Happy holidays, folks! I apologize for skipping a week. The holiday season is always just like that.
Chapter 4
Love doesn't just sit there, like a stone, it has to be made, like bread; remade all the time, made new.
—Ursula K. Le Guin
o0o
The next day, as promised, Kish snuck into Ichigo's school to tutor her. The library was full of high school-bound third years trying to get in a little extra study time and Kish and Ichigo fit right in.
It was interesting, Kish thought, being surrounded by so many people his own age. On his planet, children were few and many were lost to accidents or hunger due to the harsh living conditions. Parentless and with no extended family to care for him, Kish had survived by his own wits until he was old enough to enter into an apprenticeship. He'd been to school, but once lessons were done each day he'd been on his own. Normally, orphaned children were taken care of by the community, but Kish's parents had been vocally opposed to the plan to retake their former planet, and after they'd died, nobody had wanted to take in their child. He'd been left to fend for himself. Looking around at these teenagers whose only worry was getting into a good high school, he felt jealousy rise in his throat like bile. These humans knew nothing of hardship. They knew nothing of survival. Just a little, he remembered why he'd hated them so just a year ago.
He shook his head to clear it. Things were different now. His planet was prospering thanks to the efforts of the very humans he'd hated. He no longer had any reason to feel resentful.
"Kish."
Kish pulled his gaze away from the other students to look back at his study buddy. Ichigo was tapping the back of her pencil to her lips thoughtfully. "I've been thinking…"
Kish raised a curious brow.
"You know, you could take the entrance exam," she said, looking up at him with large, chocolate eyes. "Actually take it. As Keisuke."
Kish blinked at her dumbly.
"I mean," she continued, "you're smart. And you seem to enjoy being on Earth. You could live as a human if you wanted to." She seemed embarrassed to vocalize such a notion and she attempted to hide that fact by looking down at her notebook. "It's just a thought."
Kish blinked again. Him? Live as a human?
"I'm sure you have a life back on your own planet. Heck, you're probably some celebrated hero. But if you want to live here… even if only for a little while, I think you could do it. And I've been thinking that it might actually be fun to go to school with you."
Kish almost couldn't believe his ears. Ichigo was… Was she actually asking him to stay? She wanted him to go to school with her? The same school she was so dead set on going to for the sole purpose of being with her boyfriend?
"Wait a minute, Kitty-cat," he spoke at last, holding up a hand. "Are you sure about this? Do you really want me hanging around and butting in on your love-love Aoyama high school dream?"
Ichigo's cheeks reddened visibly at his question. She peeked back up at him through her fringe. "Don't get me wrong! I'm just thinking about your future. You've done so much to help me, and in my opinion, you deserve to take the exam just as much as I do. I'm just saying that you could have a good life here. If that's what you wanted."
Kish chuckled lightly, bringing his fist up to his mouth, and then smiled broadly. "I suppose it couldn't hurt to try," he conceded. "Tell you what, if you can arrange for me to take the test, I'll do it. If I do end up being accepted… well, then I guess I'll have a decision on my hands, won't I?"
Ichigo returned his smile with a beaming one of her own and nodded. She held out her hand which he grabbed and gave a firm shake. "Then let's both do our best."
o0o
Kish's heart felt as if it were full of light as the days passed and the test day approached. Every day, he waited in anticipation for fourth period to end and Ichigo to come rushing into the library before anyone else, clutching her lunch to her chest and looking over her shoulder as though she expected to be caught by a teacher or her boyfriend. He relished the hours he got to spend with her, and in the time they were apart he thought only of how he couldn't wait to see her again.
The love he felt for her now… it was different from the flame he'd carried for her before. Rather than wanting to possess her, he found he was content just to be with her. When she was happy, he was happy. When she was sad or stressed, all he wanted to do was find a way to put a smile back on her face. He lived and breathed for her. And he was happy. The crushing loneliness he'd felt every day on his own planet fled in her presence. He felt like the old Kish again, but better. She made him want to be kinder, more determined, more forgiving, the best version of himself that he could be. And the best part of it all was knowing that he was being a positive force in Ichigo's life as well.
"Doesn't Ichigo seem happier lately?" Pudding remarked in a low voice to Zakuro and Mint as they cleared tables several meters away from where he sat. They probably thought they were being subtle, but Kish's alien ears picked out their conversation easily.
"When I asked her, she said she was feeling much more confident about the exam. It looks like all that extra tutoring has been helping a lot," Lettuce chimed in, coming to join them with a broom.
"I talked to Aoyama-kun and he said she's seemed a lot less stressed during their study sessions together," Mint added. "He asked me if she's been studying on her own time and I mentioned that she's been seeing a tutor. That Keisuke has really done wonders for her. It's like she's not worried at all anymore."
"We should do something to thank him. Maybe we could all pitch in and buy him something nice to show our gratitude?" Lettuce suggested, raising the broom handle to her cheek.
Kish's eyebrows rose and sneaked a peek over at them. He hardly needed a gift, but it was an awfully thoughtful suggestion. Ichigo really did have wonderful friends. For the first time, he felt a small pang of guilt for deceiving them, though he had no doubt their tune would change if they knew who he really was.
I should tell them. He surprised himself with the thought. If I want to even consider living on this planet, I need to be honest with them.
Kish grimaced and turned back to his food. It was going to be an awkward conversation for sure, but he knew it was one he'd have to have sooner or later. He owed it to Ichigo. He didn't want her to have to keep lying to her friends.
o0o
The following weekend was the final weekend before the exam. Kish thought Ichigo would want to maximize study time, but instead she surprised him by asking him to join her and her friends on a shopping trip. Kish was a little confused but he accepted without hesitation. Far be it from he to refuse an opportunity to spend more time with her.
It was a simple matter to abduct some street clothes off a mannequin from a nearby department store for the occasion. He felt it would be a little weird to wear his uniform out on a Sunday when the rest of his company would all be dressed casually. The outfit was simple: a mid-length winter coat in dark green with a faux fur trimmed hood over a striped shirt and jeans. It was warm and comfortable and, if the other males he saw on the street were any indication, suitably stylish.
He met Ichigo and her friends with a smile and they all took turns introducing themselves. He was inwardly pleased to note that he was taller than Zakuro now, even with her heels.
"So, you're the famous Keisuke who has been tutoring our Ichigo," Lettuce said amicably once introductions were complete. "We're all very grateful to you for your help. Ichigo has perked up a lot since you started helping her."
Kish awarded her his most winning smile. "The pleasure has been wholly mine," he replied, smoothly transitioning into gentleman-classmate mode. "She's helped me as much as I've helped her."
"You're also aiming for Hibiya?" Zakuro asked. She pulled her leather jacket tighter around her shoulders as they were buffeted by the chilly winter wind. Bursts of warm air could be felt from shops as they weaved through crowds of fellow shoppers.
"That's right," Kish confirmed. He stuck his hands in his coat pockets to protect them from the cold. "I wasn't intending to go to high school at first, but Ichigo talked me into it."
His words were met by a gallery of shocked faces. "You're kidding," Mint said, her tone fully disbelieving. "Who switches from not wanting to go to high school to taking the entrance exam for one of the most prestigious schools in the nation?"
Kish just smiled and shrugged. It was Ichigo who saved him from having to answer. "I told him it would be a waste not to go to high school since he's so smart," she explained. "If he didn't spend so much time traveling, he'd probably be at the top of the third-year class."
"Oh! So you're a traveler? That's fantastic," Lettuce chimed in. "Have you been to many different countries?"
Kish shared a secret smile with Ichigo. "I've traveled further than most."
Lettuce clasped her hands together in front of her chest and looked up at him with stars in her eyes. "You'll have to tell me about all the places you've seen. Perhaps when we break for lunch? I've always wanted to travel."
The group spent the morning looking at clothes in fashionable boutiques and the girls amused themselves by trying on silly accessories. They passed several crêpe stands and eventually the girls' willpower gave out and they stopped to purchase some of the whipped cream stuffed confections. Kish was surprised when Ichigo returned from the stand with a colorful, fruity crêpe in each hand and proceeded to hand one to him. He took it with a grateful smile. "Thanks, Ichigo. You didn't have to spend your money on me."
She shook her head and gave him a soft smile. "I wanted to."
When they'd finished their snacks, they hopped right back into shopping, giggling at over-the-top outfits in cosplay stores and modeling weird buttons artfully printed with creative and largely incorrect English. Ichigo found one that read, "Space Case: Be aware always for ABDUCTIONS," and giggled all the way to the register to pay for it. Kish was halfhearted in his swatting of her hands as she pinned it to his coat's breast pocket.
They took lunch at a posh, aesthetic café just off the main road and Kish indulged Lettuce with tales of the various lands he'd seen. Pudding too was enamored with his accounts of different places and wanted to know all about the exotic animals he'd encountered.
After lunch, they took the train to Ueno to visit the park and spent the afternoon enjoying the early spring flowers and budding cherry blossom trees. "We should come here for flower viewing this year," Pudding remarked as they strolled beneath the canopy of still leafless trees. "Now that we're not dodging alien attacks every other day."
The small, golden-haired girl was hurriedly shushed by Mint who looked back at Kish with panicked eyes. "Pudding!" she hissed lowly.
Pudding 'eeped' and closed her own hands over Mint's.
Kish made a show of looking confused. "Alien attacks?" he echoed, playing dumb. "Are you referring to the strange monster attacks that had Tokyo all in an uproar last year?" Out of the corner of his eye, he caught Ichigo making a face at him. He pretended not to see her. "That was quite the nuisance, I heard. It's a good thing that team of magical girls was around to contain the destruction." He touched his chin with his fingertips thoughtfully. "Hmm… but I wonder where they are now? Weird to think that there might people with such odd and fantastic powers hiding right in plain sight."
Ichigo took that moment to clear her throat purposefully, drawing the group's attention away from him. "Yes, quite weird," she agreed. "Kind of makes you wonder what other superhuman forces of nature could be hiding right under our noses." She gave him a pointed look that caused him to hide a grin behind the collar of his coat.
Crisis seemingly averted, the group continued their walk. It was nice, Kish thought, just to walk through nature every now and again and enjoy it. Earth was such a luscious, beautiful planet. The fact that such a serene place could exist in the heart of Tokyo meant that there was hope for humanity yet. It saddened him that he hadn't seen that before. He'd really messed up, making humans his enemies.
He didn't realize he'd begun to lag behind the group until Ichigo's sudden presence at his side snapped him out of his nature induced reverie. "What are you thinking about?" she asked softly, keeping pace beside him. "You look uncharacteristically solemn."
Kish smiled wryly back at her. "I was just thinking about a year ago," he answered. "I'm sorry, you know. I should have said that a long time ago. The way I behaved back then was inexcusable. I was… I must have been out of my mind."
Ichigo smiled down at the pavement. "You know, I never thought I'd say this, but apology accepted." She looked up at him and her red pigtails were tousled by a chilly breeze. "Some of the things you did… I thought I'd never forgive you. But you're different now. I mean, I never imagined you and I could have a conversation like this—as friends. I thought you only knew how to be an obsessive, freaky stalker."
Kish laughed out loud and his breath puffed out in front of him in a white cloud. "In my defense, what fourteen-year-old boy isn't an obsessive, freaky stalker?"
Ichigo raised an eyebrow. "Masaya-kun was never like that."
Kish just shrugged. "We can't all be Mr. Fresh-And-Foamy-Quick-Acting-Dish-Soap-For-Brains. Some of us have, like, personalities."
Ichigo scrunched up her face in a way that told Kish he was about to be on the receiving end of a deliciously snarky retort, but she never got the chance to deliver it as right that moment her cell phone started blaring. "Earthquake warning, earthquake warning," a woman's voice rang out from the device. "Evacuate to safety immediately." All around them, the same alarm was sounding from the pockets and purses of fellow park visitors. Ichigo and Kish only had a moment to be confused before the ground started violently heaving beneath their feet.
Ichigo cried out in shock and her arms swung out in attempt to keep her balance, but the strong tremors knocked her onto her bottom. Up ahead, Kish could see the rest of the Mew Mews in various states of grabbing hold of the nearest sturdy object.
"What is thiiiiiis!" Mint cried in outrage as she clutched Zakuro's arm. Pudding seemed to be having the least amount of trouble keeping on her feet. She bounced around like an acrobat as the earth tried its darnedest to uproot her. It was comical despite the danger of their present situation.
Kish got down on one knee to help Ichigo back onto her feet when a sharp and very loud crack split the air. Confused, he looked around but saw nothing to explain the noise. It wasn't until he heard Lettuce's desperate cry of "Watch out!" that he looked behind him and saw that an old and particularly large cherry tree had snapped and was collapsing right over the spot where they sat. With no time to move or even to think, Kish flung out an arm and caught the massive trunk before it could crush them. The thing weighed a ton, but his alien physiology combined with magic made him strong. He gritted his teeth with the effort of holding the tree aloft as tremors continued to try to unbalance him.
Ichigo stared up at the tree trunk suspended just feet above her in shock. It took a good moment to get her brain in gear to actually move out of its path, but once she was safely out of the way, Kish was able to slide his own body out from beneath it and released it to gravity. Raising a shaky arm to his forehead, he wiped his brow. That had been much too close.
It took only another minute for the tremors to still and Ichigo's friends came hurrying back to them, their expressions full of concern. "Are you two alright?" Mint called as they formed a circle around the pair. "You nearly became pancakes just now!"
"Keisuke-kun, that was amazing!" Pudding took the torch. "You're really strong!"
Zakuro, who had been particularly nonverbal since she'd asked him about Hibiya, did not look so impressed. She looked first at the fallen tree and then back at him with an expression of suspicion. "What was that?" she demanded, her eyes narrowing. "You should have been crushed just now. There's no way a teenager of your stature should be able to support the weight of a two-thousand-pound tree."
Ichigo hurriedly jumped to his rescue. "It was probably rotten inside. I'll bet that's why it fell." She shakily got to her feet and brushed off her bottom. Kish followed suit, swatting at his knee to dislodge the dirt that had stuck there. "Anyway, it doesn't matter how he did it, does it? We're all safe. But we should find out what caused that earthquake. It could be some new trouble."
"Right," Pudding agreed. Then she turned to Zakuro and wagged a chastising finger. "It's not very nice to suddenly go off on someone who just saved Ichigo's life." The other girls made noises of agreement.
Zakuro's frown deepened and she crossed her arms over her chest. "I think you all are forgetting that trouble follows Ichigo like bad luck follows a black cat. Just think for a minute. Isn't it suspicious that right when Ichigo is struggling, a friendly classmate nobody's ever seen before suddenly shows up to offer help? And don't you all think it's strange that just days after meeting 'Keisuke', he's suddenly all she talks about?" She whipped her head around to stare down the girl in question. "When was the last time you went on a date with Aoyama, Ichigo?"
Ichigo froze. As the girls looked on, she brought a hand up to scratch her cheek nervously. "I've been busy studying," she defended meekly. "I haven't had time…"
"That never would have stopped you before," Zakuro persisted. "Aoyama came to talk to me the other day. He was concerned that you've been avoiding him."
Ichigo's face paled. She looked blindsided, as though it hadn't even occurred to her that she'd been spending less time with her boyfriend and that Aoyama might be worried about it.
Zakuro turned back to Kish. "I'll ask you again: what was that just now? If you have something you're hiding, you'd be wise to spit it out now."
Kish stuck his hands in his pockets and sighed. Well, he reasoned inwardly, I'd been planning to tell them anyway. I supposed now is as good a time as ever. He cocked his head slightly and regarded the tall girl evenly. "Very perceptive. You've seen right through me."
Following this statement, the other girls, barring Ichigo, all took a step back. Their postures and expressions at once switched to defensive. Kish pulled his hands from his pockets and the girls immediately reached for their purses where they kept their transformation pendants. Kish benignly raised his hands to his head and passed them over his ears, undoing the magic that caused them to appear round and human-like.
"Alien!" Lettuce cried the moment the magic unraveled. She pulled out her pendant and prepared to invoke her transformation.
"You've got to be kidding!" Mint exclaimed, doing the same. "I thought we were done with you creeps!"
Ichigo rushed to stand between Kish and her friends. She raised her hands and waved them desperately. "Wait! He's not here to cause trouble. He really is just helping me with my studies! Honest!"
Zakuro didn't back down. She too had her pendant out and at the ready. "Ichigo, you've got an alien helping you study for your test and you expect us to just trust him, no questions asked? Since when have the aliens ever come in peace?"
Kish held up a finger to protest, but when he failed to find any viable counterpoint, he dropped it and shrugged helplessly. "Yeah, okay. That's not wrong."
Ichigo glared back at him. One of her eyebrows twitched in annoyance. "If you're just going to sabotage yourself, then kindly shush up, Kish."
There was a collective gasp from the girls surrounding them. Pudding was the first to drop her guard, Lettuce following shortly after. "Kish?" the bespectacled girl echoed, blinking at him uncertainly.
Pudding leapt past Ichigo and landed right in front of him. She slapped her hands to her cheeks in awe as her big, burgundy eyes traveled over his form. When she was finished looking him over, she met his gaze and asked, "Are you really Kish? What happened to your eyes and hair? You don't look like the Kish I remember. If you're Kish, then where's Tar-Tar?"
"Ichigo," Lettuce stepped in, saving Kish from the onslaught of questions from their youngest comrade. "Please explain. Why has Kish returned? And why have you been hiding him?"
Feeling that Ichigo had floundered enough on his behalf, Kish elected to answer for her. "What Ichigo said is true. I really am just here to help her prepare for her exam," he explained. "If it weren't for that, I would've left a long time ago."
"Why did you come back in the first place?" Mint questioned dubiously. "Your planet should be fine now."
This question, Kish hesitated to answer. The other Mew Mews' suspicion was more than justified, but he really had no desire to discuss his reasons. It would mean admitting how lonely he'd felt on his own planet; how life as a noble had been both stifling and isolating; how suddenly everyone wanted to be around him and bask in his fame when before the same people wouldn't have given him the time of day; how the elders were always breathing down his throat about acting in a manner befitting his new station; how women both his own age and much older were suddenly interested in cozying up to him as though he were a free meal ticket. The hows went on and on. Rather than say all that, he simply replied, "I just wanted to check in. See how my favorite kitten was getting along with the boy wonder. I really never intended to stay so long."
That much was true, at least.
"I was hesitant to believe him too, but Kish has been a real help to me these past weeks," Ichigo reassured her friends. "It was my idea to disguise him as a human. It made studying together easier." She shifted her weight from her right foot to her left guiltily. "I'm sorry for deceiving you. Originally it was just to trick my mom, but then… well, it just seemed easier to pretend he was a classmate than to explain that our old enemy was tutoring me in math and science."
Kish could see from the expressions of the girls that even though they weren't happy about being kept in the dark, they understood Ichigo's reasoning. They could see why she'd kept the truth from them and they weren't angry. Kish was relieved. This conversation could have gone a lot worse.
"And what about you?" Zakuro turned the group's attention back to him. "You're okay with helping Ichigo get into the same school as Aoyama? After everything that went down last year, you're willing to just brush your animosity aside and help Ichigo and Aoyama have their happy ending?"
A glance at Ichigo showed that she was watching him uncertainly along with the others. Once again, Kish felt uncomfortably put on the spot. He didn't have a good answer to Zakuro's questions. He wasn't okay with it. Not really. But this wasn't about him. It was about Ichigo and what she needed to be happy. He couldn't say that, though. That would be baring too much of his soul. The last time he'd been honest about his own feelings, he'd been burned. That was a rejection he didn't want to endure twice.
"It's got nothing to do with Ichigo's cookie-cutter gingerbread boy," he answered at last, making a show of being flippant about the matter. "I just couldn't stand to see something being a bigger inconvenience in Ichigo's life than me. I have a reputation to uphold, y'know?"
"What a relief to hear that you still live to be useless," Mint said flatly. Pretending to dust off her hands, she added, "Well, whatever. As long as you're not planning to cause any trouble, I guess it's alright if you stay."
"I wonder if we should inform Shirogane-san?" Lettuce said, bringing a hand to her cheek unsurely.
"Before that, we should ask him if we should be concerned about that earthquake." Now that the matter of Kish's true identity was resolved, Ichigo fell naturally back into her role as leader.
The other Mew Mews nodded, and as a group, they turned around and began heading for Ueno Station. Kish was unsure whether or not to follow them, but Ichigo resolved his dilemma by calling back to him. "Kish, you fly around and make sure nothing in the city was too badly damaged. If you see anything suspicious, let us know, okay?"
Kish nodded reluctantly and briefly made sure there were no civilians watching before teleporting up into the sky.
Well, he thought to himself as he hovered in the chilly air high above the park. That went well, I'd say. He snorted halfway between amusement and bemusement and then turned his attention to the matter at hand.
He sighed as he scanned the concrete jungle that stretched out in every direction below him. Tokyo was a big city. He had his work cut out for him.
oO0Oo
As I mentioned in the last chapter, I've posted a couple of quick concept doodles for this story to my tumblr. If you're interested in taking a gander, my tumblr handle is cabbage-foam. I'd post a link if I could, but you know how FFNet is about links.
See you again next time!
