Merry Christmas everyone! :)
Chapter Eleven: An Ultimatum and Unresolved Emotions
Éclair was up before Kish and Ichigo were. She was her normal cheerful self, and fortunately didn't notice that the two teens weren't speaking to each other. Risa came in with breakfast, unsurprised to see Ichigo there (apparently, she had checked on them frequently during the night). Kish told Risa that Éclair released him from his promise, and that he could get in the medpod. Risa nodded, encouraged him to eat, and said that in an hour she would take him to the Healers' Ward to prepare for the treatment.
Chun Mee took took Éclair over to her room to get a bath and a fresh outfit for the day, and Ichigo was about to do the same, but thought it would be a good idea to make amends with Kish.
"Kish?" Ichigo whispered. Kish looked up from the papers he had been brought that morning and raised a dark green eyebrow.
"What do you want?" He demanded.
"Can… can we talk? About last night?" Ichigo asked.
"I'd rather not," Kish spat, resuming his reading. "But it doesn't matter because you're going to talk anyways."
Ichigo was about to respond, when to her shock her cellphone rang from her pocket, having almost forgot that it was there.
"Go ahead and answer it," Kish said bitterly. "Reassure Aoyama you're fine, you're having fun."
Ichigo reluctantly answered the phone.
"Moshi-Moshi?" She said tentatively, biting her lip as she looked over at Kish from the corner of her eye.
"Moshi-Moshi Ichigo!" Masaya said cheerfully. "I really miss you. Are you having a fun trip?"
"Yeah, a lot of fun," Ichigo said. She frowned sadly as she saw Kish scowl. "I'm sorry, Masaya, but now's not a good time. Can you call back later?"
"Of course," Masaya said. "Bye."
"Bye," Ichigo said. Kish looked up and raised his eyebrow again.
"So, just not feeling the love for tree-hugger this morning or what?" Kish asked unemotionally as he flipped over a piece of paper.
"This isn't about Masaya at the moment," Ichigo said. "This is about you and me."
"There isn't a 'you and me'," Kish snapped, his eyes full of anger as he tossed the papers aside. "That's been made pretty clear."
"You're not making any sense!" Ichigo yelled, now furious.
"I'm not making sense?" Kish yelled back. "You're the one who can't seem to make up her mind!"
"And what the heck is that supposed to mean?" Ichigo screeched.
"I gave up on you, Ichigo! You broke my heart and shoved the pieces in my face!" Kish yelled and Ichigo retreated a step. He had this look of utmost fury that Ichigo had seen more than enough. It scared the living daylights out of her every time she saw it. "I thought I was okay with Aoyama winning your heart. I thought I could forget about you. I thought it wouldn't be that hard. I was wrong! I think about you every day, and I told myself it was only because Éclair wanted to hear the stories about the wonderful cat girl that is Mew Ichigo, but even I can admit that's a huge lie. I didn't want you here because I knew you being here wasn't going to help me in the slightest bit!
"Now, not only has your presence opened up old wounds, but you've been giving me mixed signals since the day we left Earth! I refuse to fall under your spell again just to have my heart broken again! Tell me who you want: me, or Aoyama! You can't pick and choose at your whim! You have to make up your mind, Ichigo!"
Ichigo stood in shock, tears running down her face, breathing deeply. If the words from the night before stung, this was like being hit by a bullet train. She didn't know how to respond. She hadn't thought she had been giving Kish mixed messages… But she had anyways. Not intentionally, but she still had.
And he was right.
She had to choose.
A few months ago, she wouldn't have given Kish a second thought. But now, that she knew more about him, saw the many different sides of this strange alien boy, saw that he lived and loved and cared… She couldn't carelessly toss him aside. Not again.
"Uh, maybe we should come back later."
Ichigo and Kish both turned to see Lettuce, Pie, Rin, Rirī and Risa, all looking very stunned and not quite sure how to respond. Lettuce, who had been the one to whisper to her companions, turned scarlet and hid behind Pie as Ichigo and Kish stared at them.
Ichigo hastily wiped away her tears and Kish turned away, refusing to look at anyone. Éclair, smiling as usual, came skipping into the room a few minutes later. She looked around, confused at all the various expressions on the faces of her friends and family.
"Is everything alright?" Éclair asked.
"Yeah, everything's fine," Kish said coolly.
Éclair's brow furrowed at Kish's tone, but she said nothing. Instead she climbed up next to him and hugged him and kissed his cheek. But for the first time since she had met the little girl, Ichigo saw that Kish's temperament had remained the same following the embrace.
Kish grudgingly allowed Pie to support him so that he could walk despite the cast on his leg. He glared out of the corner of his eye when he saw Ichigo gathering her things to come along.
"Why are you coming?" He demanded.
"I… I promised Éclair I would wait with her," Ichigo said, feeling her cheeks heat under Kish's gaze. He just turned away.
"Whatever," He grumbled.
As they walked down the hall, Éclair noticed that Ichigo was sad as she walked a little bit behind the others with Lettuce and Rin and also saw that Kish was still irritable. She ran up to walk on Kish's other side.
"Did Kishy and Ichigo Koneko-Chan fight?" She asked softly.
"No," Kish said somewhat harshly.
"That means they did," Éclair summarized with a small sigh. "Onii-Chan, Éclair knows you're grumpy, but you shouldn't yell at Ichigo Koneko-Chan. Kishy's made her sad. And Éclair thinks that Kishy is sad, too."
"I'm not," Kish snapped. Éclair looked past Kish to gaze up at her adopted brother.
"Does Pie Onii-Chan knows what's going on?" Éclair asked.
"I do, but it is not my place to intervene," Pie said.
"Éclair isn't a baby, you know," Éclair said, somewhat sadly. "Éclair can know things, things that she hopes Onii-Chan would talk with her about."
"Thing is, I don't want to talk about it," Kish said. "Can you drop it?"
Éclair looked up at him sadly.
"Éclair doesn't know what's bothering Kishy," She said. "But she wishes it would go away. She wants her happy Onii-Chan back."
With that, Éclair went back to take Ichigo's hand, smiling up at her comfortingly. Ichigo sniffled slightly, but smiled as well.
"It appears that despite what you claim, your feelings for Ichigo have not disappeared entirely," Pie commented to Kish, who was fuming again.
Kish snorted.
"They never even started to go," He said.
Yes, I know, Kish is still being a bit of a jerk. I promise, fluff is coming up! Have I ever lied before? *bats eyelashes and looks cute*
