*~ I Don't Love You, I Can't Love You ~*
*~ Chapter 26 ~*
*~ Is It A Cultural Thing? ~*

"Uma-chan?" Marley was stood in the kitchen door frame watching her move around the room as she finished cleaning, drying and then putting the dishes away.

"Yes?" she asked not pausing in her actions.

"What are your chores today?" he asked.

Uma put away the last plate and then dried her hands on the tea towel, "Um...I have to vacuum the house, make the bed, water the plants in the front," Uma thought about it, "And then I need to load the washing machine. I think that's all I have to do for now though."

"I'll help you," Marley said and moved over to the sink where he picked up an empty jug and began to fill it with water.

Uma - not without a slight hesitation first - put her hand on his arm and said, "You really don't have to. I can do it, it's fine."

"No, it'll all get done quicker if I help," Marley explained and turned off the tap when the jug was full. He turned to smile at her with that lop-sided grin, "Besides, I should help out more since I'm technically living here at the moment. No?"

Uma then smiled back and took her hand back, "Okay then. Thanks, Marley."

"Not a problem, Uma-chan," with that he leaned forward and pecked her nose like he had done last night. Uma's face exploded red as Marley moved around her and towards the door, "I'll water the plants and then, if you can show me where your vacuuming machine is and how to operate it, I can help you with that too."

She stared after him her cheeks bright red and just before he left the room she cried out, "Err, Marley, wait a minute!"

He turned back to her with a smile, "Yes, my dear?"

"Um," she felt completely flushed and looked around awkwardly for something to stare at other than him, "Err, the kissing thing. Um, is that a cultural thing for you? Because...um...well its, err, its..."

"It's an intimate action between humans?" Marley asked and then nodded, "Yes, I know," he then turned to go water the flowers, "I won't be a minute, Uma-chan."

She just stared after him with her cheeks on fire and her jaw hanging open.

Ichigo woke up with a groan. She had a splitting headache and of course that was from the level of emotion she was feeling today.

She wanted to tell her mum exactly why she couldn't face work today but then that would reduce her to tears and her mother would have surely taken the day off. While Ichigo appreciated everything her parent's did for her, she knew they needed the money that Sakura couldn't receive if she took the day off and she also wanted to be alone for a little while too.

She had taken a nap for a way to escape reality for a little while and now she just felt groggy and smothered. She kicked the blankets away and almost halfway across the room. Ichigo then sat up and leaned over holding her head in her hands, between her legs.

After a few deep breaths to calm herself from the raging emotions that were threateningly close to the surface, Ichigo lounged back on the couch and reached over for the remote. The television flickered on and after a few channels Ichigo found a movie on. Just a children's movie but why not? Who doesn't love Peter Pan?

Only problem was, while being visually busy, the rest of her being was not concentrating on anything and her emotions were still trying to slither in to her attention between the images of Tinkerbell and the lost boys.

Food! There was nothing like comfort eating when you were alone and depressed. She literally ran to kitchen and basically raided the cupboards for all the crisps and chocolate she could find. Returning to the living room she dumped it all on the ground and dived in.

An hour later with more than half of the food eaten, the film finished and Ichigo feeling like she had gained ten stone, the red-head was curled up on the ground between the tv and the couch weeping in to the cushion she held tightly in her arms.

It was no use in doing anything! It all just made her feel worse.

Suddenly she was being lifted from the ground and she dropped the cushion. She hadn't heard or seen anything - then again there wasn't much you could see with your eyes constantly flooding with tears.

The figure sat down on the couch and placed her on their lap with their arms around her. She blinked her eyes to clear away the salty liquid and looked up in to the person's face. The worried face that greeted her made her sob again.

"You came back to check on me?" she asked Kisshu between sobs.

He nodded, "Of course, I did. Koneko-chan, what's wrong? What's hurt you so much?"

She had to catch her breath so she could say the whole sentence otherwise he'd misunderstand and freak out. After another few deep breaths she looked up in to his eyes and whispered, "I broke up with Aoyama-kun."

After a moment of nothing there was anger in his face, "That bastard!"

"Kish no!" Ichigo captured his attention again by cupping his face and holding it in place, "I broke up him."

"But then..." Kisshu brought his hand up to cup one of hers that was on her cheek, "But then why are you so upset? If it was your choice...wouldn't you realise how much it was going to hurt you? Why did you do it?"

Despite how she felt Ichigo let a half-hearted laugh escape her lips in a breath and took her hands back holding them at her chest, "Don't act like you're not relieved," she then sighed.

His eyes narrowed at her making the false smile fall off of her face, "I'm not happy," Ichigo adverted her gaze, "Look at what its done to you. This is the exact reason I've been avoiding you."

Ichigo's eyes shot back to him and she sat up straight, "You have been avoiding me! I knew some thing was up! How is this the reason?"

"He was getting paranoid and kept cornering me while you changed or before you got in for work or whenever you weren't there!" Kisshu explained, "In the end to stop either of you from getting hurt I decided to leave you alone...but that's difficult when I live where you work," he sighed, "I avoided you so you could be happy. But I look at you now and you're far from happy."

She just adverted her gaze again. Then she remembered something, "Kisshu, you said something to him a few weeks ago. He turned up on my doorstep harassing my parents when they wouldn't let him in and he said that you had told him you would be here," Ichigo explained and then asked again, "Why did you say that? What exactly did you say to him?"

Kisshu groaned and lounged back against the couch staring up at the ceiling, "I know I shouldn't have provoked him but he cornered me again. I was hurting from not seeing you...and he wouldn't let me be. He just kept rubbing it in and telling me how much you hated me and that you were with him and that's how it was going to be...I'd had enough," Kisshu looked back and she was leaned in intrigued listening intently, "I didn't wanna take the hits anymore. Look," he lifted his shirt a little higher than it already was and Ichigo gasped a the faint green colouring of his skin, "It was purple but its healing now. That? Yeah, that was your boyfriend."

"He's not my boyfriend," Ichigo corrected not being able to tear her eyes away from the bruise even when he let the shirt fall back down again.

"Basically, I pushed back and told him I was going to visit you just to piss him off," Kisshu told her with a shrug, "Sorry."

She sighed and then shook her head, "Don't worry. I never realised how unstable he was," just then a sob leapt from her chest and she covered her face with her hands, "I knew this would be difficult but I can't be with someone who I'm afraid of! I don't ever wanna live my life in fear!"

Something snapped in Kisshu's head then and he gasped. He wrapped his arms around her so tightly as she cried and he whispered in to her hair as a silent tear fell from his own eye, "Oh my god! I'm so sorry, Koneko-chan! I'm so sorry!"

Just then her eyes almost bulged out of her skull and she clamped one of her hands over her mouth whilst pushing away from Kisshu with the other.

"Ichigo?" Kisshu asked jumping up and following her as she sprinted away and up to the bathroom.

Just in time she leaned over the toilet and threw up. Kisshu just held her hair back with one hand and used the other to rub her back in a comforting circular motion.

Ichigo realised it was all the comfort eating mixed with the depression.

"Kisshu?" she asked when she stopped retching, "Will you stay with me today?"

"If you want me to," he nodded enthusiastically.

Ichigo nodded back, "Thank you. I need someone right now."

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