Lost and Found Chapter 9:
Settling In
After Hideki left, Aunt Yuki sighed. "Kisshu, what were you thinking?" she asked. "Telling the Council something like that is basically committing suicide!"
"I'm sick of people telling me that I should become leader," Kisshu said. "I'm not going to disobey Dad's wishes, even if it costs me my life."
Aunt Yuki hugged him. "We'll all support you," she said softly as Kisshu hugged her back.
"Thanks," Kisshu said.
"I'm going to keep you home for a while; I don't want to put you in danger," Aunt Yuki said. "Ichigo, will you stay too?"
"Sure," Ichigo said. "I'm kind of tired, can I go to bed?"
"Sure," Aunt Yuki said. "Kisshu, you should call it a night too."
"K," Kisshu said. "Come on, Koneko-chan."
Ichigo sleepily followed Kisshu back to their room, and took her shoes off. She watched as Kisshu took his boots off, then climbed into bed with him. She curled up against him, and promptly fell asleep. It took Kisshu a while longer, but eventually he too fell asleep.
The next morning Kisshu woke up to find Ichigo already awake, and playing with his hair. "Kish, are you okay?" she asked. "Aunt Yuki said you don't normally sleep past 7, but it's about 10:30, and I was getting worried."
"I think yesterday wore me out more than I realized," Kisshu said, sitting up. "I'm fine now."
"I'm glad," Ichigo said, hugging him. "Should we go eat breakfast?"
"K, I'm hungry," Kisshu said. Ichigo got up, and Kisshu did the same.
They went to the kitchen, and Aunt Yuki immediately asked, "Kisshu, are you feeling okay?"
"Yeah, I think I was just worn out," Kisshu said. "I'm fine."
Aunt Yuki put a hand on his chest briefly, then said, "I guess you're right. Are you hungry?"
"Starving," Kisshu said.
"I made pancakes," Aunt Yuki said. "Come have some."
Kisshu and Ichigo went and got some pancakes, and started eating. "Where's everyone else?" Kisshu asked.
"Most people are outside, checking out the town the Mew Aqua restored," Aunt Yuki replied. "The Council and Hideki-sama are going to figure out who's living where, so we don't have problems. I think Pai and your uncle went back to the ship to see if there's any leftover food, and Taruto went to play with Yusuke- and no doubt brag about his time on Earth."
Ichigo giggled, and Kisshu said, "That's Taruto for ya."
"What are you two going to do today?" Aunt Yuki asked.
Before Kisshu or Ichigo could respond, there was a knock on the front door, and they went to see who it was. It turned out to be Moe and Miwa, and Kisshu said, "Hi, what's up?"
"Dad wants to talk with all of you," Miwa said. "I think it's about housing, but I'm not sure."
"Where is he?" Kisshu asked.
"We can take you," Moe said. "And don't worry, this has nothing to do with last night."
"Alright," Kisshu said. He, Ichigo, and Aunt Yuki followed Moe and Miwa outside as Moe asked, "Kisshu, are you okay?"
"Pretty much," Kisshu said. "Last night wasn't easy for me."
Miwa sighed. "Our request to 'chat' with Koni-sama was denied," she said. "Dad said we should try not to beat the Council up, no matter WHAT they do."
"That's good advice," Aunt Yuki said dryly.
Moe and Miwa both sighed. They reached a building on the outskirts of the town, and Moe knocked on the door three times. "Come in," they heard. Moe opened the door, motioning for the others to go in. They did so, and Moe came last, closing the door behind them.
They saw Hideki sitting in a chair, and Ichigo, Kisshu, and Aunt Yuki bowed. "Welcome," Hideki said as they straightened. "I asked Moe and Miwa to bring you three here so we could chat about what you need once you move to the surface. Yuki, I know you are currently raising not only Pai and Taruto, but Kisshu and now Ichigo as well. I was thinking of offering you a larger house than most people are getting, since I'm well aware that no one else is raising four children."
"If you don't mind, that would be a big help," Aunt Yuki said. "Hayako and I share, as do Kisshu and Ichigo, but Pai and Taruto sharing a room is a disaster. They've had to since Taruto was old enough to sleep in a bed; it would be a big help if they could have separate rooms."
"So you need four bedrooms?" Hideki asked.
"Yes, but only if you don't mind," Aunt Yuki said.
"Your children saved our planet; it's the least I can do," Hideki said. "I'll let you all know when the house is ready."
Aunt Yuki, Ichigo, and Kisshu bowed. "Thank you," Aunt Yuki said. "Did you have anything else to discuss?"
"Yes, actually," Hideki said. "The Council questioned Moe and Miwa last night while I was talking with you, and came to the conclusion that they are fit to be my successors. When I die, they will lead our people jointly. So Kisshu, you shouldn't have any more problems with them. I know what being forced into something you don't want to do is like. I would have much rather gone back to Earth and helped Yume raise Moe and Miwa then be dragged back here and be forced into becoming leader. I don't think the Council should have asked that of you after Pai told them what your father said, but unfortunately, I can only control them so much. Luckily for all of us, they've moved on to discussing Gimore Han's sentence, so we shouldn't have any more problems for a while. And Kisshu, now that they've finally got the message, you can leave your house whenever you want; I just didn't want you to run into Koni or one of the others and have them start nagging you."
"Thank you, Hideki-sama," Kisshu said, bowing. "I appreciate your concern."
"Of course," Hideki said. "You all are free to go, I need to go talk with Yume."
"Can we go with them?" Miwa asked.
"Yuki, are you okay with that?" Hideki asked.
"Of course," Aunt Yuki said. "It's almost lunchtime, so I'll give them all something to eat."
"Thank you," Hideki said.
Yuki bowed, and Kisshu took Ichigo's hand. Then they all teleported home.
When they landed, Aunt Yuki said, "I'm going to go make lunch, but I've got a question. Moe, Miwa, does Ichigo have any allergies?"
"No, I don't think there's anything she's allergic to," Miwa said. "She's not a picky eater, either, but she hates vegetables."
"There were vegetables in the tarka I made last night; maybe that's changed due to the amnesia?" Aunt Yuki said.
"Maybe," Miwa said. "But you don't have to worry about allergies."
"Alright, thanks," Aunt Yuki said. "I'll go see what there is; why don't you go chat or something? I'll call you when it's ready."
"K, thanks," Kisshu said. To the girls he said, "Let's go to my room."
The girls nodded, and followed him to the room he and Ichigo shared. "So why do Pai and Taruto share a room and you have your own?" Moe asked.
Kisshu sighed and sat down, then said, "It's because even after Aunt Yuki and Uncle Hayako took me in, I wouldn't come out of my room. I didn't talk to anyone, and I refused to eat for about six months. They probably figured it was better than no one had to share with me, because I cried myself to sleep every night. My parents' funeral was the worst day of my life, because I saw it as the last time I would be near them. They meant everything to me, and it was the hardest thing in the world knowing that I would never see them again. Aunt Yuki and Uncle Hayako are wonderful, but it's still hard not having my real parents. Uncle Hayako is my dad's older brother, and Aunt Yuki and my mom were best friends. Pai and Taruto are technically my cousins, but we think of each other as brothers now."
"Wow…." the girls said.
"What were Ichigo's parents like?" Kisshu asked.
"For the first eleven years of her life they were pretty normal, despite her dad's insane overprotectiveness," Miwa said. "Her mom was really sweet and never grounded her- not that she was a troublesome kid. Moe and I were the troublesome ones."
"But when she turned twelve, things started going downhill, fast," Moe continued. "Her parents started leaving her home alone on weekends for a while, then switched to weeks, until they were only home about two days a month. At that point, Miwa and I started spending almost every night sleeping on Ichigo's bedroom floor, because she was crying herself to sleep every night. She never actually tried to kill herself, but once we found out about our powers and started training, we both connected ourselves to her because we could feel how depressed she was. Suicide was on her mind a lot these past few months, but she never actually tried to kill herself."
"Do you know why her parents did that?" Kisshu asked.
"My guess is that they didn't realize that having a child meant more than just leaving a bunch of money for the kid to spend on food," Miwa said. "Also, Ichigo was born nearly a month early, and for the first seven years of her life, her parents were stressing out over everything. Moe and I started protecting her the way we do because she was so fragile back then. As I'm sure you're aware, she got a lot stronger, but maybe the stress back then caused her parents to rethink having a kid. That's just a theory, though. Ichigo's parents love traveling, and according to her mom, they thought she wanted time alone."
"That seems unlikely, but I think they just suddenly realized that having a kid was a lot more challenging than they originally thought," Moe said. "Ichigo's always been very attached to having people around; being alone like that was killing her."
"Did they think I was a burden?" Ichigo asked sadly.
"To be honest, we're not sure WHAT they were thinking," Moe said. "We didn't go through their minds; we simply beat them up while scolding them. Maybe they're just jerks, or maybe they didn't read the parenting manual."
"Am I going to be a burden here?" Ichigo asked sadly.
"No, of course not," Kisshu said. "Aunt Yuki spent my whole life moaning about how she didn't have a daughter; she's ecstatic that you're living with us. She wanted Taruto to be a girl, and though she loves him, she's always wanted a daughter. Uncle Hayako's like that too. And parents on this planet stay with their kids no matter what. Don't worry about it, Koneko-chan."
There was a knock on the door, and Aunt Yuki called, "It's lunchtime!"
"We're coming," Kisshu called back. He got up and took Ichigo's hand, then went to the kitchen, followed by Moe and Miwa.
Sorry it's so short, I'll try to have more out soon!