I apologize for the delay. I had a busy week. But you get an extra long chapter! Rejoice!
Chapter 8
The only impossible journey is the one you never begin.
—Tony Robbins
o0o
Just as promised, at precisely three o'clock on Saturday, Kish's doorbell rang and he opened the door to a rainbow menagerie of magical girls weighed down with a veritable dragon's hoard of plastic shopping bags. He welcomed them with a grin and warmly invited them inside.
The girls removed their shoes and ventured into the house with expressions of awe. "Quite the place you've got here," Zakuro spoke first, much to Kish's surprise.
"It's so big!" Pudding exclaimed with sparkling eyes. "Perfect for hide and seek!"
The only one who didn't look impressed was Mint. She walked right through to the living room without bothering to look around at all. Kish supposed that compared to her lavish mansion an old-fashioned house like this was nothing special. Well, she could be as snooty as she wanted about somebody else's house. It had nothing to do with him.
Kish started with a tour of the residence. He took the girls around to each room and offered a bit of light commentary about some of the hijinks he, Pie and Tart had gotten up to when they'd all lived here together. Lettuce and Pudding were particularly entertained by these stories and Pudding laughed when he told them about the time he and Tart had tested out color contacts for Pie.
After the tour, Kish enlisted Ichigo and Lettuce's help procuring bowls from the kitchen to hold their snacks while the other girls debated over which movie to watch first. Kish listened to them argue with an amused smile as he tore open chip bags and dumped their contents into the bowls.
"Do you ever do things like this on your planet?" Lettuce asked as she set the microwave to heat a bag of buttered popcorn.
Kish looked over his shoulder at her. "Movie nights?" At her nod, he laughed and shook his head. "Nah. Firstly, we don't have movies. We have the technology to make them, but until recently all our technology was being used to keep ourselves alive. We do occasionally have parties, but…" He trailed off as his brain conjured memories of the lavish galas he'd been forced to attend, particularly since he'd returned from Earth. "Well, they're nothing like this. Only the elite get to go to them and they're more about schmoozing than having a good time. I've never enjoyed them."
Ichigo made a thoughtful noise from the vicinity of the fridge where she was pouring drinks into paper cups. "You said before that you and Pie and Tart have been living the dream-life ever since you returned. Does that mean that you go to parties often?"
Kish fought to smother a grimace at the reminder. "More than I'd like," he answered honestly. "Being a member of the elite comes with a ton of expectations and responsibilities, and one of them is to mingle with the other elites. When you have status, others will inevitable attempt to ride your coattails and that means I'm approached by a lot of people who wanna use me for my wealth and fame. Parties are just that on a grand scale. They're not fun. They're just politics."
"Wow. I had no idea that you and Pie and Tart had to deal with that," Ichigo said, her tone becoming a little less chipper. "I guess it makes sense, seeing how you're the ones who saved your people from the brink of extinction."
Kish shrugged and went back to transferring snacks to bowls. "It's not that I mind the attention. I just don't like how insincere it all is."
Lettuce made a noise of understanding. "Mint has said the same thing before. She said that when you have money and prestige it can be hard to tell who your real friends are."
Kish smiled at that. It sounded like he and Mint had more in common than he'd thought.
"Although," Ichigo chimed in again. Kish looked back in her direction and found a spoon being pointed at him. She sported a raised brow. "You're not exactly the most sincere person yourself. Aren't you just getting a taste of your own medicine?"
Kish blinked at her. She did, quite definitely, have a point. Maybe it was a little hypocritical of him to find fault with others for using deception to get what they wanted. He too lived behind a mask. You did what you needed to in order to survive, and in that sense, everyone was the same. Rather than conceding her point, though, he turned his lips downward in a mock frown and made a show of crossing his arms and shaking his head. "To think you of all people would call me insincere. I'm wounded."
Ichigo jabbed the spoon at him. "That. Right there. That's exactly what I'm talking about."
Lettuce let out a little giggle that sounded like 'fufu'. "But if Kish stopped acting like himself, you wouldn't be able to argue with him anymore."
Kish nodded seriously. "Right. And then what would be left of our relationship? If you remove all my charming quirks I'll be as plain and flavorless as your sponge cake boyfriend."
Ichigo rolled her eyes and turned up her nose with a humph. "Masaya-kun's not bland. You just don't know how to appreciate maturity."
Kish snickered at her indignance and went back to filling bowls with snacks. A moment passed and he heard Lettuce open the microwave to retrieve their popcorn. A few minutes later, all the snacks as well as the drinks had been brought to the living room and laid out on the family-sized kotatsu. The girls got comfy under the blanket and Mint started their first movie, an animated film about a girl getting lost in another world and having to work in a bathhouse full of spirits.
The experience of doing something so frivolous was strange for Kish but not unpleasant. The movie was entertaining and even moving at times. The main character reminded him in many ways of Ichigo. She didn't have any special skills and she complained a whole heckuva lot, but she tried her best, and in the end, she was able to save her family and the people she cared about.
If Ichigo was the girl, then he wondered if maybe he was a little like the boy. Serving an entity bent on perfect control; willing to sacrifice his morals for power; trying to return to the place he belonged. The one difference was that the boy in the movie was able to earn the love of the heroine. There wasn't an Aoyama to take her away from him. Looking over at Ichigo, he could see distress on her face as the girl was forced to leave the boy in the spirit world. Kish wondered if Ichigo saw herself in the heroine and if so, if it was Aoyama she saw in the boy. At least she doesn't have to worry about Aoyama leaving her behind.
Mint popped the movie out of the DVD player and inserted the second. Kish grabbed a handful of popcorn and sat back to watch.
o0o
They made it through four movies. Kish was so entranced that he could've gone for a fifth, but it was getting late and the girls were running out of steam. Pudding had already faded and was snoozing soundly under the kotatsu's blanket. Lettuce was the one to finally call it a night and the girls got to work clearing away the bowls and throwing out empty cups and wrappers. In no time at all, the room was nearly spotless. All that remained were a few wayward crumbs on the tatami.
"You guys can go ahead and go home," Ichigo told them, stifling a yawn. "I'll stay behind and take care of the vacuuming."
Zakuro tossed her a look of concern. "Are you sure you're alright? If you're too tired, I don't mind doing it."
Ichigo shook her head. "I'll be fine. I live the closest anyhow."
It was sound reasoning and the other Mew Mews accepted it with a chorus of nods and "Sorry, Ichigo"s. Ichigo shooed them off while Kish located the vacuum.
Vacuuming took only a few minutes and Kish helped by lifting the kotatsu blanket and scooting the couch back. When Ichigo was done, she dropped onto the aforementioned piece of furniture and let out a tired sounding breath. "Whew. I'm beat," she declared, closing her eyes.
Kish grinned and plopped down beside her. "Oh, so battling me barely winds you but a little vacuuming has you ready to pass out? Gee, thanks."
Ichigo laughed and swatted him half-heartedly. "It's late. I've never been much of a night-owl."
Kish quirked a brow in confusion. "Night-owl?"
"Someone who enjoys staying up late," she clarified. "You know, 'cause owls are nocturnal."
Kish had had no idea what an owl was, but he got the idea. "Tell you what. How about I make you some tea? If you drink some caffeine before you leave it might keep you from keeling over on the way to your house."
Ichigo smiled but didn't open her eyes. "Thanks, Kish. You're a nice guy."
Kish raised an eyebrow briefly and then grinned, his lips pulling over his sharp canines. "I'm not gonna let you forget you said that."
This time, Ichigo cracked an eye open to look at him sidelong. She must have decided that retorting would take too much effort, though, because she merely grunted and sank further into the couch.
Kish smiled to himself and padded over to the kitchen to brew the tea. There was silence as he filled a kettle with water and set it over the stove. He recalled that it had taken Tart nearly ten minutes to figure out how to make the burners work when they'd stayed here before. Kish had snickered at him the whole time as he turned knobs and became increasing dismayed when the spark kept immediately going out. Eventually, Pie had come over to see what all the fuss was about. He'd taken one look at the device and informed Tart that he had to wait for the spark to catch before turning the dial back. Pie had always been the most mechanically savvy of the three of them.
When the water finally came to a boil, Kish dumped a small spoonful of green tea powder into a cup and then filled it from the kettle. He placed the cup on a tray and brought it out to the living room. When he reentered, he found Ichigo still sitting with her eyes closed. He wondered if she'd fallen asleep.
He set the tray on the kotatsu and then shook Ichigo's shoulder gently. "Hey, Kitty Cat. Your tea's ready."
Ichigo stirred and cracked open her eyes. "Huh? Oh." She pulled her body into a proper sitting position and took the cup Kish held out to her. Rather than drink it, she merely held it in her lap as her large eyes blinked slowly. Kish was about to remind her that the tea was there to be drunk, not just to look pretty, but then her eyes shifted up to him and she surprised him by saying. "You really do look human, you know."
Kish regarded her with confusion. Without really thinking about it, his hand rose to his dyed, unbound hair. He still hadn't gotten it cut and now the tips were creeping down toward his shoulders. It was shaggy and uneven and would never pass the elders' scrutiny on his own planet but here on Earth he supposed it qualified as a look.
"It's nearly February. We'll be getting the results of our exams back soon," she continued when he said nothing. "You're gonna stay, right? Here on Earth?"
Something in Kish's chest tightened at her question. It was probably about time he told her the truth. That he wouldn't be able to stay much longer. That his people would come for him sooner or later. If it were up to him, he'd never go home, but he had responsibilities that he couldn't continue to shirk forever. He knew he ought to tell her, but a part of him had always been a coward and it was that part that answered. "Don't tell me you've grown fond of me? You're losing your bite, Kitten."
His teasing had the desired effect and Ichigo seemed to forget her question in favor of getting riled. "Fond of you? Don't flatter yourself, alien nerd."
Kish sniggered and flopped back on the couch beside her. "Don't forget that it was thanks to this nerd that you were able to prepare for your test."
Ichigo shot him a bland look and took a sip of her tea. She was quiet for a time as she slowly enjoyed the beverage, blowing on the top in intervals to cool it. Kish let her drink in peace, opting to sit quietly for once. He watched her out of the corner of his eye, letting his gaze linger momentarily on her dark red hair pinned up in pigtails, then moving to her eyes which stared off at nothing in particular. She appeared to be lost in thought. The silence between them persisted for a generous handful of seconds before Ichigo broke it by asking a question he wasn't at all prepared for.
"Hey, Kish. What are you, exactly?"
If Kish had been holding a cup of tea he might've dropped it, such was his surprise at Ichigo's unexpected inquiry. "Huh?" was all he could muster in response.
Ichigo's eyes flicked back to him. "I mean your race. We've just been calling you aliens, but what kind of species are you? You've always been pretty adamant about not being like us dirty humans but you look like us and talk like us and share a diet with us, so I wonder what exactly about you is different?"
Ah. So, that's what she meant. Kish took a moment to consider how to explain it to her. "Well," he said, "we're aliens. Believe it or not, that's actually how we refer to ourselves."
Ichigo blinked at him in amazement. "What? Really?"
Kish nodded. "You know already that our kind was originally from this planet. In that sense, you could call us the original Earthlings. But there was a period in this planet's history where the Earth became uninhabitable and we were forced to leave. At that time, we ventured into space and found a new planet to live on; the one we call our home today. But of course, there were already things living there when we arrived. We were outsiders—literal aliens—so that's how we began referring to ourselves. Eventually, I guess enough time passed that we forgot our species' original name."
"So, you're really just… aliens," Ichigo said, still sounding bewildered. "That's nuts."
Kish laughed. "I guess it does seem kinda weird now that I think about it. We've been calling ourselves aliens for so long that nobody ever thinks of it as strange. As for our biology, I can't really say how different we are, to be honest. Maybe there was a time when we were just like you. Our historical records are patchy, at best. The more I study you humans, the more I begin to wonder if your kind isn't just what became of those we left behind. Maybe all that separates us is a few million years of evolution."
"A few million years…" Ichigo repeated. "Does that make us close or not? I can't even tell."
Kish laughed again. "Well, anatomically, we're pretty similar, right? We have all the same organs in the same places. We reason the same and build relationships the same. Of course, the ultimate test of whether or not we qualify as the same species is if we can breed and produce fertile offspring…" He trailed off meaningfully and his lips pulled upward wickedly when Ichigo's face turned beet red. He was forced to dodge to the side when she lobbed a throw pillow at his face. "Hey, I'm just speaking scientifically," he defended. "You're as easy to rile as ever."
Ichigo crossed her legs and looked pointedly away from him. "Jeez. I don't know why I put up with you."
"My winning personality and dashing good looks, I imagine. But I don't know, you tell me."
Ichigo threw him a look over her shoulder. "Just when I was starting to think I'd misjudged you…"
Kish grinned and waved a hand mollifyingly. "You're cute, Kitty. It's not like I'm looking for kids yet, anyway." He leaned forward and gently gripped her chin with his pale fingers, turning her face back to his. "I'm satisfied with kisses."
Ichigo's cheeks flushed just like in the kitchen the evening before and she pulled away from his touch. "You're shameless," she informed him without heat.
"On the contrary, Kitten. I have plenty of shame. Out of curiosity, though," he said, changing the subject. "Why the sudden interest?
Ichigo looked away at the floor and shook her head. "No reason, really. I guess… I was just curious."
Kish cocked his own head and studied her profile, hoping perhaps to glean something more from her expression. Her cheeks were still pink as she examined the patch of tatami beneath the kotatsu. He thought she wouldn't say any more, but to his surprise, she deigned to elaborate.
"I mean, you're always insisting that you have feelings for me. But you're an alien and I'm, you know, a human." She looked back up at him and her expression was slightly guarded, but he didn't see anything like disgust or resentment in it. "And I'm in a relationship with Masaya-kun, who's also one of you. I guess it's always been at the back of my mind—can a human and an alien really find happiness together? I want to believe that it's possible, but it's hard to trust that without knowing the science, y'know?"
Kish blinked down at her and shook his head. He was honestly baffled at hearing such a line of questioning coming from Ichigo. "Am I actually hearing Miss "Follow-my-heart" worry about a trifling detail like biology?"
Ichigo's cheeks flared red again and she shot him a look. "Don't patronize me, jerk."
Kish laughed. Ichigo's flustered expression was irresistibly adorable. God, he loved her. He just loved everything about her. So much that his heart hurt simply having this conversation with her. "I'm not," he denied. "But it's a silly thing to worry about. Ichigo, love makes you happy."
While he himself once would have not believed these words—having previously convinced himself that love was only a vehicle of despair—spending this time with Ichigo; getting to know her and becoming proper friends with her; he knew now that love—real love—brought joy. "Whether you get everything you want out of it or not, if what you feel for someone is really love, then you'll never have to worry about finding happiness. You'll just… have it."
It probably wasn't the most convincing speech, but Kish believed every word he'd said. After all, his life had never known such joy as he felt when he was with Ichigo. He didn't need anything more than this. He would gladly live out his life just the way it was.
"Just leave the complicated stuff for later, Kitten. I mean, there's nothing right now to suggest that humans and aliens can't have kids together. And even if they can't, wouldn't you still rather be with the guy you love and adopt or something than leave him to be with some other schmuck just because he can breed with you?"
Ichigo, who had been listening to him with near-rapt attention, screwed up her face in disgust and shoved his arm as if she were trying to push something smelly away from her. "Ew, Kish. That's vulgar."
"It's science," he corrected. "And it's what you're worried about."
"It is. But…" She stopped and shuddered. "Jeez, you don't need to make it sound like we're animals."
Kish smiled and shrugged. Ichigo probably wouldn't appreciate being reminded that they were, in fact, animals. He'd pushed his luck enough this evening.
Ichigo yawned again and stood from the couch. She looked around for her coat. Kish plucked it from the back of the couch and handed it to her.
"Thanks for coming, Kitty Cat," he told her softly as she pushed her arms into the sleeves. "I had a good time."
Ichigo awarded him with a smile as she fastened the clasps on the front of the winter garment. "I did too. You did a good job of hosting, for your first time." Her smile turned to a grin, then. "Better than your fancy schmoozing parties?"
Kish returned her grin. "Way better. The company makes all the difference." He gave her a playful wink.
"Good. 'Cause we'll be back."
"I hope you will be."
Kish saw Ichigo to the door where they said their farewells. Ichigo promised again to bring the girls back for another get together sometime in the near future. Kish stood at the door and watched her the whole way until she disappeared behind the neighbor's stone wall.
It had been a wonderful evening. The kind of evening that Kish could never have conceived of back on his own planet.
The first of many such evenings, he reminded himself, if he were to stay here on Earth.
His eyes narrowed as he continued to peer into the darkness. His face lifted to the sky where only a few stars were visible due to Tokyo's massive amount of light pollution. Thousands of lightyears away, his planet hung in the cold depths of space, waiting for him to return. The elders were doubtless looking for him already. They would find him soon and drag him back. He had responsibilities. People who demanded his guidance.
A farce, in truth. His guidance was worth less than the sand that comprised the vast wastes that spanned his planet's surface. The elders wanted a figurehead, and he was convenient. That was all there was to it. Whether he was there or not, the council would continue to rule as they always had. They'd been perfectly happy to forsake him when that had been convenient. He didn't owe them anything.
His fingers curled into fists as he continued to gaze up into the infinite darkness that spread above him. No, he didn't owe anyone anything. He'd done enough already. The elders could find someone else to puppet before the people. This happiness he'd found on Earth was worth fighting for. Even if it meant being cast out for good, he was willing to fight the council for his freedom.
He turned his gaze from the sky to look back at the house. If he was going to stay long term, he might need to consider finding a more permanent place of residence. This would continue to work for now, but there was no guarantee that the family who owned this house would stay gone forever.
Well, whatever. He'd worry about that if and when the time came. It's not like he was trackable even if the real owners came back and figured out someone had been living here. In the meantime, he'd start saving some money from his paychecks so he'd have a pool to draw from if he ever needed to find a new place quickly. It was like Ichigo had said, if he was going to live here long term, he needed to do it honestly.
Of its own accord, a grin stretched across his face. His heart felt suddenly very light. It was as if making the decision to stay had removed a huge burden from his shoulders. Sure, fighting the council wasn't going to be easy, but this was what he wanted. He'd never been more sure of anything in his life.
For Ichigo, and for his own happiness, he would do anything. He would do whatever it took to make this dream he'd been living his permanent reality.
