Kitten Love Chapter 26:

Swords

The next day was Saturday, and Kisshu and Ichigo met Moe and Miwa in Inohara Park, and they sat down under the sakura tree to talk.

"Keiichiro took my sword again," Moe complained.

"Hey, at least the police didn't take it," Kisshu said. "Which reminds me, didn't you want to learn sword fighting?"

"Yep," Moe said. "I like swords."

"I can probably teach you the basics," Kisshu said. "I'm better with two swords, but I can fight with one as well. Let's go to the Café, and we can ask Keiichiro if you can take the sword for a while."

"Okay!" Moe said happily.

Kisshu smiled and said, "Everyone grab on."

The girls obeyed, and Kisshu teleported them to Café Mew Mew, landing in the main room. "I guess he's in the basement," Kisshu said, and led the way to the stairs. When they got to the door, Kisshu knocked.

"Who is it?" Keiichiro called.

"It's us," Ichigo called. She opened the door, and Keiichiro looked up.

"What's up?" he asked.

"Do you have the Crimson Warrior's sword still?" Kisshu asked.

"Yeah, why?" Keiichiro asked.

"Moe wants to learn sword fighting," Kisshu said. "I can probably teach her some, but I figured I'd let her use the sword she stole, since mine are meant to be used at the same time."

"That thing is huge!" Keiichiro said.

"Your point?" Moe asked.

Keiichiro sighed. "Just don't tell your parents," he said. "I don't want to get arrested, since we'd have no one to use my equipment if that happened."

"Pai could, but that's probably besides the point," Kisshu said.

"I won't tell my parents," Moe said. "They'd freak anyways."

Keiichiro just sighed again and went to the wall, pressing a button on it. A panel opened up, and Keiichiro took the sword out. "I can't believe I'm letting a thirteen-year-old walk off with a sword," he muttered.

"I'm fourteen," Kisshu commented. "But then again, I started training when I was seven."

"Wow…" Moe said.

Keiichiro handed her the sword, and said, "Try not to kill yourself or something."

"I won't let that happen," Kisshu said. "You sound like Pai. He's such a worrywart."

"Where are we doing this?" Moe asked.

"Let's go back to the park, Keiichiro will have a fit if we do it upstairs," Kisshu said. "Grab on."

The girls obeyed, and Kisshu teleported back to the park, this time to a more secluded area. As soon as they landed, Kisshu said, "Miwa, Ichigo, you should back up some. There's a bench over there."

"K," Ichigo said, and she and Miwa went to sit on the bench as Kisshu turned to Moe. "Let me see the sword," he said. Moe handed it over, and Kisshu took it, testing the weight of it while looking at the blade. "Is this at all too heavy for you?" he asked.

"No, it feels fine," Moe said.

"Okay," Kisshu said. "The blade seems fine. I was checking to make sure the Crimson Warrior hadn't done anything weird to it, like poisoning it." He handed the blade back, and said, "You need to hold that with two hands, whether it feels light or not. With a blade that big, it'll be easier for your opponent to get it away from you if you don't have a firm grip on it. Weight isn't the only factor here; you also have to think about size."

Moe had been holding it one-handed, but she put her other hand around the hilt as well. Kisshu came over and looked at the way she was holding it, then adjusted her hands a bit. "Two-handed swords are harder to use than one-handed swords," he told her. "It's probably going to be tempting to take one hand off, but you can't." Kisshu took out his swords, and said, "Try lunging at me."

Moe raised her sword a bit, and lunged at Kisshu, who dodged, then asked, "Do you have enough strength to lift that sword over your head, then try to bring it down?"

"I can try," Moe said. She lifted the sword over her head, then started to bring it down. Kisshu raised his swords in an 'X', preparing to catch her blade, but was startled when she changed direction and aimed for his chest instead. He flew back, then smiled. "You're good at this," he said.

Meanwhile, with Miwa and Ichigo: Miwa and Ichigo were watching this, when Miwa heard Ichigo make a small sound. She turned- and saw that Ichigo's eyes had gone blank, and she was shaking. Miwa reached out and shook Ichigo, but didn't get any response. Worried, she shouted, "Kisshu! Something's wrong with Ichigo!"

Kisshu held up a hand, stopping Moe, then turned and ran over. Ichigo's eyes were still blank, and Kisshu asked, "What happened?"

"I don't know, we were watching you two, and she made a sound, sort of like a whimper, and when I turned, her eyes had gone blank," Miwa said. "I don't know what happened."

Kisshu looked worried, and asked, "Did she make the sound before or after Moe tried that attack?"

"Right when Moe switched the direction of her sword," Miwa said.

"I know what happened," Kisshu said grimly. "That's the move Deep Blue used to kill me. She's gone into shock from remembering that."

"What do we do?" Miwa asked.

"I'll call Pai, you go explain to Moe what happened," Kisshu said, and closed his eyes as Miwa ran to Moe.

Pai teleported in a few minutes later, and asked, "Okay, what happened?"

"I was teaching Moe how to use a sword, and she somehow used the exact same move Deep Blue used to kill me," Kisshu said. "Ichigo saw, and I think she went into shock from remembering that."

Pai put a hand on Ichigo's forehead as Moe and Miwa came back over. His hand began to glow, and then he tapped her forehead. Ichigo's eyes went back to normal, but she looked scared. "Kisshu?" she asked.

"I'm right here, are you okay?" Kisshu asked.

Ichigo threw herself at him, hugging him as she buried her face in his shoulder. Kisshu hugged back, tightening his grip as he felt her shoulders shaking. "I'm fine, don't worry," he said softly. Over her head he said, "Moe, I think the sword lessons are going to be a bad idea. I'm sorry, but I want you to switch back to hand-to-hand fighting."

Moe sighed, but said, "Okay."

Kisshu nodded, and said, "I think I should take Ichigo home, do you two want to come, or go home?"

"I think I'll go home," Miwa said. "Moe, maybe you should go with Kisshu and Ichigo."

"K," Moe said.

Kisshu picked up Ichigo bridal style, and said, "Moe, grab my shoulder."

Moe obeyed, and Kisshu teleported to the living room. Sakura was in there, and she looked up, startled. "What happened?" she asked worriedly.

"I was teaching Moe how to use a sword, and she somehow replicated the move Deep Blue used to kill me," Kisshu said. "Ichigo apparently went into shock from remembering, so I called Pai, and he woke her up. I told Moe no more sword lessons, it doesn't seem to be very good for Ichigo. I'm going to take Ichigo upstairs to rest."

"Okay," Sakura said. "Is she going to be okay?"

"I think she just needs to rest, and I need to be there," Kisshu said. "Moe, are you coming?"

"Hai," Moe said. She followed Kisshu upstairs and watched as he gently tucked Ichigo into their bed.

"You can have the desk chair," Kisshu told Moe softly. Moe sat down as Kisshu settled on the bed and started stroking Ichigo's hair. She leaned into his hand a bit, but didn't start purring like usual.

"I'm sorry about this," Moe said softly.

"You didn't know, it's not your fault," Kisshu said. "It's too bad we can't continue, I think you'd get pretty good. I don't think any beginner I've seen would have tried that move. You're already really good at hand-to-hand fighting, though, so I think that will have to do it."

"I just hope the Crimson Jerk doesn't get his sword back," Moe said. "I do wonder what Birdy meant by him 'keeping you out of commission', though."

"Me too," Kisshu said. "It's strange, because I feel fine."

"What if whatever is supposed to keep you out of commission would only appear in battle?" Moe suggested. "They want to keep you from fighting, and protecting Ichigo."

"Does that mean Ichigo's going to die like in my dream?" Kisshu asked.

"No, because now you've got me and Miwa," Moe said. "We've always protected Ichigo; we're not going to stop because some weirdoes decide they want her dead. We're not afraid of those jerks."

Kisshu smiled slightly. "Good."

They noticed that Ichigo seemed to be stirring, and Kisshu asked softly, "Koneko-chan?"

"Kishy?" Ichigo asked.

"I'm here, are you okay?" Kisshu asked.

"I think I'm fine, but what about you?" Ichigo asked.

"I'm fine, the one I'm worried about is you," Kisshu said.

"Should I leave you two alone?" Moe asked.

"Moe?" Ichigo asked, puzzled.

"Yeah," Moe said. "I'm really sorry about earlier, Ichigo. Kisshu and I have decided I'd be better off not using a sword, in case this happens again."

"Thanks…" Ichigo said. "I don't like remembering…."

"Neither do I," Kisshu said. "I don't like to remember seeing you dead."

"Wait, Ichigo died too?" Moe asked.

"I poured all my power into Kisshu to revive him, and then he used Mew Aqua to revive me," Ichigo said. "He was NOT happy with me for basically killing myself."

"I wouldn't be either," Moe said. "I don't think anyone would be."

"You're probably right," Ichigo said. "I can't live without Kishy, though."

"And I can't live without you, which is why I got so upset," Kisshu said.

Moe smiled and said, "I'll leave you two alone. I have to get home. See you Monday!"

"K," Ichigo said. "Ja ne!"

Moe smiled and left. A few minutes later, Sakura came in and said, "Ichigo, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Mom," Ichigo said. "I'm hungry though."

Sakura smiled, and said, "I made some fried fish, do you want to come down and eat?"

"Fish?" Ichigo and Kisshu asked hopefully.

"Yes, lots of fish," Sakura said, giggling. "Your cat genes are kicking in, aren't they?"

"Fish…." Ichigo said dreamily.

Sakura giggled again and said, "The fish is downstairs."

Ichigo and Kisshu jumped up and ran downstairs for fish, leaving Sakura giggling at their antics.

Next chapter might have a surprise, but I'm not sure yet. Please review!