I can with her before I have to go back to work. I would just be content to at least get close enough to touch her."

Midori's heart is pounding really hard now. It's like he's making a love confession to her when he doesn't even realize it's her. Trying to not act like Midori, she asks, "What if she doesn't like you like how you like her?"

He didn't seemed fazed by her question. He answers, "I won't give up on her. I can't help but like her more and more every time I see her beautiful face or hear her musical voice." That nearly makes Midori's head explode. She feels like her heart is pounding like giant Taiko drums now with each beat pulsing through her body.

Kuro looks back at the animals before saying, "I was thinking that maybe I won't come tomorrow." Midori looks at him, now shocked as he explains, "She hasn't shown up for almost a week and I really miss her. I wonder if she's safe, has enough to eat, or fine. Those worries drive me up the wall when I don't have the answer. So I'm going to look for her. I know that it might take me a while since the Ka Kas haven't found her but I don't know if I can spend another day without seeing her. I will find her. Count on that!" While he looks proud and determined, Midori looks sad and guilty.

'He won't find me,' she thinks. 'So long as I stay as a swan, he will never find me and that will hurt him.' Midori gulps before asking shyly, "Kuro, c-can I give you something for good luck? To find her I mean."

Kuro looks back at her confused as she looks back at him with pleading eyes. He raises a brow before answering, "Sure." Then to his surprise, Midori walks a little closer to him until she's right in front of him. Her head rises up to his face and her eyes are closed. When he blinks in surprise of her sudden closure, Midori leans her beak close to his lip and she lightly presses them against his. His eyes are wide as she only kisses him for just a moment.

'I think I…I think I've probably fallen in love with Kuro.'

When Midori breaks the kiss and backs away, Kuro's eyes are still wide and he says nothing from her kiss. Then another surprising thing happens. Midori suddenly feels weird as she looks down at her body and she's glowing dark green. Kuro watches as the animals stop playing and turn to the light that has captured their attention. There they see Midori's swan body transform back into her human self.

When the light fades away, Midori's eyes widen as she sees fingers and hands instead of a wing. She looks at the rest of her body and she doesn't have feathers any more. She has legs, she has arms, she has clothes, and she's bigger. She bends her fingers and looks at her palms and the back of her hand and her palm again. Kuro remains where he is, speechless as she breathes out, "I'm…back."

"Human!!"

Midori looks up and she sees the animals running back to the safety of their homes in the trees or in holes. Quickly, Midori yells, "Hold on! I'm not going to hurt you. Please come back." But it appears that the animals don't believe her.

One squirrel yells, "Liar!! You tricked us!"

"You want to kill us!" a rat accuses.

Midori lets out a sigh before telling them, "If I wanted to hurt you, don't you think that I would have done that while I was a swan, when all of you had your guard down?" She has a point there.

Then to her surprise, Kuro has his arms wrap around her; pulling her close. "Kohakuchou-chan!!" he cheers. Midori turns red and the animals are surprised as he pulls her close and tight.

Mostly out of embarrassment, she yells, "Kuro!! I can't breathe!" She pushes Kuro away but he's still smiling.

He tells her, "Thanks for the good luck charm. It really worked." Now she's red from remembering that and it gets worst when Kuro puts on a little smirk on his face. "But why was it a kiss, kohakuchou-chan?"

Midori tries to look away so that she won't explode as she answers, "That was just my way of saying 'good luck'!"

He pushes further. "Do you always kiss someone as a way to say good luck?" She's doomed now. Then he reminds, "I thought you told me that you like someone else. So why the sudden change of heart?"

When she looks back at him, her cheeks are really red and he had to admit, she looks really cute. She looks down and fiddles with her fingers as she answers, "W-well it's because my point of view of looking at you has changed. You're really kind to animals that some humans find kind of terrifying and I know why you're here." 'You're a very considerate person no matter what the reason,' she thinks. She was thinking about saying that but maybe there are a few things she should keep to herself or he might get too cocky. But Kuro's smirk is gone and he's looking at her with blank eyes.

"Are you going to tell?" he asks, trying to look at her face. She looks up a bit and she sees his waiting sapphire blue eyes. They scream out that he doesn't want her to tell but he's asking because he wants to hear what she will say to that.

She tells him, "No." Then she looks away again, explaining, "Especially since I ran away but even if I didn't, I wouldn't tell."

Remembering the day that he found her as a swan, Kuro asks out of curiosity, "Why did you run?"

Her face fell, like an old wound just stung and sent pains through her body. Seeing her expression causes Kuro to look at her with curiosity confusion. She still keeps her head down as she tells him, "I don't want to say."

Kuro sees the sorrow and pain in her face and he gets this sudden urge to relieve her of her pain. To her surprise, he grasps her hand in a comforting hold. She looks at him in surprise of his touch and the electric shocks it sends through her whole body. His voice sounds gentle as he tells her, "Midori, when you were a swan, I told you my problems and you were a good listener. Let me listen to your problems this time and be the good listener. Trust me, it makes you feel a whole lot better." Midori looks at him and he's talking to her so sincerely and he looks like he really cares.

She answers, "I just found out that I am half of what you are." Kuro gasps at that as she nods. She answers his unasked question. "It's true. Our parents didn't know about our little super hero adventure. When they did, they tried to make us stop because it was too dangerous. I got angry and then mom confessed to me her past and that my father is really an alien."

Kuro asks, "Do you know your father's name?" Midori shakes her head.

"She didn't say."

"How did you took it? If someone told me I'm half human, I would freak out."

"Well I didn't exactly go on a freak out," she tells him. "I felt like that small piece of information made sense. I always knew I was different but never different species different." Then her head snaps up in realization. "Now that I think about it, there was one time when I was a kid and I was flying all over the place, literally. And I got yelled at for blasting things to bits. Mom told me never to do that stuff again."

Kuro seems fascinated with this piece of information. He asks, "Do you think you can still do it?"

"I don't know," she answers softly. She looks down again as she echoes, "I don't know. I don't remember how and I feel a little scared about it. Having extra special gifts that no one who lived on earth their whole lives can possess. Now my friends know that I'm not normal and that terrifies me."

"Why?" he asks gently.

She looks up and answers, "Because they might reject me. I've known them my whole lives and they're my only friends. To have them reject me because I'm half of what we're supposed to be fighting will kill me. It's already bad enough that I know that my mom never wanted me to begin with."

Seeing the pain on her face causes Kuro to feel pain as well. He then pulls a fast one on her. His other hand wraps around her and pulls her close to him. By the time she looks up to him from the sudden hold, he presses his lips against her. Her heart makes a sudden sprint into a fmile run and her eyes widen from the kiss. But from the kiss, there is also bliss. She closes her eyes and melts under his lips. The animals are amazed by this as Kuro pulls her closer, his hand still grasping hers and her other hand rests against his chest.

When they broke the kiss for breath, Kuro pushes her head against his shoulder. She lays there in his comfortable hold as he tells her, "I will accept you, no matter what you are." Her cheeks are already red but her daze eyes look up at him and she nods.

"Thank you."

He smiles from her answer before giving her a small kiss in her forehead. "Would you like to relearn your extra abilities?"

"Huh?" she lets out, getting up to look at him in confusion.

He still has a smile on his face as tells her, "If you want, I can help you relearn what you should already know."

She looks surprise as she asks, "Are you sure?"

"I would rather fight you when you're using one hundred percent of your powers instead of only fifty percent," he answers.

"But I beat you anyway, right?" she asks, trying to remind him of that.

He dryly answers, "Oh ha ha." He releases her but still grasps her hand as he stands up. "Come on. Let's start with flying."

"What?!"

Before she knew it, he teleports. One moment they're on solid ground, the next they're fifty feet up in the air. She looks down and instantly freaks. If he wasn't grasping her hands so tightly, she would probably cling to him in fright. Instead, she asks, "Are you crazy?!"

He still smiles as he answers, "Not all the time, kohakuchou-chan." Then he lets her go and she begins to fall.

"AAAHHHH!!!" she screams, falling to the ground. The animals gasp in fear as Kuro looks completely at ease. Midori closes her eyes as the ground gets closer and closer and soon she will meet her crushing death. But it never came. Confusion decorates Midori's face as she opens her eyes. She looks down and she's at least three feet above the ground. She wonders, "How the heck?!"

Kuro glides down to her level and he asks, "How was that?"

She looks at him upset as she grabs his collar and pulls him close in a threatening way. "Were you trying to kill me, you butthead?!"

He doesn't seem that scared as he tells her, "Relax, relax, kohakuchou-chan. Tell me, how did you feel when you were falling?"

"I was scared out of my mind!" she answers. "How would you feel if you were the one falling?!"

"Please try to understand my intentions, kohakuchou-chan." Kuro grabs her wrists and pulls her hands off his collar. She allows that as he tells her, "To master your powers is purely instinct. I can't tell you how to fly. You have to do that yourself. I'm just the guide." Midori loses her anger and looks at him in surprise. He has a point. If he told her how to feel when flying, then she might get confused like how she does in a math during school. Kuro smiles as he tells her, "Congratulations, though! This is your first step in knowing how to use your powers. Can you try to go higher? Just remember how you were feeling when you're falling and then think up."

Midori blinks for a bit before looking back at how she's flouting above three feet of ground. 'Well I did tell myself to just fly as hard as I can so maybe…'

Midori then thought of up and when she does, she ends up four feet off the ground. Her eyes widen in amazement as she continues to think up. Kuro stays where he is as he watches her rise up farther and farther up. Soon a smile appears on her face. She stretches out her legs and continues to rise up higher. Soon she was where Kuro dropped her. She looks down at Kuro and he has a small smile on his face.

"Good job, kohakuchou-chan! I'm proud of you," he tells her.

Midori's eyes brighten up as she puts on a true happy smile. "And it's all thanks to you, Kuro! Thank you." Kuro looks at her in surprise of her smile. To test it out, Midori goes forward and does a loop. She laughs out in joy as she continues to fly through the air. Kuro watches her, still surprised by her smile. That is probably the first time that she ever smiled at him. It was...really beautiful.

Kuro couldn't help but smile just a tiny bit and his eyes look sweet as he chuckles at Midori's crazy behavior. He starts to fly up as he tells her, "Hey, you want the others to find you?! Now calm down and I'll help you with teleportation!"

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It's sunset and Midori collapses on the ground, tired. Kuro flouts closer to the ground to hear her whine, "I'm exhausted!!" Then some of the animals come running towards her.

"Midori-chan was amazing!" some of them cheer. Midori looks up at them and gives them a tired smile as Kuro couldn't agree more with the animals.

"She was. For someone who hasn't been using her powers nearly her whole life, she picked it up pretty fast to say. I'm very impressed and very proud."

Midori looks up at him and gives him a sweeter smile. "Thanks, Kuro. Most of the credit should go to you. You were a good guide."

Kuro tells her, "You had it easy, kohakuchou-chan. When I was taught how to use my powers, I nearly got traumatize when my father dropped me fifty feet in the air. Sometimes I thought he was trying to kill me." Midori looks at him in surprise as the smile is still on his face. The way he acted when Midori asked what was wrong with his father, anyone would get the impression that it's a touchy subject. But now it sounds like Kuro can talk so freely about him, like he's proud of his father or something.

Kuro looks up at the sky and it's sunset. "I should probably leave now. It's really late." The minute he said that, Midori tenses up. She suddenly jumps up and wraps her arms around him. The animals, girls mostly, gasp from her action as Kuro looks at her, startled from the sudden hug.

Her hold gets a little tighter as she tells him softly, "Please don't. I don't want you to leave." The girls have dreamy eyes from the scene as Kuro looks at her now surprised by her words.

Kuro wraps his arms around her and she becomes intoxicated with his scent and his warmth. "If you don't want me to go then I'll stay."

Midori closes her eyes and relaxes in his hold. "Thank goodness."

"But first!"

Midori looks at him in confusion as he pulls himself back and gives her a quick peck. She turns red as he smirks. "I'll take that as payment," he tells her with a teasing grin on his face. That was when she got a little angry.

"You jerk!" she yells. "I'll blast you!" Then she gets a blast ready as Kuro pulls back.

He tells her, "Careful with that! This is different than running with scissors!"

"Then you better run, huh?"

Kuro starts running away as Midori chases after him with a blast in her hand. The animals just watch, the guys now a bit scared with Midori as the girls are still in the lovey-dovey mood.

"How romantic," they breathe out. Now the guys are looking at the girl animals weird.

Midori suddenly stops running and teleports from behind Kuro to in front of him. He stops from her sudden appearance and she jumps on him. They both fall and the blast in Midori's hand disappears as she's on top of him on the ground. Before Kuro knew it, her lips press against his as her hands hold his wrists down. The kiss was a small one so she ended it before he had time to kiss her back.

Midori softly smiles at him as she tells him, "I'll take that as payment." Then she starts laughing and in no time, Kuro laughs with her. Midori let's go of his wrists and just lays on top of him. "I'm exhausted now. You wasted too much of my energy."

He wraps his arms around her as he tells her, "It was well wasted." She chuckles and he holds her closer while giggling.

"Kuro-chan! Midori-chan!"

Both of them look up, not getting up as the animals tell them, "We're going to bed now! See you tomorrow!"

"Good night," Midori tells them.

"Don't let the bed bugs bite," Kuro jokes.

A bird tells them, "I eat those for dinner." Then the animals scurry away back into their homes. Kuro and Midori watch them go before relaxing back on the ground they lay on.

An hour or two pass and the sky becomes dark and decorated with stars. Thanks to the lack of city lights to blind them, the sky is really beautiful. Midori is usually asleep by now when she was a swan but now that she's back to her old self and her sleep schedule is back to normal, she's especially amazed with the view. They both stayed up long enough to see the stars multiply and the moon illuminate over head.

As the night went on, Midori eventually went to sleep, mostly because she's exhausted from Kuro's guidance. When Kuro noticed that, he teleported from the open to under a tree for shelter but this time, they're both sitting up but he has Midori sitting on his lap and her head leaning against his shoulder. She seems to be deep asleep for she did not stir at all when it was happening. Kuro was starting to fall asleep as well but he did something before he did that. He kisses her forehead one more time and smiles against her skin.

"I love you, Midori," he whispers so that she doesn't wake up. "Tomorrow, I will ask you to go away with me and we'll be together forever."

Then Kuro closes his eyes for the night and sleeps under the stars with Midori sleeping soundly in his arms.