School Chapter 4:

Match-Making

Ichigo sighed. "I really hope those two don't get in trouble…" she said.

"I hope not too," Kisshu said. "But I think I know how to kill him without getting in trouble. We kidnap him, take him to my ship, and incinerate him there."

"I guess that would work," Ichigo said. "We have to wait a week, though."

"Why?" Kisshu asked.

"Because the death threat said he has a week to live," Ichigo said. "So next Saturday, you guys can kill him."

"You don't want to help?" Kisshu asked.

"You, Moe and Miwa have fun," Ichigo said. "But I kind of want to watch…"

"Okay!" Kisshu said. "Let's see if he begs you to call us off."

"It would be funny to see the look on his face when I say no," Ichigo said, giggling.

Suddenly Ichigo's cell phone rang, and she picked up, seeing that it was Miwa. "Hi Miwa, did you send it?" she asked.

"Yup, it'll be there tomorrow," Miwa said. "Next Saturday's the day. Any ideas?"

"Kisshu suggested kidnapping him, then taking him to the Cyniclons' ship, and killing him there," Ichigo said. "And then incinerating the body."

"Great!" Miwa said. "I wonder how he'll spend his last week on Earth?"

"Probably hugging trees," Ichigo said.

Miwa giggled, and said, "I'd better go. Ja ne!"

"Ja ne," Ichigo said, and hung up. Kisshu looked at her, and she said, "Miwa's all for that plan. I'm sure Moe will agree as well. We're all set."

"Good," Kisshu said. "Oh, I forgot to tell Sakura something."

"What is it?" Ichigo asked.

"I'm severely allergic to bananas," Kisshu said. "I can't even smell them without throwing up, and eating them makes me really sick."

"I'll go throw the ones in the kitchen out," Ichigo said. She went downstairs, and Kisshu followed her. "Wait here," Ichigo said.

Kisshu waited at the bottom of the stairs as Ichigo went into the kitchen. She came out a minute later with a lot of bananas, and said, "Don't go in there for a while, some of these were overripe. I think Mom's in the living room; you can tell her about your allergy while I get rid of these."

"Thanks, Koneko-chan," Kisshu said, and headed to the living room as Ichigo went out the door to the garage. She came back and washed her hands, then went to the living room. As she came in, she heard Kisshu say, "I can't help it!"

Ichigo came in, and saw Shintaro glaring at Kisshu. "Dad, you need to find another fruit," Ichigo said. "I hate bananas. And I hate chocolate chip banana bread."

"And I hate making chocolate chip banana bread," Sakura added. "I've put up with your obsession long enough, and now I've got a good reason to stop. If you complain, you'll be going straight back to the garage. Now quit glaring at Kisshu, and go think up something other than chocolate chip banana bread that you can be obsessed with."

"Kisshu, is there a fruit that you like?" Ichigo asked.

"I'm addicted to apples," Kisshu said. "I can never get enough."

"Yay!" Ichigo said. "Mom, can we have apple crisp?"

"Sure, I think I've got some apples in the fridge," Sakura said. "I'll go get started on that."

As she left, Ichigo looked at Kisshu, then giggled. "Kisshu, you're drooling," she said.

Kisshu turned pink and wiped his mouth. "Sorry," he said. "Can we go back to your room now?"

"Sure, apple crisp takes a while to cook anyways," Ichigo said.

Kisshu smiled and went up the stairs, followed by Ichigo. As they sat down on her bed, her cell phone rang, and she looked at the caller ID. It was Ryou, and she sighed, then picked up and asked, "What's up?"

"How's it going over there?" Ryou asked.

"Great!" Ichigo said happily. "Kisshu just solved me and my mom's biggest problem!"

"Which was…" Ryou said.

"My dad's obsession with banana bread," Ichigo said. "Kisshu's allergic to bananas, so we can't have them in the house anymore, which means my mom will never make banana bread again! Isn't that wonderful?"

"For you," Ryou said. "I should tell Keiichiro, though, since Pai said the three of them will be working at the Café."

"Okay," Ichigo said. "It's not like we've got tons of banana desserts there anyways."

"True, and not many people order them," Ryou said. "I'll go talk with Keiichiro, and we'll see what we can do. By the way, is Kisshu going to kill Aoyama?"

"What would give you that idea?" Ichigo asked.

"Uh…" Ryou said.

"You were spying on us with my pendant, weren't you?" Ichigo asked dryly. "You don't like him either; is there a problem?"

"I suppose not…" Ryou sighed. "Just don't get caught."

"We won't," Ichigo said. "But quit spying on us, or I'll set my dad AND my overprotective friends on you. And then I'll tell Pudding she needs to bite you."

"OKAY! FINE! I'll never spy on you again!" Ryou screamed. "Your dad and friends I might be able to handle, but PLEASE don't let Pudding bite me!"

"Jeez, calm down," Ichigo said, giggling. "I just got this image in my head of you being chased by Pudding, screaming for help."

"You are one evil cat, you know that?" Ryou grumbled.

"Don't call me evil- unless you want me to call you Blondie," Ichigo said. "Your reactions every time Kisshu called you that were priceless."

"Mmph," Ryou said. "I'm hanging up now."

"You do that," Ichigo said. She heard a click, and snapped her phone shut.

"What did Blondie do when I called him that?" Kisshu asked.

"He'd turn red, and smoke would come out of his ears," Ichigo said. "And then he'd spend the rest of the day ranting about 'that green-haired menace'."

Kisshu burst out laughing. "He had a name for me too?" he asked.

"Actually he had several; that was the nicest," Ichigo said. "He really didn't like you in particular. Don't ask me why."

Kisshu looked thoughtful, then said, "Maybe he was jealous."

"Why?" Ichigo asked.

"Because I was always kissing you," Kisshu said. "I think he has a thing for you, though it seems you never returned that feeling."

Ichigo shuddered. "I can't even imagine myself with Ryou," she said. "I think he and Mint would be a good couple, though."

"Why's that?" Kisshu asked.

"They're both snobby rich people," Ichigo said. "And besides, Mint has a thing for him."

"Well, maybe they'll get together," Kisshu said. "Hey, wanna try setting them up?"

Ichigo smirked. "Sure, let's start planning," she said.

They spent the rest of the evening planning, and by the time they went to bed, they had a plan.

The next day: Kisshu teleported Ichigo to the Café. He was wearing some of his new clothes and he had taken one of the ear-changing pills. They looked at each other briefly, then walked in. Mint was there already, and Ryou was waiting for everyone. "You're actually early?" he asked when he saw them.

"I teleported her," Kisshu said. "Where's everyone else?"

"Keiichiro is trying to teach Pai to cook-" Ryou didn't get to finish. Kisshu teleported, and a minute later, they heard him yell, "Keiichiro, are you INSANE!? Letting Pai in your kitchen is a disaster!"

The others listened as Keiichiro said, "I'm sure that's fixable."

Kisshu walked out, and asked Ryou, "So how long has he been insane?"

"I didn't think he was insane," Ryou said. "So what's up with this?"

"Every time Pai tries to cook, something explodes," Kisshu said. "Last time it was the oven. Unless you want this place to go up in smoke, tell your insane assistant to get Pai out of his kitchen."

"How did he manage to blow up the oven?" Ichigo asked.

"He said he was making pancakes," Kisshu said gloomily. "Honestly, who makes pancakes by sticking the batter in the oven and then setting the timer for forty minutes? And THEN he went back to his lab, and forgot all about them, and about an hour later, BOOM! The oven was gone. And then there was that time he poisoned us…"

Ryou was actually looking a bit freaked out, and said, "I'll be back." He went to the kitchen, and came out a few minutes later dragging Pai.

"Why does everyone think I'm a disaster?" Pai moaned.

"Since you came to Earth, you set off the smoke alarm fifty-five times, blew up the oven and the toaster, poisoned us by knocking chemicals into the pasta sauce, melted five pots, burned ten more, and nearly cut your fingers off trying to cut up a peach," Kisshu said. "And YES, it was fifty-five smoke alarms, because after the fifth time, Taruto and I started keeping track so we could tell Aunt Haru."

Taruto teleported in with Pudding about then, and Kisshu immediately said, "Keiichiro let Pai in the kitchen, don't eat anything without looking at it closely."

"Keiichiro did WHAT!?" Taruto shrieked. "Is he INSANE!?"

"Apparently," Kisshu said. "I tried telling him it was a bad idea, and he said, "I'm sure it's fixable." That's the definition of insanity right there; thinking Pai could actually learn to cook."

Ryou sighed and said, "Point taken; we'll keep him out of the kitchen. I got uniforms for the three of you, so you should go change. Your girlfriends will be teaching you how to wait tables."

"Okay!" Kisshu said cheerfully, and followed by Pai, dragged Taruto to the boy's changing rooms. Ichigo went to the changing rooms too, followed by Pudding. Lettuce came in a minute later, and they got dressed.

Zakuro came in as they were coming out, and asked, "Today's the aliens' first day?"

"Yup, and we get to show them how things work," Ichigo said. "Oh, and we're all under orders to keep Pai out of the kitchen at all costs. Kisshu says he blew up the oven on their ship, and he's a complete disaster in the kitchen."

"Is he really that bad?" Lettuce asked.

Kisshu was coming out, and said, "If you had lived with him, you wouldn't be asking that. When you two get married, just keep it in mind."

Lettuce squeaked and turned bright red. Kisshu blinked. "What?"

Ichigo sighed when it looked like Lettuce wasn't going to say anything. "I think Lettuce is just a little embarrassed," she said.

"Why? You love him, right?" Kisshu asked Lettuce.

"Yes…" Lettuce said.

"Then why are you embarrassed by the idea of marrying him?" Kisshu asked. "I would've thought you'd be happy."

"That's a ways away," Ichigo said. "Lettuce is just a little shy about her feelings. Let's drop the subject, k?"

"Okay," Kisshu said. "By the way, do I have to wear this little bow thingy?"

"Yes," Ichigo said. "You don't like it?"

"I hate it," Kisshu grumbled. "It's choking me."

"Did you tie it too tight?" Ichigo asked.

"Maybe?" Kisshu said.

Ichigo went over and loosened it a bit, then said, "Is that better?"

"Sort of, but I still hate it," Kisshu said. "Thanks though."

Ichigo smiled. "Sure. Let's go."

They went out, and opened up the Café.

Halfway through the day, there was a bit of a lull, and Ichigo and Kisshu looked at each other, then put their plan in motion. Ichigo went over to Mint, while Kisshu left to find Ryou. Mint looked up at Ichigo, and said, "Shouldn't you be working?"

"So should you, but I don't see that happening," Ichigo said. "Besides, I've got a message for you."

"From whom?" Mint asked.

"Ryou," Ichigo said. "He called me yesterday, and while we were talking, he asked me to ask you if you'd like to meet him at the movie theater on Friday at 6. He didn't mention what movie he wanted to see, though."

"I'd love to, will you tell him I'll be there?" Mint asked, blushing slightly.

"Sure," Ichigo said.

Kisshu, meanwhile, had found Ryou in the basement, and went into the room, causing Ryou to look up sharply from whatever it was he was doing. "Shouldn't you be at work?" he asked.

"There's a bit of a break, and Mint wanted me to ask you something," Kisshu said.

"What is it?" Ryou sighed.

"She wants to know if you'd like to meet her at the movie theater at 6 on Friday," Kisshu said.

Ryou seemed to be thinking, then said, "I guess I'll go. Can you let her know? I'm busy."

"Sure," Kisshu said, and went back upstairs. He met Ichigo at the top of the stairs, and said, "How'd it go?"

"She agreed," Ichigo said. "How about you?"

"Same," Kisshu said. "Let's get back before they get suspicious."

Here's a question: Should Ichigo and Kisshu spy on Mint and Ryou's date? Or should they not be in the next chapter? I'll update again tomorrow, so you've got plenty of time to think. Review plz!