Skip this line 'cause you already know what it says: I don't own any of these characters except the ones I made up! Short and sweet.
This is when the overall genre of this fic begins to change from adventure to tragic romance. A little Kish-Ichigo (or Kishigo) at the end. Hope you like it! I made up a last name for Pie, because as far as I know, none of the aliens have last names. I guess there are spoilers for anyone who hasn't seen the whole series, or hasn't read volume 6 of the manga, but I assume everyone has.
Yay, cake! What flavor is it? Chocolate? Vanilla? Marble? Do I really care? Heehee. Anyway, review and I'll think about giving up my precious jello pie!
Bonus Dialogue Thing
Tart: (walks up to closed door) Hey, what are you guys doing in there?
Kish: (from inside) We're eating pie!
Tart: …You're what?!?!
Kish: We're eating pie! Wanna piece?
Tart: Aaaaaaaaah! Cannibals!!!
EternalFluffy: Sorry, I couldn't help it. Alright, on with the story…
---
Chapter 5: Royal Receptions
An unusual silence swept through the metallic ship, King Jubala's last words bouncing off the plating and down the hall to the pillar room. "E-Excuse me?" Ichigo at last, spoke, her voice trembling.
King Jubala just continued smiling. "Thank you, Tart, Flan, I'll excuse your offenses for now. Just bring the princess to Mercury, and I promise not to touch any of you." The screen blinked off, slowly ascending back into the hatch on the ceiling.
"Well," Flan said, trying to melt the ice. "It's a good thing you came with us, Ichigo!"
"That jerk!" Ichigo suddenly exploded. "How dare he? I have a family, and it's back there on Earth. He can't just claim me as his daughter!" She stormed in circles around the room.
As things returned to normal, Pudding slowly released her grip on Tart. Tart returned to his nasty self, shoving her away.
"Well, you don't know the story…" Flan began.
"Why do I need to know the story?!" Ichigo snapped. "I'm not his daughter! There's no way I'm his daughter; I'm not an alie…um, a Mercurian."
"About 12 years ago, I remember it, yes I was five years old… the Princess of Mercury was born. Her name was Ichigo. But in less than a year, she mysteriously disappeared. The Queen was so distraught, she ended up dying a few months after. No one knew what happened to baby Ichigo…"
Ichigo was terribly silent again. It couldn't be possible; she'd known and loved her parents all her life…but the chances were just so slim…that there could be another 12-year-old girl named Ichigo…like everyone else, she couldn't remember her infancy. What if…? Often, Ichigo came upon things she knew were preposterous, but her mind couldn't help wondering… "What if?"
"Well, even if you're not really the princess, can you pretend?" Flan asked. "We're kind of in hot water here… At least until we bring you back?"
Ichigo turned her head. "It's too risky. What if he finds out that I'm not really his daughter? You'll both get punished for bringing him a fake princess." She paced around to the other side of the room. "Or…or what if I am his daughter and I don't want to stay with him? Then what?"
Flan, Pudding, and Tart all looked distressed as they stared at her. "We'll…we'll figure something out, Ichigo, we promise." Flan at last spoke up. They had no more time to talk, because the warning alarm began sounding, and Flan had to rush over to the control panel to correctly land the ship on Mercury.
"See?" Tart spoke up, for the first time since King Jubala had disappeared. "You can't land right either!"
"Oh, be quiet," Flan said. "At least I don't steal spaceships." Tart shut his mouth, gravely remembering the king's threat to hang him.
There was a grating noise from outside as the ship grew a pair of flat-footed legs, used to help balance the curved top portion and the tail. A big plopping noise rose from the bottom as the ship landed, cushioned by the soft sand. "Well, welcome to Mercury," Flan said, crossing her arms.
"Yea!" Pudding cried. "We're here! We're here!"
Tart groaned. "Will you stop being so immature?"
"Immature!" Pudding turned around and put her hands on her hips. "Look who's talking! Earlier, in the room with the pillars, I saw you stick your tongue out at me! What are you, in first grade?!"
Tart had no comeback and just looked away, grumbling to himself.
Flan reached into a metal mailbox-like storage cubby and pulled out several long, brownish cloaks. "Here," she said, throwing an extra one to Ichigo. "Put it on. I've got my own, and the one that came on this ship…Tart and Pudding will have to share."
"Why do we need to put these on?" Ichigo asked as she wrapped the long material over her shoulders.
"The weather is horrible on the surface. It's very hot, and if you don't wear one of these cloaks you're sure to get a mouthful of sand. You have to follow me very closely and don't loose sight of me. The sandstorms can practically blind you."
Ichigo would have shivered if it weren't so suddenly scorching. "What if…I get lost and no one comes back to find me?!" She shook her head. She was starting with the "what ifs" again. "Um…well, can I just hold onto your cloak until we get to…um, wherever we're going?"
Flan smiled. "Oh, alright. Just don't accidentally pull it off!" So, Flan wrapped herself in her cloak as Ichigo grabbed onto the end.
Tart disgustedly pulled the long cloak over himself and Pudding, bringing her uncomfortably close. "Thank you, Tar Tar," Pudding said, gratefully.
"Remember, this doesn't mean I like you or anything!" he called, so Flan and Ichigo could hear. "There just aren't enough cloaks!"
"Even if there were, you'd let me hold onto yours, right?"
"Just be quiet and walk."
The huge side door slowly lowered, forming a long metallic ramp. Flan and Ichigo were the first to step off onto the turbulent Mercurian surface. "Aaaugh!" Ichigo cried as a clump of sand came and smacked her in the face. "It stings! How do you guys stand this stuff?"
Flan shrugged. "We're used to it. Some of us can even come up without a cloak, but it's not advised."
"I did," Tart said, dragging Pudding up beside them. "It was horrible! I kept getting sand in my mouth, my nose, and my eyes. My ears got so clogged I couldn't hear anything! It was kinda cool, though, being deaf for a few hours…"
"You think being deaf is cool?!" Pudding cried, appalled.
"No!" Tart replied. "I said for a few hours!!!" They all began trudging through the sand dunes, and even Tart and Pudding stopped talking, not wanting to get sand in their mouths.
Ichigo finally closed her eyes and let Flan's movements in front of her guide her. After several minutes of walking, Flan suddenly stopped in her tracks. Ichigo dared to open her eyes again. Flan seemed to be going…into the ground??? She couldn't burrow into the ground! At last, Flan slipped completely underground and Ichigo lost grip of her cloak. She took a step forwards.
"Aaaaaaaugh!!!!" Now she was falling…how could she be falling through the ground? It didn't make sense, but still Ichigo's heart jumped into her throat as she thundered downwards. Then she felt her body suddenly jerk to a stop, but she wasn't hurt.
Thank goodness Flan had been waiting at the bottom of the shaft. She had stuck out her arms just as Ichigo came falling down the tunnel. "Didn't you see the entrance?!" Flan cried.
"Huh?" Ichigo asked. "What entrance?"
Flan sighed. "Well, that answers my question."
Pudding and Tart awkwardly climbed down the ladder, while still wearing the cloak. At last, they reached the bottom, and Tart yanked it off.
"Oh yeah, you can take your cloak off now," Flan said as she removed hers.
"I might want to keep it on," Ichigo said, glancing around. "It's not as hot down here." She looked into the streets of Mercuritopolis, trying to make out its shape and form. "Gee, it's so dark in here…it's like the total opposite of the surface."
"Yeah, Flan said, "We just get the extremes, nothing in between."
Ichigo was about to say something else, but Tart interrupted her. "C'mon! We've got to get to the palace! Don't just stand there!"
"The palace?!" Ichigo cried. "Do we…um, have to go to the palace?"
"It's okay," Flan said. "I told you, if anything terrible happens, we'll handle it." She smiled at her. "I'm a Mew Mew too, remember? I can still use my powers, even on this planet."
Ichigo took a deep breath. "Okay. Let's go."
The four of them took off, Tart in the lead, guiding Ichigo and Pudding. Flan had to run behind him and pull on his ribbons when he started running too fast. Eventually, something large and bluish began appearing in the distance, emerging from the blackness of the streets.
Ichigo gasped. She couldn't believe that something so big could fit under the ground. A giant palace topped with streamer flags stood in the middle of the ground. Several torches were stuck to its side, illuminating it in the dark environment. By its size, it seemed to be at least six stories. Ichigo couldn't believe she had fallen all that way and not been harmed. She glanced around at the strange architecture as she reluctantly followed Flan, Tart, and Pudding into the palace. The entrance's oddly shaped curved designs captivated her. They just seemed to go on and on forever. Unfortunately, she couldn't stand outside staring at the designs all day long, and the others pulled her into the lobby.
The Mercurian palace was more of a very big office building. All of the first floor was the king's, but the other floors were apartments, research labs, manufacturing processors, banks, and the hospital.
"So…where are we going, Peachy?" Pudding asked, looking up at Flan.
"I'm not sure," Flan said. "I know Ichigo is nervous about meeting the king, but we've got to bring her. Not taking her to the king will only cause more trouble."
Ichigo trembled, but stood her ground as she realized what it meant. By facing the Mercurian king, she was saving both Flan and Tart's lives. She had to; it was her duty to save the lives of her friends. "Okay," Ichigo finally spoke. "Let's go."
Flan nodded and led the three of them past the desk at the front of the room. All of the Mercurians turned and stared at Pudding and Ichigo. Then, they began to whisper. "Hey, look, it's one of those bad representatives…they've got humans with them???" "No human has ever been here before." "They're only bringing further disgrace." "Wow, look! A real live human!"
Ichigo felt extremely uncomfortable and she thought that maybe she should've made some new clothes and gotten fake elf ears to disguise herself. Then the king really would believe that she was his daughter. At last, Flan knocked on a heavy set of double doors, carved with the same swirling, dazzling designs.
"Who goes there?" a voice from inside called.
"Representatives Flan and Tart. We need to see the king. We've…uh, got something he wants."
At last, a clicking noise came, and the door on the right opened up at the hand of a stiff guard. "This way," he gruffly replied.
Ichigo nervously followed the others. Her boots clicked against the marble ground as she walked along the shining hallway. At last, she saw something against the back wall at they approached. Flan and Tart kneeled again, before the base of the throne. Ichigo shivered as she looked at King Jubala. He did look almost exactly like Deep Blue, but in different clothes.
"Your Majesty, we've brought the princess…" Flan spoke up.
"Excellent," King Jubala replied, rising from his coiled decorated throne. His long dark hair nearly brushed the floor as he slowly descended from the platform. Flan and Tart shivered as he passed by them. Finally, the king stopped, right in front of Ichigo.
Ichigo's heart pounded. Just looking at a body like that reminded her of the terrible battle she had fought with Deep Blue…with Masaya. She didn't want to remember that. She closed her eyes and looked away as he moved closer to her.
At last, this chilling stranger wrapped his arms around her in a hug. "Ichigo…" he slowly said. "I never thought I would see you again. Your mother…she died after you disappeared. She was so worried about you, and felt horribly responsible."
Tart and Flan couldn't help but turn around and stare. They had never seen the cold, cruel monarch like this, and thought they never would again.
At last King Jubala released Ichigo, and when she looked up, she thought she saw a few wet spots on his cheeks.
Ichigo slowly breathed out, in wonder and anxiety. Was she really this Mercurian man's daughter? She began trembling as she imagined his reaction if she told him that she wasn't his daughter, or that she didn't want to live with him. Ichigo began to turn away. She couldn't deal with something like this. She could barely deal with her boyfriend turning into an evil alien, how could she deal with this discovery that questioned her own identity?
"Come on," King Jubala at last said, putting a hand on Ichigo's shoulder. "Let's get you a room. You can change and then meet me in the parlor. We have a lot to talk about."
Ichigo struggled and looked back as the king began to lead her away. She didn't really want to go, but this was the only thing she could do to save the lives of Flan and Tart.
"Th-Thank you," Flan whispered as they walked back towards the throne.
"That is all," King Jubala said, but suddenly stopped. "Who's that other girl?"
"Oh, that's Pudding, the other human that came with us," Flan explained.
"Pudding?"
"Yeah," Tart added. "She's the one that gave me the candy."
"Oh," King Jubala replied. "She can stay." Then he turned around and guided Ichigo to a door in the back of the throne room.
She glanced over his shoulder, gazing longingly at the others just before the door closed. Concentrate, she reminded herself. You're doing this for them. The little figures on the marble floor disappeared as the creamy blue door swung closed, and Ichigo's mind blanked out.
---
Not long afterward, Tart, Pudding, and Flan arrived on the apartment level. Flan had placed another cloak over Pudding to prevent the residents from staring at them. If there was one thing they didn't want right now it was more attention. Still, the cloak didn't help much, since residents still stared, wondering why the child was wearing a cloak indoors where they had heat. Finally, Flan reached the door she was looking for and was just about to knock on it, when she noticed a familiar long figure running towards her.
"Flan!"
"Pie!" Flan cried, her face breaking into a smile.
Pie came to a halt in front of her. His arms raised a little, but then dropped back down by his sides. "Good to see you again."
Flan felt like kissing him. "I know…I've been gone for too long without a communicator, and…and I snuck into your lab that night…" She now turned to stare at the floor, embarrassed.
"It's okay, I figured it out," Pie interrupted. "I was just worried. I didn't know how Earth animal genes would react when in the body of a Mercurian. Those samples are from many, many years ago, too. They might not have been fully functioning…" He sighed. "Well, you're okay, so I guess that means everything went well."
Flan smiled. "You didn't think I'd check all that before I put it into my body? I was one of the scientists too, remember?"
"Well, I didn't know," Pie replied. "Lately you've been a little more…remiss. You forget to get a communicator…"
"Well, you forgot to give me one!" Flan cried.
Pie frowned. "Well…anyway, I'm just glad you're safe."
Flan blushed. Oh, great. Maybe I shouldn't have said that. Now he probably thinks I don't like him.
Pie looked a little past her. "Tart!" he called. "You shouldn't have run off like that. Kish was worried about you."
Tart stepped out a little, but still stared at the fluffy, reddish carpet. "Yeah, I know…the king was going to kill me, but Ichigo saved us."
"Ichigo?"
"Yeah, she and Pudding decided to come back with us," Tart continued. "They haven't found any Mew Aquas, but the other three are still looking."
Pie looked down at Pudding, who had now removed her cloak, her big amber eyes staring up at him. "Well, I don't really have much room left in my apartment…" he began.
"Oh, don't worry," Flan said, "She can stay in my apartment. Is that okay, Pudding?"
"Sure," Pudding said, turning to gaze up at her. "I get to see where you live, Peachy?"
"Yup, right this way," Flan said. She led Pudding down the hallway a little ways where her apartment was located.
Tart turned and opened the door to Pie's apartment, slipping inside to check on Kish.
Pie stood alone in the hallway for a few minutes. His mind whirled around, worrying about Kish, worrying about Tart's reaction to Kish, and for some odd reason worrying about what Flan thought of him. That feeling burned forth even more as Flan came back out of her apartment. She probably thought he was stupid now, for forgetting to give her a communicator. He forced those thoughts out of his brain as she drew closer.
"I'm back," she said, cheerfully. "So, what's been happening over here? Tart said that Kish has Shadow Plague."
Pie nodded. "Yeah. I'm getting worried about him. He's just…he hasn't been himself. He doesn't want to do anything, he hardly ever eats, and he just lies on the bed, staring at the wall all day. It could just be me, but it seems like he's…waiting to die."
Flan's face paled. "Gee, I…didn't know it was that serious."
"I knew it was a devastating disease," Pie said. "But I didn't know it would start messing with his mind, too. It could just be aftershock, but how come he didn't seem like this when I first brought him back to the apartment? It doesn't make sense." He sighed. "And meanwhile, I've been trying to find a cure with the rest of the researchers. None of it's doing any good."
Flan's forehead creased in worry. "I'm sorry, I didn't find a Mew Aqua…they didn't know how to transport them either."
"It's okay," Pie replied, taking a deep breath. "Somehow, we'll get through this…with or without Kish."
---
It had been a very long afternoon for Ichigo. She'd had to sit through a meeting with King Jubala and a few other high-ranking officials of Mercury as they rigorously questioned her. The king had asked her all about her life; he wanted to know everything. Ichigo had to say things like, "Oh, my adopted parents are nice," and "yeah, we recycle all the time," just to please him. She hated talking about her family that way, but it was the only way to keep her cover and save the aliens' lives…that was, if it was a cover. So finally, after the little round of 20 questions in the royal parlor, King Jubala retreated to his throne room, leaving Ichigo to explore for the rest of the day.
That would have been fine with her, but she didn't particularly like walking all over the castle in a big, long dress with high heels. As soon as she was taken into the other room, the king had pulled out this dress and insisted that she put it on. It had a long veil, dropping down her back. The top was a no-sleeved belly shirt tied at the shoulders with separate, puffy, see-through, pink sleeves. The skirt was loose, beginning at her hips and ending below her knees. It was decorated with a strange, flat apron with a pattern on the front and bows on the sides. This was not even mentioning the long ribbons attached just below the waist in the back, which stubbornly refused to float and dragged along the ground. Ichigo picked one up and tossed it into the air. It slowly sank back down to the floor. How do those aliens do it?! She wondered.
At last, she just decided to take a trip up to the apartment section and see whom she could shock the living daylights out of. As she wandered down another section, she read the little cards that displayed the names of the apartments' inhabitants. She had a fun time laughing at some of the ridiculous names, such as "Sandman, Upside-Down" and "Burns, Custard". Finally, she came to another door, read its nameplate and stared in surprise. "Xenimis, Pie." Huh? Pie lives here? Ichigo thought, I wonder if the others do, too. She continued a little further down the hall, reading the plates in the doors, until she came to another familiar name. "Glimog, Flan." Hey, Flan lives here too! Why don't I pay her a little visit? I've got nothing else to do. Ichigo knocked on the door that was apparently Flan's, and her voice called from inside.
"Who's there?!"
"It's me, Ichigo!"
"Ichigo! Well, come in!"
Ichigo pushed on the handle, and she got her first look at a Mercurian apartment. Once again, it wasn't all that different from apartments on Earth, except for a few strange devices and those same carved and curved designs that seemed to be so popular on the planet. Paintings also adorned certain parts of the walls, mostly of green fields and sparkling lakes. As Flan explained to her later, they painted what they couldn't see every day. There was no beauty to be found on their own planet, so they turned to Earth for inspiration.
"Hi, Ichigo!" Pudding cried as soon as she stepped through the door.
"Pudding?" Ichigo asked, confused. "Why are you in Flan's apartment?"
"Peachy's letting me stay in the extra room!" Pudding cried. "I need somewhere to sleep, and that other guy's apartment is full."
"Huh?" Now Ichigo was even more confused. "It's full? Why is Pie's apartment full? Does he have a smaller one than you or something?"
"No," Flan explained. "It's that every apartment comes with two beds. Tart's in one, while Kish is in the other."
"Then where's he sleeping?" Ichigo asked.
"On the floor."
"The floor!" Ichigo cried. "But that's not fair, it's his apartment…"
"He doesn't mind," Flan told her. "Really, Pie falls asleep everywhere, even sitting up. It's kinda funny, actually." She looked Ichigo up and down. "Um…new dress?"
"The king," Ichigo plainly stated. "They had this big long conversation with me. I had to lie a few times, but…I think they were pleased. I hate having to lie, but…I'll do it for you guys."
Flan smiled. "Thank you, Ichigo. You're such a noble friend." She turned back to look at Pudding. "Maybe I should get some different clothes for you too, Pudding."
"Oooh!" Pudding cried. "Can I have some of those cool streamer things?"
Flan chuckled. "Yeah, I guess I can find something for you."
While they were chatting back and forth, Ichigo waved and slipped back out of the door. She stepped out into the hallway and walked down towards the entrance a little bit. She stopped when she came to Pie's door. For some reason she thought she should visit them, at least for a second, to say, "Look! I'm the Princess of Mercury, you must bow before me!" She lifted her hand and knocked several times on the labeled door.
At last, the door clicked, opened slowly inward, and then Pie stood in the doorway. His eyes widened a little. "You're Ichigo…aren't you?"
Ichigo nodded. "I'm also the Princess of Mercury, at least so your king says."
Now, Pie's eyes widened a bit more. He got down on one knee. "Well, I'm awfully sorry, Your Majesty. I didn't know."
Ichigo was a little surprised. She hadn't expected such a display, and was she hearing things, or had he just called her Your Majesty? Maybe being a Mercurian princess wasn't so bad after all.
"Tell me," Pie continued. "What is the nature of this honored visit?"
"Um…I really don't know," Ichigo admitted. "I thought I'd just pop over to say hi."
Pie glanced up, although his expression was unreadable. "Well, come in," he said, getting up and moving out of the doorway.
She glanced around the room as Pie disappeared into a room further down the apartment. This room seemed very similar to the one in Flan's apartment, except that the paintings on the walls were garden scenes. Then, her eyes fell upon someone in the corner who was staring intensely at her.
Kish's large yellow eyes were clashing with his paper-white skin, making it seem a bit sallow. He peered out from beneath a mountain of covers on a platform-like bed, sticking out from the wall. "…Ichigo?!" he slowly said. Then, he shook his head. "No. You're not Ichigo. There's no way you're Ichigo. What was I thinking? I'm hallucinating."
"No," Ichigo told him. "You're not hallucinating. I'm Ichigo. I decided to come back here when Tart came to get Flan. Pudding's here too."
Kish still looked a bit afraid. "Pie!" he yelled. "Help! I'm hallucinating!"
Ichigo rushed up to the side of his bed. "Shh," she said. "I'm not a hallucination! Would you be able to talk to a hallucination?"
"Well, I don't know," Kish replied. "I've never been seeing things before." He looked away for a minute, staring at the bedcovers. It looked like his forehead creased a little bit.
Ichigo wondered what in the world was going on. Maybe she was the one that was hallucinating. Usually Kish would go crazy just at the sight of her, and start attacking, trying to kiss her. Suddenly, she remembered what had happened back on Earth. Tart had said he had Shadow Plague. It was more of the Mellow Plague. "Kish?" she asked, looking over at her distressed nemesis.
"Ichigo…" Finally, Kish turned his head to look at her again. He almost looked like he wanted to cry. "…I…I'm so sorry."
"What?" Ichigo said, perplexed by this whole experience. "Sorry for what?"
"You…don't know?"
"Don't know what?!"
Kish remained silent for a long moment afterwards. He looked up at Ichigo, and slowly a smile spread over his face. "You're wearing the necklace."
Oh, shoot!!! Ichigo thought. I forgot to take that off! Her hands flew to her collar, as if defending the necklace. "So? What's that got to do with anything?"
Kish closed his eyes and continued to smile. "I picked that out just for you…see, I knew you'd like it."
Ichigo began to shake. "I-It's just a necklace!" she cried. "I didn't want for it to just sit around in its box, so…"
"You're right," Kish said. "It would be a waste. You look beautiful…is that a new dress?"
Suddenly, all the other times before went flashing through Ichigo's mind: Kish kissing her, attempting to kiss her, grabbing her, and doing all sorts of perverted things. "No!" she cried. "Get away!" With that, she unbuckled the necklace and yanked it from her neck.
Kish's smile vanished, and his eyes grew wide.
Ichigo opened her mouth to continue. "I never liked you, and I never will, you pervert!" Finally, she bolted from the room, slamming the door, leaving Kish in a state of utter shock.
Ichigo panted and leaned up against the wall. Slowly, she looked down at the little heart and diamond charm in her hand. Well, maybe she had overreacted a bit… but she still couldn't believe she could be so stupid as to forget the necklace was around her neck and then go talk to Kish. She sighed, and was about to head back to her quarters when she noticed Flan, taking a stroll down the hallway, her pale pink hair hanging loose.
"What are you doing over here, Ichigo?" she asked. "I thought you went back to your room."
Ichigo shook her head. She was about to tell her what happened, but she held it in for now. There was a question she had to ask first. "Flan, what was that Shadow Plague thing you guys were talking about earlier?"
"Oh," Flan replied, a serious tone to her voice. "Well, it's a terrible disease that's affecting much of this planet's adult population. Everyone so far that's gotten it has died…there is no cure."
Ichigo was shocked. She stared at Flan, a terrible look on her face.
"It…it's a little like AIDS on your planet…" Now she knew why Kish had apologized.
Ichigo couldn't believe it, and she suddenly felt like the worst person in the universe…or at least the solar system. Kish was dying…and she had just been yelling at him. "Thank you, Flan," she said to her fellow Mew Mew. "I have to go now!"
She opened the door and slowly stepped back into that room. Since she'd left, Pie had heard the fight and had come out to comfort Kish. Now, he stood back, staring at her as she approached.
Kish was sitting up now, resting his head against his knees and hiding his face.
Ichigo felt even worse just looking at him. She gently glided up beside the bed and slowly, carefully, sat on the edge near him. "Kish…"
When he heard his name, he lifted his head, staring at her with a very hurt look.
"…I…I'm sorry. I didn't know…"
"No, I understand," he spoke up, his voice soft and trembling. "You don't have to treat me any differently just because I'm sick. I know you don't really care for me…"
Now that Ichigo knew about the Shadow Plague, she began to notice things more. This time, she could see that Kish was horribly pale, even for an alien, and he was growing thinner. "Kish…" she said again, this time practically in tears. She slowly placed her arms around his body. "Oh, I wouldn't say that…"
He glanced over at her, the hurt look replaced by a surprised one. "Ichigo…"
Then, Ichigo released her grip on him and smiled. "See? Look at this…" she took out the little diamond necklace and attached it around her neck again.
Slowly, Kish smiled again.
"You know, this necklace actually became my new weapon once when we were fighting a Jupitite at the café. The attack was really powerful…so, thank you."
Now, Kish was so happy, a little bit of flesh tone was creeping onto his cheeks. "No. Thank you. Thank you for coming here, when I need you most, and thank you for caring." He looked at her for a moment, and finally was able to get out the words. "C-Can I hug you?"
"Why not?" Ichigo replied. "I hugged you."
So Kish slowly reached out, wrapping her in his arms and holding her close. There they stayed for a few more minutes, laying in the lovely togetherness, until Kish finally released her, sinking back onto the bed.
Pie stepped forward, pulling the covers over him. "You need to get some rest, Kish," he advised. "You've got pod treatment tomorrow."
"Ugh," Kish groaned. "I hate those darn pods."
Ichigo smiled at him again.
He returned the gesture. "Ichigo…you'll come back again sometime, won't you?"
"Of course," Ichigo replied. She stood up and began to walk to the door. "I'll see you."
"I'll see you too," Kish called from the bed. His yellow eyes were like flames, but instead of flickering, they danced in the black of night.
Then, Ichigo exited, feeling strangely satisfied. She stopped in the middle of the hall and tried to figure out why her heart was swelling like that.