Hurt Chapter 7:

Taruto's POV

Taruto was awakened by the sound of Ichigo's cell phone playing some song. Getting out of the sleeping bag, he noticed that Ichigo was still asleep, with Kisshu's head and shoulders resting on her lap. He stood up and looked at the cell phone, which was still playing the song. Not knowing how to turn it off, he leaned over and gently shook Ichigo's shoulder. She stirred, but didn't seem to be waking up. Suddenly Taruto got an idea. He picked up the still-ringing cell phone and held it next to Ichigo's ear. She instantly woke up, crying out, "NYA!" Taruto smirked and said, "Well, that worked. It's time for Kisshu's next dose of the medication."

Ichigo's POV

Ichigo glared at him briefly, but then started to try to wake Kisshu up. Not wanting to startle him, she started stroking his hair, softly saying his name. She was unaware that Taruto was watching this with great interest, until he said, "Wow, I thought you hated Kisshu."

Instead of responding to this in her usual snappish way, Ichigo said, "I never actually hated him. I was just too infatuated with Aoyama to see that I really liked Kisshu. Unfortunately, the taking over the world bit didn't help either."

She had thought that Kisshu was still asleep, but was proven wrong as he softly said, "I knew that there was some part of you that loved me, Koneko-chan!"

Ichigo turned bright red, but said, "Well, I guess your faith wasn't misplaced then. I should be thanking you for saving me, especially since you got kicked out of your home for it. Thanks for opening my eyes, Kisshu."

Kisshu's POV

Startled, Kisshu said, "You're welcome, Koneko-chan. But I have a question. I heard your green haired friend say something about how we had the same feelings as humans. She sounded surprised. Do you and the other Mews really believe that Cyniclons have no feelings, just because we are different from you?" He waited, listening to her answer.

He was surprised by her answer. "Lettuce and I, and probably Pudding too, never believed you had no feelings. Sure, the Mews as a whole believed you were wrong for trying to destroy our world, but the three of us knew you all had feelings. Zakuro probably knows that deep down too, but I'm not sure about Mint. If Zakuro told her that, though, she'd start believing without a doubt. The real problem, and the place where that attitude comes from, is Ryou. His parents were killed by a Chimera Anima, and now he believes that all Cyniclons are evil. From one standpoint, it makes sense that he hates Cyniclons, but from another, he should realize that you all are people too, not evil monsters without remorse or feeling." Ichigo paused, then continued, "Lettuce has always believed that there is another way to settle this without fighting. She's never been able to convince Ryou, but she and you have convinced me that there is another way. Given some time, we could convince the other Mews to take that other way. Ryou may have created us, but he made me the leader of the team. I believe that with a little convincing, Lettuce and I could convince the other Mews to think of something else. If we all turn against Ryou, we might be able to make this work. After all, Ryou is the one who thought we should fight. He never considered other options the way Lettuce did."

"So do you have a plan, Ichigo?" Kisshu asked.

Ichigo blushed and said, "Not really. Lettuce is the brain, not me. If I call her up though, all of us could probably come up with something."

"That sounds good, but can it wait? I'm still not feeling too good, and I'm not sure I have the strength to get up," Kisshu said.

He watched, puzzled, as Ichigo facepalmed. "I forgot to give you more of the medicine! I'll do that right now, okay?"

Kisshu groaned.

Ichigo's POV

Ignoring the groan, Ichigo carefully tipped some of the fever medicine onto a spoon, and stuck it under Kisshu's nose. He grimaced, but took it anyways. Just like before, he began coughing. Ichigo poured him a glass of water, and waited till he could breathe again before helping him drink it.

Suddenly the doorbell rang. Ichigo went cautiously to her window, and grimaced.

"Who is it?" Taruto asked, noticing the look on her face.

"It's that damn cheater, Aoyama," Ichigo snarled. "What's HE doing here?"

"Can I just kill him?" Kisshu asked, as the doorbell rang again.

"Kisshu! You said you couldn't get up! Besides, if he dies on my doorstep, I'll probably go to jail," Ichigo said.

Kisshu sighed. "Fine, but if he tries anything, yell out, okay? At the very least, Taruto can help- right, Taruto?" Taruto just nodded.

"Okay," Ichigo said. Then she went to answer the door.

Downstairs: Ichigo opened the door to see Aoyama standing there. "What do YOU want?" she asked.

Aoyama replied, "I'm sorry I cheated on you, and I wanted to get back together."

Ichigo looked at him in disbelief. Then she shouted, "ARE YOU KIDDING? I WOULD NEVER GO OUT WITH YOU EVER AGAIN, AFTER WHAT YOU DID! BESIDES, I'M ALREADY WITH SOMEONE WHO CARES A LOT MORE THAN YOU DO, YOU STUPID TREEHUGGER!"

Aoyama smirked and said, "Well, I'm not giving you a choice. You're coming with me!"

Well, that's my best cliffhanger yet. What do you think will happen? Kisshu's too weak to fight. Will Taruto come through? REVIEW!