(A.N./ Chapter 6! Enjoy!)
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"My life sucks."
You can do something about it.
"No I can't."
Yes, you can. Tell her how you really feel, set her straight.
"Like she'll listen."
Sure she will.
"No she won't."
Just tell her your point of view. She will listen, trust me.
"I'm done arguing with you."
I'm not finished.
"Here I am, arguing with myself. My conscience, to be exact. Someone's going to walk in here and see me, think I'm crazy, and-"
"Kisshu, are you talking to yourself again?"
Kish rolled over in his bed, hiding his face from view of anyone that has the potential to humiliate him in his time of desperation.
"Kisshu."
This time, the voice was more distinct, loud, and deep. It was Pai. Kisshu didn't hesitate to mutter,
"What?"
Pai strode into his room and sat down next to him, as well as Taruto, who sat farther away, obviously not risking being pummeled by his older brother in his temper.
"Kisshu." Pai repeated. Kish groaned,
"What do you want?"
"I put the teleportation barrier down."
Not any sooner did the word "down" escape Pai's lips did Kish teleport away, to who knows where.
Pai sighed.
"Aren't you going to try and stop him?!" Taruto said, shocked at Kisshu's sudden reaction and Pai's unwary nature towards him.
"No, he needs freedom." Pai said solemnly, getting up from his sitting position, "I understand why he left, I would do so too."
Taruto simply watched with wide eyes as Pai casually walked out of the room and into his own computer space.
He looked from where Kisshu was, to the door, and back to the floor. He shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose, gliding out of the room slowly,
"I will never, ever understand Pai."
--
"I'll try once more." Kisshu concluded, after struggling with his own self on the matter of his dedication to Ichigo.
"I'll give it one more shot. I'm going to face her head-on, tell her my purpose, why I do what I do." He shook his head,
"What exactly am I telling myself? Lies? Most likely." he sighed, "Like I'd have the wits to actually move Ichigo to believe me for real. It's…"
He paused, staring into the afternoon sun, its golden color shining out against the clear, blue sky.
"It's worth a shot."
He then teleported to the all-so-familiar tree outside Ichigo's window, and, after checking to make sure the coast was clear, teleported into her room. Picking up a sticky-note from her desk, and a pen, he scribbled a small message onto it.
Setting the pen and pen down, he stuck the note onto her desk.
He was about to teleport out before he spied her top dresser drawer. What caught his eye was that something was sticking out of the top. Gliding over, he gave it a small yank and pulled it out.
It was the painting of the rose he had painted her.
He grinned slyly,
"Tisk tisk, Koneko-chan, didn't your parents ever tell you not to lie?"
Spirits renewed, he set the canvas onto the top of the dresser.
Struggling with the urge to go through her dresser drawers, he shoved the open one shut and teleported out of the room, praying that, just this once, this plan would work.
--
"I hate Mr. Kenichi!" Ichigo growled as she stumbled into her room, struggling under a massive pile of books and paper, "Giving us this much homework over the weekend must be against the law! As a plus, I had to carry it all the way to and from work!" She sighed and relaxed her arms, proceeding to stretch them and yawn in a cat-like manner,
"Nyaaaaa" she stopped when she saw the small note on her desk. Picking it up, she read,
Meet me at 9:00 tonight, next to the school entrance.
"Hold on a second…" she said aloud to herself.
She turned and dug through her trash bin, and brought up the not that was taped to the back of the painting of the rose.
Sure enough, they both were in the same handwriting.
"Kisshu…" Ichigo hissed, "I thought I told him off just two days ago."
She studied the note, wondering to herself what to do about Kisshu's persistence.
Suddenly, an evil, but ingenious plan formulated into her mind. She grinned and picked up her phone, dialing and holding it up to her ear.
"Moshi Moshi, Minto speaking."
"Hi Mint! It's Ichigo!" A sigh was heard through the speaker,
"Look, Ichigo, I have dance class in thirty minutes, so make it quick." Ichigo tried to withhold the anger pouring over at Minto's snooty attitude, and she succeeded as she spoke,
"Okay, so you'll never guess what!"
"Try me."
"So I found this note in my things coming back from Café Mew Mew, and it's a note from a secret admirer, asking to come to the school entrance at nine tonight!"
"I'm glad and all, but why do I care?"
"The thing is, it's addressed to you! It must have been set in the wrong place!" There was an awkward silence for a few moments before Minto's reply:
"Yeah, right."
"No, I'm dead serious! It says right here, 'Minto, meet me at 9:00 tonight next to the Kanto District High School entrance. Sincerely, your Secret Admirer'!"
Another awkward silence.
"Really?"
"Seriously! I swear!" Ichigo grinned to herself as she crossed her fingers behind her back.
"If this is fake, I'll have Ryou dock your paycheck."
"I'm serious. Really."
"Alright, I'll go, but if it's fake-"
"I'm so happy for you! You rule, Minto! Bye!" Ichigo then hung up. She grinned from ear to ear and spun around giddily,
"Yes, yes, yes! It worked! Ichigo, you rock!" Stopping her spinning, she turned to the direction of her dresser, to see the painting had returned to its original spot.
"I could've sworn I put this away…" she stopped her train of thought when she remembered.
The note…she found it on her desk, when it wasn't there this morning. And the painting was mysteriously back on the dresser.
The note was easy enough to explain, Kisshu simply teleported in, wrote it, and left.
However, the painting…last time she saw it, it was in her dresser drawer.
That means that Kisshu…
Her mood instantly changed from chipper in her pride to anger and frustration with her own personal stalker,
"He definitely deserves what's coming to him tonight at nine," she muttered. She shot a nasty glare to the pile of homework next to her,
I certainly won't be going anywhere. Not with this mountain of homework.
--
Minto checked her small, silver watch on her wrist.
8:58, I think I'll make it in time.
She had been chaperoned a block away from the place specified, the school entrance. From there she walked, trying to make a good first impression; trying her best not to appear an aristocrat by being driven up in a limousine.
8:59.
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8:59.
I hope I don't mess up. I hope she shows.
Kisshu thought hopefully as he sat on the stairs of the school entrance.
Please let this turn out well…
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8:59
Ichigo read the time on the clock, smirking to herself.
What would I give to be a fly on the wall where they are right now…?
--
9:00.
At nine o'clock, three things happened.
Minto rounded the corner.
Kisshu, with his sharp eyesight, saw it was not Ichigo.
Minto screamed.
--
Minto felt a hand clamp over her mouth,
"Don't. Scream."
She nodded quickly and Kisshu released her, sitting down wearily back on the stairs.
"You're my secret admirer?!" she said fairly loudly. Kisshu shot her a strange look,
"Who told you that?"
"Well you left me the note!"
"I didn't leave you any note; I left a note for Ichigo to meet me here at nine, not you!"
At that moment, both realized what was going on.
"Ichigo." they both said in unison.
Kish sighed and massaged his forehead,
"This was a mistake to even try…" he got up to leave, but Minto grabbed his arm,
"Wait a moment," she said. Kish gave her a nasty glare, but she ignored it entirely.
"Sit." she commanded, as if she was ordering around a stubborn puppy. Kish rolled his eyes and sat back down on the stairs,
"What do you want?"
"Why did you want to meet Ichigo here?" Kish looked her in the eye,
"Do you really think I'd tell you?"
"I'm here and listening," she said, "Tell me anything." Kish sighed, putting his face in his hands. After a few moments he replied,
"Alright. Where to start…"
Minto waited patiently, also taking a seat on the stairs.
"Well…" Kish began, "It all started about a week ago. Maybe two. Pai challenged my feeling for Ichigo, and I told him that I would prove to him that I really loved her. After that…well, it kind of went downhill…" his voice trailed off.
"Continue." Minto stated. Kish shook his head,
"I feel like I'm talking to a therapist."
"Good, that's what I was aiming for. Except I'm free, and I'll actually listen to what you have to say." Kish nodded,
"Okay…" he paused, "Well, on my first two attempts, I tried to break up Ichigo and Masaya, because, obviously, I can't fit into the picture unless Masaya is out." Minto made no move to protest, just stared at him with listening eyes, absorbing every word.
"After my failed attempts, I went straight to the source. I tried to make Ichigo feel pity for me by getting seriously hurt by the Blue Knight, without attack either of them. After that failed, I found myself disabled to trying anything risky, so I resorted to a more feminine method. I painted her a picture and gave it to her. She kept the picture, but she doesn't seem to think much of it, and it didn't help our relationship." He sighed and massaged his temples.
"Keep going." Minto encouraged. Kisshu nodded,
"After that little success, I figured I'd take it a step further and, since I was under house arrest from Pai, long story, I had Taruto deliver a small black kitten to her, a camera attached to it to monitor Taruto and see Ichigo's reaction. But I had forgotten Ichigo can speak to cats, and the cat told her everything, where it came from, who put it in her there, and about the camera…" Minto's face was a look of concern,
"Oh no."
"'Oh no' is right, that was probably one of the most humiliating times of my life. It was terrible, the way she yelled and threatened me like that. I got so angry I destroyed the monitor and refused to leave my room for two days. Finally, Pai let me teleport again, so I wrote her a note to come here at nine, so I could sort things out with her in person." He sighed,
"But…I guess it wasn't meant to be. Instead…"
"I came."
"Right."
Kish hung his head. Minto raised her eyebrows,
"My, you've really got quite the problem here." Kish growled,
"Don't rub it in."
"Okay, here's my advice, if you're willing to hear it."
"Shoot."
"If you really want to win Ichigo's heart, you have to really think about what she really wants, not what would be best or beneficial to you. Think about it from her perspective; try putting yourself in her shoes. What if, say you and Ichigo were dating, and I started doing all the things you've been doing to Ichigo to you?" Kish lifted his head a bit, thinking over her words carefully.
"I see your point. But…that just makes it seem all the more useless to try." He sighed again and ran his hand through his forest-green hair. Minto lowered her head, fidgeting with her fingers,
"I'm sure it's not. It's just…hard, I'd say. Try doing something she wouldn't expect, something that will really effect her long-term…"she paused, "…in a positive way, of course." Kish nodded,
"I see your point." Minto got up from her seat on the concrete stairs, yawning and stretching wearily,
"One more thing…" she paused briefly, looking down at Kish, still seated on the stairs, staring up at her curiously. His golden eyes reflected the moonlight in a stunning glimmer; it almost took her breath away. Almost.
She turned on her heel,
"Just promise me you won't act so much like a perv, okay?" she glanced out of the corner of her eye to see a clever grin spread across his face,
"Fine, fine."
She nodded, trying to look professional as she stalked down the sidewalk, calling back,
"I'm glad we had this talk." Kish nodded, giving her a thumbs up. She continued to walk, pulling out her cell phone and dialing for her limo.
"I'm glad too." he said to himself, still grinning,
"Because now I sort of have an idea of what I'm doing."
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