A/N: LoL first date as well as ... um ... something that will make you all very happy. C:

I totally didn't make up that University, BTW. Google it. Wikipedia it. It's real, and it DOES teach ... teachers. LoL.

And, um, Kohakuiro Tashibawa is a fake person. I took 'Kohakuiro' from a Naruto OC I made and 'Tashibawa' from my old Tokyo Mew Mew OC. So she's just this random person in this story that is only in this chapter, and she's only there to write Haikus. Which are my Haikus. I made them. No stealing. I will post when separately from here on DeviantART later.

And thnak you so much XSain, becuase without your reviews I would have continued to write this story for my own pleasure but stopped posting the chapter on FF.n due to the fact that I posted two chapter with NO REVIEWS for them. Made me terrible sad. But here I am with another chapter just for you, XSain, who keeps reading and reviewing. Yay for you, dear:D

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Bittersweet Strawberry Blood
Chapter 13
"Inside a Haiku"
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"Hey Koneko-chan," Kisshu said in an American accent, the word 'hey' sounding completely foreign.

"Hei," she replied, trying out the word, but it came out sounding Japanese. She frowned at the way it sounded, and Kish laughed.

"You're so kawaii when you're confused," he grinned. "Now, which coffee place you want to go to?"

The strawberry girl looked thoughtful and unsure for a moment, but then she smiled. "I really don't know, so I'll let you choose."

"I was hoping you'd say that," he told her. "I wanted to go to that new place downtown where people read Haikus out loud; it reminds me of the beat poetry cafés in America."

"Sounds awesome," she smiles. "I bet they have good coffee."

"And tea," he adds. "Now let's go!"

Ichigo wasn't sure, but there was something over-eager about Kisshu, as if he's waited a lifetime to have her with him like this. It was almost creepy the way he looked at her, a look full of want. But there was something else in his eyes, something sweet that made her smile. He wasn't bipolar, but it seemed like he had a pretty split personality. Can someone really be two opposites in one?

Actually, Ichigo decided, they probably could. At first Zakuro-nee seemed a little bitter, and she's still pretty quite in a mysterious way, and yet she's like our big sister. So I suppose you can be two different things at once.

Little did she know just how different.

Either way, it was nice to have his hand in hers as they strolled down the sidewalks of Tokyo to their destination. The sun was hidden behind the clouds, and a chilling breeze shifted about her, threatening to go through her warm clothes and freeze her to the bone. T was strange, too, because Kisshu's hand felt just as cold as the air… but then again, he wasn't wearing gloves, and neither was she. It wasn't quite cold enough yet for that.

When they entered the café, the first thing they felt was a gush of warm, sweet-smelling air filled with the scents of coffee beans and steaming kettles of tea. The atmosphere was homey and inviting with the soft, casual seating near the tiny Haiku-reading stage, and yet formal around the booths off to the sides. Colors swam all around, bold hues of chocolate, cinnamon, and gold. It had a very artsy feel to it, and immediately Ichigo loved the place.

"It's better than I'd hoped," she muttered softly.

"You like it here? It's just like the ones in American, really…" Kisshu responded. "Here, let's order our drinks and take a seat."

"Hai," she smiled. Glancing up at the menu, she saw they not only served hot beverages but cold ones, like ice coffees, smoothies, and frozen yogurt. There were even some pastries, cookies, and tiny sandwiches. She turned to her date and smiled, "I want that strawberries and crème frappucchino; medium-sized."

He laughed. "How come I knew you'd pick that to drink?"

She frowned. "It's not because of my name, okay? I just like strawberries. Especially on pancakes with syrup." She added, licking her lips.

He nodded. With a charming grin he turned to the young woman at the cash register, a soft look in his eyes. "We'll have one medium strawberry crème frappucchino and one medium house blend coffee; black, please."

The woman blinked and blushed slightly. "Coming right up, Sir," she smiled.

Ichigo wrinkled her nose. "You're such a flirt, Kish-kun," she pouted.

"I have my reasons," he said simply. "Just watch, she'll give us our order with a few bucks off."

Sure enough, after a few minutes, she handed them their drinks and said, "Your credit card, please," and after she slid it down the side of the register, a receipt came back for him to sign, and the woman winked at him. Ichigo peered over his shoulder while he scribbled down his signature and noticed that it was much less yen than it should be.

As they walked away to a booth near the back, Ichigo whispered with a giggle, "How'd you do that? Mind control?"

He shook his head and sat down across from her. "Nah, just my caring good looks; gets them every time if they're young enough."

She shook her drink at him. "Bad boy," she scolded.

He shrugged. "Hey, if it works, it works. I'm not complaining if I get a few yen off the total."

Ichigo smiled at him, taking a sip of her drink, the sweet strawberry flavor rolling over her tongue and sliding down her throat. "Mm," she hums. "This is really good." She looked over at Kisshu's and frowned. "You should have tried something new, Kisshu; black coffee is so plain and icky."

Too bad she didn't know that it was the only thing that was strong enough for him to taste. He shrugs again. "I don't like much else; too sweet for me," he lies.

"Uhg, men and their taste for bitter things," she replies with a roll of her chocolate eyes. After another sip of her drink, she suddenly didn't know what to say. She looked down at the golden-brown table, fiddling with her fingers.

But suddenly her head jerked up, and out of the corner of her eye she saw Kisshu turn to look, too; because the lights started to dim as the young girl from the cash register went up onto the tiny stage. She was cleared her throat into a microphone she held, and began: "Konnichiwa, mina! It's Haiku time! We have a few scheduled people to read off theirs, but afterwards anyone who wants to may go. First up we have a freshman student from the Tokyo Gakugei University, a young girl who's studying to be an elementary school teacher. Please welcome the poetry of Tashibawa Kohakuiro!"

A girl with auburn hair and a dazzling white smile and rectangle glasses came up on the tiny stage as the announcer stepped down and handed her the mic. "I have a few for you, since Haikus are only three lines," she says in a pleasant voice, but there was a rough edge to it.

Kisshu smiled at her but turned away, not really caring; he wasn't too much into poetry, except for his lyrics; and those he rarely wrote nowadays. He slammed down a few gulps of coffee, the bitter essence of the coffee beans rotting his tongue. He held back a gag; normally coffee tasted fine, but this one was … strange. Or maybe it was being near her blood … maybe, because he could smell her, the coffee paled in comparison. Maybe.

Speaking of 'her', Kish looked over at his date. He nearly gasped as the dimmed lighting struck the features of her hair, face, and body, a dreamy glow coming off of her skin… or maybe it was just him. Either way, she looked so pretty; good enough to eat, he laughed, thinking of the pun. He would see every curve of her profile since her attention was on the woman on stage as she read off her poems. He couldn't hear her, though; only the sound of Ichigo's heart a meter away.

Ichigo frowned and slowly turned to look at Kisshu, feeling eyes on her; which there were, for the second she turned she came into contact with his shining gold orbs. Her breath caught in her throat for a moment before she smiled and released it. "And what are you lookin' at?" she said with a fake gangster voice.

"Something too pretty to be in public," he replied playfully, but it sounded genuine, as if he meant it.

She flushed slightly and took a mouthful of her frappucchino, savoring the sweet taste before swallowing.

Up on stage Kohakuiro-sama said another Haiku, this one about the sakura trees.

"Shall I watch in awe
As the sweet pink blossoms swirl
In the sunlit air?

"Or is it foolish
To admire their cherry taste
As the petals fall?

"I'd surely freeze time
To watch them fall forever
If time allowed it.

"But alas, my love
I must leave the sakura
To fall without me."

"What a pretty foursome of haikus," Ichigo sighed. "Don't you think so, Kish-kun?" she asked, turning to him, but when she did she found herself once again looking straight into his eyes. What was wrong with her? Every time she looked at them her heart sped up a tiny beat…

"They were very nice," he murmurs. Discreetly Kisshu clenched his jaw to stop his fangs from extending as he caught of whiff of her skin, and he fought the urge to break it and lap up the blood that sprouted. It was such a curse to be in love with someone you wanted to eat.