Disclaimer: Don't own it.

Note: I think I'm extremely unmotivated in the world of Tokyo Mew Mew right now, unfortunately. My prolonged love for Stargate Atlantis is haunting me, so if I begin to ramble, just skip a few lines, okay?

That aside… Welcome to Harcesis 'Chapter Fourteen' – The one and only. Enjoy.

Lyrics by Lacuna Coil.

Chapter Fourteen - Truce

Standing aside he's the saviour
Of your only human part you
Cannot see he came to save us
You will see

His face contorted from a frown to disappointment. Ichigo was confused until she realised that the disappointment was in himself. 'I…I don't know.' He looked up and Ichigo knew that there was no way that he was lying.

He continued. 'Until I came here, I had never even heard the name Harcesis.'

Before she could take advantage of the small pause of silence that flitted between them, the moment passed and the conversation slowly continued. 'I'm so confused that I don't even know where to begin. At first, I was me. I was confident, trained, addicted to our purpose like the others. But then I became detached. After meeting you and continuously lusting after what I couldn't have, my purpose began to change. Now? I don't know.'

Ichigo had heard all of this before. Abridged, yes, but the knowledge was still there. She urged, 'How did you learn the name?'

A frown bloomed on Kisshu's pale, yet slowly recovering face. 'I still… I still don't know if what happened then was real. But I'm under the assumption that it is, considering the circumstances.' A pause, 'Near where I was born. Our planet, Madrona, there has always been the threat of an enemy that matches the advancements our ancestors had once reached. After years after years of being forced underground, we have literally been sent back centuries in the world of technology. Our recent abilities are barely scratching the surface of what our ascendants were capable of.'

Ichigo looked sceptical, but nodded. Despite their obvious cultural and opinionated differences, it looked like she would just have to take his word for this one. Kish gave her a small, half-smile. 'But that's a completely other story – back to the one at hand. This enemy – this evil – was and still technically is run by Amorphous.'

'Amorphous?' She had never heard the name before.

Kish shrugged. 'Another long story. Ruler over death, worshipped as a god, has his own personal hell. Shortly, very bad man. Avoid.' He directed, as if Ichigo was a class of individuals with the overall IQ of a peanut.

She didn't have time to even take offence to his words. In fact, she barely had time to blurt out the one question that was gnawing at her. This was, of course, the underlying; 'What does this have to do with your story?'

'Well. Amorphous, like any evil bad guy, has henchmen.' Ichigo cocked an eyebrow and eased back against the cold, tile wall that they were seated near.

'Figures,' she muttered. Kish laughed out loud at her attitude.

'Yeah. They're not very nice either. Big on the black armour and such. And that's where my story comes into it. As I begun, I told you that I wasn't sure whether or not part of it was real, which is the part coming up. Primarily because it happened in a simulation machine.'

Her face lost all emotion, bar raw and solid confusion. 'Simulation Machine?' If the mood wasn't so serious, Ichigo would have slapped him silly for the techno-babble he was sprouting at that very moment in time.

Kish sighed. 'Like virtual reality. You do know what that is, don't you?' He tried to fit it into the most basic human customs.

Ichigo scoffed. 'What do you think I am? Five? Of course I know what a virtual reality is!'

'Really?'

Her lip wobbled as her face assumed the cliché pouting expression. 'A bit?'

Kish laughed, at her face more than her words. Sometimes that kitten is just so damn cute, he found himself thinking. Afterwards, he realised the change of subject and shifted back to the matter at hand, all humour fading into the past.

'It's a machine that influences your brain, making you see things. Like an artificial world. Only in this case, it's as different situations. Like, say your ship breaks down, or you're kidnapped in a fight or something.'

Ichigo's eyes widened, comprehension dawning. She tossed back tresses of her auburn hair and turned back to what Kish was saying. 'So… let me guess, you guys use this machine to train?'

Kish grinned, 'Exactly.' For a moment, Ichigo looked proud of herself, then realised exactly what she was up against. Kisshu's intelligence against hers? She certainly was no physicist. That was obvious, at least.

'Go on,' She coerced, slowly starting to piece together the significance of the information. However, Kish seemed intent on taking his time, where as she was beginning to become impatient, despite her calm demeanour.

He nodded, continuing. 'In one of these simulations, I was faced against a "Kull Warrior", which is the semi-official term for Amorphous' henchmen –'

'Wait,' Despite her impatience, Ichigo had to stop the explanation for a fleeting question that arose to her mind. 'What do you mean by semi-permanent?'

Kish cocked an eyebrow, sighing. However, plastered onto his lips was his familiar smirk. 'It means that, basically, anyone who has heard of them has deemed them as such.'

Ichigo could understand that.

The extraterrestrial sitting against the cool tiles of her bathroom wall flicked a strand of his grass-green hair out of his eyes and averted his from her face back to the small, insignificant dot his eyes seemed to be obsessed with, somewhere beyond her right shoulder. His amber eyes narrowed at it. 'Upon lifting off his helmet – which I'm not sure is even possible for the real Kull Warriors, as it is rumoured their armour is part of them – I was faced with a mirror image of my own features, albeit a few years older.'

Kull warrior? Own features? She frowned.

He continued, this time without any encouragement on her part. Ichigo listened intently, genuinely interested in exactly what he was going to say next, give or take a couple of questions she was ready to ask the moment he finished. 'We then fought and he managed to get me pinned, which is when he called me "Harcesis".'

'Wait, so this guy, this "Kill Warrior"–'

'Kull.' Kish nodded, correcting her.

Ichigo frowned, 'Whatever,' she said, before continuing. 'This "Kull Warrior"'– her hands made the appropriate quotation marks –'Who you were attacked by…'

'…He's you?' She asked, scepticism arising into her curious, accented voice.

It was already becoming too hard to believe…

…That is, until she faced the fact that she was part Iriomote Wildcat, could transform into a costume-wearing superhero (something, of which, should really only be seen at a Sailor Moon cosplay convention) and was currently at war with a race on another planet. Deemed as "aliens" by the rest of the world, but known to her directly by name.

And, also, the equally as disturbing and eye-opening fact that she was currently sitting with the supposed leader of the alien expedition of which was sent here to annihilate all human life on a planet that used to be there's.

Yeah. This shouldn't come as a surprise, really. She reconsidered, her mind scanning over the facts in the brief instant she had before Kisshu replied to her previous question.

'As far as I can tell…' The answer was both cryptic and contemplative.

This, apparently, was enough to drive her already confused mind totally mental with new and improved questions, coming from where she did not know.

She leaned against the wall, feeling the tiles pressed upon her pyjama-clad back and, despite her state of dress, she shivered. A mutter rose to her throat when she felt self-pity cloud her mind. 'Why me?'

She put her face in her hands, a move more automatic than emotional, and uttered, '…This stuff is too hard.'

When she lifted her head, she met Kish's expression, of which could only be described as amused. He had an eyebrow cocked, the thin, slender trail rising above the other and contributing to the overall affectivity of the look.

'You think you got it hard?'

Her mind skimmed over what had supposedly happened to her guest that evening and she found herself letting out a small giggle at the joke. Kish smirked at her in return.

Then, he asked, in a voice that she could only really describe as being husky. 'Isn't it accustom for humans to feel… pity for one another?' He asked.

Ichigo frowned. 'What do you mean?' She genuinely didn't know.

Well, of course she knew what pity meant – despite her epitome, she wasn't completely stupid (note of randomness: of which a commentary situation would deem her reply as 'what do you mean by completely?' accompanied by confused glares in the way of the author) – but not what context Kisshu held the question and, ultimately, her answer, in.

He shifted his position, so instead of being cross-legged against the wall, he was now on his knees. He edged closer to her location beside him and after this flurry of movement, she began to feel the first tendrils of anxiety in the pit of her stomach.

She leaned back instinctively. A flash of hurt crossed his face upon realising the rejection of sorts, but soon he had his usual, trademark smirk fall across his features once more.

Despite that, she was uncomfortable. Thoughts were already forming in her head…

I don't like his proximity, was one of the key string of words that flashed by for seconds duration.

When he leaned in close enough for her to feel his breath as he slowly inhaled and exhaled, Ichigo was about to push him away, when he spoke.

His voice was barely a whisper. He cocked his head towards hers, his right cheek brushing across her left as he spoke, lips to her ear. 'Do you pity me?'

Ichigo shuddered at the husky tone in his voice. Just hearing that voice speak in such a subdued, enigmatic manner made the fine hair on the back of her neck stand up in protest. She shivered.

Nervously, she replied, when she realised that this was what he was waiting for – her response. 'I-I guess so.' He moved his face away from her, their cheeks brushing together once again, and he looked directly into her eyes, face barely inches from her own, their noses almost coming into contact with one another.

When he made no move of pulling back any further, Ichigo found a frown arising to her face. 'What are you playing at, Kish?'

He adorned that almost irresistible and, to some extent, evil, smirk of his. 'Nothing.'

And then he moved back completely, this time sitting opposite to her, as her position had shifted to face him when he first leaned over.

Ichigo felt her frown deepen as she said, thinking more to herself than to him, really. 'You certainly seem to be feeling better.'

Kish looked up at her, his face suddenly moulding into a pout that, by all definition, as absolutely and totally cute of him – although she would never, ever truly admit it, or let herself get away with telling him so – and spoke, in a voice of similar impression to that of his face, 'Did you like me better when I was sick?'

She shook her head, 'But you were definitely more compliant.'

Kish then shrugged with all signature and remanence of the pout fading. 'That's just how people are when they're suffering from a fatal illness, is it not?'

Fatal.

Ichigo's eyes widened as the full meaning of his words registered in her mind.

'Fatal?' She repeated, voice stripped of any real emotion as she came to face with something she never really expected to feel in his presence and directed at her feelings for him themselves – denial.

The shock hit her furthur when, from his lips, there was no reply.

Kish simply stared down in silence.

Her eyes then narrowed as another thought crossed her mind. One that would exhaust all the questions she had to ask on this matter… 'Were you making that up? Just to see how I would react?'

He shook his head, shutting his eyes for an evanescent second.

A section of her mind wished he hadn't.

A section of her mind wished it was a joke, a test, a mockery of her.

Sure, she would be pissed off, but then she wouldn't feel this underlying feeling of utter dread that crossed over her mind when she was faced with the possibility of losing him. Something, of which, she had only ever felt for one other person. Masaya.

What-What does this mean? She found herself thinking – almost speaking – to herself, silently. This gave her pause, as she knew very well what she had felt for Masaya.

A large, audible breath was drawn by the dark-haired alien sitting across from her. Then, he spoke, in a low voice – a serious voice. Ichigo felt the dread swirling inside her stomach even more so than before. Joking was over. The same section of her mind wished it wasn't.

I wish a lot of things, she thought, and not all of them come true.

'No, I honestly don't know whether or not it is fatal but, considering the circumstances, I wouldn't put it past it.'

Whatever reply she might have – could have – would have – uttered died in her throat and she fell into silence.

Kish then turned to her, regaining himself somewhat, and smiled at her a little. A considerable amount of her burden seemed to lift, the dread clearing a little when she saw that small, awkward smile.

'But what the hey,' She looked up at him, in accordance with the change of tone, yet his eyes were elsewhere. His voice had adapted a light-hearted tone, yet there was the underlying prospect of something between the lines. An unidentified emotion filtered through his words.

She found out, a moment later when he continued to speak, that it was hurt.

'…Like you'd care if I disappeared.' He averted his gaze from the floor to her face, shut his eyes for a breif moment, and shot her the same smile. 'One less problem you'd have to deal with, that's for sure.' He stopped, abruptly, painfully – as if it hurt to continue.

And, she realised, it probably did.

She grimaced, her reflexes taking over. 'That's not true!' She said, voice raised, defiant.

Kish raised his eyebrows. She felt heat rise to her cheeks.

A dark, red blush, she was sure, had just crossed over her face. 'W-Well, what I mean is…' She stuttered, stumbling to find her words.

A silence stretched out between them in that moment in time. Before Kish could form a response, Ichigo found her train of thought and speech once more and continued, voice and face vague. She stood, right then, but refused to look at him when she spoke.

When she did, it came out in a low, underlying tone, much like the one Kish himself had adapted when mentioning his illness – which, of course, was what had gotten them to this stage in the first place. She cursed.

She couldn't back down now, she knew, so she forced herself to respond. She forced herself to face the confusion, to swallow her feelings and her fear, and to speak to him. 'I… I might care for you.'

Silence.

'I mean, I do, I think… I – Oh, god, I don't know…' She put her head in her hands. Slowly and carefully, she slid down the length of the wall, back into her original seating position. She didn't know why she stood in the first place, really.

She felt a hand on her shoulder. She knew who it was. She didn't look up.

'It's… ok?' Kish said, hesitantly. She heard a distinct sound – the sound of someone swallowing… feverishly… nervously… worriedly… 'Uh, I don't really know how do this very well.' His sudden, shakily confession caused her to look up.

'Do what?' She asked, genuinely confused by his words. They could be taken in so many way, really…

'Comforting people.' He blushed slightly. She smiled at it.

Ichigo bit back a laugh when it registered in her mind exactly what he had just said. She averted her gaze suddenly, unable to look at him, of course, without the possibility that she would suddenly burst into a hysterical fit of giggles.

'What?' He asked, suddenly defensive.

Ichigo grinned. 'That's so… strange, coming from you.'

'Coming from me?'

'Yeah. You're usually so… confident.' She said, and suddenly realised her mistake when he grinned wickedly.

Oh no. She thought…

I just fed the beast.

(The beast being his ego, of course.)

'Confident?' He repeated, grin still smothering his expression yet repeating the words hollowly. Ichigo frowned at his tone.

'Now you're DEFINITELY feeling better.' She mumbled. He, however, heard her anyway, and the grin he adorned only grew wider.

His face then softened. 'Yes, to some extent. While my body is, technically, still very weak, the stronghold of the virus' power on my mind has lessened somewhat, of which I am glad for.'

Ichigo nodded, albeit not particularly understanding the full meaning of his words.

When she spoke next, her voice was quiet.

'So… what now?'

He could interpret her words whichever way he wanted. In all actuality, the meaning was a bit of both.

Negotiation and emotion.

Kisshu genuinely considered what she had just asked. 'Business first,' he alleged, and then stood. Ichigo followed suit, wondering where the sudden officialty had arisen from.

She shrugged off all ponderings to await his next statement. A statement, of which, could possibly shape their future in more ways than one.

'Considering our current circumstances, with the added mystery and sudden enemy that this complication burdens us with, I do believe that simply battling it out like we always do is most definitely not the way to continue.' He said, speaking in the utmost seriousness. Ichigo was taken aback by the change of posture and tone in his voice.

Then it hit her how much about Kish she didn't know…

…But what was even more shocking was how much she wanted to know about him.

She barely had time to think on this new development, when Kish suddenly proposed his statement and decision, loud and clear and directly, summarising his sudden uprise in speech.

'I, Kisshu Haikari, propose a truce.'

Ichigo simply blinked in response.

End Note: I had two choices. Leave this where it was, or continue. I decided to try both options, and this ended up prevailing. My reason being, of course, that it would take me less time to write less, so I decided to utilise that privilege.

Chapter fifteen will, and I promise on this (since it's practically planned out and finished already), be released soon. Very soon.

Until Then - Sayonara,
Exangeline