"You're in trouble now, kitten."

Ichigo felt like her heart was beating in her throat. She could hear the sound of her blood pumping through her ears as she caught her breath. The breeze swept through the hair on her … tail? Ichigo realized in that moment that her cat ears and tail had both made an appearance in the heat of the moment. She flexed her cat ears so that they flattened against her head.

"Cat got your tongue?" Quiche teased in a low voice. Ichigo felt his thumb gently stroking her hip bone – and that's when she realized Quiche still had his hands all over her.

"Shut up!" Ichigo hissed, scrunching her nose and scowling. She abruptly shoved Quiche's chest with both hands. He took a step back, and Ichigo jumped off the ledge he had placed her on just minutes before. She dusted her dress off haughtily, still struggling to sift through the chaotic whirlwind of emotion circling her head. "This is all your fault!" Ichigo moaned. She began to pace the length of the rooftop, rubbing the sides of her face with her hands.

"What is?" Quiche asked innocently. He stretched his arms over his head and followed Ichigo with his eyes as she paced back and forth.

"Don't play stupid!" Ichigo snapped at him, glaring down at her feet. She was rubbing her temples with her fingertips to ease the pounding of her heartbeat in her ears. "As if I wasn't confused before! As if I wasn't already questioning literally everything! How the heck am I supposed to sort through this mess now?!"

Ichigo saw Quiche raise an eyebrow in surprise. "Hang on there, kitten," he interjected, "when you say you were 'confused before'…"

Ichigo scowled at him in frustration. Her words were loud and reckless. "Oh, don't try to play dumb about that either!" she exclaimed. "You knew what you were doing to me!"

Quiche opened and closed his mouth. He cocked his head to the side, watching her curiously. "Fair," he said, "but all I did was light a match. You're the one who just poured gasoline on the flame."

Ichigo grit her teeth. "Cut it out with the riddles already," she snapped, stopping her pacing to point an angry finger at Quiche. "You're the one who's been ruining my relationship for the past two weeks!"

Quiche clicked his tongue. "In case you forgot," he drawled, his eyes flicking from Ichigo's eyes to her lips, "you're the one who kissed me just now."

Ichigo let out a groan of frustration and spun in a circle. She pulled on her cat ears with both hands. Quiche was right – she was no longer blameless in their complicated relationship. Ichigo knew she could no longer shove her feelings about Quiche under a rug. And Masaya was unlikely to give her yet another chance.

Oh no. Masaya.

Ichigo heaved a deep breath of the crisp night air. She felt almost sick to her stomach. She crossed her arms and cast her gaze to the purple-tinted horizon. She couldn't even picture what Masaya would do if she had to tell him what had just happened. "Masaya is going to freak out," she muttered under her breath.

Ichigo was in a daze as she began to run through every scenario in her head – every way Masaya could scathingly, painfully break up with her. Would he tell her how much of a bad girlfriend she was? Call her a liar? Tell her about how much she had wronged him? Ichigo was too busy picturing Masaya throwing her engagement ring in the Sumida river to notice Quiche walking up behind her. She gasped when she felt one arm snake around her waist, and the other across her shoulders. His breath was warm, tickling the fine hairs on the side of her face as he murmured in her ear: "Don't worry kitten, this time I promise not to kiss and tell."

Ichigo felt like she was melting back into him again. Her better judgement found itself drowned out once more by the warm, fiery sensation in the pit of her stomach. She inhaled sharply, intending to tell him to let go, but her breath caught in her throat when she felt his lips on the side of her neck.

Ichigo felt dizzy; her cat features were already triggered. She began to feel a familiar sensation of a transformation extending from her chest out to the tips of her fingers.

No, no, no, she thought frantically, I haven't turned into a cat in months! Stay calm!

It was no use — Ichigo helplessly felt her body shrink as she was enveloped in a warm, pinkish light. She could barely make out the feeling of Quiche's hands grasping for her body as she felt herself growing smaller and smaller.

Finally, Ichigo felt the warmth fade from her chest. She opened her eyes and found herself staring into Quiche's shocked expression. He was holding her by her middle, at eye level, looking about as bewildered as Ichigo had ever seen. She realized that he had no idea about her turning into a cat when she got too flustered.

"Uhh, kitten?" Quiche started hesitantly, searching Ichigo's feline eyes, "...why are you an actual kitten?"

Ichigo squirmed in his grip. As funny as it was to see Quiche in a state of confusion, she knew what she had to do to get herself back to normal. In one swift movement, she used her front paws to leap forward out of Quiche's grasp and towards his face. Her mouth connected with his lips as Quiche stumbled back in surprise. Ichigo felt the transformation reversing almost immediately — but she was already falling. Once she got feeling in one of her hands, Ichigo caught on to Quiche shirt. She yelped as she fell towards him suddenly and they both went tumbling to the ground.

Ichigo shook the starry daze out of her eyes after her transformation back into a human. She realized she was sitting on Quiche's lap. He was leaning back on his elbows — their faces were less than a foot apart as Ichigo came to her senses.

Ichigo found herself getting lost in Quiche's eyes again as they both caught their breath. She relished the rhythm of their breathing falling in sync, with the distant sounds of the city humming in the background. The air felt still, quiet around them, when it has been so heated and loud just minutes before. The way Quiche searched Ichigo's expression made her feel simultaneously shy and captivated. He looked at her like she was everything, like he had waited his whole life to be in that moment with her. Those few seconds of time felt precious, volatile.

Ichigo didn't even recognize that she was speaking until the words were coming from her mouth. "So you'll stay?" she murmured quietly.

She watched Quiche swallow as his eyes flicked back and forth between hers. "For you, anything," he murmured. His tone was reverent, the flirtatious edge to his voice long gone. They stayed immersed in the heavy silence for a beat more.

Ichigo wasn't sure why she had suddenly asked him to stay, but she was glad she did. She was hesitant to shatter the mood; to disturb the uncharacteristically serious air hanging heavy around them. She tilted her head to one side and instinctually lifted a hand to gingerly touch the skin under Quiche's left eye, where Masaya's fist had left a splotchy, angry mark. Quiche winced, but quickly hid it under a smirk.

"I'm lucky my nose isn't broken," he muttered, sensing Ichigo's concern with his bruised face. "Or my neck snapped from you jumping on me. Since when do you turn into an actual kitten?"

Ichigo grimaced, laughing nervously. "Uh, I've always kinda been able to do it since I became a mew," she murmured, "though I can't really control it."

"So, why just now?" Quiche asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Ah, mm…" Ichigo started nervously, averting her eyes. She always found it hard to describe the exact circumstances behind her transformation into a cat. It was more complicated than just feelings of love or a kiss. "I suppose it's just … when I get really overwhelmed? But like … usually I'm with Aoyama when it happens…" she said, trailing off. The topic was awkward, hard to describe to Quiche, who would so easily twist her words.

Quiche appeared to connect the dots in his head. A look of understanding passed over his features. He grinned. "Mm, okay, so it happens when you're turned on."

Ichigo immediately felt her face grow hot. Quiche was not wrong, but she was embarrassed to admit it. Realizing she was still on Quiche's lap, she jumped up and smoothed the front of her dress haughtily, "D-don't say it like that!" She crossed her arms and averted her eyes, scowling.

Quiche stood up and dusted off his hands nonchalantly. "Well this is an interesting turn of events," he remarked. Ichigo flinched as she felt the tips of his fingers under her chin. He tilted her head up towards him. His expression was playful, curious. "Wanna try it again?"

Ichigo batted his hand away with the back of her wrist, letting out a frustrated sigh. "You're such a pest," she groaned, turning and beginning to pace the rooftop again. "My life might as well be over and you can't even take me seriously."

"If you'd like, I can make it easy for you," Quiche called after Ichigo, who had crossed to the other side of the roof as she paced. "Give me that stupid ring and I can throw it somewhere you'll never find it."

Ichigo groaned. "That's not the point!" she said. "Masaya leaves for London the day after tomorrow!"

Quiche blinked under Ichigo's glare. "How long does it take to call him and dump him? Five minutes? Ten?"

"It's not that simple and you know it," Ichigo growled in frustration. "I can't just leave!"

"You can't just stay either," Quiche countered. He crossed his arms. "You're backed into a corner now, kitten. I'm many things but I'm not a liar. I mean it when I say I'll keep my mouth shut. But if Aoyama tries to break my nose again, I'm going to kick his ass for real this time."

"Keep your mouth shut and he won't!" Ichigo argued, clenching her fists.

"Tell him the truth and he will," Quiche said. "And I can't promise you I won't snap his arm if he tries."

Ichigo let out a huff of frustration. Quiche was right. It was her move, and she needed to take action when it came to her relationship with Masaya. It felt like she was back to square one – back to hiding things from Masaya – except now, the stakes were even higher. How could she possibly move forward from this? How could she tell him what had just happened without losing him?

She glanced up at the dark, purplish sky and realized that she had no idea what time it was. She didn't have the faintest idea how long they had been up on the roof. Ichigo blew her bangs out of her face and stomped over to where she had tossed her tote bag.

"I need to head home," she muttered. She picked up her bag and slung it over her shoulder. "I'm already late. My parents are probably freaking out."

"I'll take you there," Quiche offered, extending a hand as an invitation. Ichigo realized he meant teleporting. She glanced from his hand to his playful expression. She frowned. She wasn't sure of the time, but she knew it was late. She could lessen the wrath of her parents by saving herself the fifteen minutes it usually took to walk back home from the café, so she was not in a position to reject Quiche's offer. She noted curiously that Quiche still remembered where she lived, but decided to not read too far into it. At least, not tonight.

"Fine," Ichigo agreed reluctantly. "But make sure we land somewhere outside my house so I can walk in like normal. And it has to be somewhere people won't see us."

"Done and done," Quiche agreed. Ichigo nodded, satisfied, and slipped her hand into his. Quiche pulled her towards him and wrapped his arm around her waist. She realized in that moment that it felt like dancing.

She closed her eyes as she felt the ground disappearing from beneath her feet. A rushing wind whipped through her hair; her stomach dropped at the feeling of falling suddenly. Then, she felt the ground beneath her toes again.

The air was still around them, with only a faint sound of cars passing through the highway nearby. Ichigo opened her eyes and recognized that Quiche had teleported them to a narrow alleyway just a block or so from her house, between an apartment building and a corner store. It was dark, a dim street light illuminating the sidewalk just to her left. Ichigo let out a deep breath, then stepped back from Quiche. His hand around her waist traveled down her arm instead, coming to rest in her other hand so that both of her hands were in his.

Ichigo let him hold her hands for half a second before she snatched them back, holding them up to her chest. In that strange, still moment, Ichigo suddenly felt sad. It was the same sadness of leaving a place knowing you'd never return, like locking the door to an old house, or leaving a classroom for the last time. When she looked up at Quiche, she knew he felt it too. Nothing would be the same after that night. Something had to give.

"I'll walk you the rest of the way," Quiche offered, jerking his head in the direction of the sidewalk. Ichigo shook her head.

"I – it's okay. I should go." She didn't know why she was suddenly so shy around him. She took two steps backwards before turning and beginning to walk towards the light of the streetlight.

Once she reached the sidewalk, Ichigo only got a few steps down the walkway before she turned around. She saw Quiche watching her from the corner of the alleyway. She tried not to appear surprised. He leaned up against the side of the building nonchalantly, hands in his pockets. It was hard to ignore the striking way the dim light of the streetlight illuminated the shimmering gold in his eyes, fixed intently on her.

"Goodnight, Ichigo," Quiche called after her as she caught his eye. The way he said her name made her stomach jump. "Thanks for the kiss."

The air around Quiche shimmered and grew distorted. His silhouette disappeared into the night air. Ichigo's mind was spinning as she remembered how he had referenced some of his first words to her — "thanks for the kiss" — after their dance a few nights ago. He had done it again, just now. She touched her fingers to her lips and wondered what she should do now.

The night felt like a balloon bursting from too much air; like a cap popping off a shaken soda bottle. Everything that had been contained for so long had just come rushing to the surface in a few explosive minutes. Ichigo wasn't sure if there was even a way back, a way to extinguish the burning in her chest. After all, she couldn't force the soda back in the shaken bottle, and she couldn't rewind time back to before Quiche told her he was still in love with her.

After removing her engagement ring to hide it from her parents, Ichigo seemed to drift the rest of the way to her house in a daze. She hardly registered the conversation with her mom as she slipped her shoes off in the entryway of her home. It wasn't until she was upstairs in her bedroom, collapsed on the fluffy, pale pink sheets of her comforter, that she realized she was really, truly backed into a corner. And Masaya only had two days left in Tokyo. She pulled the diamond ring out of her cardigan pocket and tilted it so that it caught the soft light of her bedside lamp.

Ichigo turned over onto her stomach, buried her face in her pillow and screamed.

Quiche watched Ichigo stand and stare at the spot where he had just been. He sat, legs crossed, floating just twenty yards above where he had stood moments before – high enough that Ichigo couldn't see that he was still watching her. He saw her lift a hand to her lips before turning and walking back to her house. It took every fiber of restraint not to snatch her up again, just to get a few extra minutes with her in that white dress, with lips that tasted like strawberries and broken promises. As soon as Ichigo was inside her house, Quiche disappeared from the air above the suburban street and reappeared in his room in the upstairs quarters of the café, collapsing on his bed with a long, heavy breath.

He ran one hand through his hair and tried to focus on his breathing, staring emptily at the ceiling of the room. How was the last hour even real? Quiche could scarcely believe he hadn't dreamt the whole night. After all, how many times had he visualized kissing her like that? How many times had he pictured holding her body against him, her hands on his chest? His breath caught in his throat as he recalled the feeling of gripping the soft, warm skin of her thighs. The sheer bliss of kissing her neck; her sweet, intoxicating smell clouding his senses.

When she sighed into his lips, he felt like he had reached nirvana.

God, I need a cold shower.

Quiche swung his legs over the side of the bed and drifted to the door. He was halfway down the hall to the shared bathroom when he heard a voice from behind him.

"Are you packed for the morning?"

It was Pie. Quiche turned to see him leaning against the doorframe of his room. He was still in the white dress shirt and black pants of his café uniform. Pie's expression was unreadable per usual, much to Quiche's annoyance. He struggled with what to say to his friend while trying to set aside the burning feeling all over his body and memories of his hands running up and down Ichigo's perfect legs.

"I changed my mind," Quiche finally managed. He stopped and leaned against the doorframe of the bathroom nonchalantly. He picked at his nails – a nervous tic he had developed to relieve stress during difficult conversations.

"Is that so?" Pie said coolly. Quiche lifted his eyes to Pie as he continued. "Why is that?"

Quiche did his best to appear casual, shrugging a little too hard. "Figured it'd be hard on you all if I left now." He paused briefly before forcing a grin across his face. "I know you'd miss me too much."

Pie didn't look convinced. He raised one eyebrow and said nothing for a beat. Pie had spent the past two days arguing with Quiche about why he needed him there, on Earth. Quiche knew the sudden change of mind would likely seem to come out of left field, but he hoped that Pie would be happy with his decision all the same. After all, he had gotten his way.

"I see," Pie said finally. "Interesting, considering Momomiya asked me where your room was about an hour ago."

Quiche locked his jaw. He was caught in his lie. He hadn't considered that Ichigo might have asked Pie about his whereabouts. Pie continued: "I assume she found you?"

Quiche knocked his jaw back and forth and crossed his arms defensively. He lifted his chin slightly. "Mm, yep."

He challenged Pie with the silence that followed, staring back at him in a sort of battle of insinuation. After a few seconds of heavy silence, Quiche tilted his head to the side. "What of it?"

Pie narrowed his eyes. "Don't be an idiot, Quiche," he muttered. "I know that look in your eye. Don't fall prey to idle thoughts and fanciful visions of something we both know is impossible. You must stay the course on your own merit, not on the wing of fantasy."

Quiche felt a snap of anger rip through his throat, but it was quickly lulled by the taste of strawberry lip gloss that lingered on his lips. He knew this was different. He knew it by the way she touched the bruise under his eye, by the way she looked at him like she was seeing him for the first time. It was everything he had dreamed of and more. For the first time, there was a chance. A crack in the fortress, a gap just wide enough to slip through. What had seemed impossible a mere two weeks ago was suddenly just out of his grasp. Close, but not close enough. Too close to lose.

She had to be his. He had never wanted anything more in his life.

"More than visions, Pie," Quiche replied, allowing a smirk to tug at his lips. "You'll see soon enough."

A look of surprise passed over Pie's features just briefly, a small flicker of curiosity alight in his bright grey eyes. Quiche reveled in having the upper hand in their banter. Feeling confident, he shifted his weight to his other hip and sighed as he added, "Mm, unless you'd like to hear all of the juicy details? Maybe you can trade me for the story behind why you're writing love letters to Midorikawa, if we want to talk about fanciful visions."

The surprise in Pie's expression was quickly replaced with anger. He furrowed his brow. Quiche saw his muscles tense under his shirt. "I don't know what you're talking about," Pie muttered through clenched teeth. His voice was calm, but a slight edge of repressed fury betrayed his true feelings.

"You have ink smudged on your hand," Quiche pointed out, nodding to Pie's hand crossed over his arm. Pie lifted his hand just slightly to look as Quiche continued, "I haven't seen you write a letter by hand in ages – a wild guess, and judging by your reaction, I suppose I guessed right. Now tell me, how are your idle thoughts treating you these days?"

Pie scowled and crossed his hands behind his back. "You disgust me," he growled, turning to retreat back into his room. Quiche grinned.

"Glad we had this chat, Pie!"

Pie slammed his door behind him.

Quiche turned to head into the bathroom, but another door flew open down the hall. Tart stuck his head out and made a face at Quiche.

"What the hell is his problem?" Tart muttered, jerking his head towards Pie's closed door.

Quiche shrugged. "Beats me. Oh, by the way, I'm sticking around for a bit more."

"Wait, what?!"

"Don't ask, short stack," Quiche replied, stepping onto the cold bathroom tile. He stuck his head out and grinned back at Tart's shocked face. "You'll have to take a rain check on my long-winded speech about brotherhood and camaraderie, I'm afraid. Sleep tight, and better shut your mouth or you'll catch flies in there."

Tart clapped his jaw shut just as Quiche slammed the bathroom door. He rolled his eyes and ducked back into his room with a sigh.

"Geez, what a bunch of drama queens."

(A.N./

Thank you so much for all of the lovely reviews on the last chapter! I want to give a special shoutout to all of my readers from Vietnam and from the UK – There are SO MANY of you!

Please let me know what you thought of this chapter. I adore all of your encouragement and support!)