"Sometime all I think about is you,
Late nights in the middle of June,
Heat waves been faking me out,
Can't make you happier now." - Heat Waves by Glass Animals
Ichigo tilted her head backwards until her chocolate eyes met with two familiar golden orbs, looking at her adoringly. Kisshu smiled softly down at the cat mew, he couldn't believe he was holding his kitten again. He frowned slightly when he noticed tears well up in Ichigo's eyes. He turned Ichigo fully around to face him and lifted his hand up to wipe away her tears.
"K-Kisshu? What? How?" Ichigo started to feel flustered as she tried to piece together the questions in her head about the alien figure in front of her. "But you died! I saw your body get thrown off of Deep Blue's sword and pass away in my arms!" Ichigo's tears started falling harder and faster as she recalled the tragedy, "How are you alive?!"
Kisshu pulled Ichigo into his arms, petting her to try and calm her down. The other Mews stared in awe as they saw a different side of Kisshu, one that wasn't hell bent on destroying them and maniacally laughing towards them with his twin daggers; instead they saw a softer side of him, one that only Ichigo had the privilege of receiving. Kisshu let his kitten calm down for a moment and once her breathing leveled, he cupped her face in hands and raised her face so their eyes met.
"The Mew Aqua you used to save Earth and your friends revived me," Kisshu smiled softly, only to replace it with a face of disgust, "even your little Earth boy revived from it." Ichigo's face scrunched up in annoyance at the nickname Kisshu calls Aoyama. She was relieved however, seeing her old enemy alive and well, and now a member of the team. Ichigo pushed Kisshu off of her and turned away to hide a small blush forming across her cheeks from being held a little too close to the now older alien. Ichigo turned and bowed in front of Kisshu, still hiding the small blush.
"I'm relieved that you're alive," Ichigo stood up and noticed the other Mews, Ryou, and Keiichiro smiling at her. It took her a moment but she realized that they knew something she didn't. "Did you guys know?"
Everyone nodded in tandem. Ichigo's face faltered to a state of shock and then to frustration, "Why didn't anyone tell me?! You all had me thinking he was dead for crying out loud! You all saw how rattled with guilt I felt!" Ichigo started stomping at the ground, her cat ears popped out as she was overwhelmed with emotions. Retasu ran over to Ichigo and grabbed her hands, concern written on Retasu's face for her dear friend's emotional well being.
"We didn't know how to tell you! You were broken down for days Ichigo and we were all too scared to tell you. Not to mention shortly after, you left for London with Masaya and then the whole Saint Rose incident, and you were feeling better up until today; plus Kisshu didn't want you to know!" Retasu gasped and covered up her mouth, regretting the last statement she made. Ichigo was baffled, she spun around with a hurt expression to meet Kisshu's gaze. Ichigo walked towards him and pointed to Retasu, "What does she mean Kisshu?! You didn't want me to know you were alive?! Why?!"
Kisshu's eyes glowed with sadness and hurt; it's not like he didn't want her to know, but more like it would have been better for her to never know. He knew how in love Ichigo was with Aoyama, sickeningly in love in Kisshu's eyes. He figured he was better off letting Ichigo go and grow old with the human, despite his overwhelming desire to have her. To take her away from Earth and bring her back to his planet where he can shower her with newfound wealth and riches. Take her on new adventures, not only on his planet but in space as well. Kisshu would give his kitten not only the world, but the entire galaxy for her to explore.
Kisshu crossed his arms over his chest and released a deep sigh, "I wanted you to know, but," Ichigo put her arms down, now playing with the hem of her overcoat, hanging onto Kisshu's words, "I figured it would be better for you to not know and to be with that human boy you love oh so much." The last bit of his sentence slipped out like venom. Ichigo knew how much he was jealous of Aoyama, but not to the full extent Kisshu wishes she could understand. Ichigo inched her face closer to Kisshu, rage in her eyes. How dare he think he knew what was better for me! Ichigo thought as she raised her hand up closer to Kisshu's face. He squeezed his eyes shut, bracing for a slap to the face, but was met with a simple flick on the nose. Kisshu blinked a couple of times, confused, but relieved that Ichigo has gotten better with her temper over the past year. He laughed boisterously, placing a hand over his stomach and his head going backwards. He smiled brightly at Ichigo who seemed to have calmed down a bit by the sudden burst of laughter.
"Oh kitty-cat, I'm glad that I've earned only a small punishment from you," Kisshu ran his fingers through one of Ichigo's pigtails, "maybe later you can punish me in different ways." He winked at Ichigo, causing a bigger blush to form over her cheeks and nose. Minto faked a gag just as Ichigo turned to face away from Kisshu to restrain from punching him. He hadn't changed much, she thought, but she was slightly glad for that. She missed his antics and terrible flirty lines he would throw at her during and outside of battle.
"Welcome back Kisshu, I missed you," Ichigo muttered under her breath, half hoping the green-haired alien didn't hear her.
"I'm happy to be back kitten!" Kisshu gleefully smiled. Ichigo smiled to herself hearing the nicknames he had given her, bringing back memories of the small amount of times he didn't act awful towards her back in the day. Minto clapped her hands together causing a pop sound to echo throughout the basement of the café. Everyone turned their attention to the bird Mew who wore a disgruntled look on her face. "As much as I am happy Ichigo will no longer be a crying mess,"
"Hey!"
"Can we please get back to the matter at hand? The whole other alien issue." Minto side-eyed the three aliens and looked towards Ryou. He nodded in agreement, lifting himself off the computer to speak clearer and for his voice to carry in the room.
"Let's go upstairs and sit down to discuss the following steps and how we will be dealing with the problem. Keiichiro, please prepare everyone some cake and tea." Ryou started heading towards the doorway to head upstairs.
Keiichiro nodded, "Of course, I would be delighted to. I'm assuming everyone wants their usual?" The Mews and Tasuku nodded vigorously with excitement. "Kisshu, Taruto, Pai, did you want to try what some of the girls are having?" The three aliens nodded, Kisshu pointing towards Ichigo, to say he wants to have what she's having; Keiichiro chuckled under his breath. He enjoyed seeing the aliens being comrades instead of enemies, it was going to make their days livelier. Keiichiro started towards the stairs with the Mews and the aliens tailing right behind him. Once up the stairs Tasuku and Berry grabbed three circle tables and pushed them together in the center of the cafe, pulling twelve of the pink and white chairs to their makeshift banquet table. Purin pulled Taruto over to the tables, despite him struggling and trying to convince the yellow mew that he can walk on his own, they sat next to each other at one of the heads of the table. Taruto crossed his arms over chest as Purin started rambling about her day, pretending to not be interested in whatever antics she was spouting out. Kisshu smirked over at the youngest alien, watching as a small blush grew on Taruto's face as Purin grabbed his hand while talking.
Zakuro started walking towards the center of the table, sitting herself down with an unreadable expression. Minto took this as a queue to sit next to her idol, rushing over to the spot right beside Zakuro, making sure to glare at Ichigo as she sat down. Ichigo glared back and scoffed at the idea of her stealing Zakuro away from Minto, there was no way she was going to get in the middle of Minto spending as much time as she can with her idol while she still can. Retasu invited Pai to sit next to her to discuss how everything has changed on his planet and exchange details of their lives. Pai agreed, walking Retasu over to sit beside Purin and Taruto, who have now started to eat Purin's secret stash of candy she hides in the cafe for her shifts. Berry and Tasuku have taken the chairs beside Minto and Zakuro, across from Retasu and Pai, talking amongst themselves.
"Why don't we sit together kitten?" Kisshu snapped Ichigo from deep thought with his inquiry. Ichigo turned her head to look over at Kisshu standing beside her and giving her a soft smile. She almost shook her head no but decided what was the harm in sitting together? They were going to be working closely together from now on, and she did miss him, so why not sit beside each other for meetings.
"Why not, I can ask you a bunch of questions about how life has been since you've been gone!" Ichigo beamed with the anticipation of learning about Kisshu's life and planet. They walked towards the set of chairs in the center of the table, across from Minto and Zakuro; Kisshu pulled out Ichigo's chair for her. Ichigo was startled by this sudden act of chivalry, "Okay, who are you and what have you done with my Kisshu?" She chuckled while seating herself down on the chair. Kisshu, pushing Ichigo in, was shocked by Ichigo's words. My Kisshu, he liked the sound of that. He would never get tired of hearing her say that if she said that every single day until he died. Again. Kisshu had a smug smile as he sat beside Ichigo, resting his head into his hand, facing Ichigo to take her features all in. Ryou settled down at the other head of the table, arms crossed over his chest, observing the mews and aliens interacting. He felt like it was just yesterday that they had fought the aliens at Tokyo Tower for their first big battle with the toxin moth that Kisshu had created.
Not too long after everyone settled in, Keiichiro came out with a large tray filled with several delicate pastries and cups of steaming, hot tea. He placed each of the Mews regular pastries and tea down in front of them, then giving the aliens their share of similar pastries of Ichigo, Retasu, and Purin's regular desserts. "I hope you all enjoy! These are fresh out of the oven." The girls could barely hold in their excitement, especially Purin. She stuffs a fork full of a lemon cake, similar to what Taruto had earlier in the basement. She squealed with delight and decided to shove a fork full of cake into Taruto's mouth. He almost flew backwards with the sudden movement from Purin, but accepted the cake nonetheless. Everyone at the table laughed at the youngest members as they started to have a cake eating race.
"Now let's discuss the matter at hand," Ryou stated matter-of-factly. "First, the three of you will be staying here, we have extra rooms on the second floor of this café. It will be safer to keep you three close to the mews in case the shape-shifters decide to attack. Second, you will start working here," Kisshu and Taruto open their mouths to complain, "no whining, we're short staffed and you'll be living here so you might as well do something with your days instead of hovering over the girls while they are not here." Ryou sends a sharp look over to Kisshu to make sure he heard the last part. Kisshu scoffed at the idea of not being near Ichigo after a whole year has passed. Ichigo noticed Kisshu's displeasure written all over his face, she gave out a low giggle, she knew he would only listen to that for a day, maybe even less.
"They already know what the girls look like untransformed," Pai piped in. All eyes were now on him, eagering him to continue. "Ichigo and Berry encountered him earlier today, the one that looked similar to Deep Blue." Ichigo was stunned. No one else besides Berry knew of this information. Ichigo snapped her head to look at Kisshu with a questioning look. He nodded, confirming her suspicion.
"You were there?" Ichigo's eyebrows furrowed. Not that she is super surprised, Kisshu had a track record of following her around.
"Well then that changes things a bit; Kisshu make sure you walk Ichigo home after school and work everyday to make sure no one jumps out and attacks her. Last thing we need is our leader taken out. Pai, Taruto, I hope I can ask the same for you regarding Retasu and Purin." All three aliens nodded in agreement with Kisshu growing a smirk across his face. He can finally be Ichigo's knight in shining armor, protecting her from all types of danger and proving to her how could he can treat her.
"Ryou, Berry and I go to the same school now so why can't she walk me from school when we come here to work?" Ichigo wanted to come up with an excuse to at least not have Kisshu around all the time, especially next week when Aoyama is supposed to be visiting. "Plus next week-"
Ryou cuts her off, "And what if Berry gets sick? Or she stays later because she's on the cheer team for Tasuku's soccer team at the school? Trust me Ichigo, I've already thought about the possibilities of different situations, and don't bring up how Masaya will be here next week. Ever since you had slain Deep Blue he no longer can transform into the Blue Knight, meaning I don't trust him enough to protect you, especially against an enemy we know nothing about." Ichigo let out a disgruntled sigh while stabbing into her strawberry shortcake, but she knew he was right. Aoyama no longer felt Deep Blue's power, let alone Blue Knight's; plus he was in the process of trying to convince Ichigo to leave the mews and join him in London permanently. Ichigo shook her head, this was not the time to be thinking of her tough life decisions, right now it was about protecting Earth and her friends.
After the meeting, the mews helped Keiichiro clean up the plates and put the tables and chairs back to their place. Berry, Tasuku, Minto, and Zakuro were the first to head out, waving to the last three mews and the three aliens. Ichigo let out a deep sigh, she looked over to see Purin and Taruto discussing if they should walk or teleport to her house. They finally decide on teleporting, Purin leaped into his arms, causing a flustered Taruto to almost fall over; but he caught himself saying he will return to the café after dropping her off. As he warped away Retasu hugged Ichigo good night before heading off to the direction of her house with Pai. Ichigo was watching as her friend and her friend's love interest walked off in the sunset.
"Ya ready kitten?" Kisshu grabbed Ichigo by the waist, pulling her against his body's side. Ichigo blushed slightly and pushed Kisshu off of her, giving him a small glaring side-eye.
"You don't have to hold me, I can walk myself you know." Ichigo crossed her arms and huffed. Kisshu gave a low chuckle and wrapped an arm around Ichigo's shoulders.
"Oh, I'm aware kitty-cat, but you're about to start freezing." Kisshu nods up towards the sky. Ichigo looks up to see Tokyo's first snowfall of the year; fluffy white flakes fall from the orange and purple sky, landing all around them. Ichigo smiles sweetly watching the snow land into her pink gloved hands. She shifts her focus onto Kisshu, whose arm is still wrapped around her shoulders. She is almost entranced in his golden eyes as the delicate snow softly falls down between them, but she clears her throat to catch her train of thoughts.
"Fine, but just this once. I would hate to catch the flu before Aoyama comes for Christmas." Kisshu's heart stung from hearing his love rival's name, but he gratefully took the chance to keep his arms around his love and squeezed her slightly to hold her tight.
"Alright, now I need you to close your eyes so you don't feel sick as we teleport." Ichigo looks at Kisshu with a bit of sadness in her eyes. "What is it kitten? Hate to leave me already?"
"Actually, yes." Kisshu's eyes almost looked like they were going to pop out of his head, he wasn't expecting an actual answer from her. "I hadn't gotten to ask you about how you've been since the battle." Kisshu gave Ichigo a cheesy grin and started walking with his arm still wrapped around her shoulders.
"Then let's walk there. I already know where you live anyways," Kisshu gave her a playful look, hinting to the times he had appeared at her window a year ago. Ichigo scoffed, she could never forget the amount of times the alien would appear just to flirt and tease her throughout his time on Earth. "Just ask away, ask me anything." He was teasing her, but also baiting her. Ichigo had a million questions to ask, one of them she was sure he wanted her to ask. Did he still think of me? Did he move on? Does he actually love me? All of these questions raced through Ichigo's mind, but she settled on a less impulsive question first.
"How is your planet? I overheard Pai telling Retasu it was more beautiful than Earth." Kisshu whined a little about this question, but went along with it.
"Yes, our planet became beautiful. We have many otherworldly plants that bloom on the surface and animals that roam all over, even near our homes," Kisshu paused, with a solemn look on his face, "but me, Taruto, and Pai haven't really been able to enjoy it. We were thrown into leadership roles in the military, so we haven't exactly gotten to take time to embrace our success fully." Ichigo started at Kisshu, she felt bad for the alien. He worked so hard to bring peace and habitable conditions to his people, but he couldn't even take in the moment of success from his bravery. During Kisshu talking about his life in the military as a Chimera Animal expert and how he and the other two aliens go day-to-day in the military, he took his arm off Ichigo's shoulder. "Pai became the leader of the intelligence department, that's how we immediately knew of the shape-shifters. Taruto became in charge of training recruits basic battle attacks and basic Chimera summoning. He's even in charge of the Special Abilities department since he can control plants. Meanwhile I am-" Kisshu got caught off guard at Ichigo holding on to his hand so suddenly. Even though she was wearing gloves, he could feel how delicate her hands were and how they would fit perfectly in his hands.
"I hate to be the bearer of bad news but," Ichigo and Kisshu turn their heads to see Ichigo's two story house beside them. Kisshu looked disappointed that their time together was over. Ichigo squeezed his hand, he snapped his head back to focusing on his love. He gave Ichigo a small, sad smile, "thank you for walking me home Kisshu. I appreciated it. Plus it was nice to talk to you again." Ichigo let go of Kisshu's hand and started walking towards her front door. As she got to the bottom of her stairs, she turned around to look at Kisshu again, "Did you ever think of me?"
Her sudden question shocked the both of them, but Kisshu smiled sweetly, "Every waking second kitten. I told you that I love you, and I meant it. Even if you don't feel the same way." A blush crept up on Ichigo's face as her cat ears appeared on her head. Ichigo panicked, covering up her ears before her parents saw. Kisshu laughed and lifted himself up in the air to leave, "Goodnight Ichigo, see you tomorrow." The air rippled around him as he teleported back to the cafe. Ichigo stared at the spot he was last at, taking deep breaths before heading inside. Thankfully her parents weren't home yet; Ichigo let go of her cat ears and ran up the stairs to her bedroom. She walked into her bathroom, started to run a steaming bath as she stripped out of her cold, snow covered overcoat. Once the tub was filled to the brim, Ichigo stepped in, allowing the hot water to swallow her body whole.
Every waking second kitten, the sound of Kisshu's voice replayed in Ichigo's head. She allowed a giant blush to grow across her face with her cat tail now appearing to match with her ears. She wasn't sure what kind of answer she was expecting, but she is relieved to hear he never moved on. Relieved? Ichigo shook her head. She had to push those feelings deep down, she has Aoyama and didn't have time to go through those thoughts. Once the water started going cold, Ichigo quickly washed herself up with her favorite strawberry scented body wash before slipping into her pink long sleeve silk pajama set that had a strawberry pattern on the top and bottom.
Ichigo turned her bedside lamp off as she rolled herself into bed, trying to shut Kisshu out of her mind. But that didn't last long as she fell into a deep slumber, dreaming of the words that kept replaying over and over again in her head. Seeing his golden eyes shine brightly against the delicate snow flakes falling onto his long eyelashes as his warm, loving voice repeated: Every waking second kitten. I told you that I love you, and I meant it.
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! I am enjoying seeing their characters develop a relationship already! I'm thinking of changing the POV to Ichigo's for the next few chapters and switch it up depending on the scenario. Let me know what you think so far!